Submarine Telegraphy . 121 



across winch it was proposed to lay the cable. Starting from 

 the most westerly point of the little island of Valentia, just off 



^ the coast of Ireland, it took a westerly course to the 



3 island of Newfoundland. 



n. Fig. 3 is a section of the bed of the Atlantic, and 



shows in a certain rough way the nature of the 



^ ground over which the cable had to pass. 



In fixing on a spot suitable for the landing of 



2S3S ^he shore ends of a cable, it becomes a question of 

 some importance whether it shall be a bay or a^?ro- 

 montory. If a bold, abrupt promontory be chosen 

 there is a chance of obtaining deep water at a short 



S424- di s t ance f rom shore, while, from the nature of the 

 coast, it is the most unlikely place for vessels to cast 

 anchor. As a set-off against these advantages, the 

 . waves are apt to be very violent in such exposed 

 situations, and much damage may thereby result 

 to the cable. If, on the other hand, a bay be 

 chosen, we thereby gain the advantage of quieter 

 waters, and sometimes deep ones ; but for that very 

 reason it would form an inviting spot wherein to he 

 at anchor, and the frequent casting of anchors in the 

 neighbourhood of a cable would certainly expose it to 

 great danger. From a consideration of all these cir- 

 cumstances, the balance of advantages appears to be 

 in favour of a quiet bay, when one can be found in 

 which the traffic is not too great; and the little 

 Foilhommerum Bay, on the western coast of the 

 island of Valentia, was selected for the starting 

 point of the late Atlantic cable, with the intention 

 of landing the opposite end in Trinity Bay, on the 

 coast of Newfoundland. A glance at Fig. 3 shows 

 that the ground over which it was to be carried was 

 characterized by depressions and elevations, but of 

 very small amount ; for the scale on which the ver- 



' jjjoo tical measurements are drawn is here twenty times 

 as great as that of the horizontal, so that the pre- 

 cipitous bank which appears in the section is by no 

 means so formidable in reality as appears in the 



r1 drawing, while the other undulations of the sea bed 



^ are so gradual as to be scarcely visible in a section 



g: where the dimensions are drawn both to one scale. 



fy The deepest water to be encountered was at a dis- 



^ tance of about 1150 miles from Valentia, and indi- 



Fig. 3. cates, from the mere fact of its depth, the existence 



of a powerful submarine current in former ages, if not at the 



present time ; while the sea bottom, which is often spoken of 



