HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



frigate Niagara, Captain Hudson, to lay the first half of the 

 cable from Valentia Bay, in Ireland, of H.B.M. steamer Aga- 

 memnon, to lay the second half of the cable, and of six other 

 auxiliary steamers of both nations. 



HAULING THE CABLE ASHORE. 



The Niagara commenced shipping the cable from the factory 

 at Birkenhead, near Liverpool, late in June, and completed the 

 work in somewhat less than a month. The share of each of the 

 two vessels was twelve hundred and fifty miles of wire, — the 

 wire itself being an elaborate combination of fine copper strands 

 and gutta-percha coatings. The whole fleet was assembled in 

 Valentia Bay on the 4th of August. The Lord-Lieutenant of 

 Ireland was already upon the ground, the guest of the Knight 

 of Kerry. The next evening, the shore-end of the cable was 

 hauled from the stern of the Niagara to shallow water by an 

 attendant tug named the Willing Mind, and from thence taken 

 ashore, in the mi 1st of the cheers of the spectators, by a boat's 

 crew of American sailors. The expedition set sail on Thursday, 

 the 6th. It was understood that the first message was to be 

 the following, from Queen Victoria to President Buchanan : — ■ 



