Captain Hall’s Remarks on the Utility of Chain- Cables. 321 
Some practical details may perhaps interest you. It is trouble- 
some to use a chain-cable in water above twenty or twenty -five 
fathoms in depth ; for its weight, added to that of the anchor, 
makes it sometimes a difficult affair, and always a tedious one, to 
heave it up. Some years ago, when I was inexperienced in the use 
of the chain, I had occasion to anchor on a coral bank in the China 
seas, in about thirty-five fathoms water : not reflecting on the 
momentum which the chain would acquire in descending through 
such a space, I omitted the proper precautions, and the whole 
hundred fathoms in length were carried out of the hause-hole 
with increasing velocity, and $ furious noise, till at length, 
brought up by the clinch, when the jerk shook the ship from 
end to end ; the whole being the work of not many seconds, 
though causing a commotion truly astounding to all who like 
myself saw it for the first time. It employed us four hours hard 
work before we recovered our anchor. I have not seen any con- 
trivance in our ships for anchoring with the chain-cable in deep 
water ; but on board an American merchant vessel, I took no- 
tice of an ingenious device, which was said to answer perfectly, 
and if so, is well worthy of imitation. To the anchor was 
shackled in the usual way, a ten-fathom length of chain, to the 
end of which, by means of three tails, made of small chain, at- 
tached to a swivel-ring, was spliced a hempen bower-cable. The 
iron part of the cable, it was said, lay on the ground, and received 
the chafe without injury, while the regaining length was kept 
sufficiently tight to clear the rocks at the bottom. At first sight 
it might be imagined that hemp and iron would not do well to 
splice together, but experience in this case shews that it may 
be done without difficulty, and without injury to the softer ma- 
terial. 
This leads to the consideration of another valuable result of 
experience. When chain-cables were first introduced, it was 
supposed that a ship could not be moored by their means, unless 
two were used at once ; it being taken for granted that if a 
ship were moored with a chain and a hempen cable, and that 
the hause became foul (the technical term for the twisting of 
the two cables, caused by the ship’s swinging round in a tide’s 
way), the iron would speedily cut its companion through. Am- 
