The Sun. — London, England, 1865-08-19 00:00:00

The Diary of the Atlantic Cable. The subjoined diary of events was written for the directors of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company by Dr. W. H. Russell : As our readers are aware, an earth cable on Mr. Varley's plan was laid from the telegraph station at Foilhunnuerum on Friday the 21st July, and on Saturday the 22d of July the thick shore-end of the Atlantic Cable was carried on shore from the Caro line over a bridge formed of 25 fishing yawls of the district. On the safe arrival of the terminal wire, brief addresses were delivered by Sir R. Peel, Chief Secretary for Ireland, and by the Knight of Kerry, which were received with enthusiasm. The Caro lineoreering out the cable in the track buoyed out by Lieut. White, in charge of the Coastguard of Valentia, dropped the end 26 miles W.N.W. off Valentia, at 10 30, and stood by the buoy at night. A despatch was sent to the Great Eastern in Bere haven. Although it was near midnight when the message was received, the Great Eastern got up steam and anchor with such diligence that her arri val, attended by her Majesty's ships Terrible and Sphinx, was signalled. Valentia harbour at 7 45 next morning. The weather was most favourable. The end of the main cable was next passed on board the Caroline from the Great Eastern. The terminus of the shore end was also hauled up and got on board, with the assistance of the boats of the men-of-war, and the operator of the company began the splice, which was subsequently subjected to rigid tests for some hours by the telegraphic staff, and found to be satisfactory. It was also ascertained that the insu lation end of the shore end had been greatly im proved by its immersion in the water. The Hawk, with Sir R. Peel, the Knight of Kerry, Lord John Hay, and a party of ladies and gentlemen on board, left Valentia harbour soon after 10 a.m., and came up with this flotilla about 1 o'clock. With some little difficulty they got on board the Great Eastern in several trips, and en joyed her almost terrestrial steadiness for some hours, but the ladies could not venture on the dan ger of embarking in the boats and boarding. At 4 50 p.m. the testing of the splice was finished, and the Great Eastern got in readiness for her course to the west. As she steamed slowly ahead, cheer after cheer were exchanged between her and the Terrible and Sphinx, and after " one cheer more," at 716 p.m. the first fathom of the cable glided slowly over the stern and sunk into the depths of the ocean. The evening was all that could be desired ; the pay ing-out machinery worked with the utmost ease and regularity, and after a while the speed of the vessel was increased from 2i to 3i, and ultimately to 6i miles an hour. All the while signalling with the shore gave the most gratifying results respecting the electrical condition of the cable. At 10 47 p.m., Greenwich time, 50 miles of cable had been paid out, and up to midnight the paying out proceeded without impediment, in calm weather, with favour ing wind and sea. Monday, July 24.—At 3 15 o'clock a.m., when 84 miles of cable had been paid out, the electrician engaged in signalling to the shore perceived an aberration of the index light, which showed some singular cause of disturbance in the current. After testing the cable for some time by signals to and from the land, it became apparent that there was "a fault," as it is technically termed. The ship was stopped, and a gun was fired from the Great Eastern a little before 4 a.m. to call the attention of the Ter rible and Sphinx. The paying out was discontinued, and the efforts of the staff of electricians were di rected to the discovery of the place where the fault had occurred ; but notwithstanding the perfection of the testing apparatus and the experience of the gentlemen engaged, a wide difference was exhibited in the results of various calculations. Some of the experimentalists thought the defect lay between the land and the seaward end of the shore cable, and others who inclined to the-contrary belief admitted that they could not determine within.the limits, even of conjecture, whereabout in the main cable the in jured portion lay. The regret and disappointment created by the sudden detection of a flaw in work pronounced by the best authorities to be so fault less were increased by the reflection that if the cable were liable to accidents of this kind after immersion in the sea no human skill, precaution, or knowledge could afford any guarantee for success. The insula tion of a wire subjected to the continuous scrutiny of the severest and most searching nature by the most accomplished men in the kingdom in their branch of science was rendered imperfect when the cable was for the first time called upon to stand a practical strain of the nature to which it was intended to be continuously subjected. A feel ing of gloom for some time spread over the ship, but the electricians worked away in their dark chamber with unflagging zeal. It was finally resolved by Mr. Canning to cut the cable, having first secured it to hawsers made fast to the bow and then to take it in till the fault was dis covered. It was cut at 950 a.m. The operation proved difficult and tedious, and when the end of the rote was hauled in over the bow, after a delay of two hours, and a drifting of some ten miles to leeward, it was found that the boiler intended to supply the engine for hauling in the cable could not keep up a sufficient head of stream to work the ma chinery-with effect. The strain varied from 22cwt. to 36cwt., and when the machine began to work the utmost care and nicety were needed to prevent the cable being subjected to injury as the ship rose and fell in the sea over the 400 fathoms of iron and copper wire which hungfrom its bow to the bottom. A mile an hour was regarded as an achievement, and at no time was the rate over a mile and a half an hour, while it now and then fell to a few fathoms. As the fault was supposed to be near the shore end, it may be imagined the prospect of nturning towards Ireland at such a pace was not regarded with plea sure. Meantime Mr. Saunders, one of the staff of electricians, who has devoted much time to the exa mination of the test currents, arrived at the convic tian, conjointly with Mr. Varley, that the injury was not more than 10 to 11 miles away, but he could not express it with certainty, or state any precise grounds for the deductions he made from his obser vations. All the time signals were transmitted be tween the ship and the land, but it appeared as if an impediment existed to a distinct understanding between gentlemen working at each end of the cable. In the evening Mr. Canning sent a message to Mr. Glass, the managing director at Valentia, to despatch the Hawk to the Great Eastern. Weather cloudy, but fine. Position, as far as could be ascertained, lat 52 deg. 2min. 30sec., long. 12deg. 17min. 30sec. Sphinx busy sounding all r ind, in d ept h s vary i ng from 400 to 480 fathoms. the course of the evening a message was re ceived from All.. Glass that the Hawk would start as soon as she had coaled the Caroline. The Terrible sent her First Lieutenant, Mr. Prowse, on board to see if she could render any assistance. The work of picking up the cable was continued very cautiously and slowly during the night. The dropping from the rope showed a coat ing of ooze of a greyish dun colour, in which it was asserted there were many microscopi c shells.and midnight six miles of cable had been ha the fault was still overboard. Tuesday, July 25.—At an early hour in the morn ing the Hawk was observed coming up from the eastward, and at 9 15 Greenwich time 91 miles of cable had been recovered from the deep. Fortu nately, wind and sea were low. The monster ship hanging over the cable seemed to take it up as deli cately as an elephant lifts a straw in its proboscis. At 9 45 a.m., when a little more than 10 miles of cable had been picked up, to the great joy of the ship, the fault came on board. The muse of all our trouble, anxiety, and delay was a piece of iron about two inches long, rather - crooked, and sharp at the end, as if cut off with a nipper from an end of wire, which had been forced right through the coating of the cable and the gutta percha till it came in con tact with the wire. There was a general impres sion that the mischief was the result of accident. A signal was made to the men-of-war that the fault had been found, and the Terrible signalled back, " I congratulate you." A disposition to cheer everybody prevailed at breakfast, and preparations for making a splice were at once commenced on deck. The splicings and jointings took some time to make and test, and meantime the Hawk returned to Valentia. At length the Great Eastern put her head to the west, and the cable, at 2 50 p.m., once T ore ran over her stern with satisfactory indica tions that insulation and communicaaort were per feet. At three o'clock, when somewhat more than 14- mile of cable had dropped slowly over, the shore end became mute, to the consternation of the operators. Not a signal ! not a sign ! The news spread from end to end of the vast ship. Faces a moment before radiant became suddenly as dark as night. Heads were shaken in wise despon dency and gloomy forebodings ; anxious groups gathered near the test-house and watched the coun tenances of the officials, who went in and out as though they were arbiters of fate, the minutes accu mulated into an hour, and the cable still remained dumb. At 315 p.m. the cable between the tanks was again cut, and an examination was made of the end of the various wires to ascertain whether there might not be some mistake in the communications. Once more preparations were made to transfer the end of the cable from the stern to the bow, and to recommence the dreary work of our iron Penelope taking up the single thread. Tests for fore and main tanks were found to work satisfactorily, but the sea ward cable lay in sullen silence. Even Mr. Cyrus Field in that sad hour may be supposed to have given way to an apprehension that the dream of his life was a chimera. But while the aching eyes of wearied and worn watchers were straining through the darkness of the little chamber in which was the apparatus, the faint light which had so long vanished from the index began to steal like a ghost across its prescribed track. Was it deception ? Again the pale ray moved on. Yes ; there could be no doubt of it .now ; for the index light talks a lan guage here all can understand. All our fears are groundless. The signals increased in strength. Mr. De Sautz came out joyously and called Professor Thompson to witness the grateful phenomena. Mr. Canning was sent for to the bow, where he was preparing the picking up apparatus. The ex change of currents between ship and shore be came strong and regular, as if they were only a few miles apart. Once more the Terrible and Sphinx, long in much perplexity, because of the fresh delay, were apprised of the good news. At 4 15 p.m. communication is reported " All right," the ship proceeds on her course through the night at the rate of 6to 6 knots an hour till after midnight, when the wind and sea rose a little, and it was con sidered prudent to diminish speed to five knots an hour. It is impossible to determine the cause of this extraordinary detention and error, but an impression prevailed on board the ship that the cause must exist in the station on shore. Our position at noon, lat. 51 58 N., long. 12 11 W. ; distance from Valentia 68i miles ; cable paid out, 741 miles. Wednesday, July 26.—A1l during last night the cable was paid out uninterruptedly, and at 8 a.m. the good ship was 150 miles from Valentia. The loss of cable paid out was 7.68 miles per 100, making a total distance of cable laid of 1611 miles, including shore end. The morning was hazy, and the wind from the N.W., with rising sea, but the Great Eastern did not feel it more than a Thames steamer does a rough swell in Chelsea reach, while the Terrible, on our port quartar, was thumping through it with. ' unmistakable vivacity, and now and then buried her figure-head in the crest of a wave which flew in foam over her forecastle. The Sphinx, ,busily en gaged in taking soundings, was away on our star board quarter, having rather a harder time of it, and as the wind increased she dropped further astern till she was more than hull down. At noon our course was W.N.W. W., with the wind strong on port bow, thick all round with drizzling mist. Our position was lat. 52 18 N. long 15 10 W. ; our distance from Valentia 180 miles ; length of cable paid out just 192 miles. At 1 45, Terrible signalled we were going too fast for Sphinx, but the cable was running out so beautifully that it was not thought advisable to relax our speed. Three hours later the Terrible, which had sent down topgallant masts, signalled to a similar effect, but the Great Eastern did not relax her rate of going, re specting which there was some diversity of opinion as the log showed far less than the actual length of cable in the miles run of every hour from the drums. The inconvenience of leaving the Sphinx so far astern was experienced by the Great Eastern when she needed soundings, for the Terrible had no sounding machine on board. It must be remembered that for deep sea soundings, in such depths as we were now in, a special apparatus is required, and that the or dinary leads and lines used on board men-of-war could merely penetrate the upper waters of the val ley over which the Great Eastern was passing at the rate of six miles an hour, trailing out the cable, which flew with admirable regularity, Still, miles away, it touched ooze 2,000 fathoms down. The wind came round to N.W., and in the night the ship's course was altered N.W. by IV. and IW. As the cable was paid out in deep water, the insulation improved, and the transmission of signals to and from the shore which went on incessantly as usual gave the most excellent indications. It may be readily imagined that, under such circumstances, the spirits of all on board rose, even though the wind and sea rose too. At dusk the Terrible drew up close abreast of us working both boilers, and the hull of the Sphinx ap peared above the horizon astern of us. Thursday, July 27.—1 n the night the wind came round a little. The ship's course was N. V. by W. and W. The sea was scarcely felt by the Great Eastern, but still high and adverse enough to cause the elec tricians who had been on board the Niagara to remark that the operation of paying out cable from her would not have been practicable under the same circumstances. At 8.30 a.m. the total distance run was 302 miles ; from the last splice, 235 miles, showing an average speed of 5.87 miles an hour of cable paid out ; total loss of cable in direc tion from straight line, 9.32 per cent. ; on the whole distance, 8.3 per cent. The cable continued to run with the most perfect regularity in a depth of 2,000 fathoms, striking the water at a distance of 213 ft. from the stern. As confident hopes were now entertained that the after tank would be emptied by Sunday the apparatus for paying out the cable from the fore tank was prepared, and the framework of the runners and channel fitted on deck over the tank. At noon the results of observations gave the ship's position lat. 52 34 N., long. 19 1 W. ; distance run since yesterday 142 miles, whole distance from Valentia 320 miles. The Terrible, with both boilers going and topgallant masts down, kept on our port beam, the Sphinx, which when last seen had sent down topmasts, made no mark on the horizon, and doubts were expressed whether she could run on to her rendezvous if the wind lasted, as probably her coals would be exhausted. Friday, July 28.—A1l during the night the work went on smoothly, the insulation increasing. Course N.W. 1 W., wind W.N.W. At 7 o'clock a.m. we had run 119 miles, paddle working 6.75, and screw 27.35 revolutions. Sky clear. Sphinx not visible. Terrible on port beam. At noon, lat., 52 45 N., long., 23 18 4 W. ; distance run, 155 miles ; distance from Heart's Content, 1,188.6 miles. Cable run ning out at the rate of seven miles an hour ; total number of revolutions of paying-out machine at 8 30, 152.900, equal to 476.6 miles, giving 176.73 ' miles delivered since yesterday. At noon 531.57 nautical miles of cable had been paid out in water varying from 1,529 to 1,950 fathoms, our distance from Valentia being 476 miles. The Terrible was signalled to prevent any vessel crossing the course of the ca bl e astern. She steamed round on our star board q uar t er, and remained throughout the day. Saturday, J u l y won 2 9.—Happy is the nation which has got n o history! When morning came, it seemed as if th e d ay pass with all the monotony of successful progress. The p away, the donkey - engines travailed, gear worked an swered from end t o end, deep called to tests shore replied agai n , an d , indeed, in t o he shore, and which gave a delightful la nguor to men's sameness thoughts, it was some excitement to conje c t ure why the Ter rible had vanished clean out of sight during the night, although she came up sturdily again in the morning, and took up her station on our starboard quarter. All through the 12 hours, from midnight to neon, the cable glided at somewhat more than its usual rate, the ship going from 6 to 61 kcots an hour on its course with the same north-westerly breeze a-head, keeping up the draught in our boil ers. The day was grey and misty, but we were be ginning already to talk of lotteries about the time of arrival in Heart Content, and to indicate our easy confidence that the present was a fair gauge of the future. In the night we had passed over 2,400 fathoms deep, and at 9 a.m. were in 2,000 fathoms only. At noon our position was lat. 52 38 30 N., L long. 27 40 W.; distance from Valentia, 636 miles ; cable paid out, 707 ; distance to ruu, 1,028 miles. About ten minutes past 1 o'clock, ship's time, there was a slight commotion and excitement in the neigh bourhood of the testing-room, and soon afterwards, with great quickness indeed, the engines were stopped, and the ship ceased to move. Up swarmed at the ominous quiet all the lazy life of the floating city, and buzzed about the deck. And soon the cause was known; this time no "fault"—far worse, "dead earth," total and complete destruction to the insulated channel, so that its subtle current rushed from some gaping wound into the sea, and was lost in the great reservoir, never to be heard of more. At 3h:3m. 305., Greenwich time, the operator in the testing-room, who was watching the passage of a current, saw the light on the index sundenly fly beyond the limits, there being just 716.4 miles of cable out, and the tests up to the very instant being most satisfactory. The electricians were at once in consultation, but the nature of the injury was so manifest that there could be no doubt as to the only course to be pur sued. Still, in order to make assurance doubly sure, it was resolved before the saddest and slowest of all retrogressive operations, " picking up," was resorted to, to make decisive cuts in the cable, while the steam was got up in the engines forward, so as to be in readiness in case of need. On the first cut a test was passed through the whole length of the cable, and the result gave " dead earth" not far overboard. The cable was then cut at the bottom of the after tank and gave the same result. A third time the cable was cut at the top of the after tank, and the test confirmed the preceding indications. Then, while the cable ran out with a strain varying from 8 cwt. to 19 cwt., the necessary steps were I taken to secure the end of the cable to the wire ropes and slip it overboard, so that it might be brought in over the bows, and secured to the pick ' ing up machine, and with trouble and hazard and care, which cannot be imagined by one who has not witnessed the operation, wound up again from the bed of the Atlantic. The apparatus of stoppers, bights, and slips seems crude and full of dangerous contingencies, but the experienced gentlemen on board were more confident than the sailors, and certainly were more sanguine than the uninitiated who gazed over the stern with wonder and alarm at the feeble-looking black thread at which the Great Eastern seemed tugging with all her giant might at every swell of the sea. For there, while the ship was drifting, the cable was running out still, the strain at one time rising to 24 cwt., which caused it to - hiss through the water with an edge of foam, and when the end was let go and length after length of wire rope disappeared after it, and a crowd of men hanging over the sides, climb ing among boats and ladders, and hauling in haw sers to clear the sides, shouted and clamOured, though obedient to command ; when fouls and hitches oc curred, in spite of Mr. Halpin's incessant exertions, it required all one's faith in the skill of Captain Anderson in guiding his great ship, and in the ac tivity, experience, and judgment of Mr. Canning, to inspire a ray of hope that the end of that cable would ever be seen on deck again. But at last the Great Eastern began to tug away at the wire rope from the bow, and the excitement of the day was transferred to the other end of the ship. To shorten a long story, it may be at once stated that at 5 deg. 40 min., Greenwich time, owing to great caution and skill in managing the ship and machinery, and per haps to a sea of unusual calm, the end of the cable was hauled in over the bow, and the picking up ma chinery began to work it back again. The strain on the cable was indicated at times to be 2 tons ; but it came up easily whenever the machinery was provided with proper steam power. At 11.15 p.m., Greenwich time, the portion of the cable where the mischief existed was got on board, and preparations made for a new joint and splice and for the transfer of the cable to the paying -out machine. These de fects in the cable began to excite grave suspicions, and to disquiet men's minds considerably. Sunday, July 30.—The weather was exceedingly thick, but it was a dead calm, and when the splice and joint were made Mr. Canning considered it advis able to wait for a gleam of daylight before he began the paying out of the cable again. On the first at tempt to transfer the cable from the bow to the stern it flew off the bow drum, and before it could be stopped it was jammed in the machinery and subjected to such injury that it was found necessary to cut away a considerable portion and make two new joints and splices. At length, at 10.8 a.m., Greenwich time, and 8.10 ship's time, the cable was running out over the stern, in a supposed depth of 2,000 fathoms. The sight and sound of the machinery, thus restored to active functions, after 19 hours of dreary rest, were most grateful to all on board, and, when Captain Anderson came down to breakfast, after an ordeal from six o'clock yesterday morning, we all experienced a sensation of relief. For, indeed, the danger of losing the cable by a moment's neglect or an instantaneous accident was felt rather than openly expressed. As Captain Anderson, on whom the difficulty of the task of laying the cable, made a considerable im pression, observed, "one felt so powerless and could do so little" while the Great Ship and the thin cable were adjusting their mutual relations all through the long dark night, and care-weighted morning. When we began to pay out there were but 133 miles left in the after tank, and it was a matter of calculation that at our preient rate. the coil there would be exhausted in the course of the ensuing night, and the coil in the fore tank would commence running out. The insulation tests showed a high degree of excellence (1,500,000,000 B. A. units). At noon, ship's time, our position was lat. 52 deg. 30 min., long. 28 deg. 17 min. ; distance from Valentia, 650 miles ; cable paid out, 745 miles. Divine service was postponed till 2.30 p.m., in order to give some time for officers and men to rest. All through the day and night the ship maintained her average rate, and the cable ran on with delightful monotony; .wind, light, nearly ahead; course, N.W. by W. ; sea smooth; weather, hazy and cold ; tem perature of water, 54.0. The Sphinx supposed to have come up and passed us in the night. The Terrible at her post on our starboard quarter. Monday, July 31.—At 3 a.m. the screw engines were stopped, and at 3.30, ship's time, the paddles were slowed in order to allow the last coil of the after tank to run out, and the operation of paying out to be transferred to the fore tank. Not the slightest difficulty was experienced in the matter,and at ten minutes to 3 a.m., or a little before 5 a.m., Greenwich time, the Great Eastern steamed ahead, loWering the cable at a decreased rate of speed. At noon the distance run was 798 miles ; the cable paid out 903, the tests showing a great improvement, so as to elevate the standard of the cable very much above the quality specified in the contract. In lat. 52.9, long. 31.53 an examination was now made of the portion of cable in which the " dead earth" was known to exist by a series of exhausted electrical tests. Slowly, but surely, the defective portion of the cable was reached and cut out. A very painful discovery was then made. An incision was visible in one strand of the hemp covering the external wire, and on unravelling the strands so as to expose the insulated core, a piece of broken iron wire was found driven through the gutta percha covering so as to project beyond it on each side to the extent of the diameter of the cable ; one end was sharp as if cut with a nipper, the other was broken off abruptly, and the diameter on the gauge on being applied corresponded with that of the wire covering the cable. It was impossible to resist the irritating and sorrowful conviction that such an injury was the work of some hired cable assassin, or some purposeless malefactor. Mr. Canning showed the cable and the stab to the, cablemen, who admitted that the mischief could not have occurred acciden tally, and those who were in the tank when the cable was unpaid being of the same gang as that which was on duty when the other piece of wire was forced into the cable, were transferred to other duties on deck. The gentlemen on board the ship formed a corps of supervisors, who undertook to watch in the tank, turn about ; and the men employed gave their ac quiescence. A dead calm prevailed nearly the whole of the day ; the waters were unbroken even by the gentlest ripple. Tuesday, Aug. I.—We have passed the fatal spot where lie buried all that remains of the Atlantic Cable. The ship's position at noon, lat. 51 52 30, long. 36 3 30, distance from Valentia 948 miles , 717 from Heart's Content ; cable paid out, 1 ,081 miles. Dur- THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 19 1865, ing the day nothing whatever occurred to interrupt the uniform progressof the operation. It is supposed that the Great Eastern was in soundings of between 1,795 and 2,250 fathoms. 'The weather, although overcast and grey, was favourable. The wind from the N.W., altering to S.W. ; the ship's course N.W. by W. P t . W. ; the Terrible in her usual position. Expectations entertained of seeing land on Saturday morning. Wednesday, Aug. 2.—A sad and memorable day in the annals of Atlantictelegraphy. After midnight the wind rose, accompanied by heavy showers of rain and dense drifts of fog, and increased to a strong gale to the S.W., but the ship scarcely felt it, and went on paying out cable, without let or hindrance, at a high rate of speed—seven knots an hour. About daybreak the wind suddenly shifted to N.N.W. and fell to a light breeze, and at 4 a.m. the course was altered to N.W. by W. W., the sea falling. Morn ing broke beautifully, and the cable ran out easily, at the rate of 7 miles an hour. At 5 35 a.m., ship's time, the paddles were reversed, by orders from the electrician's room. In fact, at 8 a.m., Greenwich time, or a minute after, while the electricians were passing the first of the half-hourly series of cur rents to the shore, the galvanometer detected a flaw of electricity which indicated a serious fault. The tests gave no result as to locality, for the fault was very varying, but it was generally be lieved to be not far from the stern of the ship. While Mr. Cyrus Field was on watch in the tank, a little before the time of the accident, a grating noise was audible as the cable flew over the coil. One of the experienced hands immediately said, " There is a piece of wire," and called to the look-out man above to pass the information aft, but no notice ap pears to have been taken for some time of the cir cumstance. After the ship had been stopped, and the remainder of the flake in which the fault was supposed to have occurred had been paid out, a piece of wire was seen projecting out of the cable in the flake, and on one of the men taking it in his fingers and trying to bend it down, the wire broke short off. It was nearly three inches long, and evidently of hard, ill-tempered metal, which had flown out through the strands of the cable in the tank. The fault in the cable which had gone overboard might obviously have been caused by such a piece of wire, and there could be no doubt that the wire of the outer covering of the cable was capable of inflicting injury on the gutta percha it was intended to pro tect. The discovery was in some measure a relief to men's minds, because it showed that one certainly, and the second possibly, of the previous faults might have been the results of similar accident. It was remarked, however, that this fault occurred on the same watch as all the previous misfortunes had oc curred. As the fault was too serious to be over looked, and as there was a difficulty in detecting its situation, preparations were made to get the pick ing -up apparatus ready. Previous to doing so two cuts were made in the cable, the first near the old splice, between the main and the fore tank (cable all right) ; the second cut three miles inboard, which showed the fault to be in that portion of the cable which was overboard. The wire rope and the chain were now secured to the cable forward, which showed a maximum strain of 23kcwt., and at 9 55 Greenwich time, the cable was severed and went over the stern, 1,186 miles hav ing been paid out when the end splashed into the water. With less difficulty than usual—in fact with comparative facility—the cable was hauled in over the bows at 10 8 a.m. Greenwich time. The strain in it according to the dynamo meter, was from 50 to 55 cwt., although the latter figures represented the maximum only reached on one occasion. We were nearly in 2,000 fathoms of water, but it was considered a favourable circum stance that we had not got a few miles further, as we should have then been in the very deepest part of the Atlantic plateau. As far as could be ascer tained, the ship was now over a gentle elevation, on the top of which there was only 1,950 fathoms of water. The picking up was, as usual, exceedingly tedious, and one hour and 46 minutes elapsed before one mile was got on board, then one of the engine's eccentric gear got out of order, so that a man had to stand by with a handspike aided by a wedge of wood and an elastic band to aid the wretched engine. Next the supply of steam failed, and when the steam was got up it was found that there was not water enough in the boilers, and so the picking up ceased altogether for some time, during which the ship forged ahead and chafed against the cable. Let the reader turn his face towards a window, and imagine that he is standing on the bows of the Great Eastern, and then of course on his right will be the starboard, on his left the port side of the ship. In front, fixed in the bows, is a large V-wheel, as it is technically termed, with a smaller wheel of the same kind on the same axis at each side, on which the cable is drawn as it is pulled up from the sea by the picking-up apparatus, and thence is wound under the dynamometer and drum-wheels till it has passed the breaks and is coiled down aft in safety. There are at the bows of the Great Eastern too large hawsepipes, the irom rims of which project nearly a foot beyond the line of the stem. After two miles of cable had been picked up the Great Eastern was forced to forego the use of her engines because her steam failed, while her vast broadside was ex posed to the wind, which was drifting her to the reader's left-hand side, till by degrees an oblique strain was brought to bear on the cable, which came up from the sea to the bows on the right side, Against one of the hawsepipes the cable now caught on the left-hand side, while the ship kept moving to the left, and thus chafed and strained the cable greatly against the bow, for now it was held by this projection, and did not drag from the V-wheel. The Great Eastern could not go astern lest the cable should be snapped, and without motion some way there is no power of steerage. At this critical mo ment, too, the wind shifted, so as to render it more difficult to keep the head of the shij up to the cable. As the cable then chafed so much that in two places damage was done to it, a shackle chain and a wire rope belonging to one of the buoys were passed down the bow over the cable and secured in a bight below the hawsepipes. These were hauled so as to bring the cable, which had been caught on the left hand side by the hawsepipes, round to the right hand side of the bow, the ship still drifting to the left, while the cable, now drawn directly up from the sea to the V-wheel, was straining obliquely from the right with the shackle and rope attached to it. It was necessary to do this instead of veering away, as we were near the end of the cut of cable. The cable and the wire rope together were now coming in over the bows in the groove in the larger wheel, the eabla being wound upon a drum behind by the machinery, which was once more in motion, and the wire rope being taken in round the capstan. But the rope and cable, as I have tried to explain, were not coming up in a right line, but were being hauled in with a great strain on them at an angle from the right hand side, so that they did not work directly in the V in the wheel. Still, up they came. The strain was shown on the dynamometer to be very high, but not near breaking-point. At last up came the cable and wire rope shackling together on the V-wheel in the bow. They were wound round on it slowly, and were passing over the wheel together, the first damaged part being inboard, when a jar was given to the dyna mometer, which flew up from 60cwt., the highest point marked, with a sudden jerk 3f inches. In fact, the chain shackle and wire rope clambered, as it were, up out of the groove on the right hand side of theV of the wheel, got on the top of the rim of the V-wheel, and rushed down with a crash on the smaller wheel, giving, no doubt, a severe shock to the cable, to which it was attached. The machinery was still in motion, the cable and the rope travelled aft together, one towards the capstan, the other to wards the drum, when, just as the cable reached the dynamometer, it parted, 30 feet from the bow, and with one bound leaped, as it were, over and flashed into the sea. It is not possible for any words to por tray the dismay with which the sight was witnessed and the news heard. It was enough to move one to tears, and when a man came aft with the inner end still lashed to the chain, and one saw the tortured strands, torn wires, and lacerated core, it is no ex aggeration to say that a strange of feeling pity, as though for some sentient creature mutilated and dragged asunder by brutal force, passed through the hearts of the spectators. But of what avail was sen timental abstraction, when instant, strenuous action was demanded? Alas, action! There, around, spread the placid Atlantic, smiling in the sun, and not a dimple to show where lay so many hopes buried. But there was no blank despair, and if any felt de spondency they suppressed the expression of it, while by far the greatest number of those on board were actually animated, not by the loss itself, but by the accidental nature of the occurrence, to indulge in sanguine expectations of ultimate suc cess. Captain Moriarity was just coming to the foot of the companion to put up his daily statement of the ship's position, having had excellent observa tions, when the news came. " I fear," he said, " we shall not feel much interest now in knowing how far we are from Heart's Content." However, it was something to know, though it was little com fort, that we had at noon run precisely 116.4 miles since yesterday, that 1,186 miles of cable had been paid out, that we were 1,062.4 miles from Valentia, 606.6 miles from Heart's Content, that we were in lat. 51 deg. 25 min., long. 39 deg. .6 min., our course being 76 S. and 25 W. The Terrible was signalled "The cable has parted," and was requested to bear down to us, which she did, and came-to off our port beam. After a brief consideration Mr. Canning, whose presence of mind and self-possession never left him, came to the reso lution—all but egregious folly as it seemed—to seek for the cable in the bottom of the Atlantic, and to get out his grapnels and drop down on it and pick it up again. Although all utterance of hope was suppressed, and no word of confidence escaped the lips, the mocking shadows of both were treasured in some quiet nook of the fancy. And now came forth the grapnels, two five-armed anchors, with flukes sharply curved and tapering to an oblique, tooth-like end—the hooks with which the giant Despair was going to fish from the Great Eastern for a take worth, with all its belongings, more than a million. The ship stood away to southwards some 13 or 14 miles from the spot where the accident occurred, and then lay to in smooth water, with the Terrible in company. The grapnels, weighing 3 cwt., shackled and secured to a length of wire buoy rope, of which there were five miles on board (break ing strain calculated at 10 tons) were brought up to the bows, and at 3.20 (ship's time) were thrown over and "whistled through" the sea a prey to for tune. At first the iron sank but slowly, but soon the momentum of descent increased so as to lay great stress on the picking-up machinery, now available to lowering the novel messenger we were sending down armed with warrant of search for the fugitive hidden in mysterious caverns beneath. Length flew after length over cog-wheel and drum, till the iron wires, warming with work, heated at last so as to convert the water thrown upon the machinery into clouds of steam. The time passed heavily indeed, all life had died out in the vessel, and no noise was heard except the dull grating of the wire cable over the wheels at the bows. The ocean was indeed insatiable. " More" and " More," cried the daughter of horse-leech from the black night of waters, and still the rope descended. 1,000 fathoms, 1,500 fathoms, 2,000 fathoms, hundreds again mounting up, till at last, at 5 6 p.m. thestrain was diminished, and at 2,500 fathoms, or 15,000 feet, the grapnel reached the bed of the Atlantic and set to its task of finding and holding the cable. Where that lay was of course beyond human know ledge, but as the ship drifted down across its course there was just a sort of head-shaking surmise that the grapnel might catch it, that the ship might feel it, that the iron rope might be brought up again, and that the cable if across it might—here was the most hazardous hitch of all—come up without breaking. But 2,500 fathoms ! Alas ! And so in the darkness of the night, not more gloomy than her errand, the Great Eastern, having cleared away one of the cable buoys and got it over her buoys,was left as a sport to the wind, and drifted at the rate of 70 feet a minute down upon the imaginary line beneath which the cable had sunk to useless rest. At 10 30 p.m. the strain on the line was 80 cwt., which diminished to 50 cwt. before mid night. August 3.—Throughout the night drove the Great Eastern over the Atlantic, dragging in her course the grapnels and two miles and a half length of line with which she was fishing for the lost cable. When morning came, and when she was supposed to have gone beyond the track of her prey. several miles, the watchers of the line, who had once before dawn been joyously agitated by the news that the grapnels were holding, and, as it proved, deceived, prepared to haul in the wire rope and seek their fortune. At 6 40 a.m., Greenwich time, the pick ing-up machine, reinforced by the capstan, even tually was set to work to haul up the line, which bears a strain of 10 tons. At first it came up easily, and the dynamometer showed only a strain of 18 cwt., but the resistance of the r ope ra pidly increased till it reached a point indicated by 70 cwt. At 7 15 a.m. 100 fathoms had been recovered. At 7 25 200 fathoms, the strain increasing to 75 cwt. At $ a.m. 300 fathoms were in, and it became evident to all on board that the grapnel was holding on and lifting " something" from the bottom ; and what could that " something" be but the cable ? The scientific men calculated the strain, and determined it could not be from the wire rope and grapnel solely, and it could only* be inferred then that—as the bottom of the Atlantic is free from rocks here, and as the depth at which the rope began to resist agreed with the supposed soundings —it had really grappled the prize. At 8 9 the spur-wheel of the pick ing-up apparatus broke, and the operation of taking in the rope became dangerous as well as difficult, for it flew up at times with such force as to knock down those near it, and one of the most valuable of Mr. Canning's staff received a se vere cut on the cheek, and another had an ugly injury inflicted on his face from that cause. The weather, which had been very thick and hazy, now settled down into a dense fog, and we lost sight of the Terrible; but the conviction that the cable was once more attached to the Great Eastern, no matter how precariously, and no matter how far off, afforded too much matter for congratulation, conjecture, and suspense to allow much room for other thought. There was a chance just a chance— that the cable might be dragged up from the deep, and every 100 fathom of hawser handed in over the bows was joy ously recorded and marked as an additional step in the march of the forlorn hope. The hawser toiled and pulled, and struck out from the bows as if it were towed by some giant force underneath. When 500 fathoms were in board the most sceptical ad mitted the cable must be on the iron hooks, and anxiety and suspense rose higher just as the proba bility of recovering the cable became less wild; but at 3 20, ship's time, all our fears and hopes were abruptly ended. The drum flew around rapidly, the tail of the rope flourished in the air as it flew inboard,. and with a light splash the other end dived into the Atlantic. One of the iron swivels had yielded to the strain ! The rope used for the grapnel was divided into lengths of 100 fathoms, each having a shackle at the end, with a heavy iron swivel. The head of the bolt of one of these had been drawn right through the iron collar as 700 fathoms had been secured. Not a moment was lost in deciding what measure to pursue. There was wire rope enough left to make another attempt to save the cable. On starting, at 1 30 p.m., ship's time, the Great Eastern fired a gun to warn the Terrible she was moving; and after some time a thud through the fog made us aware that the Terrible had heard the signal. The Great Eastern blew fog horns and steam whistles, and fired more guns as she steamed away, and, after a time, it was thought we had lost our sole but rather distant companion. No observation could be had, and our position was matter of surmise, but when the Great Eastern had made her 15 miles or so, her engines were stopped, and she lay to for the night in a smooth sea. Friday, August 4.—Drifting ! By no means exciting, but still necessary, as we had no other means of getting at the very unrecognisable locality whore we were to begin operations. The sea was calm, and as, we had no other observations yesterday a line was patched up to take sound ings, and bottom was touched at 2,300 fathoms. But of what the bottom was composed there was no means of judging, for the line broke in hauling up after 300 fathoms had been got on deck. The Terrible found us out early in the forenoon ; one of her boats, after a pill of some two miles, came up with Lieutenant Prowse to know what we were doing, and what we intended to do. The one was mote easily told than the other ; but as a general result he was informed we meant to "keep pegging away" as long as we had tackle left. Atnoon an observation was snatched at, which gave lat. 5134 30, long. 37 64, showing that we had drifted 34 miles, which, with 12 miles steamed, made 46 miles to the east from our positionwhen the cable parted. It was resolved to place a buoy, with two miles and a-half of the cable itself attached to a mushroom anchor, a few miles west of the spot whore we grappled the cable yes terday. After a long uneventful day, the Great Eastern arrived at the place estimated, dropped the buoy,which has a red flag above a black ball fastened to the staff, and anchor, and steered off again at 10 p.m., Greenwich time, so as to drop across the cable next morning ; but a thick fog impeded us. Saturday, August s.—Another night of drifting in fog, looking out for our buoy this morning; the weather so thick we could see neither sun nor horizon. In the fore noon the only break in the monotony of floating on this dull Atlantic, which looked like a slate-coloured cloud, was afforded by a shoal of porpoises and grampuses, which found us too slow for their tastes, and soon abandoned us for some lively timber ship. After midday the haze lifted, and there lay the Terrible, near the horizon, on our port beam. At 230 she signalled to us that the buoy was three miles distant, and gave us bearings. The Great Eastern steamed up and passed the buoy at 3 45. She signalled to the Terrible to remain by the buoy during the night, and then steamed N.W. by N. for six miles, intending to drift and put down the grapnel if the wind changed, but again she was enveloped in fog, and floated away towards the east to a point S.E. of the cable 10 or 12 miles. Sunday, August 6.—A night of fog and drizzling rain was followed by a morning and day of very little better weathei% The Terrible was seen early in the morning, through a break in the pall of thick grey clouds which floated over the water, but was lost sight sight of in a short time, and, of course, the buoy was invisible, There have been no good observations now for three days, and we can only guess where we are. The sea remained exceedingly calm, and we drifted along so steadily that it was difficult for one in the saloon to believe he was afloat on the Atlantic. The fog whistle sounded its dismal warnings continually throughout the day. At 10 45 a.m., church ; at noon, Staff Commander Moriarty deduced a latitude and longitude from his experience, and from many calculations and devices to make up for the absence of a sun and the horizon. At 4 o'clock p.m. the buoy supposed to be some 15 miles of us N.W. W., the wind being E.S.E. It thus appears we have been drifting against the wind. Therefore people say, " The Gulf Stream," and explain everything. Night coming on, we lay to in fog as before, and contented ourselves with hoping better things for the future. Monday, August 7.—The weather was thick in the night, but cleared away towards four am., and the Ter rible soon after daybreak was visible near the buoy, from which we had drifted twelve miles. Signal was made to inquire if we were going to grapple for the cable, to which the Great Eastern answered in the affirmative, and the ships then exchanged latitudes and longitudes. At 8 30 a.m. the Great Eastern passed the buoy and steered N.W., so as to get veering room for the grapnel and for drifting down the course of the cable. At 10 40 a.m. the Terrible being distant about 12 miles, the Great Eastern was stopped, and at 11 10 ship's time, 1 47 p.m. Greenwich time, the grapnel with 2,500 fathoms of cable was hove over. So much was the machinery improved, that the grapnel was only half the time in reaching the bottom, and at 12 5 the diminution of the strain on the dynamome ter showed that it was resting on the ooze. The day turned out most favourable, a steady breeze drifting the ship towards the cable at the rate of a mile an hour, broadside on. At noon excellent observations were taken, which put our position at lat. 51 deg. 27 rain., long. 38 deg. 42 min. For several hours the grapnel dragged the bottom without obstruction ; the dynamometer indicated a varying resistance to its progress. At 615 the strain in creased from 45 cwt. to 48 cwt., and soon began to rise steadily towards 55 cwt., and thence to 60 cwt. Presently the anxious eyes which were fixed on the compass and on the head of the Great Eastern observed a very slight ten dency in her head to come round to the wind. It was slow —very slow indeed. The ship seemed loth to notice the influence to which she was becoming plainly subjected, disdaining the feeble clue which solicited her attention to the labyrinth of cable beneath, but in an hour and a half she came round from E. by S. S. to E. f N. The strain grew greater every moment. There could be no longer any doubt ; the cable was caught again. Here was a triumph o f seamanship and perseverance. The ship's head was brought round to the wind by the screw, and the capstan engine was set to work to aid the new machinery of the picking-up gear to haul up the cable. At 749 p.m. ship's time (10 30 Greenwich time) the strain ran up to 60:cwt. At 8 p.m. the ill-fated machi nery broke down at the bow, and a slight delay occurred, but the main part of the work being transferred to the capstan, the rope was steadily hauled in at the rate of 150 fathoms per hour. At 11 30, ship's time, 300 fathoms were in, and the dynamometer showed a steady strain of 62 cwt. to 66 cwt. A lovely moonlight and a calm sea and favour ing breeze increased the pleasure with which all not en gaged in duty retired to rest and to be thankful for the bright anticipations for to-morrow. In the words of our signal to the Terrible, we were " going on hopefully." Tuesday, August B.—Skill, seamanship, perseverance have failed. Our hopes appeared so near their fruition that the disappointment is doubly severe. By the utmost care and constant watchfulness Capt. Anderson and Staff Com mander Moriarty picked up the buoy, as described, and drifted across and caught the cable yesterday. There could be no doubt about it. Between 5 and 6 a.m. the dynamo meter rose from 82cwt. to 85cwt., and thence to 87cw t., and it was calculated that the grapnel with the cable was then rising from the bottom. At 7.30 a.m. there was a strong expression of confidence in our success and great gladness on board. The one-mile mark was hauled in, and we had demonstrated the fact that a ship could pick up a cable in 2,500 fathoms of water, and pull it one mile from the bottom. The cable was now suspended 1,500 fathoms, or one mile and a half below us in ocean. We had sig nalled the good news to the Terrible. In an instant more, while our flags were still flying, all was over. One of the shackles and swivels which join each length of wire rope to the other had come over the bow, had passed over the drum, and was in the third round of rope taken in by the capstan, when the head of the swivel pin gave way, and quick as lightning, the end flourishing the iron shackle like a mailed fist in the air right and left, ag if menacing with death the hardy enemy who. dared stand in its despe rate way, glanced aloft and leaped exultingly into the sea to join the cable and the 1,500 fathoms of wire rope which still hung from the grapnel. Now all these shackles and swivels had been examined minutely before they were put over, and every care taken to prevent the recurrence of accident which had already frustrated our exertions. The work was of Brown, Lennox, and Co.—no better names. The strain not near that put down as the breaking point, and yet there was the painful result. The news was sig nalled to the Terrible, and her answer had not long been flown when her boat put off with Lieut. Prowso to learn what course we were about to pursue. At 9.50 a second buoy, secured on a raft and casks, was lowered, about ten miles W. of buoy No. 1, where the rope broke, with 2,500 fathoms of telegoaph cable moored to a broken spar wheel. It carries a black ball at the end of a staff, and below the ball floats a flag, red, white, and red, in three horizontal bars. The buoy is marked in white letters on, red ground, " Telegraph No. 3 ;" it floats low, and has been let go as close as possible to the spot where the grapnel rope sank. If these buoys do not break adrift they will be of great service when a renewed attempt is made to lift the cable. Lieutenant Prowse told us that on Sunday morn ing the Terrible saw a schooner lying to by the first buoy, and on ranging alongside was hailed by the master, whose name I do not know, to inquire if she was looking for the buoy. The honest sailor had come up with it, and though the wind was fair for him, he resolved to do what he could to aid the work, and so lay to till the Terrible was at hand. He expressed a lively regret when he was told that the cable had parted, and lam glad that the name of the little vessel is known at all events. Success to the First Fruits, of Bridport, and, may she reach Harbour Grace in safety. After some deliberation with Mr. Gooch, Captain Anderson, and others, Mr. Canning decided on making another at tempt to grapple the cable, and orders were givento have all wire rope and hawser fit for the purpose in readiness. Lieut. Prowse returned to the Terrible to communicate the re sult, and Mr. Clifford and his staff prepared for the last effort. To obviate the evils which had arisen from the picking-up machinery failing, a casing is to be put round the capstan to increase its diameter by 4ft., and each shackle and swivel of the wire rope will be removed and replaced by a new system of bolts. The Great Eastern and Terrible kept by the buoy till five o'clock, when the increasing wind and sea rendered it expedient for them to keep their heads to the W.N.W., and up to midnight both vessels, in tolerably close company, steamed W.N.W. in half a gale of wind, which the Great Eastern met without the smallest inconvenience. August 9.—During the night a strong breeze,which even sailors called a summer gale, blew from the W.N.W., and raised a heavy sea which set the Great Eastern rolling a little, and caused the production of " fiddles" on the saloon tables at lunch time, as a precautionary measure to check the play of plates and dishes. The rolls wore very stately and regular—one to eleven seconds or thereabouts. Of course it was impossible to keep near the buoy under such circumstances, and at 6 p.m. it was calculated we had run 35 miles. At that hour the ship's course was altered so as to let her bear down on the buoy, and she steered nearly N.N.E. towards the Terrible, which was in sight, lying to, so as to give rise to the hope that she was hanging as near our missing sea-mark as was prudent. At noon our posi tion was lat. 51 29 30, long. 39 6. The Terrible, in reply to our signals, said she did not see the buoy, but believed it to be S.S.E. of her. At 12 30 the Great Eastern was abreast of the Terrible and altered her course to S. by E. E., and both ships, with look-out men in the tops, renewed their scrutiny of the heaving waters at some distance apart. It was r difficult and exciting chase. At a mile distant the buoy was but a' . speck on the ocean. Currents and gales had been driving the vessels about all night. The buoy might have been carried away in the heavy sea which was run ning. Again, at about 8 30 ship's time, the Terrible and Great Eastern came near enough to exchange signals. 44 H a ve you seen the buoy ?" asked the latter • the answer was "No," and then followed more signals as to mutual position. Capt. Anderson and Staff-Commander Moriarty scarcely differed half a mile in their respective results, although the ship had been steering several courses and short distances on each. It was positive at last that if the buoy floated at its moorings we were not further than three or four miles from it. In reply to another signal the Great Eastern informed the Terrible that she was going to grapple for the cable again. .Sud denly the much sought for flagstaff of the buoy was dis covered from the Great Eastern, and as her flags were going aloft to announce the fact to the Terrible a signal from the latter was going up to communicate her discovery of it and its position to the Great Eastern. At 340 p.m. the Great Eastern was abreast of the buoy, slowed her engines, and put her helm to starboard in order to stay as close to it as possible. Our missing friend had evidently passed a bad night, and had pulled his flag so tight round his staff that not a vestige of it was visible except the red bars. The Terrible came up and kept on our port beam, so as to watch the buoy at the other side. Towar=ds even ing the wind moderated very much, and the sea gradually ran itself down. The work of preparation went on busily, and at night the decks were lighted up with forge fires and quivered under the blows of sledges as anvils rang and iron glowed for the work of to-morrow. Our hopes are rising ! Thursday, Aug. 10.—It was almost a dead calm part of the night, but a slight breeze which sprang up did not suffice to counteract the effect of a strong current which set the Great Eastern six or seven miles to eastward be tween 9 p.m., of the 9th of August and 4 a.m., this morn ing. Soon after dawn we came down on buoy No. 1, which guided us to buoy No. 2, and for some time both of them were in sight from the dock; but the ship bore away gradu ally to the N.W., so as to get a good offing to drift down on the line of cable. At 10 30 a.m. Greenwich time the grapnel touched the bottom, and the Great Eastern, with fore and aft canvass and topsail set, slowly drifted and forged ahead for a point about a mile west of the last grapple. The strain on the grapnel-line varied from 40 to 50 cwt., and the ship's head showed a disposition to come to the north. Sail was eased, but she soon came away again, and proceeded to drift southwards, and westwards. Her head varied from W. and by N. to N.W. and by N., the buoy bearing S.E. At 1 p.m. the strain rose to 60 cwt., and the Great Eastern came three points to the north, but the check was momentary, and at 3 p.m. it was plain she had drifted over the spot and had failed to catch the cable. The only thing to be done was to take up the grapnel and re new the attempt to recover the cable next day. All the afternoon and all the evening the anxious, but monotonous labour of dragging in the grapnel taxed the energies of the engineers and cablemen, but at midnight 1,400 fathoms were safely coiled on board the ship. Friday, Aug. 11.—The longrotruggle is over at last, or rather it is suspended. No one accepts the result as a final and conclusive defeat. But there are no means left of con tinuing the contest, and the passive resistance of the enemy has for the moment triumphed. At 520 a.m. the grapnel was hauled up on deck, andit was discovered that the chain to which the shank was attached had taken a half hitch round one of the flukes,. so as to have prevented the instru ment catching on the bottom. It appeared from the length of wire rope covered with ooze that there was not more than 1,950 fathoms when it was down. A host of amateurs more or less scientific, scraped out the sand and bottled it with assiduity. It appeared like liquid putty in colour, and such imperfect microscopes as were on board failed to show any organic substance in it. A grapnel with a shorter stock was selected for the next trial. All the damaged rope was rejected and repaired, as far as the means at the disposal of Mr. Canning permitted. A line consisting of 1,600 fathoms of wire rope, 220 fathoms of hemp rope, and 510 fathoms of Manilla was prepared, and carefully examined, of which 1,760 fathoms were pronounced good, the rest being rather suspicious. At 7 25 a.m. the Great Eastern was alongside No. 2 buoy, the Terrible in company and hauling from N.E to S.E. At 11 30 the Great Eastern signalled Terrible "We are going to make a final effort," and then—" We are sorry you have had such uncomfortable waiting." The ship's head being W. by S., and the buoy No. 2 bearing E. by N. about two miles, the grapnel was let go at 160 p.m. Greenwich time. The wind being S.W. would drift the Great Eastern to N.E., right across the cable, and fore and aft canvas was set to overcome the current. The grapnel soon touched the bottom, as the new machinery enabled the men to pay out the rope at the rate of 50 fathoms a minute. For some time the ship drifted onwards, but at 3.50 p.m. ship's time the strain on the rope rose to 60 cwt. as it came in over the bows easily, by the new capstan im provements. The ship's head varied from W.N.W. to W. by S., and as the rope came in the screw was set gently to work at times to keep it to the wind, which had increased somewhat, accompanied by showers of rain. The dyna mometer index rose higher and higher, till it reached 80 cwt., and once, as a shackle came through the machinery, flew up to 106 cwt. It was a certainty that the Atlantic cable had been caught for the third time, and was fast held in the grapnel coming up from its oozy bed. Is there need to say that the alternations of hope and fear which agitated all on board reached their climax ? There was an intensity of quiet excitement among us, such as men feel when they await some supreme decree. Some remained below, others refused to go forward, where the least jar in the machinery put their hearts in their mouths; others walked in the sa loon or upon the after deck abstractedly. In the bows Capt. Anderson, Mr. Canning, Mr. Clifford, and their men toiled on, and thence came constant signals through an acoustic tube and whistle to the bridge to go ahead with the screw or to stop, as the strain on the dynamometer indi cated. I had come up from dinner, leaving many at table, and was walking forward from the bridge, when I heard the whistle blow, and a cry of "Stop it" from the bow. Capt. Moriarty had just come up from below with the in formation that we must certainly have gone over the cable, but the commotion in the bow, and exclamations of grief and regret told us our last bolt had been sped. At 9.40 p.m., Greenwich time, just as 765 fathoms had been got in, a shackle on the hemp hawser passed through the machinery, and in a moment afterwards the rope parted near the capstan, and flew over the bow with a whistling sound like the rush of a round shot. In all the crowd of labourers not one was touched, because the men held on to their stoppers, and kept the end straight, but the danger appeared so' great that with the shout "It is gone" mingled the eager demand from Mr. Canning and others, who rushed to the bow, is any one hurt ? None. But there lay beneath us, once more buried under coils of rope and wire, to which had just been added 1,750 fathoms more. Signal was at once made to the Terrible, orders were given to get up steam, and all haste made to return from the disastrous spot which will bear no monument of such solicitous energy ! such noble toil ! such ill-requited labour ! The buoys which mark the place where so much went down will soon be waifs and strays in the storm seas of autumn, and nothing will be left of the expedition but entries in log-books, lat. 51 deg. 24 min., long. 38 deg. 5 9 min., end of cable N. 50 deg. W. lf miles, and such memo ries who have bravo fights with adverse fortune, and are encouraged to persevere, in the sure conviction that the good. work will be accomplished in the end. The boat of the Terrible, with Lieut. Prowse, bearing our letters to America, has just left the lee of the Great Eastern in a stormy sea The flash of the gun which lighted up the darkness for the moment from her decks to recall the boat, and the glare of a blue light over the waters which the pinnace burned as she neared the heaving hull, render the gloom which follows all more heavy. There is great silence on board the vast ship as she turns moodily to wards the east, as if yearning to pursue her course, and bows her head to the angry sea in admission of defeat. The signal flashes from the "Farewell," oar answering lights pierce the night, "Goodbye. Thank you,' , and then parting in mid-sea each speeds on her course. The Great Eastern, freed frog the trailing cable, and favoured by & strong breeze, makes nearly nine miles an hour, and marks with broadest wake that ever traced its snowy path on the ocean her way to the eastward. rAnvEunsEmENT.] Holloway's Fills. Weakening Weather.—The sultry summer days strain the nerves of the feeble and decrepit, and this state eventuates in disease unless some restorative such as these purifying pills W found to correct the disordering tendency. Holloway's medicine gives ease to the nervous system, which is the source of all vital movements, and presides over every ac tion which maintains the growth and well-being of the body. No one can over-estimate the necessity of keeping the nerves well strung, and the ease with which these pills accomplish that end. They are the most unfailing anti dotes to indigestion, irregular circulation, palpitation, sick headache, and costiveness that were ever invented, and in p co u n ta s t e i q o u n rce have attained the largest sale and highest re- Births. BARCLA.Y.—On the 16th inst., at 23A, Bruton-street, the wife of Dr. Barclay, of a daughter. BONUS.—On the 17th inst., at Croydon, Mrs. Charles Writ. Bonus, of a son. LOVELL.—On the 17th inst., at Lewisham, the wife of IL P. Lovell, Esq., of a son. VERSCHOYLE.—On the 16th inst., at 23, Chapel-street, Bel grave-square, the wif e o f Lieut.-Colonel Verschoylet Grenadier Guards, of a daughter. Marriages. FINCH—FLADGATE.—On the 17th inst., at Saint Peter's/ Eaton - square, Georg e Fi nc h , Esq., second son of the late Charles Finch, Esq., of Staines, to Helen Charlotte, Of , second daugnter of W. 11. Fladgate, Esq., of 64, Eaton square. HARRISON— SAUNDERS.—On the 17th inst., at Wickham , Hants, Edward Slater Harrison, E sq ., on l y son of lift• and Lady Louisa Slater Harrison, of Shelswell-parkt Oxon, to Cecilia, daughter of the late Colonel and Lady Maria Saunderson, of Northbrook House, Hants. Deaths. --- BRODIE.—On the 11th inst., at 1, Melville-crescent, Edin" burgh, John Brodie, Esq., W.S. BOOSEY.—On tho 17th inst, at 62, Bedford-gardens, Sens' ington, Alice, wife of Edward C. Boosey, aged 35. COOPEIL—On the 16th inst., at Dickleburgh House, tllO Rev. Robert Cooper, vicar of Rushall, Norfolk, aged 66 . KITE.—On the 18th inst., at Keswick, the Rev. F. R. /Cit e, M.A., incumbent of Trinity Church, Cloudesley-squar e ' Islington, aged 43. NASH.—On the 17th inst., suddenly, at Denmark-roa d, Camberwell, Elizabeth, widow of the late Geo. Na. 9l3 ' Esq., of Gillingham, Kent, aged 81. RENOUP.—On the 16th inst., Mr. John Renouf, High Bail of Basingstoke, and only so n of the lat e C ap t a i n Charles Renouf, of St. Helier's, Jersey, aged 72. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANL/R.l%Ni' of No. 112, Strand, Painter, at Tur. Susi Office, No Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the, CoLuti G - Illiddlesex.--Saturday, August 19, 1565.