The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-22 00:00:00

/77

4, 6\ ?;..:7A
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tires would hardly interfere, f _ t/14:4"i . _
,pre_ ; fair order, yet it would e‘fttfitk_ir t.,/ •
•
the cable a short way off th
)shoareA water. He also stated IA-litik_
wie;:cheilly had,,—quite stinktng. r,jjn
Cothmencing with a cast of 78 fatli&ms,•olltain
of Cossieic and about one Mile from the breikers,
;1--Ahapeti &clouts; thinking it would certainly lead
us on a ling of less than 100 fathoms, in cona-
l_pliance with their Lordships' directions ; but found
that °Alessi steered among theshoals; thereby risk-
the safety of the ship, it could not be dortr, and
:thepilot became soalarmed, fancying that I i ntended
d i.nd s 9, as to with•to have no more charge. "And
had I g pelrerithe shore there would have been
tit? probability t,f finding a rocky 136ittom, ;for I
have al :rays founcl“even wi'eu in a greater depth,
while passing weir shoals or rocky patches; that
the bottom was•af Such a nature ; and, 'in' fact,
although the lino I h.:re run looks a long'irai owe
side all reef, it Apppark.d to me that we were, very
much closer to thorn thau our Erarings gave.-on the
chart. I was using Moresby's large scale; not
being furnished with any other than a gOneral •
chart of the Reel Sea. • • . •

k
"Shadwan was rdundel very much shore of a
mile; yet we got, a depth `of ;372 "fathoms,, ioc
bait ,m, and through the wraits ofJoleal it was the
same on the -lino we ran, but it may po,_,sibly be
that a little more to the right a sof- er bottom may
be got. After getting into the shoal water,
nog th of Juleal Island, the, soundings up to Suez
,gre d pretty well with those shown on Moresby's
chart.
"Drawing a conclusion from this:line of sound-
ings, and from the depth got in crossing the sea, I
do think -we, can carry the line further south on
this coast in a less depth than 400 fathoms;) and
supp sing the crossing plac3- to Jiddah is either
from Eba Cape cr R.s Roway we -know not the
depth we may _there find; again, between Ras
Benas nod Elba Cape there are many shoal patches
wh•cli no ship could venture to gO inside of ; be-
suies, it appears to me that the coast is not S 3 wt-11
known as that north of Jiddah, and, moreover, the
natives are said to be treachero us, should it be
, neces-
_-10.-
.:.n.ry to land ; but, as it Fd desirable to lay down
the wire in seta ,i-thiirk a better route might
poiiil3l,.!-be'fourid a:co:go:round Ras Ma*hornefi and
even .make.that a sta.A;.,- ....,

across in the dir.-ction to 14 Toi a „an ence down
t
as close outside the reefs as. possible, 'where the
bottom may be soft. Wedge appears to me to be
ti good place fur a station, having good water, and
supplies easily obtained. • It is spoken of favour-
al ly in the Directory ; and I also got from Mr.
Page, who has frequently visited it in passage 3 up
and down the sea iu native boats, a good account.
Or the line
,might be taken at once from 'Ras
Mahomed over to the Arabian shore, through' the
deep water, to outside the shoals, tl;ence dOwn as
nen to theta as possible to Jiddah. At all events,
I .hink it right not to calculate throughout ou a
less depth than 400 f %thorns.
" And, in conclusion, I beg to observe that I
tbiok no place can be better adapted for hying a
ttlevaph cable than the Red Sea ; there certainly
is the choice of routes, ani throughout, on either
slr)re, aSoft bed may be got. The water is clt'ep,
though not more so, or even so much, as where
-ttier cables have been laid, except, perhaps, in
the middle ; and all we know of that yet is crr-
tsiuly of a native to oauee no injury. In the
vacant spots within the entrtnc" &,!., I shquid
hardly imrgine thtt very great depth would be
found.—l Lave, &c.,
" W. J. J. PULLEN, Captain.
" To the Secretary of the Admiralty, London,"

The folloß i g letter is written in reply to the
above :-

NEW .1 PER