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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
263
Now
began
a
work
of
which
there
had
been
no
example
in
the
annals
of
the
sea.
The
intrepid
Canning
declared
his
purpose
to
grapple
for
the
cable!
The
proposal
seemed
wild,
dictated
by
the
frenzy
of
despair.
Yet
he
had
fished
in
deep
waters
before.
He
had
laid
his
hand
on
the
bottom
of
the
Mediterranean,
but
that
was
a
shallow
lake
compared
with
the
depths
into
which
the
Atlantic
cable
had
descended.
The
ocean
is
here
two
and
a
half
miles
deep.
It
was
as
if
an
Alpine
hunter
stood
on
the
summit
of
Mont
Blanc
and
cast
a
line
into
the
vale
of
Chamouni.
Yet
who
shall
put
bounds
to
human
courage?
The
expedition
was
not
to
be
abandoned
without
a
trial
of
this
forlorn
hope.
There
were
on
board
some
five
miles
of
wire
rope,
intended
to
hold
the
cable
in
case
it
became
necessary
to
cut
it
and
lash
it
to
the
buoys,
to
save
it
from
being
lost
in
a
storm.
This
was
brought
on
deck
for
another
purpose.
"And
now
came
forth
the
grapnels,
two
five-armed
anchors,
with
flukes
sharply
curved
and
tapered
to
a
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."
These
huge
grappling-irons
were
firmly
shackled
to
the
end
of
the
rope,
and
brought
to
the
bows
and
thrown
overboard.
One
splash,
and
the
whole
has
disappeared
in
the
bosom
of
the
ocean.
Down
it
goes--deeper,
deeper,
deeper
still!
For
two
full
hours
it
continued
sinking
before
it
struck
the
earth,
and
like
a
pearl-diver,
began
searching
for
its
lost
treasure
on
the
bottom
of
the
sea.
What
did
it
find
there?
The
wrecks
of
ships
that
had
gone
down
a
hundred
years
ago,
with
dead
men's
bones
whitening
in
the
deep
sea
caves?
It
sought
for
something
more
precious
to
the
interest
of
civilization
than
gems
and
gold.
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