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1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
284
The
time
for
departure
had
been
fixed
for
the
last
day
of
June,
and
so
admirable
had
been
the
arrangements,
and
such
the
diligence
of
all
concerned,
that
exactly
at
the
hour
of
noon,
she
loosened
from
her
moorings,
and
began
to
move.
It
was
well
that
she
had
not
on
board
her
whole
cargo;
for
as
it
was,
she
drew
nearly
thirty-two
feet.
Never
had
any
keel
pressed
so
deep
in
those
waters.
It
required
skilful
handling
to
get
her
safely
to
the
sea.
Gently
and
softly
she
floated
down,
over
bars
where
she
almost
grazed
the
sand,
where
but
a
few
inches
lifted
her
enormous
hull
above
the
river's
bed.
But
at
length
the
rising
tide
bears
her
safely
over,
and
she
is
afloat
in
the
deeper
waters
of
the
Channel.
At
first
the
sea
did
not
give
her
a
very
gracious
welcome.
The
wind
was
dead
ahead,
and
the
waves
dashed
furiously
against
her;
but
she
kept
steadily
on,
tossing
their
spray
on
high,
as
if
they
had
struck
against
the
rocks
of
Eddystone
lighthouse.
In
four
or
five
days
she
had
passed
down
the
Irish
coast,
and
was
quietly
anchored
in
the
harbor
at
Berehaven,
where
she
was
soon
joined
by
the
other
vessels
of
the
squadron.
The
Telegraph
fleet
was
not
the
same
as
that
of
the
last
year.
The
Government
could
spare
but
a
single
ship;
but
the
Terrible,
which
had
accompanied
the
Great
Eastern
on
the
former
expedition,
was
still
there
to
represent
the
majesty
of
England.
The
William
Corry,
a
vessel
of
two
thousand
tons,
bore
the
ponderous
shore
end,
which
was
to
be
laid
out
thirty
miles
from
the
Irish
coast,
while
the
Albany
and
the
Medway
were
ships
chartered
by
the
Company.
The
latter
carried
several
hundred
miles
of
the
last
year's
cable,
besides
one
of
heavier
proportions,
ninety
miles
long,
to
be
stretched
across
the
mouth
of
the
Gulf
of
St.
Lawrence.
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