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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
53
It
is
indeed
marvellous
how
little
was
known,
up
to
a
very
recent
date,
of
the
true
character
of
the
ocean.
Navigators
had
often
tried
to
find
out
how
deep
it
was.
When
lying
becalmed
on
a
tranquil
sea,
they
had
amused
themselves
by
letting
down
a
long
line,
weighted
with
a
cannon-ball,
to
see
if
they
could
touch
bottom.
But
the
results
were
very
uncertain.
Sometimes
the
line
ran
out
for
miles
and
miles,
but
whether
it
was
all
the
while
descending,
or
was
swayed
hither
and
thither
by
mighty
under-currents,
could
not
be
known.
But
this
true
character
of
the
ocean
it
was
necessary
to
determine,
before
it
could
be
possible
to
pass
the
gulf
of
the
Atlantic.
What
was
there
on
the
bottom
of
the
sea,
where
the
cable
was
to
find
its
resting
place?
Was
that
ocean-bed
a
wide
level
plain,
or
had
it
been
heaved
up
by
volcanic
forces
into
a
hundred
mountain-peaks,
with
many
a
gorge
and
precipice
between?
Such
was
the
character
of
a
part
of
the
basin
of
the
ocean.
Here
and
there,
all
over
the
globe,
are
islands,
like
the
Peak
of
Teneriffe,
thrown
up
in
some
fierce
bursting
of
the
crust
of
our
planet,
that
shoot
up
in
tremendous
cliffs
from
the
sea.
Who
shall
say
that
the
same
cliffs
do
not
shoot
down
below
the
waves
a
thousand
fathoms
deep?
And
might
there
not
be
such
islands,
which
did
not
show
their
heads
above
the
surface,
lying
in
the
track
between
Europe
and
America:
or
perchance
a
succession
of
mountain
ranges,
over
which
the
cable
would
have
to
be
stretched,
and
where
hanging
from
the
heights
it
would
swing
with
the
tide,
till
at
last
it
snapped
and
fell
into
the
abyss
below?
Such
at
least
were
possible
dangers
to
be
encountered;
and
it
was
not
safe
to
advance
a
step
till
the
basin
of
the
North
Atlantic
was
explored.
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