The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

The whole squadron was now assembled, and made gallant array. There were present in the little harbor of Valentia seven ships--the stately Niagara, which was to lay the half of the cable from Ireland, and her consort, the Susquehanna, riding by her side; while floating the flag of England, were the Agamemnon, which was appointed to lay the cable on the American side, and her consort, the Leopard. Beside these high-decked ships of war, the steamer Advice had come round to give, not merely advice but lusty help in landing the cable at Valentia; and the little steamer Willing Mind, with a zeal worthy of her name, was flying back and forth between ship and shore, lending a hand wherever there was work to be done; and the Cyclops, under the experienced command of Captain Dayman, who had made the deep-sea soundings across the Atlantic only the month before, here joined the squadron to lead the way across the deep. This made five English ships, with but two American; but to keep up our part, there were two more steamers on the other side of the sea, the Arctic, under Lieutenant Berryman, and the Company's steamer Victoria, to watch for the coming of the fleet off the coast of Newfoundland, and help in landing the cable on the shores of the New World. It was now Tuesday evening, the fourth of August, too late to undertake the landing that night, but preparations were at once begun for it the next morning. Said the correspondent of the Liverpool Post: