The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

But all things have an end; and this long gale at last blew itself out, and the weary ocean rocked itself to rest. Toward the last of the week the squadron got together at the appointed rendezvous in mid-ocean. As the ships came in sight, the angry sea went down; and on Friday, June twenty-fifth, just fifteen days from Plymouth, they were all together, as tranquil in the middle of the Atlantic as if in Plymouth Sound. "This evening the four vessels lay together, side by side, and there was such a stillness in the sea and air, as would have seemed remarkable in an inland lake; on the Atlantic, and after what we had all so lately witnessed, it seemed almost unnatural." The boats were out, and the officers were passing from ship to ship, telling their experiences of the voyage, and forming their plans for the morrow. Captains Aldham and Dayman said it was the worst weather they had ever experienced in the North-Atlantic. But it was the Agamemnon that suffered most. The rough sea had shaken not only the ship, but the cable in her. The upper part of the main coil had shifted, and become so twisted and tangled, that a hundred miles had to be got out and coiled in another part of the ship, so that it was not till the afternoon of Saturday, the twenty-sixth, that the splice was finally made, and the cable lowered to the bottom of the sea. The ships were then got under way, but had not gone three miles, before the cable broke, being caught in the machinery on board the Niagara. It was fortunate they had gone no farther. Both ships at once turned about and spliced again the same afternoon, and made a fresh start. Now all went well. The paying-out machines worked smoothly, and the cable ran off easily into the sea. Thus each ship had paid out about forty miles when suddenly the current ceased!