Part 20 (1/2)
The ”fishi+ng-tackle” is on a gigantic scale The ”hooks,” or grapnels, are huge weapons ared into this sub-line” is a rope six and a half inches round, and alvanized wires, each bound witha strain of thirty tons Of this heavy rope there are twentyfive, and the Great Eastern and the Medway seven and a halfin the world to handle such a rope But it is paid out by ine works so smoothly, that it runs out as easily as ever a fisheroes out freely, the strain increases every ht mounts up very fast, so that by the time it is two thousand fathoms down, the strain is equal to six or seven tons The tension of course is very great, and not unattended with danger What if the rope should break? If it should snap on board, it would go into the sea like a cannon-shot Such was the tension on the long line, that once when the splice between the grapnel-rope and the buoy-rope ”drew,” the end passed along the wheels with terrific velocity, and flying in the air over the bow, plunged into the sea But the rope is well ht It takes about two hours for the grapnel to reach the bottom, but they can tell when it strikes The strain eases up, and then, as the shi+p drifts, it is easy to see that it is not dragging through the water, but over the ground ”I often went to the bow,” says Mr Field, ”and sat on the rope, and could tell by the quiver that the grapnel was dragging on the botto line set, the great shi+p rapnel drags on the bottoineer's staff stands at the dyna strain A few hours pass, and the index rises to eight, ten, or twelve tons, sure token that there is so at the end of the line--it ment of a wreck that went down in a storine is set in motion to haul in As the rope comes up, it passes over a five-foot dru up three fathoth, perhaps at last to find nothing at the end!
Success in hooking the cable depends on the accuracy of their observations These were sohts were very dark and thick with fog, so that they could not see the stars above nor their lights on the ocean, they had to go al Yet so exactly had they taken their bearings, that they could alular proof of this was given one night, when, just as the line began to quiver, showing that the cable had been hooked, one of the buoys--which had not been seen in the darkness--thuainst the side of the shi+p
So exactly had it been placed over the prescribed line, that the shi+p struck the buoy just as the grapnel struck the cable! The accident, which startled theht, furnished the strongest proof of the accuracy of their observations; and the officers were very proud of it, as they well ht be, as a victory in nautical astronomy!
These different experiments revealed soenerally ooze, a soft slime When the rope went down, one or two hundred fathoms at the end would trail on the sea floor; and when it came up, this was found coated with mud, ”very fine and soft like putty, and full of minute shells” But it was not _all_ ooze at the bottoraphic plateau There were hidden rocks--perhaps not cliffs and ledges, but at least scattered boulders, lying on that hty plain Soo up three or four tons, and then back again, as if the grapnel had been caught and broken away Once it came up with two of its hooks bent, as if it had coht up in the mud a sranite
Friday, August 17th, was a meht, but brought to the surface, where it was in full sight of the whole shi+p, and yet finally escaped The day before the line had been cast over, at about two o'clock, and struck the ground a little before five After dragging a couple of hours, the increasing strain showed that they had grappled the prize, and they began to haul in, but soon ceased, and held on till ain, and slowly but steadily the ponderous rope ca, twenty-three hundred fathoms had come on board, and but fifteen or twenty reiving a last pull Such was the eagerness of all, that the diver of the shi+p, Clark, begged to be allowed to plunge doenty fathoms, to lay his hand on the prize, and be sure that it was there But patience yet a few ine, and the sea-serpent shows hi black snake with a white belly ”On the appearance of the cable,” says Deane, in his Diary of the Expedition, ”ere all struck with the fact that one half of it was covered with ooze, staining it a muddy white, while the other half was in just the state in which it left the tank, with its tarred surface and strands unchanged, which showed that it lay in the sand only half eave it a twist, and it looked as if it had been painted spirally black and white This disposes of the oft-repeated assertion, that we should not be able to pull it up from the bottom, because it would be embedded in the ooze”
The appearance of the cable woke a trelish sailors are apt to cheer when the flag of an enemy is struck in battle But their exultation ca up to a dangerous point Capt
Anderson and Mr Canning were standing on the bow, and saw that the strands were going They hastened men to its relief, but it was too late Before they could put stoppers on it to hold it, it broke close to the grapnel, and sunk to the bottoone Instantly the feeling of exultation was turned to one of disappointe, at the treacherous monster, that lifted up its snaky head from the sea, as if to mock its captors, and instantly dived to the silence and darkness below
It was a cruel disappointment Yet when they came to think soberly, there was no cause for despair, but rather for new confidence and hope
They had proved what they could do But this detained them in the middle of the Atlantic for teeks more
It were idle to relate all the atteht its exciteht, there was a suspense of ht on board Several times they seemed on the point of success Two days after that fatal Friday, on Sunday, August 19th, they caught the cable again, and brought it up within a thousand fathoms of the shi+p, and buoyed it But Monday and Tuesday were too rough for work, and all their labor was in vain Thus it was a constant battle with the elements Sometimes the wind blew fiercely and drove them off their course Sometimes the buoys broke adrift and had to be pursued and taken Once or twice the boatswain's mate--a brave fellow, by the name of Thornton--was lowered in ropes over the bow of the shi+p and let down astride of a buoy; and though it spun round with hier, he held on and fastened a chain to it, by which it ung on board
The continued bad weather was the chief obstacle to success Engineers had often grappled for cables in the North Sea and the Mediterranean; but there they could look for at least a few days when the sea would be at rest; but in the Atlantic it was iood weather for twenty-four hours For nearly four weeks that they were at sea, they had hardly four days of clear sunshi+ne, without wind Often the ocean was covered with a driving iants, kept blowing their shrill fog-trunals to their companions that they were still there
Occasionally the sun shone out froave them hope of better success Once or te find in the private journal kept by Mr
Field, that it was ”too calh to drift the shi+p over the cable, so that the rope hung up and down froht he remembered, when the deep was hushed to a Sabbath stillness, theover a ”sea of glass,” that suggested thoughts of a better world than this Such tiht be disappointed on the morrow
Once, however, the Albany, which had been off a fewon its own hook, suddenly appeared in the night, reporting a victory All on board the Great Eastern were startled by the firing of guns It was a little aftersuspense and anxiety, when Captain Anderson cas that the cable was recovered! Both hurried on deck, and sure enough there was the Albany bearing down upon theallant Teht a fresh disappointht its end on board, and afterward buoyed it, but when the Great Eastern went for it, it proved to be only a frag, which had been broken off in one of the previous grapplings However, they hauled it in, and kept it with pride, as their first trophy from the sea
And so the days and weeks wore on; it was near the end of August, and still the prize was not taken The courage of theworn out The tension on their nerves of this long suspense was terrible On Tuesday, August 28th, Mr Teht on board fro Their resources, too,of the 29th, Captain Commerill, of the Terrible, came on board, and reported the condition of his shi+p He was one of the very best officers in the fleet, full of zeal, courage, and activity (having a good right hand in his first officer, Mr Curtis), and always kept up a brave heart, even in the darkest days[A] But his supplies were nearly exhausted He had been out four weeks, and his coal was alone, and his round for fresh supplies It was a painful necessity He mourned his fate, like a brave officer who is ordered away in the midst of a battle But he submitted only with a determination to take in ale Accordingly the Terrible left the sa for St John's
At the same time it was decided that the three other shi+ps should leave their present cruising ground, and try a new spot As an old fisherman, who has cast his line in one place so often as to scare the fish away, soo east a hundred miles, to a place where the ocean was not quite so deep
Deane, in his Diary, calls it ”the sixteen hundred fathom patch,” but they found it nineteen hundred fatho the Great Eastern, the Medway, and the Albany ”pulled up stakes,” that is, took in their buoys, and bore away to the east In a few hours they reached the appointed rendezvous, and had set their buoys The last day of August had come, and all seemed favorable for a final atteone down, so that at noon it was a dead calm, as the three shi+ps took their position in line, about two rapnel went over for _the thirtieth time_ Kind heaven favored its search, and at ten ht it had found the cable, and fastened its teeth never to let go Feeling soan to haul in, but slowly at first, as an expert angler decoys a big fish by pulling gently on the line Watching the dynaht the strain increase with every hundred fathoht it, and no mistake In about five hours they had drawn it up to within a thousand fatho suspended from the shi+p But now came the critical point, for as it approached the surface the danger of breaking increased everyTo make sure this time, the Great Eastern buoyed the cable, and ripe in a new place; and having got a double hold, the Medhich o rapple for it also; and having caught it, to heave up with all force, till she should bring it on board or break it This was done, and the old cable brought up within three hundred fathoave the a lighter weight on the rope, drew up again, but still gently, watching the strain, lest the cable should break These operations were very slow, and lasted ht on Friday night that the cable was caught, and it was afterthat day see to noon, and noon to night again, and still the as not done; still the great shi+p hung over the spot where its treasure was suspended in the deep The sun went down, and theclouds upon a scene such as the ocean never saw before At a distance could be discerned the black hulls of the attendant shi+ps, the Albany and the Medway But ere they thus silent and motionless in the ht them here, and as their boats approached with ht hour, it seemed as if they came with muffled oars to an ocean burial It was still calan to ht drew on, the interest gathered about the bows of the Great Eastern The bulwarks were croith anxious watchers, peering into the darkness below Still not a as spoken Not a voice was heard, save that of Captain Anderson, or Mr
Halpin, or Mr Canning, giving orders As it approached the surface, two men, ere tried hands, were lashed with ropes and lowered over the bows, to make fast to the cable when it should appear This was a perilous service, and the boats were there to pick up the brave fellows, if they should drop into the water As soon as it showed itself, they dived upon it, and seizing it with their hands, fastened it with large hempen stoppers, which were quickly attached to five-inch ropes
”It was then found, that the bight was so firrapnel, that one of the brave hands who put on the stoppers, was sent lower down to the grapnel, and with hammer and marlinspike, the rope was ultinal being given to haul up, the western end of the bight was cut with a saw, and grandly andbows of the Great Eastern, slowly passing round the sheave at the bow, and then over the wheels on to the fore part of the deck The greatest possible care had to be taken by Mr Canning and his assistants, to secure the cable by putting on stoppers, and to watch the progress of the grapnel, rope, and shackles, round the drum, before it received the cable itself”
When once it wasbreath The cable was recovered They had the sea-serpent at last There the ripe, and its black head lying on the deck But even then there was no cheering, as when they caught it teeks before Men are sometimes stunned by a sudden success, and hardly know if it be not all a dreaer eyes, but without a word, and some crept toward it to take it in their hands, to be sure that they were not deceived Yes--it was the same that they paid out into the sea thirteen months before!
But their anxiety was not over Now that they had regained the lost cable of 1865, was it good for any thing? It had been lying more than a year at the bottom of the deep What if it should prove to have been broken somewhere in the eleven hundred miles between the shi+p and Ireland? What if some sharp rock had worn it away, or some marine insect had eaten into its heart? If there were but a pin's point, anywhere in its covering of flesh, the vital current h it into the sea Fears like these restrained their exultation It was yet too soon to proclai the deck to the testing room, where the chief electrician was to operate upon it, to see whether it was alive or dead, it was followed by an anxious group, who stood around hi his countenance as friends watch the face of a physician, when he feels the pulse of a patient to see if the heart is still beating
The scene is thus described by Mr Robert Dudley, the artist of the expedition, whose spirited sketches in the London Illustrated News have e:
”I made my ith others, in accordance with an invitation frohby Smith, to the electricians' roo which time the cable had been carefully passed round the druth drawn in on board, the severed end was received And now, in their mysterious, darkened haunt, the wizards are ready to work their spells upon the ta Not 'unholy spells' are these, or secret; for, though the wizards' den is but of limited dimensions, they have not been averse to the presence of a few visitors Mr
Gooch is looking on; Professor Thomson, be sure, is here, a worthy 'Wizard of the North;' Cyrus Field could no , hard at work as he is forward in the shi+p, _must_ have dropped in just for a moment; Clifford, Laws, Captain Hareat interest in every hby Smith and his brother (and able assistant) Oliver; and, when the core of the cable is stripped and the heart itself--the conducting wire--fixed in the instrualvanoe froreat news has just been signalled, then the accusto of the chronometer becomes monotonous
Nearly a quarter of an hour has passed, and still no sign!