The Atlantic Telegraph Part 4

Several young gentlemen interested in engineering and science were accommodated with a pa.s.sage on board.

At noon on July 15th the Great Eastern, in charge of Mr. Moore, Trinity pilot, drawing 34 ft. 4 in. forward, and 28 ft. 6 in. aft, got up her anchor, and at midnight on July 16th was off the Lizard. On Monday, 17th, she came up with the screw steamer Caroline, freighted with 27 miles of the Irish sh.o.r.e end of the Cable, weighing 540 tons, and took her in tow. Then a gale set in, which gave occasion to the Great Eastern to show her fine qualities as a sea-boat when properly handled. Even those who were most prejudiced or most diffident, admitted that on that score no vessel could behave better. This trial gave every one, from Captain Anderson down, additional reason to be satisfied with the fitness of the great s.h.i.+p for the task on which she was engaged. Next day, Tuesday, July 18th, she encountered off the Irish coast a strong gale with high westerly sea, through which she ran at the rate of six knots an hour. The Caroline, which rolled so heavily and pitched so vigorously as to excite serious apprehensions, broke the tow rope in the course of the day, and ran for Valentia harbour, where she arrived safely, piloted by the Great Eastern; and the Great Eastern, pa.s.sing inside the Skelligs, stood in close to Valentia Lighthouse, and sent a boat ash.o.r.e to communicate. H.M.S. Terrible, Captain Napier, and H.M.S.

Sphinx, Captain V. Hamilton, were visible in the offing, having sailed at the end of the previous week from Queenstown for the rendezvous, outside Valentia. Captain Anderson having fired a gun to announce his arrival, steamed for Berehaven, in Bantry Bay, and anch.o.r.ed inside the island on Wednesday morning, July 19th, in 17 fathoms. Here the Great Eastern lay, preparing for her great errand--perhaps, as it may prove, her exclusive "mission,"--on Thursday, 20th, Friday, 21st, and Sat.u.r.day, 22nd July, whilst the Caroline was landing the sh.o.r.e end of the Cable in Foilhummerum Bay in Valentia. During her stay in Bantry Bay, many visitors, high and low, came on board the Great s.h.i.+p, but it was believed all over the country that she was going to Foilhummerum. The greater portion of those anxious to see her made the best of their way to that secluded spot, to which there was once more attached an interest of a civilised character; for, if country legends be true, there must have been some regard paid to Foilhummerum Bay by no less a person than Oliver Cromwell, testified yet by the grey walls of a ruined fort, and traces of a moat and outer wall, on the greensward above the point which forms the northern entrance to the lonely bay. This crisp greensward, glistening with salt, lies in a thin crust over the cliffs, which rise sheerly from the sea some three or four hundred feet; and for what Oliver Cromwell or any one else could have erected a fortalice thereon, may well baffle conjecture, unless the builder, having a far-reaching mind, saw the importance of watching the most westerly portion of Europe, or antic.i.p.ated the day when Valentia would be recognised as one of the landmarks created by the necessities of commercial and social existence. Taking advantage of the shelter afforded by a gradual descent inland of the soil, a few cabins have been placed by the natives--half-fishermen, half-husbandmen--Archytas-like, spanning land and sea, and making but poor subsistence from their efforts on both. The little bay, which is not much above a mile in length, contracts from a breadth of half so much, into a watery _cul-de-sac_, terminated by steep banks of shale, earth, and high cliff, furrowed by watercourses; and on the southernmost side it is locked in by the projecting ledges of rock forming the northern entrance to the Port Magee channel. It is so guarded from wind and sea, that on one side only is it open to their united action, but as the entrance looks nearly west, the full roll of the Atlantic may break in upon it when the wind is from that point; and indeed there is not wanting evidence that the wild ocean swell must tumble in there with frightful violence. Jagged fragments of masts and spars are wedged into the rocks immovably by the waves, and the cliffs are gnawed out by the restless teeth of the hungry water into deep caves. But then a sea from that point would run parallel with the line of the Cable, and would sweep along with and not athwart its course, so that the strands would not be driven to and fro and ground out against the bottom. Except for a couple of hundred feet near the sh.o.r.e at the top of this cove, indeed, the bottom is sandy, and the rocks inside the sand line were calculated to form a protection to the Cable, once deposited, as the greater part of its course lay through a channel which had been cleared of the boulders with the intention of rolling them back again at low water, to cover in the sh.o.r.e end. Lieutenant White, and the hardy and hard-working sailors of the Coastguard Station at Valentia, had been indefatigable in sounding and buoying out a channel from the beach clear out to sea, within which the Caroline was to drop the Cable. A few yards back from the cliff, at the head of the cove, the temporary Telegraph Station reared its proportions in imitation of a dwarf Brompton boiler--a building of wood much beslavered with tar and pitch, of exceeding plainness, and let us hope of corresponding utility.

Inside were many of the adjuncts of comfort, not to speak of telegraphic luxury, galvanometers, wires, batteries, magnets, Siemens's and B. A.

unit cases, and the like, as well as properties which gave the place a false air of campaigning. A pa.s.sage led from end to end, with rooms for living and sleeping in to the right and left, and an instrument room at the far extremity. Here, on a narrow platform, were the signal and speaking apparatus connected with the wires from the end of the Cable, which was secured inside the house. Outside the wires were carried by posts in the ordinary way to the station at Valentia, whence they were conveyed to Killarney, and placed in communication with the general Telegraphic system over the world. The Telegraphic staff and operators were lodged in primitive apartments like the sections of a Crimean hut, and did not possess any large personal facility for enjoying social intercourse with the outer world, although so much intelligence pa.s.sed through their fingers. But Foilhummerum may in time become a place with something more real than a future. If vessels from the westward do not like to make their number outside, there is nothing to prevent their running into Valentia for the purpose, at all events. On the plateau between the station and the cliff, day after day hundreds of the country people a.s.sembled, and remained watching with exemplary patience for the Big s.h.i.+p. They came from the mainland across Port Magee, or flocked in all kinds of boats from points along the coast, dressed in their best, and inclined to make the most of their holiday, and a few yachts came round from Cork and Bantry with less rustic visitors. Tents were soon improvised by the aid of sails, some cloths of canvas, and oars and boathooks, inside which bucolic refreshment could be obtained. Mighty pots of potatoes seethed over peat fires outside, and the reek from within came forth strongly suggestive of whisky and bacon. Flags fluttered--the Irish green, with harp, crown surmounted; Fitzgerald, green with its blazon of knight on horse rampant, and motto of "Malahar aboo"--faint suspicion of Stars and Stripes and Union Jack, and one temperance banner, audaciously mendacious, as it flaunted over John Barleycorn. Nor was music wanting. The fiddler and the piper had found out the island and the festive spot, and seated on a bank, played planxty and jig to a couple or two in the very limited circle formed in the soft earth by plastic feet or ponderous shoemasonry, around which, sitting and standing, was a dense crowd of spell-bound, delighted spectators. In the bay below danced the light canvas-covered canoe or coracle in which the native fishermen will face the mountain billows of the Atlantic when no other boat will venture forth; and large yawls filled with country people pa.s.sed to and fro, and the bright groupings of colour formed on the cliffs and on the waters by the red, scarlet, and green shawls of the women and girls, lighted up the scene wonderfully.

[Ill.u.s.tration: T. Picken, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley

London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

FOILHUMMERUM BAY, VALENCIA, LOOKING SEAWARDS FROM THE POINT AT WHICH THE CABLE REACHES THE Sh.o.r.e.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: T. Picken, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

THE CLIFFS FOILHUMMERUM BAY, POINT OF THE LANDING OF THE Sh.o.r.e END OF CABLE JULY 22ND.]

It would be gratifying if in such a primitive spot one could shut his eyes to the painful evidence that the vices of civilisation--if they be so--had crept in and lapt the souls of the people in dangerous pleasures. But it could not be denied that the spirit of gambling and gourmandise were there. Seated in a ditch, with a board on their knees, four men were playing "Spoil Five" with cards, for discrimination of which a special gift must have been required; but they were as silent, eager, and grave, as though they had been Union or Portland champions contesting last trick and rub. Near them was one who summoned mankind to tempt capricious Fortune by means of an iron skewer, rotating an axis above a piece of tarpaulin stretched on a rude table, which was enlivened by rays of vivid colour. At the end of each ray was an object of art--the guerdon of success--an old penknife, bra.s.s tobacco-box, tooth-comb, thimble, wooden nutmeg, or the like. A very scarecrow professor of legerdemain and knavery hid his pea, and challenged detection, and divided public attention with a wizard who presided over a wooden circle with a spinning needle in the centre to point to radii, at end of which were copper moneys deposited by the adventurers, who generally saw them whisked off into the magician's grimy pocket. An ancient woman, spinning, and guarding a basket of most atrabilious confectionery, and a stall garnished with b.u.t.tons and gingerbread, completed the attractions of Foilhummerum during this festive time.

The matter of wonder was, what the people flocked to see, for it must soon have been known the Great Eastern was not there. The Hawk and the Caroline, as they went into Valentia, did duty successfully for the Big s.h.i.+p, and the steam-yacht Alexandra, belonging to the Dublin Ballast Board, and H.M. tender Advice, created a sensation as they appeared in the offing on their way to the same rendezvous. All that related to the Cable and the laying of it possessed the utmost interest for the country people, simply because the Cable went westwards across the ocean to the home of their hopes. Many of the poor people believed that it would facilitate communications with their friends in the land to which their thoughts are for ever tending, remembering perhaps the words of Lord Carlisle when he told them of the advantages the Telegraphic Cable would confer upon them.

The village of Knightstown witnessed an unusual influx of visitors, and those whom the hospitable roof of Glenleam could not stretch its willing eaves over, found something more than shelter in the inn and in the comfortable houses which acted as its succursales on the occasion. But there was in the midst of all the pleasurable excitement of the moment a tinge of dissatisfaction, because the people had persuaded themselves that if they were not to see the Great Eastern in the harbour, they would at least have H.M.S.S. Terrible and Sphinx, and the satellites of the Leviathan in their anchorage, and all they beheld of the men of war was their smoke and faint outlines on the distant horizon.

The Terrible and Sphinx might have coaled in Valentia, and waited there for the arrival of the Great Eastern, of which they could have heard by telegraph, instead of towing colliers to Cork and going into Berehaven, where there is no telegraph. Now, as to this harbour, let it be admitted at once that its entrance is only 180 yards broad. But the "Narrows" of Valentia Harbour is like a very short neck to a bottle, and after less than a s.h.i.+p's length, the channel enlarges sufficiently to allow several vessels to sail abreast in water which is never rough enough to prevent the pa.s.sage of boats to Begennis or Renard Point. Indeed, Capt. Wolfe's report to the Hydrographer to the Admiralty expresses an opinion that the Needles' pa.s.sage is more intricate and dangerous. The Skelligs on one side and the Blasketts on the other mark the approach very distinctly. Inside, there is 600 acres, or more than a square mile, of harbour, with good holding ground, having a maximum of six furlongs and a minimum of three furlongs water.

The disappointment caused by the cautious indifference of the Terrible and Sphinx to the advantages of lying snugly inside Valentia Harbour was felt acutely. The Knight of Kerry, who has taken such an interest in the undertaking, and all the inhabitants, regarded it as a mark of distrust in the safety of the anchorage and in the facility of access to it, which was without any justification, and some ascribed it to less creditable influences and objects; but no one could believe that the officers in command of the s.h.i.+ps kept out at sea in such weather, wearying the crews and wasting coals, without direct orders, or that they would hesitate to run in, if left to themselves, as soon as it was evident the point of rendezvous ten miles from sh.o.r.e was not intended as a permanent station. The harbour had been visited by H.M.S.S. Stromboli, Hecate, Leopard, Cyclops, the U.S. frigate Susquehanna, and many large merchantmen, including the Carrier Dove, a vessel of 2,400 tons.

On July 19th a channel was made down the cliff to the beach for the sh.o.r.e end of the Cable, which was carried down in an outer case through a culvert of masonry, and deposited in a cut made as far into the sea as the state of the tide would admit. On the 21st an "earth" Cable, with a zinc earth, on Mr. Varley's plan, was carried out into the bay from the station, and safely deposited outside the channel marked for the Cable.

The Caroline went round from Valentia to Foilhummerum, and on July 22nd the sh.o.r.e end of the Cable was carried from her over a bridge formed of twenty-five yawls belonging to the district, amid great cheering, and hauled up the cliffs to the station. The safe arrival of the terminal wire in the building, in the presence of a large a.s.semblage, took place at 1245, Greenwich time, and as the day was fine, the scene, to which the fleet of boats in the bay gave unusual animation, was witnessed to the greatest advantage.

When the excitement caused by the landing of the Cable was abated, the Knight of Kerry was called on to speak to the people a.s.sembled outside the Instrument Room, and said:--"I feel that in the presence of so many who have taken an active and a useful part in this undertaking, it may seem almost presumptuous in me to open my mouth on this occasion; but from the very beginning I have felt an interest which I am sure the humblest person here has also felt in the success of this the greatest undertaking of modern times. I believe there never has been an undertaking in which, not to speak disparagingly of the commercial spirit and the great resources and strength of the land, that valuable spirit has been mixed up with so much that is of a higher nature, combining all the most n.o.ble sentiments of our minds, and the feelings intended for the most beneficial purpose, which are calculated to cement one great universe, I may say, with another. I do not think we should be quite silent when such an undertaking has been inaugurated. It has been discussed whether this ceremony should be opened with a prayer or not.

Whether that shall be done or not, I am sure there is not a person present who does not feel the utmost thankfulness to the Giver of all Good for having enabled those who have taken an active part in it to bring this great undertaking to what I am sure will have a happy issue.

I do not think anything could be fitly added to the sentiment of the first message which was conveyed, namely--'Glory to G.o.d in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.' I shall not detain you with another word, but will only ask you all to give the heartiest cheers for the success of the undertaking. I will also take the liberty of asking you, when you have done that, to give three cheers for a gentleman who has come here at great inconvenience, and has done us very great honour in doing so, and who deserves them, not only from his position and character, but also from the interest which he has always shown in this undertaking. I call upon you to give three hearty cheers for Sir Robert Peel."

[Ill.u.s.tration: G. McCulloch, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

FOILHUMMERUM BAY, VALENCIA FROM "CROMWELL FORT" THE CAROLINE AND BOATS LAYING THE EARTH WIRE JULY 21ST.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: T. Picken, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley

THE GREAT EASTERN UNDER WEIGH JULY 23RD. (ESCORT AND OTHER s.h.i.+PS INTRODUCED BEING THE TERRIBLE, THE SPHINX, THE HAWK & THE CAROLINE)]

The meeting responded very heartily to the call, and when silence was restored, Sir Robert Peel said: "Gentlemen, as the Knight of Kerry has well observed, this is one of the most important works that this country could have been engaged in, inasmuch as it tends to draw us together in a link of amity and friends.h.i.+p with a mighty continent on the other side of the Atlantic. I trust, as the Knight of Kerry has so justly observed, that it may tend not only to promote the peace and commerce of the world, but that it may also lead to a union of feeling and to good fellows.h.i.+p between those two great countries; and I trust that as it has been so happily inaugurated to-day, so it may be successful under the exertions of those who have taken part in it to-day and for some time past. Gentlemen, I think the progress of this undertaking deserves that we should pay the highest compliment to those who have been actively engaged in carrying it out to the stage at which it has arrived. We are about to lay down, at the very bottom of the mighty Atlantic, which beats against your sh.o.r.es with everlasting pulsations, this silver-toned zone, to join the United Kingdom and America. Along that silver-toned zone, I trust, may pa.s.s words which will tend to promote the commerce and the interest of the two countries; and I am sure we will offer up prayers for the success of an undertaking, to the accomplishment of which persevering industry and all the mechanical skill of the age have been brought to bear. Nothing has been wanting in human skill, and therefore for the future, as now, let us trust the hand of Divine Providence will be upon it; and that as the great vessel is about to steam across the Atlantic no mishaps or misfortune may occur to imperil or obstruct the success of the work which has now been so happily commenced. I ask you all to give a cheer in honour of my n.o.ble friend here, the Knight of Kerry, who has just begun the work."

The demand was enthusiastically complied with, for the Knight is an immense favourite with all the dwellers in his little dominion.

Sir Robert Peel then said: "Now, gentlemen, probably one of the first messages that will be sent by this Cable will be a communication from the Sovereign of this great country to the great ruler of the mighty continent at the other side of the Atlantic. I will ask you to give three cheers for her Majesty the Queen." (Cheers.) Sir Robert Peel in conclusion, said: "I give you, with hearty good will, health and happiness to the ruler of the United States, President Johnson." (The toast was received with loud cheers.)

Mr. Gla.s.s, who was called on to acknowledge the hearty reception given to his name and the Company's, said: "On behalf of myself and those connected with me in this undertaking, I beg to return you thanks. I am glad that our labours have been appreciated by those around us. I a.s.sure you that the work that has been so far completed has been a source of great anxiety to us all; but that anxiety has been relieved very much by the fact that we have now landed a Cable which we one and all believe to be perfect. I believe that nothing can interfere with the successful laying of the Cable but the hand of the Almighty, who rules the winds and waves. So far as human skill has gone, I believe we have produced all that can be desired. We now offer up our prayers to the Almighty that He will grant success to our undertaking."

The Doxology was then sung, with which this part of the proceedings closed, and the electricians busied themselves with securing the sh.o.r.e end confided to their charge in its new home.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the Caroline, towed by the Hawk, and attended by the Princess Alexandra and Advice, proceeded to sea, veering out the sh.o.r.e end of the Cable in the channel marked by Lieutenant White, and at 1030 p.m. buoyed the end 26 miles W.N.W. of Valentia, in 75 fathoms of water. A message was sent through the Cable to Foilhummerum, and a dispatch was forwarded to the Great Eastern, in Bantry Bay, to come round with all speed. This order was obeyed with such diligence that her appearance off the harbour of Valentia was reported in Knightstown soon after 7 o'clock next morning, July 23.

H.M.S. Terrible and H.M.S. Sphinx were in company. The Hawk, which returned from the Caroline in the course of the night, got up steam and left Valentia Harbour about 10 o'clock a.m., July 23, with a party of visitors and pa.s.sengers for the Great Eastern, among the former being Sir R. Peel, the Knight of Kerry, and Captain Lord John Hay. By 3 p.m.

the Hawk had reached the flotilla, which lay around the buoy, preparing for the great enterprise. She was just in time; the end of the sh.o.r.e Cable was about to be spliced and joined with the landward end of the main Cable from the after tank of the Great Eastern, and the boats of the Great s.h.i.+p and of the two men-of-war, were engaged in carrying the end of the main Cable to the Caroline. Sir R. Peel, the Knight of Kerry, Lord John Hay, Mr. Canning, and others, got on board the Great Eastern in successive trips of the Hawk's boats; but the ladies, who had come so far and had suffered too in order to see the famous vessel, could not venture, as there was a swell on which made it difficult to embark or approach the gangway ladders. After an hour's enjoyment of the almost terrestrial steadiness of the Great Eastern, the visitors departed, amid loud cheers, to the Hawk, and at 510 p.m. it was reported by the electricians that the tests of the splice between the main Cable and the sh.o.r.e end were complete, and that the sh.o.r.e end was much improved in its electrical condition by its immersion in the water. The boats were hoisted in by the men-of-war and by the Great Eastern, adieux and good wishes were exchanged, and, with hearts full of confidence, all on board set about the work before them.

The bight of the Cable was slipped from the Caroline, at 715 p.m., and the Great Eastern stood slowly on her course N.W.W. Then the Terrible and Sphinx, which had ranged up alongside, and sent their crews into the shrouds and up to the tops to give her a parting cheer, delivered their friendly broadsides with vigour, and received a similar greeting. Their colours were hauled down, and as the sun set a broad stream of golden light was thrown across the smooth billows towards their bows as if to indicate and illumine the path marked out by the hand of Heaven. The brake was eased, and as the Great Eastern moved ahead the machinery of the paying-out apparatus began to work, drums rolled, wheels whirled, and out spun the black line of the Cable, and dropped in a graceful curve into the sea over the stern wheel. The Cable came up with ease from the after tank, and was payed-out with the utmost regularity from the apparatus. The system of signals to and from the s.h.i.+p was at once in play between the electricians on board and those at Foilhummerum. On board there were two representative bodies--the electricians of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, under M. de Sauty, and the electricians of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, Mr. Varley, Professor Thomson, and a.s.sistants. The former were to test the electrical state of the Cable as it was being payed-out, and to keep up signals between the s.h.i.+p and the sh.o.r.e. The latter, who had no power of interference or control, were simply to report on the testing, and to certify, on their arrival in Newfoundland, whether the Cable fulfilled the conditions specified in the contract. The mechanical arrangements for paying-out the cable were in charge of Mr. Canning, engineer-in-chief to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, who might be considered as having supreme control over the s.h.i.+p _ad hoc._ In the s.p.a.ce on deck between the captain's state-room and the entrance to the grand saloon, was the Testing-Room--a darkened chamber, into which were led conducting wires from the ends of the Cable, for the ordeal to which they were subjected by the electricians, at a table whereon were placed galvanometers and insulation and resistance-testing machines.

The instructions for signalling, determined upon by the electricians of the Telegraphic Construction and Maintenance Company, were as follows:--

1. During the paying-out of the Cable, from the moment of starting until the end is landed at Newfoundland, electrical tests will be applied without intermission.

2. The tests will be for insulation, for continuity, and to determine the resistance of the conductor, the whole length of Cable being joined up in one length.

3. Each series of tests will commence at the hour (Greenwich time), and will last one hour.

4. The insulation test will consist of 30 minutes' electrification of the Cable, commencing at the hour, and lasting till 30 minutes past the hour. Readings of the galvanometer to be taken every minute, commencing one minute after contact with the battery, the battery to consist of 40 cells.

5. At 30 minutes past the hour signals will be received from the sh.o.r.e for 10 minutes. Unless the s.h.i.+p wishes to communicate with sh.o.r.e by special speaking instruments, in which case, instead of receiving signals from the sh.o.r.e, s.h.i.+p will put on a C to E current to oppose deflection on sh.o.r.e. Galvanometer to arrest sh.o.r.e attention, and when joined, give the call as in paragraph 9: the ordinary signals will be 5 reversals of 2 minutes each.

6. At 40 minutes, C of Cable will be taken to 10 minutes.

7. At 50 minutes signals will be sent to the sh.o.r.e, and for the ordinary signals 5 reversals, 2 minutes each, commencing C to E.

8. Then a repet.i.tion of the same tests to be made and continued without any interval.

9. In case it becomes necessary to speak to sh.o.r.e by speaking instruments, the signal will be given at the 50 minutes, and at the 30 minutes, as in paragraph 5, by sending 8 minutes' reversals, commencing Z to E, and changing over to the speaking instruments, on receiving acknowledgment of call from sh.o.r.e (which will be also 8 minutes' reversals), communication or message to be sent, and when acknowledgment of message and reply (if any) is received, then the system of testing is to be resumed, as if no interruption had taken place.

10. Every 50 nauts. of Cable payed-out will be signalled at the same time (viz., at the 50 mins.), thus, instead of 5 reversals of 2 minutes, 10 reversals of 1 minute will be made commencing Z to E.

11. Every 50 nauts. distance run will be signalled to the sh.o.r.e; the signal will be 2 reversals (commencing Z to E), each 2 minutes'

duration--2 reversals, each 1 minute's duration, and 2 reversals, each 2 minutes' duration.

12. Should any defect in signals be perceived, or bad time kept, notice will be given to the sh.o.r.e by signalling at the 50 minutes--thus, by giving 2 reversals of 5 minutes' duration, commencing Z to E.

13. In sounding, signal will be one current of 10 minutes'

duration, Z to E.

14. Land-in-sight signal will be likewise one current of 10 minutes' duration, Z to E.

15. Greenwich time will be kept, but a column will be devoted in journals and sheets to s.h.i.+p's time.

16. After the insulation test is taken, it is to be worked out thus--The same deflection at the 15th minute's reading will be obtained with the same battery through resistance, and a shunt to the galvanometer. The amount of resistance multiplied by multiplying power of the shunt, and galvanometer multiplied by the length of the Cable, will give the G. p. R. pr. nt.

17. The copper resistance of the Cable will be taken after 5 minutes' electrification.

18. No change in the instruments, wires, or connections (other than the batteries, if necessary), to be made on any account, unless such instruments, &c., become defective--any necessary change to be made as quickly as possible.

19. Should the rolling of the s.h.i.+p generate a magnetic current of sufficient strength to embarra.s.s the signals, a stronger current for the signals will be put on on sh.o.r.e, and a shunt used with the galvanometer on board, notice to the sh.o.r.e to put on more power will be given by one current of 5 minutes, commencing Z to E, and 5 reversals of 1 minute's duration.