The telegraph manual: a complete history and description of the semaphoric, electric and magnetic telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ancient and modern.

602 AMERICAN SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHS.
Fig. 2.
and as fast as possible the boat is rowed across the stream.
The cable is paid out as fast as necessary; but the faster the
boat traverses the stream the better and more certain will be
the success. Sometimes it was possible to get small steam
ferry-boats to tow the cable-boat across the river, but this
could not always be done.
Fig. 3.
When the Merrimac cable was laid, we toiled through the
gloom of night. The sun had gone far behind the western
horizon. The moon had come and gone, as though it was
hurrying after the god of day that had just withdrawn its last
ray; the stars remained, and from the blue depths of their