long. A Mr. F----
washed my face and hands and dressed me; and we hauled the cable out
of the sea, and got it joined to the telegraph station, and on October
3rd telegraphed to Lowestoft first, and then to London. Miss Clara
Volkman, a niece of Mr. Reuter's, sent the first message to Mrs.
Reuter, who was waiting (Varley used Miss Clara's hand as a kind of
key), and I sent one of the first messages to Odden. I thought a
message addressed to him would not frighten you, and that he would
enjoy a message through papa's cable. I hope he did. They were all
very merry, but I had been so lowered by pain that I could not enjoy
myself in spite of the success."

V

Of the 1869 cruise in the _Great Eastern_ I give what I am able; only
sorry it is no more, for the sake of the ship itself, already almost a
legend even to the generation that saw it launched.

"_June 17, 1869._--Here are the names of our staff, in whom I expect
you to be interested, as future _Great Eastern_ stories may be full of
them; Theophilus Smith, a man of Latimer Clark's; Leslie C. Hill, my
prizeman at University College; Lord Sackville Cecil; King, one of the
Thomsonian Kings; Laws, goes for Willoughby Smith, who will also be on
board; Varley, Clark, and Sir James Anderson, make up the sum of all
you know anything of. A Captain Halpin commands the big ship. There
are four smaller vessels. The _Wm. Cory_, which laid the Norderney
cable, has already gone to St. Pierre to lay the shore-ends. The
_Hawk_ and _Chiltern_ have gone to Brest to lay shore-ends. The _Hawk_
and _Scanderia_ go with us across the Atlantic, and we shall at St.
Pierre be transhipped into one or the other.

"_June 18, somewhere in London._--The shore-end is laid, as you may
have seen, and we are all under pressing orders to march, so we start
from London to-night at 5.10.

"_June 20, off Ushant._--I am getting quite fond of the big ship.
Yesterday morning in the quiet sunlight she turned so slowly and
lazily in the great harbour at Portland, and by and by slipped out
past the long pier with so little stir, that I could hardly believe we
were really off. No men drunk, no women crying, no singing or
swearing, no confusion or bustle on deck--nobody apparently aware that
they had anything to do. The look of the thing was that the ship had
been spoken to civilly, and had kindly undertaken to do everything
that was necess