ther. I said that the
Nautilus had gone aside to the east. I should have said (to be more
exact) the north-east. For some days, it wandered first on the surface,
and then beneath it, amid those fogs so dreaded by sailors. What
accidents are due to these thick fogs! What shocks upon these reefs
when the wind drowns the breaking of the waves! What collisions
between vessels, in spite of their warning lights, whistles, and alarm
bells! And the bottoms of these seas look like a field of battle,
where still lie all the conquered of the ocean; some old and already
encrusted, others fresh and reflecting from their iron bands and copper
plates the brilliancy of our lantern.

On the 15th of May we were at the extreme south of the Bank of
Newfoundland. This bank consists of alluvia, or large heaps of organic
matter, brought either from the Equator by the Gulf Stream, or from the
North Pole by the counter-current of cold water which skirts the
American coast. There also are heaped up those erratic blocks which
are carried along by the broken ice; and close by, a vast charnel-house
of molluscs, which perish here by millions. The depth of the sea is
not great at Newfoundland--not more than some hundreds of fathoms; but
towards the south is a depression of 1,500 fathoms. There the Gulf
Stream widens. It loses some of its speed and some of its temperature,
but it becomes a sea.

It was on the 17th of May, about 500 miles from Heart's Content, at a
depth of more than 1,400 fathoms, that I saw the electric cable lying
on the bottom. Conseil, to whom I had not mentioned it, thought at
first that it was a gigantic sea-serpent. But I undeceived the worthy
fellow, and by way of consolation related several particulars in the
laying of this cable. The first one was laid in the years 1857 and
1858; but, after transmitting about 400 telegrams, would not act any
longer. In 1863 the engineers constructed an other one, measuring
2,000 miles in length, and weighing 4,500 tons, which was embarked on
the Great Eastern. This attempt also failed.

On the 25th of May the Nautilus, being at a depth of more than 1,918
fathoms, was on the precise spot where the rupture occurred which
ruined the enterprise. It was within 638 miles of the coast of
Ireland; and at half-past two in the afternoon they discovered that
communication with Europe had ceased. The electricians on board
resolved to cut the cable before fishing it up, and at eleven