y were facetiously called
"men" by the punster of the ship, are painted a brilliant scarlet,
which makes them a conspicuous feature of the sea-scape. Sometimes
a flagstaff and a flag are fastened to the buoy, and often it is
converted for the ship's benefit info an extemporaneous lighthouse
by the addition of an oil lamp attached to its summit.

That night at Dumaguete the swift current unfortunately swung our
ship's anchor past the buoy to which the cable was attached, so
that at daylight the next morning, instead of sailing for Oroquieta,
Mindanao, as we bad expected, the buoy was picked up and a half mile
of cable cut out, a new mile being spliced on in its place. When this
was completed we paid out the fresh cable, buoyed it, and started for
Oroquieta, which was to have been our next cable landing, stopping
every five knots for soundings and observations.

One of the officers with the sextant ascertained the angle between
two points on the coast, while other men, under the generalship of
one of the cable experts, took deep-sea soundings, not only that the
depth of the water might be known, but also its temperature and the
character of the bottom, so one could judge of its effect upon the
cable when laid, every idiosyncrasy of that cable being already a
study of some import to the testing department.

This deep-sea sounding is a very necessary feature of cable laying,
as unexpected depths of water or unlooked for changes in submarine
geography, when not taken into account, might prove disastrous to
the cable being laid. The sounding apparatus is of great interest,
being a compact little affair consisting of a small engine that with
a self-acting brake helps regulate the wire sounding-line as it is
lowered into the water, and after sounding heaves it up again. When
this weight touches bottom the drum ceases to revolve, due to the
automatic brake, and the depth can be read off on the scale to one
side of the apparatus. A cleverly devised little attachment to the
sinker brings up in its grasp a specimen of sea bottom, so that one
can ascertain if it be sand or rock, and whether or not it is suitable
for cable laying.

The next day lingers in my memory as a profusely illustrated story,
uneventful as to incident, and bound in the blue of sea and sky,
with gilt edges of sunshine. Before our five o'clock breakfast we
saw the "Cross hung low to the dawn," and at night, anchored near
our last sounding, fell asleep under