, on the forecastle; D-, the foreman of
our men, the mates, &c., following the example of our superiors;
the ship's engine and boilers below, a 50-horse engine on deck, a
boiler 14 feet long on deck beside it, a little steam winch tearing
round; a dozen Italians (20 have come to relieve our hands, the men
we telegraphed for to Cagliari) hauling at the rope; wiremen,
sailors, in the crevices left by ropes and machinery; everything
that could swear swearing - I found myself swearing like a trooper
at last. We got the unknown difficulty within ten fathoms of the
surface; but then the forecastle got frightened that, if it was the
small cable which we had got hold of, we should certainly break it
by continuing the tremendous and increasing strain. So at last Mr.
Liddell decided to stop; cut the big cable, buoying its end; go
back to our pleasant watering-place at Chia, take more water and
start lifting the small cable. The end of the large one has even
now regained its sandy bed; and three buoys - one to grapnel foul
of the supposed small cable, two to the big cable - are dipping
about on the surface.
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