The progress of the undertaking excited the utmost interest, not only in Great Britain, but over all the civilised world. Twice a day the telegraph at Foilhummerum spread to all parts of the earth a brief account of the doings of the Great Ship. Almost as soon as one of the unexpected impediments which marred the successful issue of the enterprise arose, the public were informed of it, and could mark on the map the spot where sailor, engineer, and electrician were engaged in their work on the bosom of the wide Atlantic ere their labours were over. The Great Eastern’s position could be traced on the chart, and the course of the Cable, in its unseen resting-place, could be followed from day to day. The “faults” caused more surprise perhaps on shore than on board, because those engaged in paying-out the Cable were re-assured by the certainty with which the faults were detected, and the comparative facility with which the Cable was taken up from the sea. Although the various delays which occurred produced some discouragement and uneasiness among those who had worked so hard and embarked so much in the grand project, the ease with which communication was restored as often as it was injured or interrupted by faults and dead earth, inspired confidence in the eventual success of the attempt. But only those actually witnesses of the wonderful facility with which the Cable was paid out felt the conviction that the Cable could be laid. The public only knew the general results, and did not appreciate properly the nature of the difficulties to which the frustration of their hopes was due. When the last fault occurred, the electricians at Valentia were left without any precise indications of the nature of the obstruction, or of the proceedings of those on board; but they actually calculated within a few fathoms the exact locality of the injury; and when the end of the Cable sank into the depths of the ocean, the practical wizards of Foilhummerum could tell where it was to be found, though they could not see and could not hear. When all communication ceased with the Great Eastern no uneasiness was excited, because a similar event had occurred before for many hours, and the ship spoke after all. But hour after hour passed away on leaden wings, and day followed day, and the needle was still, and the light moved not in the darkened chamber at Foilhummerum. It may be conceived with what solicitude the men, in whose watchfulness all the sleeping and waking world were interested, looked out for some sign of the revival of the current in the dull veins of the subtle mechanism.