In order to guard against any possible sources of accident, every preparation was made in case of the worst, and, in the event of very bad weather, for cutting the Cable adrift and buoying it. For this purpose a wire rope of great strength, and no less than five miles long, having a distinctive mark at every 100 fathoms, was taken in the Great Eastern. This, of course, was only carried in case of desperate eventualities arising, and in the earnest hope that not an inch of it would ever be required. If, as unfortunately happened, its services were wanted, the Cable could be firmly made fast to its extremity, and so many hundred fathoms of the wire rope, according to the depth of water the Cable was in, measured out. To the other end of the rope an immense buoy was attached, and the whole would then be cut adrift and left to itself till better weather. On the 24th of May, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, accompanied by many distinguished personages, paid a long visit to the Great Eastern, for the purpose of inspecting the arrangements made for laying the Cable. His Royal Highness was received by Mr. Pender, the Chairman of the Telegraph Construction Company; Mr. Glass, Managing Director; and a large number of the electricians and officers connected with the undertaking. After partaking of breakfast, the Prince visited each portion of the ship, and witnessed the transmission of a message sent through the coils, which then represented in length 1,395 nautical miles. The signals transmitted were seven words, =“I WISH SUCCESS TO THE ATLANTIC CABLE,”= and were received at the other end of the coils in the course of a few seconds--a rate of speed which spoke hopefully of success. On Monday, the 29th of May, the last mile of this gigantic Cable was completed at Glass, Elliot, & Co.’s works; an event celebrated in the presence of all the eminent scientific men who had laboured so zealously in the promotion of the undertaking at Greenwich. When the tinkling of the bell gave notice that the machine was empty, and the last coil of the Cable stowed away, the mighty work, the accomplishment of which was their dream by night and their study by day, stood completed. For eight long months the huge machines had been in a constant whirl, manufacturing those twenty-three hundred nautical miles of Cable destined to perform a mission so important, and yet it would be difficult to point to a single hour during which they did not yield something to cause care and anxiety. On Wednesday, the 14th of June, the Amethyst completed her final visit, and commenced to deliver the last instalment of the Cable to the Great Eastern. On the 24th the Great Eastern left the Medway for the Nore, carrying 7000 tons of Cable, 2000 tons of iron tanks, and 7000 tons of coal. At the Nore she took in 1,500 additional tons of coal, which brought her total dead-weight to 21,000 tons.