This defect was remedied in later expeditions. Still it worked well, and as long as the terrible brakes withheld their iron grasp might work through to the end. On the following day, Sunday, the course of affairs was not less smooth; and on Monday the expedition was upwards of 200 miles from land. The shallow water of the coast had been safely traversed. The ships had passed over the submarine declivity which has been already described, and had reached the deeper waters of the Atlantic, where the cable sank to a depth of not less than 2,000 fathoms. Still the iron cord buried itself in the profound silence, and every instant the flash of light in the telegraph room recorded the continuous passage of the mysterious electric current. About four o’clock on Tuesday morning, however, a sudden interruption occurred. It seems from the published narrative that the cable was running cut fully at the rate of six miles an hour, while the ship was making only four. To check this waste, the engineer applied the brakes very firmly, with the effect of stopping the machine. Hence a heavy strain told on the submerged portion of the cable. The stern of the ship was down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose upward on the swell the pressure became too great, and the cable parted. Instantly a cry of grief and dismay ran through the ship. She was checked in her onward career, and in five minutes all gathered on deck with feelings which can be better imagined than described. One who was present wrote:—“The unbidden tear started to many a manly eye. The interest taken in the enterprise by all—every one, officers and men—exceeded anything I ever saw, and there is no wonder that there should have been so much emotion at our failure.” Captain Hudson says:—“It made all hands of us through the day like a household or family which had lost their dearest friend, for officers and men had been deeply interested in the success of the enterprise.” The cable broke in 2,000 fathoms water, when about 330 nautical miles were laid, at a distance of 280 miles from Valentia. This was the first of a series of disappointments, ending, however, in eventual triumph.