_Fresh Provisions._--The new main cable was similar to that of the year before, but the shore-end cable determined on in this case was of a different description. It had only one sheathing, consisting of twelve contiguous iron wires of great individual surface and weight; and outside all a covering of tarred hemp and compound. That part of the line which was intended for shallow depths was composed of three different types. Starting from the coast of Ireland, eight miles of the heaviest was to be laid, then eight miles of an intermediate type, and lastly fourteen miles of a lighter type, making thirty miles of shoal-water cable on the Irish side. Five miles of shallow-water cable, of the different types named, were considered sufficient on the Newfoundland coast. The previous paying-out machinery on board the Great Eastern was altered to some extent by Messrs. Penn to the instructions of Messrs. Canning & Clifford. Though different in detail, the main improvement over the 1865 gear consisted in the fact that a 70-horse-power steam-engine was fitted to drive the two large drums in such a way that the paying-out machinery, as in 1858, could be used to pick up cable during the laying, if necessary, thereby avoiding the risk incurred by changing the cable from the stern to the bows. This addition of Penn trunk-engines, as well as the general strengthening of the entire machinery, was made in accordance with the designs of Mr. Henry Clifford. [Illustration: FIG. 37.--The Picking-up Machine, 1866.] The picking-up machinery forward (Fig. 37) after the previous expedition was considerably strengthened and improved with spur-wheels and pinion-gearing. It had two drums worked by a similar pair of 70-horse-power engines. This formed an exceedingly powerful machine, and reflected great credit on those who devised and constructed it. Similar gear was fitted up on board the two vessels--S.S. Medway and S.S. Albany--chartered to assist the Great Eastern. For the purpose of grappling the 1865 cable, twenty miles of rope were manufactured, which was constituted by forty-nine iron wires, separately covered with manila hemp. Six wires so served were laid up strandwise round a seventh, which formed the heart, or core, of the rope. This rope would stand a longitudinal stress of 30 tons before breaking.