XI. THE INQUEST 155 _PART III_ INTERMEDIATE KNOWLEDGE AND ADVANCE XII. OTHER PROPOSED ROUTES 161 XIII. EXPERIENCE, INVESTIGATION, AND PROGRESS 169 _PART IV_ COMMERCIAL SUCCESS XIV. THE 1865 CABLE AND EXPEDITION 177 XV. SECOND AND SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT 188 XVI. RECOVERY AND COMPLETION OF THE 1865 CABLE 197 XVII. JUBILATIONS 208 XVIII. SUBSEQUENT ATLANTIC LINES 212 XIX. ATLANTIC CABLE SYSTEMS OF TO-DAY 219 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS H.M.S. Agamemnon entering Valentia Bay with first Atlantic Cable _Frontispiece_ FIG. PAGE 1. Newfoundland Telegraph Station, 1855 29 2. The Brooke "Sounder" 32 3. Specimen of the Ocean Bed 34 4. John Watkins Brett, Charles Tilston Bright, Cyrus West Field--Projectors 38 5. Manufacture of the Core 49 6. Serving the Core with Hemp-Yarn 50 7. Applying the Iron Sheathing 51 8. The Deep-Sea Cable 52 9. The Shore-End Cable 52 10. Coiling the Finished Cable into the Factory Tanks 54 11. U.S.N.S. Niagara 55 12. The Paying-out Machine, 1857 57 13. Coiling the Cable on Board 58 14. Landing the Irish End of the Cable 63 15. Reshipment of the Cable aboard H.M.S. Agamemnon and U.S.N.S. Niagara in Keyham Basin 75 16. The Self-Releasing Brake 77 17. The Principle of the Brake 78 18. Bright's Paying-out Gear, 1858 80 19. The Reflecting Magnet 82 20. Reflecting Galvanometer and Speaker 83 21. Principle of the Reflecting Instrument 83 22. Deck of H.M.S. Agamemnon with Paying-out Apparatus 84 23. Stowage of the Cable Coil on the Niagara 85 24. The Loading of the Agamemnon 85 25. Experimental Maneuvers in the Bay of Biscay 88