were, in the main, similar to those we have already described in connection with the preceding lines, though special conditions were, in some instances, the means of introducing certain modifications and improvements. Several serious failures were, however, experienced in the deep water of the Mediterranean which had a detracting effect--in the public mind--on the chances of the great undertaking which was to follow. PART II THE PIONEER LINE CHAPTER I EVOLUTION OF ATLANTIC TELEGRAPHY IN AMERICA AND ENGLAND Gradual Evolution--The Projectors--Survey of the Route--Soundings--Nature of the Ocean Bed--Formation of the Atlantic Telegraph Company--Raising Capital--Critics, "Croakers," and Crude Inventors. As has been shown in the introductory chapter, the efforts of the early projectors of submarine telegraphy were at first confined to connecting countries divided only by narrow seas, or establishing communication between points on the same seaboard. The next step forward, with which we are here immediately concerned--that of spanning the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and America--was aptly characterized at the time as "the great feat of the century." By its means the people of the two great continents were to speak together in a few moments, though separated by a vast ocean. This was the first venture in transoceanic telegraphy. There was no applicable data to go upon; for the vast difference between laying short cable-lengths across rivers, bays, etc., in shallow water, and that of laying a long length of cable in depths of over two miles across an open ocean will be easily recognized--at any rate, by the sailor and engineer.