He therefore telegraphed to London for more cable to be made and
sent out, while the ship remained there holding to the end. For five
days he succeeded in doing so, sending and receiving messages ; but
heavy weather came on, and the cable parted, having, it is said, been
chafed through by rubbing on the bottom. After that Mr. Brett went
home.
It was to recover the lost cable of these expeditions that the Elba was
got ready for sea. Jenkin had fitted her out the year before for laying
the Cagliari to Malta and Corfu cables; but on this occasion she was
better equipped. She had a new machine for picking up the cable, and a
sheave or pulley at the bows for it to run over, both designed by
Jenkin, together with a variety of wooden buoys, ropes, and chains. Mr.
Liddell, assisted by Mr. F. C. Webb and Fleeming Jenkin, were in charge
of the expedition. The latter had nothing to do with the electrical
work, his care being the deck machinery for raising the cable; but it
entailed a good deal of responsibility, which was flattering and
agreeable to a young man of his parts.
'I own I like responsibility,' he wrote to Miss Austin, while fitting up
the vessel; 'it flatters one; and then, your father might say, I have
more to gain than lose.
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