“On the following day a length of cable was run out and hauled in with perfect success opposite the Isle of Wight.
“The speed was increased in this case to four knots. During the afternoon of the same day a length was run out, having fastened to the end of it a log of timber, and having been towed with a mile and a half of cable, was coiled in again with success.
“On Wednesday about half-way between the Land’s End and the coast of Ireland another length was run out at the rate of six and a half knots per hour, and subsequently hauled in. The Agamemnon then steered for Cork, and reached Queenstown Harbor at four o’clock on Thursday morning, all on board being more than ever satisfied at the success of the enterprise.”
The New York Herald of August 28th published a letter from its special correspondent on board the Niagara, and from it these extracts are made:
“From the deck of our ship we can see a small, sandy cove which has been selected as the place for the landing of the shore end of the cable, and a hundred yards from which a temporary tent has been erected for the batteries and other telegraphic instruments. In front of it is displayed an attempt at the Stars and Stripes; but it is only an attempt, and it would require one of the most shrewd-guessing Yankees that ever lived in or came out of Connecticut to tell what it was intended for. It will soon be replaced by another of a more unmistakable kind, however, and that ought to be sufficient to satisfy the most exacting patriot....
“We arrived and anchored in Valentia Bay on the evening of the 4th, but at too late an hour to commence operations other than I have described. The work of landing the shore part of the cable was deferred, therefore, until the following morning at eight o’clock....
“On the shore there were about two thousand persons, the whole population of the place and large contributions from miles around, waiting there from seven in the morning till seven in the evening for the arrival of the fleet of cable boats whose progress they had watched with so much anxiety and impatience. It was five o’clock when we started, and never before was such a scene presented in Valentia Bay, and the poorest spectator there, though he could not tell what strange agency it was that lay in the cable, understood what it was intended to effect, and his face beamed with joy as he heard his comrades say that it brought them nearer to that great land that had so generously stretched out the helping hand to their starving countrymen.... Among those on shore are the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Lord Morpeth, of anti-slavery proclivities; Lord Hillsborough; the Knight of Kerry; and nearly all the gentlemen connected with the enterprise. But here comes the cable in the hands of the crew of the Niagara’s boat, who rush up the beach with it dripping with water, for in their haste to carry it ashore they have to wade knee-deep through the water. Mr. Cyrus W. Field is there beside Lord Morpeth, or, as he is now called, Lord Carlisle, and as Captain Pennock comes up in advance of his men with the cable he introduces him. There is no time for the passage of formalities, and the introduction and the meeting are therefore free from them.
“ ‘I am most happy to see you, captain,’ says Lord Morpeth, and the captain most appropriately replies: ‘This, sir, is the betrothal of England and America, and I hope in twenty days the marriage will be consummated.’
“The crowd now press around, all eagerness to help in pulling up the cable; and when the work is through those who have been fortunate enough to put their hands to it show the marks of the tar to those who have failed in the attempt, as a proof of their success. By dint of pulling and hauling they get it into the trench in which it is to be laid, and take up the end to the top of a little hill, where they secure it by running it around a number of strong stakes driven fast into the earth and placed in the form of a circle. This is the centre of the site marked out for a house in which the batteries and instruments are to be put, and which will be used as a temporary station till a better and more substantial one can be erected. When the cable was placed here and the enthusiasm of the people had somewhat subsided, the rector of the parish made a prayer....
“The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland closed his speech with these words: ‘And now, my friends, as there can be no project or undertaking which ought not to receive the approbation and applause of all people, all join with me in giving three hearty cheers.’