There also are heaped up those erratic blocks which are carried along
by the broken ice; and close by, a vast charnel-house of molluscs,
which perish here by millions. The depth of the sea is not great
at Newfoundland--not more than some hundreds of fathoms; but towards
the south is a depression of 1,500 fathoms. There the Gulf Stream widens.
It loses some of its speed and some of its temperature, but it
becomes a sea.
It was on the 17th of May, about 500 miles from Heart's Content,
at a depth of more than 1,400 fathoms, that I saw the electric cable lying
on the bottom. Conseil, to whom I had not mentioned it, thought at first
that it was a gigantic sea-serpent. But I undeceived the worthy fellow,
and by way of consolation related several particulars in the laying
of this cable. The first one was laid in the years 1857 and 1858;
but, after transmitting about 400 telegrams, would not act any longer.
In 1863 the engineers constructed an other one, measuring 2,000 miles
in length, and weighing 4,500 tons, which was embarked on the Great Eastern.
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