At length, having marked the place where the cable
was lost with buoys, the ship put back for England, and the enterprise
was abandoned for that year.
Though unsuccessful in carrying the cable across the ocean, this
expedition was by no means a failure. Its results are thus summed up by
the officers in charge of it:
1. It was proved by the expedition of 1858 that a submarine
telegraph cable could be laid between Ireland and Newfoundland, and
messages transmitted through the same.
By the expedition of 1865 it has been fully demonstrated:
2. That the insulation of a cable improves very much after its
submersion in the cold deep water of the Atlantic, and that its
conducting power is considerably increased thereby.
3. That the steamship "Great Eastern," from her size and constant
steadiness, and from the control over her afforded by the joint use
of paddles and screw, renders it safe to lay an Atlantic cable in
any weather.
4. That in a depth of over two miles four attempts were made to
grapple the cable. In three of them the cable was caught by the
grapnel, and in the other the grapnel was fouled by the chain
attached to it.
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