You will easily believe a tangle of iron rope
inch and a half diameter is not easy to unravel, especially with a
ton or so hanging to the ends. It is now eight o'clock and we have
about six and a half miles safe: it becomes very exciting,
however, for the kinks are coming fast and furious.
'July 2.
'Twenty-eight miles safe in the hold. The ship is now so deep,
that the men are to be turned out of their aft hold, and the
remainder coiled there; so the good ELBA'S nose need not burrow too
far into the waves. There can only be about 10 or 12 miles more,
but these weigh 80 or 100 tons.
'July 5.
'Our first mate was much hurt in securing a buoy on the evening of
the 2nd. As interpreter [with the Italians] I am useful in all
these cases; but for no fortune would I be a doctor to witness
these scenes continually. Pain is a terrible thing. - Our work is
done: the whole of the six-wire cable has been recovered; only a
small part of the three-wire, but that wire was bad and, owing to
its twisted state, the value small.
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