3-053-782 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Wiring a whale by the Persian Gulf Submarine Telegraph Cable, 1873. 'A singular accident took place in...the Indian Ocean...The section of the Persian Gulf Submarine Telegraph...from Gwader to Kurrachee, was suddenly interrupted in its working. To find what was the matter, H.M.S. Amberwitch...was dispatched...After grappling the cable and picking up a short length towards the fault, it became evident, from the increased strain, that the cable had fouled something on the bottom, as the deck-engine, unassisted, was quite unable to bring the cable in; but on hauling it from all points of the compass the obstruction appeared suddenly to give way; and the body of an immense whale was brought to the surface, firmly secured by two and a half turns of the cable round its tail...About two thirds of the whale, when raised to the surface, remained still uneaten by the sharks; but when, after completing the repairs of the cable, those employed in this work returned next morning to the same place, they found nothing left of the whale but its tail and 14 ft. of its back-bone. Mr. Mance, the electrician, has furnished this account; and our sketch is contributed by Mr. Klingelhöfer. purser of the Amberwitch', From "Illustrated London News", 1873.