mm OUR ISLAND STORY 81 In the meantime the York , Newfoundland and Cable Company had been established and had acquired the rights obtained by the Newfoundland and Elect¬ ric Telegraph Company. Under the direction of the Company, the steamer " Ellen Gisborne " arrived with the first Submarine Telegraph Cable. On the 22nd day of November, 1852, one end of this cable was landed on in New Brunswick . The steamer could not get within a mile of the New Brunswick shore; and that end had, therefore, to be carried to the land on boats. It was, The Islander stated, "drawn upon the land by means of a wedge anchor and the united strenght of four horses and four oxen/' Having been made fast on the land, the cable was then laid to Carle ton Head, in Prince Edward Island. The steamer got underway at about five o'clock in the evening, and reached the Island shore at about five o'clock in the following morning, paying out the cable as she proceeded. The landing of the cable on the Island shore proved to be an arduous and very difficult task. Wind and tide drove the steam¬ er westward in spite of all that could be done to keep her in a direct line. It was, for a time, feared that the cable would run short before the shore could be reached by it. But Mr. Gisborne , in charge, ably assisted by Captain Kennedy of Charlottetown and the crew of the steamer, gained the point in spite of wind or tide; and, as on the other shore, the P. E. Island end of the cable was landed by means of boats, horses and oxen. As soon as possible after the landing, a small battery was attached to the end of the cable on ; and, by means of a small instrument applied on the Island, it was at once tested and found to admirably afford means of communication across the strait between the Island and the mainland of the Continent. It was the first under-sea telegraph cable made and operated in America. Early in the morning as the hour was, a considerable number of greatly interested persons had gathered around the operator anxious to learn the result of the venture; and when it was made known three hearty cheers were given. In anticipation of the laying of the cable a line of telegraph posts between Amherst and Tormentine had been, in large part, i I