Editing Fleeming Jenkin (section)

===First voyage===
In the spring of 1855, he was fitting out the ''S.S. Elba'' at [[Birkenhead]] for his first [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] cruise. Earlier in 1855, [[John Watkins Brett]] had attempted to lay a cable across the [[Mediterranean]] between [[Cape Spartivento]], in the south of [[Sardinia]], and a point near [[Bona, Algeria|Bona]], on the coast of [[Algeria]]. It was a [[gutta-percha]] cable of six wires or conductors, manufactured by Glass, Elliott & Co., a firm which afterwards combined with the [[Gutta-Percha Company]] and became the [[Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company]]. Brett laid the cable from the ''Result'', a sailing ship in tow, instead of a more manageable steamer. Meeting with 600 [[fathom]]s (1100 m) of water when twenty-five [[nautical mile|mile]]s (45&nbsp;km) from land, the cable ran out so fast that a tangled skein came up out of the hold and the line had to be severed. Having only {{convert|150|mi|km}} on board to span the whole distance of {{convert|140|mi|km}}, he grappled the lost cable near the shore, raised it, and ''under-ran'' or passed it over the ship, for some {{convert|20|mi|km|spell=in}}, then cut it, leaving the seaward end on the bottom. He then spliced the ship's cable to the shoreward end and resumed paying-out but after {{convert|70|mi|km|spell=in}} in all were laid, another rapid rush of cable took place, and Brett was obliged to cut and abandon the line.<ref name=munro/>{{rp|¶ 16}}

Another attempt was made the following year, but with no better success. Brett then tried to lay a three-wire cable from the steamer ''Dutchman;'' but owing to the deep water (in some places 1500 fathoms or 2700 m) when he came to a few miles from [[Galita]], his destination on the Algerian coast, he had not enough cable to reach the land. He telegraphed to London for more cable to be made and sent out, while the ship remained there holding the end. After five days the cable parted, perhaps as a result of rubbing on the bottom.<ref name=munro/>{{rp|¶ 17}}

It was to recover the lost cable of these expeditions that the ''Elba'' was got ready for sea. Jenkin had fitted her out the year before for laying the [[Cagliari]] to [[Malta]] and [[Corfu]] cables but on this occasion she was better equipped. She had a new machine for picking up the cable, and a sheave or pulley at the bows for it to run over, both designed by Jenkin, together with a variety of wooden buoys, ropes, and chains. Liddell, assisted by F. C. Webb and Fleeming Jenkin, was in charge of the expedition. Jenkin had nothing to do with the electrical work, his care being the deck machinery for raising the cable but it was a responsible job. He reported the expedition in letters to Miss Austin and in diary entries.<ref>[[s:Fleeming Jenkin accounts of the voyages of the Elba]], from Munro, ¶¶ 20 to 30</ref>

During the latter part of the work much of the cable was found to be looped and twisted into 'kinks' from having been so slackly laid and two immense tangled skeins were raised on board, one by means of the mast-head and fore-yard tackle. Photographs of this raveled cable were exhibited as a curiosity in the windows of Newall & Co.'s shop in [[Strand, London|The Strand]]. By 5 July the whole of the six-wire cable had been recovered and a portion of the three-wire cable, the rest being abandoned as unfit for use, owing to its twisted condition. On the evening of the 2nd the first mate, while on the water unshackling a buoy, was struck in the back by a fluke of the ship's anchor as she drifted, and so severely injured that he lay for many weeks at [[Cagliari]]. Jenkin's knowledge of languages made him useful as an interpreter but, in mentioning this incident to Miss Austin, he writes, ''For no fortune would I be a doctor to witness these scenes continually. Pain is a terrible thing.''<ref name=munro/>{{rp|¶ 32}}