The first submarine cable landing at Durban in 1879

Umgeni River mouth, Durban

This month marks 142 years since the first undersea cable landed at the Umgeni River mouth, on 5 July 1879, enabling the South African colonies to communicate via telegraph with the outside world.  I first came across an account of this event in the memoirs of my great grandfather’s brother, William Harwin.  This sparked my interest, partly because I hadn’t realised that submarine communication cables were being laid that far back in world history (in fact it all started in 1850).  These laid the foundation for today’s communication with the rest of the world via the internet using fibre optic cable.    

My journey of discovery led me to several helpful online sources detailing the history of undersea communications across the world. These included the detailed records of the Master Mariner of the ship involved in the cable landing at Durban, and information from the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society on the land-based telegraph system at the time. The cherry on the top was finding the original newspaper articles from the Natal Mercury at the Bessie Head Municipal Library in Pietermaritzburg, which provided a wealth of information about the event itself, as well as the political context. 

Historical newspaper collection, Bessie Head library

Telegraph as a means of communication over long distances was first invented in the 1830s and 1840s in the UK and US.  Telegraph systems spread rapidly around the western and colonised world, with the first permanent Atlantic submarine cable being laid in 1866.  The first land-based telegraph line in the colony of Natal was a short one, installed in 1863 from Durban to the Point.  The more strategic line between Durban and Pietermaritzburg was opened the following year.  The extension of the telegraph network in Natal then ground to a halt for 14 years. There was much talk but no action in extending the Natal network to link up with the Cape Colony.  Despite the political, military and economic benefits, the Natal colonial government did not feel the expense was warranted. 

The Cape Colony meanwhile had made great strides in extending their network, starting with Cape Town to Simonstown in 1860. The line to Kimberley was completed by 1876 to serve the diamond industry, and by 1878 their eastern line reached as far as Kokstad. Finally, protracted negotiations between the Cape and Natal colonies resulted in the line being extended to Pietermaritzburg via Umzimkulu by April 1878.  There was now a direct communication link between Cape Town and Pietermaritzburg.  Further lines were commissioned during 1878 and 1879 influenced by the Zulu War and other political developments. These included the line from Durban to Verulam, Stanger, Lower Tugela and into Zululand; and the line from Pietermaritzburg to Pretoria in the Transvaal, via Estcourt, Ladysmith and Newcastle. 

It was the Zulu War that was the turning point for connecting the South African colonies with the outside world via the extension of the submarine cable network down the east coast of Africa.  According to The Natal Mercury (8 July 1879), “the recent disaster that befel our troops at Isandhlwana … convinced the Government of the imperative necessity of telegraphic communication with the South African Colonies”.  Until this time, a submarine cable had been under discussion for some years, but the colonies did not have the necessary finances, nor was there sufficient advantage to the British government or a private operator to install and operate it.  This meant that “the great cluster of South African dependencies was left isolated, with only the mail steamers and other vessels to fetch and carry news”.   

But the British and colonial defeat at Isandhlwana changed all that. In early 1879, the British government offered to contribute £35 000 per annum for twenty years to the Eastern Telegraph Company for the installation of the submarine cable from Durban via Delagoa Bay (now Maputo Bay), Mozambique and Zanzibar to Aden (south Yemen).  Aden was a junction for undersea cables to Europe via the Suez Canal and to India, Asia and Australia.  Natal was expected to contribute £5 000, the Cape Colony, £15 000, and Portugal, £5 000 a year.  The total cost of the marine cable between Durban and Aden, 3900 nautical miles long, was £1 million.

A steamer, the S.S. Kangaroo, was despatched from England on 8 April 1879 with the first section of 364 miles of cable on board.  The ship was commandeered by Captain Seymour and took the cable route, travelling via the Suez Canal and Aden down the east coast of Africa.  [See reference below for link to Captain Seymour’s detailed hand-written records of the journey].  The Kangaroo arrived in Durban on 26 May, as per Seymour’s records: 

3.35am Sighted light on Natal Bluff. 6.5am Stopped and sounded, 9am stopped Pilot visited ship and left again. 9.40 anchored in outer anchorage off Natal.

PM. Received news that the Cape government had repudiated the contract, must therefore wait for further instructions from home.

The S.S. Kangaroo was forced to wait a further five weeks for the Cape colonial government to agree to the terms of the contract.  The point of contention was the Cape’s demand for an additional section of cable to Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth).  This would have added a further £10 000 to their annual subsidy.  It was argued in The Natal Mercury (7 July 1879, Special Edition) that this line would have added little value as there were already three landlines to Cape Town, and the cable to Algoa Bay would be liable to damage due to the rocky nature of the shore.  It was probably the financial cost that won the argument, and the Cape government finally agreed to the contract terms as they stood. Plans were put in place immediately to land the shore end of the cable just south of the Umgeni River mouth on the morning of 5 July 1879. 

And so, this is where William Harwin, my great-grandfather’s older brother (age 13), enters the story.  William writes in his memoirs: 

On a Saturday in … 1879 I read in the daily paper that the first overseas cable would be pulled ashore at the Umgeni mouth that morning.

The Natal Mercury on Friday 4 July, the day before, read as follows:

The Ocean Cable

A large number of persons will no doubt assemble on Saturday morning next, to witness the ceremony of landing the shore end of the ocean cable. It will be landed at a spot on the beach about a mile and three-quarters from the Stamford Hill Station, and those who proceed out by the 10.20 a.m. train will be in ample time.

 

While the majority of those attending the ceremony took the train, William went by horse.  The journey was much more difficult than today:

There was an old horse in the stable and with my father’s permission I started off after breakfast to see what was is progress. Going to the end of West Street and crossing several sand dunes and through much bush I got to the beach. Turning north I eventually reached the Umgeni mouth and not a living soul did I see in those few miles which had to be done at walking pace. … Shortly afterwards officials and a few visitors arrived. They had travelled to Stamford Hill by train and employed conveyances there to bring them to the beach on a narrow bush path. Durban to Stamford Hill by road was almost impossible through thick sand.

The Natal Mercury (8 July 1879) records a much larger crowd than William recalls. About 600 people took the train, “most of whom had been invited by Mr London, the engineer of the expedition, to witness the ceremony … on the beach in front of the lagoon near the south bank of the Umgeni River”. The weather was “beautifully fine” for the walk from the train station.  A long list of prominent Durban residents attended, including the Mayor, Mr Vause, several town councillors, the town clerk, port captain, the chair of the chamber of commerce, various bankers and businessmen, as well as a large “attendance of ladies”.   Captain Seymour of the S.S. Kangaroo later recorded “strong NE wind and high seas throughout the operation”.  

The S.S. Forerunner (the government tug) and a cargo boat containing the cable were anchored about a quarter mile from shore.  A rocket was then sent from the cargo boat by a Mr Strachan who aimed at a post on the beach:  

As soon as the rocket came in the line it carried was made secure by officials on the beach. It was immediately made fast by those on board the cargo boat to a stout hawser which was attached to a barrel or buoy, under which was fixed the shore end of the cable.  A team of horses was employed to tow the line in, and assistance was rendered by [Indian staff] employed on the railways, [Zulu] constables, and others; a large number of bystanders also gave valuable aid (The Natal Mercury, 8 July 1879). 

What happened next caused much amusement to everyone:

Just before twelve o’clock the foremost buoy was observed close to the shore, and greatly to the surprise of everybody, Mr Edward Pickering [town councillor, previously Mayor], rushed into the breakers and made for the cable, his ambition being to the first to touch the shore end. He was followed in hot pursuit by a private of the 80th regiment, named George Smith … The soldier overtook him just before reaching the buoy, and a struggle ensured between the two, in about four feet of water, over which breakers came in quick succession. Mr Pickering, amidst roars of laughter, disappeared for a moment under the water, but proceeded on his way. Another struggle took place and both reached the buoy about the same time. Councillor Pickering appeared rather exhausted, and after the termination of the somewhat ludicrous scene, the shore end was speedily brought close up to the beach (The Natal Mercury, 8 July 1879).

William recalls how Pickering “rushed into the breakers – frockcoat, top hat, and all …I sat on my horse and was amused at the performance”.  Some felt that the behaviour of Pickering and Smith was “rather unbecoming”, especially since it has been pre-arranged that “the act of welcoming the shore end should have been gracefully performed by the gentle touch of one of the fair sex” who had lined up at the water’s edge. Mr London’s son carried out the first “young lady”, Miss Amy Grundy, to touch the cable, amidst much cheering. Several young women followed, running into the water. As the cable came ashore, the military band played ‘A Life on the Ocean Wave’ and ‘Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep’.  

As the cable was pulled to the top of the beach, the barrels floating it were removed.  Splicing operations then began in a small tent to connect the shore end of the cable to the cable from the cable house (a small wooden hut erected by the Eastern Telegraph Company located across the lagoon). Pieces of the cable were given to some of the ladies as souvenirs of the event. While the splicing was going on, the crowd was provided with a good lunch.  Speeches by various dignitaries then followed, before the crowd returned to town by train. 

Meanwhile, the other end of the cable in the cargo boat was taken out to sea and buoyed.  It was another five days before the S.S. Kangaroo was able to proceed with the next step in the process, probably due to the ongoing difficult sea conditions.  Captain Seymour writes in his remark book on 10 July: 

545am Weighed [anchor] and proceeded towards buoy on shore end. 730 Hove end on board. 1015 Splice finished, easy ahead on course. 

By noon that day, the SS Kangaroo was already 18km NNE of Durban, at last able to lay the first 350 mile section of the ocean cable to Delagoa Bay. The full extent of the ocean cable to Aden was completed on 25 December 1879, allowing the South African colonies to be in immediate communication with Britain. 

The Natal Mercury (7 July 1879) celebrated in advance the importance of this technological development, expressed in the colonial language of the day:  

It is impossible to over-estimate the value of the work that is now being commenced. It will in many not unimportant ways revolutionise our relations with the mother country. … We shall cease to be cut off, as no other portion of the world has been, from the circle of civilised mankind … To commercial men the boon will only be estimated aright when it is once enjoyed. In a political sense the gain will even be greater. In social respects the advantage will be felt day by day and year by year. 

Since 1879, South Africa’s connection to the rest of the world via ocean cable communication systems has evolved with technology, from telegraph to telephone to the internet, now using fibre optic cable.  There are three cable stations on the east coast of South Africa, two at Mtunzini and one at Amanzimtoti. The SAFE, EASSy and SEACOM fibre optic cables land at Mtunzini and the METISS cable lands at Amanzimtoti.  Three further cable stations are located on our West Coast.  The system will continue to evolve over time as the demand for fast internet access continues to grow. 

If you are keen to see how South Africa fits into the worldwide submarine cable system, TeleGeography has produced a fantastic interactive submarine cable map that is regularly updated.  

Submarine Cable Map (TeleGeography/PriMetrica Inc, 2021/Google, INEGI, 2021)

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