 Early telegraph wires tended to follow railway lines, which were also expanding fast across land. But how could you overcome the barrier of the sea? The first attempt was made in 1850, when an international submarine telegraphic link was constructed on the orders of a British entrepreneur, John Watkins Brett. It joined Dover in England and Capgrinier in France. It was a simple, poorly protected copper wire, and a stronger cable replaced it the following year. Stock prices were exchanged between Paris and London. The Atlantic Ocean presented a far bigger challenge. Nevertheless, American businessman Cyrus W. Field organised the laying of a telegraph cable beneath the Atlantic in 1858. Britain's Queen Victoria and US President James Buchanan used it to exchange congratulatory telegrams. However, the line failed after a few weeks. Supported by Field, a transatlantic cable was successfully laid in 1866. It was carried aboard what was then the biggest ship in the world, Great Eastern, designed by British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Submarine telegraph cables also reached India, China and Japan in 1870, Australia in 1871 and South America in 1874. By 1880, more than 150,000 kilometres of cable had been laid worldwide.