When the "Agememnon" reached Valentia on August 5, Thomson handed over to Whitehouse and the project was announced as a success to the press. Thomson had been receiving signals without problem throughout the voyage using the mirror galvanometer, but Whitehouse immediately connected his own equipment. The effects of the poor handling and design of the cable, coupled with Whitehouse's repeated attempts to drive the cable with high voltages, up to 2,000 volts, resulted in the insulation of the cable being compromised. Whitehouse attempted to hide the poor performance and was vague in his communications. The expected inaugural message from Queen Victoria had been widely publicised and when this was not forthcoming the press started to speculate that there were problems. Whitehouse announced that five or six weeks would be required for "adjustments". The Queen's message had been received in Newfoundland, but Whitehouse had been unable to read the confirmation copy sent back the other way. Finally, on August 17, he announced receipt. What he did not announce was that the message had been received on the mirror galvanometer when he finally gave up trying with his own equipment. Whitehouse had the message re-entered into his printing telegraph locally so that he could send on the printed tape and pretend that it had been received that way.