866 Captain Robert F. Scott [May 27, 



from yiadivostock viA Kobe and Sydney to our base, will be as good 

 as it is possible to obtain for our purposes. 



Hitherto it has been the custom for expeditions to sail to the 

 south in the latter end of December, as it has been thought im- 

 possible to penetrate the ice-pack at an earlier date. I think that in 

 a large ship like the Terra Nova, which has considerable power for 

 a vessel of her type; it is well worth making the trial to secure the 

 advantage which would be obtained by penetrating the pack at an 

 earlier date ; and I therefore propose to leave New Zealand towards 

 the end of November. If all goes well, we should reach McMurdo 

 Sound towards the end of December. Should delays occur, they may 

 be profitably employed in taking soundings and making biological 

 investigations. 



Immediately on arrival in McMurdo Sound the hut, provisions, 

 and equipment of the Western party will be landed. The party will 

 consist of from twenty-two to twenty-five persons, and as soon as the 

 winter station has been thoroughly established the greater number 

 of these will proceed to the south to lay depots. 



I hope that it will be possible to start this party off not later 

 than the third week in January, when sixty or seventy days remain 

 for travelling. At the same time the ship will leave McMurdo Sound 

 and proceed to the eastward. The region of King Edward's Land 

 should be reached before the end of January or very early in 

 February. If open seas are to be found in this region, they are 

 certainly most likely to occur about this date. I believe that the 

 exploration of King Edward's Land can best be conducted by landing 

 a wintering party in this region, and every provision is being made 

 for this object. A second hut, provisions, complete outfit, and 

 travelHng equipment for six men have been set apart, and, if a 

 suitable spot can be found, a "party of six or seven men will be left 

 there. 



I realise that this part of my plan is beset with many difficulties. 

 A suitable wintering-place may not be found, and, even if found, 

 the difficulty of landing stores remains, in a region where heavy pack- 

 ice is continually on the move. But the interest of the exploration 

 of King Edward's Land justifies a great effort m the attempt. 



Our present knowledge of King Edward's Land is of the roughest 

 description. We have seen rising snow-slopes, and have here and 

 there caught a fragmentary glimpse of exposed rock. Does this 

 mean an archipelago of small islands, or some part of the main 

 continental mass ? It is not difficult to see how many interesting 

 problems of land and ice distribution depend on the answer to this 

 question. 



The small Eastern party, if left, will be left with full supplies 

 and some transport facilities. They will have to face the unknown 

 severity of a winter in one of the most inhospitable parts of the 

 Antarctic regions ; they will have to face unknown difficulties and 



