28 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' 



and Admiral Durnford, and both individually and collectively 

 they never failed to evince an interest in it, so that at length 

 the active assistance of Sir Archibald Douglas overcame 

 objections of principle, and the men were granted. 



But this concession, perhaps the most important which the 

 expedition received, did not come until the spring of igor ; 

 and as, after this, steps had to be taken to select the most 

 fitting volunteers, the chosen men did not join until very 

 shortly before the sailing of the expedition. 



Many of the officers, however, came on the scene much 

 earlier, and whilst our new vessel was yet a skeleton the first 

 lieutenant, the chief engineer, and the carpenter were standing 

 by her, and were able to look into the numerous small 

 difficulties that arose, and to inform me of them during my 

 flying visits to Dundee. My own headquarters I was obliged 

 to make in London, and I fixed them in the University build- 

 ings of Burlington House, where rooms were kindly placed at 

 my disposal by Lord Esher, then Secretary to His Majesty's 

 Office of Works. 



It would not be possible for me to describe half the work 

 that went on in this office ; suffice it to say that it kept me 

 extremely busy for six days in the week. My room soon 

 became a veritable museum of curiosities : sledges, ski, fur 

 clothing and boots were crowded into the corners, whilst tables 

 and shelves were littered with correspondence and innumerable 

 samples of tinned foods. In the midst of this confusion I 

 worked steadily on with all the ups and downs that such 

 occasions will bring, sometimes in high hope that all was 

 going well, and sometimes with the dreary feeling that by no 

 possibility could we be ready to start at the required date. 



Luckily, throughout this busy, trying time I had much 

 assistance. Our indefatigable Secretary, Mr. Longhurst, was 

 always willing to take fresh troubles on his already over- 

 burdened shoulders, and devoted his whole energies to the 

 work. Of Mr. Armitage's help in matters of equipment I shall 

 speak later on. At about this time also Mr. George Murray, 

 F.R.S., received his appointment as temporary director of the 



