32 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' 



CHAPTER II 



PREPARATION 



Ships of former Polar Voyages — Ship Committee— Design of the 

 ' Discovery' — Choice of a Name — Description of the Ship — Magnetic 

 Observatory — Living Spaces — Holds, &c. — Sails — Launch of the Ship 

 — The Officers appointed— The Warrant Officers — The Men — Division 

 of the Antarctic Regions— Prospect of Victoria Quadrant — The Instruc- 

 tions—Acknowledgment of Assistance. 



Ere long we will launch 

 A vessel as goodly, strong, and staunch 



As ever weathered a wintry sea. — Longfellow. 



In deciding to build a vessel for the purposes of the expedi- 

 tion the Ship Committee made a new departure, for the 

 ' Discovery ' was the first vessel ever built in England for 

 scientific exploration. 



Few details in the great voyages of the early adventurers 

 are more interesting to a sailor than those concerning the ships 

 in which such voyages were accomplished. If one is inclined 

 to wonder at the deeds of those mariners, wonderment must 

 be greatly increased on realising the extraordinary vessels in 

 which they were performed. Space does not permit me to 

 touch on such a subject, but it may be interesting to note 

 some of the vessels which have been used since the com- 

 mencement of the era of scientific exploration to which I 

 referred in the last chapter. 



All four ships, the ' Endeavour,' ' Resolution,' ' Adventure,' 

 and ' Discovery,' which took part in Cook's famous voyages, 

 had been built and used for the coal trade ; they ranged from 



