OFFICERS OF THE EXPEDITION 51 



with me in the ' Majestic,' and I had thought him, as he 

 proved to be, especially fitted for a voyage where there were 

 elements of danger and difficulty. 



The original idea in appointing two doctors to the ' Dis- 

 covery ' was that one should be available for a detached 

 landing party; but, although this idea was practically aban- 

 doned, there were few things for which we had greater cause to 

 be thankful than that it had originally existed, for the second 

 doctor appointed to the expedition was Edward A. Wilson. 

 Wilson was a native of Cheltenham, and had been educated at the 

 college of that name and at Caius College, Cambridge ; after 

 taking his degree he had qualified in medicine at St. George's 

 Hospital, London, but on leaving the hospital ill health had 

 obliged him to spend some years abroad. His health was not 

 wholly re-established when he joined the ' Discovery,' but he 

 was evidently on the mend, and his fitness for the post in other 

 respects was obvious. In addition to his medical duties he 

 was appointed vertebrate zoologist and artist ; in the first 

 capacity he dealt scientifically with the birds and seals, and in 

 a manner which his appendix to this work indicates ; in the 

 second he was perhaps still more active, and it would take long 

 even to number all the pictures and sketches he has produced 

 of the wild scenes amongst which we lived. 



I was still serving in the ' Majestic ' when I received my 

 appointment to the expedition, and it was at that time I realised 

 that among my messmates was just the man for the post of 

 chief engineer of the 'Discovery.' This was Reginald W. 

 Skelton. He was a Norfolk man, and had joined the Navy as 

 an engineer-student in 1887 ; subsequently he had served in 

 various ships on various stations until at last he had been 

 appointed as senior engineer of the ' Majestic,' where I first got 

 to know him well. One of my earliest acts on behalf of the 

 expedition was to apply for his services, and it was certainly a 

 very fortunate one : from first to last of our voyage we never 

 had serious difficulty with our machinery or with anything 

 concerning it. But Skelton's utility extended far beyond his 

 primary duties. I shall have reason to tell of the many ways 



