i9o 3 ] RECOVERY OF THE BOATS 113 



appearance, very different from that which they had possessed 

 when first they had been incautiously placed on the floe. Of 

 all our staunch whale-boats two only were in a condition to 

 float, and it was evident that there would be many weeks of 

 work for our carpenter before the remainder could be made 

 seaworthy. Still, even the skeleton of a boat is better than no 

 boat at all, and when on January 1 7 the last had been raised 

 it was justly felt that a big load of anxiety had been removed. 



Long before my departure to the south I had given in- 

 structions that the ' Discovery ' should be prepared for sea by 

 the end of January ; consequently after the boats had been 

 freed, and as the sledge parties returned, everyone was very 

 busily employed. To the non-nautical reader it may not be 

 very clear what preparations for sea may mean in such circum- 

 stances, nor is he likely to understand what a lot of work they 

 entailed on the few men who were available. 



From the deck, tons and tons of snow had to be dug out 

 with pickaxes and shovelled over the side; aloft, sails and 

 ropes had to be looked to, the running-gear re-rove, and 

 everything got ready for handling the ship under sail; many 

 things which we had displaced or landed near the shore- 

 station had to be brought on board and secured in position ; 

 thirty tons of ice had to be fetched, melted, and run into the 

 boilers ; below, steam-pipes had to be rejointed, glands 

 repacked, engines turned by hand, and steam raised to see 

 that all was in working order. But, not doubting that the ice 

 would soon break up and release us, all this work was 

 pushed forward vigorously, and in consequence, as I have 

 remarked, on returning to the ship I found her looking trim 

 and smart, and was told that all was ready for us to put to sea 

 again. 



But meanwhile the great event of the season had happened. 

 The * Morning,' our relief ship, had arrived ; and here, per- 

 haps, I may be permitted to make a digression in order to 

 explain how this had come about. 



I have already shown the manner in which the necessary 

 funds were raised for the ' Discovery,' and how, after arduous 

 vol. 11. 1 



