X903] THE PROGRAMME 149 



The credit for arranging the direction in which the un- 

 supported party should go really belongs to Bemacchi, for it 

 was he who first asked me what proof we had that the barrier 

 surface continued on a level to the eastward. Since the 

 previous year, and having regard to the barrier edge in this 

 direction, we had assumed this fact, but when I came to look 

 into it I found we really had no definite proof. The only way 

 to obtain it was to go and see, and this was therefore named as 

 the objective of the unsupported party, who affected to believe 

 that they were destined to discover all sorts of interesting land 

 arising through the monotonous snow-plains for which they 

 were bound. Besides the longer journeys, the programme for 

 the season included, as before, a number of short journeys for 

 specific purposes. The most important of these were periodic 

 visits to the Emperor penguin rookery, as we hoped that this 

 year our zoologist would be able to observe the habits of these 

 extraordinary creatures from the commencement of their 

 breeding season. 



The next step in this programme was the most difficult of 

 all j it was to name the individuals for the various journeys. 

 When all had supported me so loyally, and when all were so 

 eager to go to the front, it can be imagined what a hard task 

 lay before me in making a selection. However, this difficulty, 

 like others, was gradually overcome by much thought, and the 

 various parties were told off. The journey to the west I de- 

 cided to lead myself, that to the south I entrusted to Barne 

 and Mulock, whilst the two officers named for the south-eastern 

 effort were Royds and Bernacchi. 



Finally, it was decided that one important factor must 

 dominate all our sledging arrangements. We knew that we 

 were mainly at the mercy of natural causes as to whether the 

 1 Discovery ' would be freed from the ice in the coming year, 

 but at least I determined that as far as man's puny efforts could 

 prevail, nothing should be left undone to aid in the release of 

 the ship. At the earliest date at which we could hope to make 

 any impression on the great ice-sheet about us, the whole force 

 of our company must be available for the work of extrication ; 



