242 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Jan. 



this joint venture until such time as both ships should come 

 under my command. And so it came about that, much to 

 our surprise, two ships, instead of one, arrived off the edge of 

 our fast ice on January 5, 1904. 



Looking back now, I can see that everything happened in 

 such a natural sequence that I might well have guessed that 

 something of the sort would come about, yet it is quite certain 

 that no such thought ever entered my head, and the first sight 

 of the two vessels conveyed nothing but blank astonishment. 

 But it was not the arrival of the ' Terra Nova,' whose captain 

 I saw from the first was anxious to do everything in his power 

 to fall in with my plans, that disconcerted me and prompted 

 that somewhat lugubrious entry in my diary which I have 

 quoted. This was caused by quite another matter, and one 

 which I might equally have guessed had I thought the problem 

 out on the right lines. 



When the news of our detention in the ice became known 

 in England, it is not too much to say that the majority of those 

 who were capable of forming a competent opinion believed 

 that the ' Discovery ' would never be freed. There is no doubt 

 the Admiralty inclined to this opinion, but whether they did 

 so or not, it was equally their duty to see that the expense of 

 furnishing a relief expedition on such an elaborate scale should 

 not be incurred again in a future season, and consequently 

 they had no other course than to issue direct instructions to 

 me to abandon the ' Discovery ' if she could not be freed in 

 time to accompany the relief ships to the North. 



When I came to understand the situation I could see clearly 

 the reason which dictated these instructions, but this did little 

 to lighten the grievous disappointment I felt on receiving them. 



It does not need much further explanation, I think, to show 

 that the arrival of the relief ships with this mandate placed me 

 and my companions unavoidably in a very cruel position. 

 Under the most ordinary conditions, I take it, a sailor would 

 go through much rather than abandon his ship. But the ties 

 which bound us to the • Discovery ' were very far beyond the 

 ordinary ; they involved a depth of sentiment which cannot be 



