i 9 o 4 ] SHORTAGE OF COAL 263 



able to do those things for which a ship is built. It is sufficient 

 to say that it would have been hard to find a prouder or happier 

 ship's company than we were that day. 



But with all our feelings of elation we did not imagine that 

 our troubles were at an end; we knew that it was far from 

 likely that after so long a period of disuse everything would be 

 found to work smoothly, and we knew also that if we were to 

 carry out the remainder of the programme which we had set 

 ourselves there must be no delay in getting to work. It had 

 always been my intention when the ' Discovery ' was freed from 

 the ice to devote what remained of the navigable season to an 

 exploration of that interesting region which lay to the westward 

 of Cape North, but now, a r ter two years' imprisonment, we 

 lacked what constituted a primniy necessity for such a scheme; 

 our long detention had made a deep inroad into our coal 

 supply, and after lighting fires in our main boilers and raising 

 steam afresh we found ourselves with barely forty tons remain- 

 ing — an amount on which it would have been most difficult for 

 us to reach New Zealand, and which absolutely precluded all 

 idea of further exploration. 



One of my first inquiries, therefore, on the arrival of the 

 relief ships had been to find out the amount of this valuable 

 commodity with which they could afford to supply us in the 

 event of our release. At first they had been able to name a 

 very satisfactory figure, but after the long month of combat 

 with ice and wind which had just passed their powers of assist- 

 ance had been greatly diminished ; and now I saw, to my 

 disappointment, that even at the best we should only increase 

 our stock by an amount which would ensure our safe return 

 to New Zealand, without leaving any adequate margin for 

 exploring work. However, it was no use deploring facts which 

 could not be altered. I determined to get all that could be 

 spared without delay, and to use it as far as possible in carry- 

 ing out our original programme. 



As the ' Discovery ' seemed to be lying very snugly at 

 anchor, we decided to get in what we could whilst we remained 

 in the shelter of our small bay, and on the afternoon of the 



