i 9 04] REASSEMBLY IN ROSS HARBOUR 295 



ship as smart as possible for her first appearance to the eyes of 

 the multitude. It was a curious idea this last, but it was very 

 strongly held by us all ; it seemed a point of pride with us that 

 the good ship which had carried us so well should not be 

 allowed to display any untidiness in public, and so all hands 

 fell to with a will. There was much scrubbing of decks and 

 cleaning of paint work ; then came a fresh coat of paint to 

 cover up all the travel stains, and in a few days the ' Discovery ' 

 looked as though she had spent her three adventurous years in 

 some peaceful harbour. 



On March 19 the 'Terra Nova' hove in sight, and on the 

 following day we were still more relieved by the safe arrival of 

 the ' Morning.' Both ships had the same tale to tell — a tale of 

 continuous adverse gales which had blown so heavily that at 

 times they had been obliged to ' heave-to,' and throughout had 

 had a long and hard struggle in beating up to the islands. 

 The little ' Morning ' had had an especially dismal experience. 

 She had been nearly a month fighting this terribly hard 

 weather, with all sorts of added troubles in connection with 

 her ramshackle engines and pumps, and her ill-ballasted con- 

 dition. Captain Colbeck will no doubt tell of the adventurous 

 incidents of this month, but none of us is likely to forget the 

 utterly worn-out condition in which his small company arrived 

 at Ross Harbour, or the universal testimony of officers and 

 men that disaster had only been averted by the consummate 

 seamanship with which their small vessel had been handled. 



The few days which we remained in Ross Harbour after 

 the arrival of our consorts were spent in ballasting the ' Morn- 

 ing ' and in giving a much-needed rest to her crew ; we were also 

 able to obtain from the ' Terra Nova ' the addition to our coal 

 supply necessary for the last stage of our journey to civilisation. 



On March 29 our small fleet set sail once more, and now 

 everything favoured our prosperous voyage; with a strong 

 breeze from the south-west and a moderate sea, we set all our 

 canvas and ran rapidly to the north. On the 30th we sighted 

 Stewart Island, and later the coast of the mainland ; the fol- 

 lowing day found us running up the coast, and at length 



