DECISION TO BUILD A NEW VESSEL 23 



amongst the largest and most generous contributors were Sir 

 Alfred Harmsworth with 5,000/., the Misses Dawson Lambton 

 with 1,500/., the Royal Society with 1,000/., and the Govern- 

 ment of Queensland, Australia, with 1,000/ ; many others 

 were equally generous in accordance with their means, and 

 with a further sum of 3,000/ from the Geographical Society 

 the private subscriptions were raised to 47,000/., the Govern- 

 ment grant was secured, and the whole available fund was 

 carried to the adequate total of 92,000/ Financially all was 

 now comparatively plain sailing. 



As soon as Mr. Longstaff 's gift had placed the expedition 

 within the bounds of practical politics, the question of the 

 vessel in which its members were to sail came under con- 

 sideration, and the appointment of a special Ship Committee, 

 consisting of several distinguished Admirals and Arctic 

 explorers, was followed by the decision to build a new ship 

 for the purpose. 



Mr. W. E. Smith, C.B., Chief Naval Constructor, was in- 

 vited and consented to prepare the plans and supervise the 

 construction of this new vessel, and the Committee, in consul- 

 tation with Mr. Smith, accepted the tender of the Dundee 

 Shipbuilding Company to build her. In March 1900 the keel 

 was laid in the Company's yard. 



In the summer of this year the position of the National 

 Antarctic Expedition, as it was now called, was briefly as fol- 

 lows : The money had been subscribed for the venture, the 

 control of which was vested in the hands of a body named the 

 Joint Committee, containing sixteen members appointed by 

 each of the two Societies. The names which figured on the 

 list of this Committee were those of gentlemen eminent in 

 many branches of science, and of distinguished Admirals and 

 explorers — in fact, of all those who were best able to give 

 advice concerning the multifarious details of a scientific ex- 

 ploring expedition. As, however, this body, as a whole, was 

 obviously too large to deal with matters of detail, it had ap- 

 pointed nine sub-committees ; these were for the purpose of 

 considering the various branches of science which were to be 



