NAMING THE SHIP 37 



was not until June that her name was selected. Many names 

 came up for discussion, and not a few of these had already 

 done service in the older English expeditions. It was gene- 

 rally considered that the most appropriate plan was to revive 

 some old time-honoured title, and as it was seen that few 

 names carried a greater record than ' Discovery,' that name 

 was chosen. It is perhaps interesting, therefore, to give some 

 idea of its history. There have now been six ' Discoveries.' 

 The first made no fewer than six Arctic voyages from 1602 to 

 161 6 to the regions of Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay, on one of 

 which she was commanded by the famous navigator William 

 Baffin. The second also voyaged to Hudson Bay in 17 19. 

 ' Discovery' No. 3 took part in Cook's third voyage in 1776. 

 ' Discovery ' No. 4 was Vancouver's ship when he discovered 

 the insularity of the land which is named after him. ' Dis- 

 covery ' No. 5 took part in the 1875 expedition to the Arctic; 

 she was commanded by the present Sir Henry F. Stevenson, 

 and I have already shown her fitness for the work. Our own 

 1 Discovery ' was therefore the sixth of that name and the heir 

 to a long record of honourable service, and, what was equally 

 important, of fortunate service, as the name ' Discovery ' seems 

 never to have been associated with shipwreck or disaster. 



And here I should like to introduce the reader to this 

 good ship which was to carry us and our fortunes through 

 many adventures. I can do so without going into technical 

 details, as, thanks to the interest which Mr. W. E. Smith took 

 in his handiwork and the enterprise of the Institution of Naval 

 Architects, a permanent record of the vessel has been esta- 

 blished. The ' Discovery,' alas ! has passed away from the 

 paths of exploration, but the future architect of such a ship 

 will find all the information he needs concerning her in the 

 'Proceedings' of the Institution I have named (April 1905). 



The displacement of the ' Discovery ' was 1,620 tons, but 

 her registered tonnage, by which her size can be compared 

 with other ships I have mentioned, was 485. Her length 

 between perpendiculars was 172 feet, and her breadth 34 feet. 



By consulting the profile drawing of the ship, the reader 



