OFFICERS OF THE EXPEDITION 53 



of two officers who did not serve throughout the whole term of 

 the voyage ; my reason will, I think, be clear. 



One of these, Ernest H. Shackleton, was forced to leave us 

 by ill health in 1903, when he was relieved by the other, 

 George F. A. Mulock, who remained with us until the end of 

 the voyage. Shackleton was born in Ireland and educated at 

 Dulwich College ; but at an early age he had taken to the sea, 

 and as a merchant-service officer had drifted about to various 

 parts of the world. From casual and irregular voyages he had 

 passed to the more settled employment of the Union-Castle 

 Line, and had already begun to make steady progress in that 

 service when he was appointed to the ' Discovery.' His 

 experience was useful to us in many ways, and as he was 

 always brimful of enthusiasm and good fellowship, it was to 

 the regret of all that he left us in 1903. 



His successor, Mulock, was a sub-lieutenant in the Navy 

 when he joined us; he was then only twenty-one years of age, 

 but having received some excellent instruction as a surveyor in 

 H.M.S. 'Triton,' and having a natural bent for this work, his 

 services proved invaluable. Of this, however, I shall speak at 

 a later date. 



From what I have said of the individuals of our wardroom 

 mess, the reader will see that, taking them as a whole, there 

 were two rather noticeable features. The first was youth, con- 

 cerning the advantages of which for a Polar expedition I could 

 write many pages j the second was diversity of experience : no 

 two of us were likely to look at a matter from precisely the 

 same standpoint. This, I think, was also an advantage : it 

 gave us larger interests, and generally encouraged that attitude 

 which is so necessary to the members of a small community — 

 the determination to live and let live. 



Be this as it may, we certainly had reason to congratulate 

 ourselves on the selection of our officers, for of this there 

 could be no clearer proof than the fact that we lived together 

 in complete harmony for three years. 



It has been said in the Navy of that useful class of in- 

 dividuals the warrant officers that they form the backbone of a 



