24 Recent Antarctic Exploration 



surprise of every one, two relief ships appeared ; but they 

 were unable, owing to the fast ice, to approach within less 

 than ten miles of the " Discovery." It was not until Feb. 17 

 that everything was ready and the three ships left McMurdo 

 Sound. The journey home was effected without further incident. 



To the selfish reader of Captain Scott's charming and 

 instructive book the relief of the "Discovery" comes as a 

 disappointment. Having followed him in his first, or appren- 

 tice's, journey to the farthest south, and seen how he every 

 day gathered more and more experience of the work ; having 

 then followed him in his next journey to the farthest west, 

 and observed the remarkable development of his power 

 of covering ground against difficulties, it is impossible not 

 to regret that he was unable to deliver the master-stroke by 

 following up his own pioneer work and going still farther 

 south, perhaps to the Pole itself. 



We think that it would have been legitimate for Captain 

 Scott to take the view that his expedition had a quasi-warlike 

 character. He was engaged, as Dr H. R. Mill puts it, in the 

 siege of the South Pole. The attack of the fortress had to 

 be delivered on land, and claimed the presence of the chief. 

 The service of support and relief had to be conducted by 

 sea, and fell naturally under the command of a subordinate. 

 Such a scheme of division of labour would have offered many 

 advantages. The costly ship would have continued to be 

 active in the service of the expedition, which would then 

 have become self-supporting ; and every department of it 

 would have come under the immediate personal control of 

 Captain Scott. The reappearance of the " Discovery " in 

 Australian waters in April 1902 would have relieved the 

 promoters of the expedition of the obligation to find a second 

 ship, and would have been welcomed by the friends of all the 

 members of the expedition, about whom some anxiety had 

 begun to be expressed. Indeed there would have been no 

 necessity to evacuate Ross Land at all ; for the members of 

 the expedition could have been relieved and replaced, and the 

 occupation continued, until the fortress had fallen. The 

 public is never backward in supporting an enterprise when it 

 has begun to show sure prospects of success. 



