2 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 
Nova. Possibly he gave instructions that they were to be 
worked hard, and no doubt it was a good opportunity of 
testing our mettle. We had been chosen out of 8000 vol- 
unteers, executive officers, scientific staff, crew, and all. 
We differed entirely from the crew of an ordinary mer- 
chant ship both in our personnel and in our methods of 
working. The executive officers were drawn from the 
Navy, as were also the crew. In addition there was the 
scientific staff, including one doctor who was not a naval 
surgeon, but who was also a scientist, and two others called 
by Scott ‘adaptable helpers,’ namely Oates and myself. 
The scientific staff of the expedition numbered twelve 
members all told, but only six were on board: the remainder 
were to join the ship at Lyttelton, New Zealand, when we 
made our final embarcation for the South. Of those on the 
ship Wilson was chief of the scientific staff, and united in 
himself the various functions of vertebral zoologist, doctor, 
artist, and, as this book will soon show, the unfailing 
friend-in-need of all on board. Lieutenant Evans was in 
command, with Campbell as first officer. Watches were of 
course assigned immediately to the executive officers. The ~ 
crew was divided into a port and starboard watch, and the 
ordinary routine of a sailing ship with auxiliary steam was 
followed. Beyond this no work was definitely assigned to 
any individual on board. How the custom of the ship 
arose I do not know, but in effect most things were done by 
volunteer labour. It was recognized that every one whose 
work allowed turned to immediately on any job which was 
wanted, but it was an absolutely voluntary duty—vVolun- 
teers toshorten sail? Tocoal? Toshiftcargo? Topump? 
To paint or wash down paintwork ? They were constant 
calls—some of them almost hourly calls, day and night— 
and there was never any failure to respond fully. This 
applied not only to the scientific staff but also, whenever 
their regular duties allowed, to the executive officers. 
There wasn’t an officer on the ship who did not shift coal 
till he was sick of the sight of it, but I heard no com- 
plaints. Such a system soon singles out the real willing 
workers, but it is apt to put an undue strain upon them. 
