206 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 
cloud is shown, then cirrus and not stratus cloud was in the 
sky: if it is not shown, then the sky was clear. It is accur- 
acy such as this which gives an exceptional value to work 
viewed from a scientific standpoint. Mention should also 
be made of the paintings and drawings made constantly by 
Wilson for the various specialists on the expedition when- 
ever they wished for colour records of their specimens ; in 
this connection the paintings of fish and various parasites 
are especially valuable. 
I am not specially qualified to judge Wilson from the 
artistic point of view. But if you want accuracy of draw- 
ing, truth of colour, and a reproduction of the soft and 
delicate atmospheric effects which obtain in this part of 
the world, then you have them here. Whatever may be 
said of the painting as such, it 1s undeniable that an artist 
of this type is of inestimable value to an expedition which 
‘is doing scientific and geographical work in a little-known 
part of the earth. 
Wilson himself set a low value on his artistic capacity. 
We used to discuss what Turner would have produced in 
a land which offered colour effects of such beauty. If we 
urged him to try and paint some peculiar effect and he felt 
that to do so was beyond his powers he made no scruple of 
saying so. His colour is clear, his brush-work clean: and 
he handled sledging subjects with the vigour of a pro- 
fessional who knew all there was to be known about a 
sledging life. 
Scott and Wilson worked hand in hand to further the 
scientific objects of the expedition. For Scott, though no 
specialist in any one branch, had a most genuine love of 
science. ‘‘ Science—the rock foundation of all effort,” he 
wrote ; and whether discussing ice problems with Wright, 
meteorology with Simpson, or geology with Taylor, he 
showed not only a mind which was receptive and keen to 
learn, but a knowledge which was quick to offer valuable 
suggestions. I remember Pennell condemning anything 
but scientific learning in dealing with the problems round 
us; ‘no guesswork’ was his argument. But he emphatic- 
ally made an exception of Scott, who had an uncanny knack 
