THE NIMROD 



hopes and aspiration of many years. She was very 

 dilapidated and smelt strongly of seal-oil, and an 

 inspection in dock showed that she required caulking 

 and that her masts would have to be renewed. She 

 was rigged only as a schooner and her masts were 

 decayed, and I wanted to be able to sail her in the 

 event of the engine breaking down or the supply 

 of coal running short. There was only a few weeks 

 to elapse before the date fixed for our departure, 

 and it was obvious that we would have to push the work 

 ahead very quickly if she w r as to be ready in time. I 

 had not then become acquainted with the many good 

 qualities of the Nimrod; and my first impression hardly 

 did justice to the plucky old ship. 



I proceeded at once to put the ship in the hands of 

 Messrs. R. and H. Green, of Blackwall, the famous old 

 firm that built so many of Britain's " wooden walls," 

 and that had done fitting and repair work for several 

 other polar expeditions. She was docked for the neces- 

 sary caulking, and day by day assumed a more satis- 

 factory appearance. The signs of former conflicts 

 with the ice-floes disappeared, and the masts and 

 running-gear were prepared for the troubled days that 

 were to come. Even the penetrating odour of seal-oil 

 ceased to offend after much vigorous scrubbing of decks 

 and holds, and I began to feel that after all the Nimrod 

 would do the expedition no discredit. Later still I grew 

 really proud of the sturdy little ship. 



In the meantime Mr. Reid and myself had been very 

 busy completing the equipment of the expedition, and 

 I had been gathering round me the men who were to 

 compose the staff. As I had indicated when making 

 the first announcement regarding the expedition, I 

 did not intend that the Nimrod should remain in the 

 Antarctic during the winter. The ship was to land a 



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