SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
THE WINTER JOURNEY TO CAPE CROZIER 
By Dr. Edward A. Wilson, Lieut, H. R. 
Bowers, R.N., and Apsley Cherry-Garrard 
June 27, 1911, to August i, 1911 
The object of this expedition to the Emperor penguin 
rookery in the darkness and cold of an Antarctic winter 
was set forth years before in Dr. Wilson's Report of the 
Zoology of the Discovery Voyage. It was to secure 
eggs at such a stage as could furnish a series of early 
embryos by which alone the particular points of interest 
in the development of the bird could be worked out ; 
for it seemed probable ' that we have in the Emperor 
penguin the nearest approach to a primitive form not 
only of a penguin, but of a bird.' These points could 
not be investigated in the deserted eggs and chicks which 
had been obtained in Discovery days. Such a journey 
' entailed the risks of sledge travelling in midwinter 
with an almost total absence of light,' for the Emperor 
is singular in nesting at the coldest season of the year, 
and ' the party would have to be on the scene at any 
VOL. II. n 
