ch. lix] The Societies" Expedition 477 
Zealand. Scott intended to explore westward from Cape 
North. In the voyage northward the rudder was damaged, 
and the Discovery, after rounding Cape Adare, anchored 
in Robertson Bay, where the rudder was shifted. As 
soon as the spare rudder was in place the vessel put to 
sea again, February 25th, and was soon in the thick of the 
icebergs. There was a great mass of closely-packed ice 
towards Cape North. Captain Scott, therefore, altered 
course and sighted the Balleny Islands on the 2nd March, 
afterwards proceeding west to beyond I59°E., where the 
ship was actually behind Wilkes's alleged land. On 
March 4th she was in 67 0 23' S. and 155 0 30' E., and it was 
quite clear that Eld's Peak and Ringgold's Knoll did not 
exist . Cape Hudson is also imaginary, and there is no case 
for any land near that latitude eastward of Adelie Land. 
The coast turns S.E. to Cape North. On April 1st the 
Discovery arrived at Lyttelton, where a most cordial 
reception awaited her. 
The Discovery sailed again June 8th, completing her 
magnetic survey across the South Pacific. Passing 
through Magellan Strait, Port Stanley was visited for coal, 
and on the -10th September the good ship was anchored 
at Spithead. Never has any polar expedition returned 
with so great a harvest of results. The discoveries alone 
were remarkable — the entirely new land of King Edward 
VII, the nature of the ice on the barrier, the great Victorian 
range of mountains, the volcanic region of Ross and the 
smaller islands, the glaciers and the remarkable pheno- 
menon of their recession, the great Antarctic ice-cap over 
which Captain Scott and two companions travelled for 
200 miles, the discovery of the position of the south 
magnetic pole, and the lines of deep sea soundings with 
serial temperatures and dredgings. Yet these are only 
the skeleton which is provided with flesh and blood by 
the scientific results and observations which are contained 
in the twelve large volumes published on the voyage. 
Captain Scott's own narrative, in two volumes, 
beautifully illustrated by Dr Wilson, was worthy of the 
expedition. It was his first literary effort, but the great 
explorer had a natural gift, and there are few polar stories 
to be compared with the Voyage of the Discovery either 
in literary merit or in scientific interest. 
