24 FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
covery in 1842, there was reason to believe that all that 
was necessary to make a * full ship ' was to sail south, haul 
the bone aboard, and sail home again with a fortune 
between decks. Glorious castles in the air were built in 
this prospective foundation of bone and blubber. One of 
these three whaling brothers, Mr. J. M. Gray, I believe, 
the eldest of the trio, had the enterprise to start a 
company with this object in view in 1891, but, fortunately 
or unfortunately, failed to collect sufficient capital. Next 
year, Mr. R. Kinnes of Dundee followed Mr. Gray's 
example, and succeeded in equipping four ships for the 
purpose — the Balcena, Active , Diana, and Polar Star, all 
wooden barques built for ice work, with small auxiliary 
screws. The Balsena, originally called Mjolnar, on which 
I write, is considerably the largest of the four, being 
260 tons register, gross tonnage 417, with a 65 horse- 
power engine, length 141 feet, beam 31, and draught 
16J feet. She was built in Drammen in 1872, and 
was then ship-rigged, I believe. She was what is called 
a pet ship, built to suit the ideas of her master. Her 
sides, with timbers and linings 32 inches thick, are 
supported in every direction by huge beams and natural 
knees. The focsle is forward, below the main deck. 
Aft, the deck-house roof rises about 2 feet above the 
poop — what is technically called a Liverpool house — 
leaving a narrow alley-way round the stern. Her sheer is 
greater than in British ships, and her lines are somewhat 
after those of the Viking ships. The Active is the 
next largest. She was built at Peterhead in 1852, 
and has an old-fashioned, homely look, — low in the 
