vi 
PREFACE 
sea — and above all the discovery of the great ice cap on 
which the South Pole is situated, by one of the most 
remarkable Polar journeys on record. His small but 
excellent scientific staff worked hard and with trained 
intelligence, their results being recorded in twelve large 
quarto volumes. 
The great discoverer had no intention of losing touch 
with his beloved profession though resolved to complete 
his Antarctic work. The exigencies of the naval service 
called him to the command of battleships and to con- 
fidential work of the Admiralty ; so that five years elapsed 
before he could resume his Antarctic labours. 
The object of Captain Scott's second expedition was 
mainly scientific, to complete and extend his former 
work in all branches of science. It was his ambition that 
in his ship there should be the most completely equipped 
expedition for scientific purposes connected with the 
Polar regions, both as regards men and material, that 
ever left these shores. In this he succeeded. He had on 
board a fuller complement of geologists, one of them 
especially trained for the study of physiography, biologists, 
physicists, and surveyors than ever before composed the 
staff of a Polar expedition. Thus Captain Scott's objects 
were strictly scientific, including the completion and 
extension of his former discoveries. The results will be 
explained in the second volume of this work. They will be 
found to be extensive and important. Never before, in 
the Polar regions, have meteorological, magnetic and tidal 
observations been taken, in one locality, during five years. 
It was also part of Captain Scott's plan to reach the South 
