420 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
taneous and comparable during the whole of the first 
year in the ice. 
The work of organising the German expedition by Pro- 
fessor von Drygalski was greatly helped by the active 
participation of Admiral Count Baudissin of the German 
Admiralty, and by the enlightened action of Count Posa- 
dowsky, the Imperial Home Secretary, who secured in 
April, 1899, a government grant to cover the whole 
expense. The plans provided for one ship with a supple- 
mentary station in Kerguelen Land where a scientific 
party was to remain during the sojourn of the main body 
in the ice. The ship was built at Kiel, entirely of timber, 
was modelled somewhat on the lines of Nansen’s famous 
vessel, the Fram, and rigged as a barquentine. She re- 
ceived the appropriate and inspiring name of Gauss in 
memory of the great German mathematician who had 
done so much to promote the theory of terrestrial mag- 
netism, and indirectly to foster the international rivalry 
in south polar exploration sixty years before. The scien- 
tific staff included as naturalist, Professor Vanhoffen, 
who had been with Drygalski on his Greenland expedi- 
tion and also on the Valdivia; as surgeon, Dr. Hans Ga- 
zert ; as geologist, Dr. Emil Philippi, who had spent some 
time with Sir John Murray in the study of deep-sea 
deposits ; and as magnetician and meteorologist, Dr. 
Friedrich Bidlingmaier. The captain of the ship was 
under the instructions of Professor von Drygalski, as 
leader of the expedition; he was Captain Flans Ruser of 
the Hamburg-American line, and had accompanied the 
Valdivia as first officer on her short but brilliant cruise. 
The subordinate officers and crew were carefully chosen, 
and ultimately there were on board five members of the 
scientific staff, five officers, and twenty-two men. 
