428 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
started bore fruit in the organisation of the Scottish Ant- 
arctic expedition, the funds of which were mainly pro- 
vided by Mr. Coats and his relatives, although the plan 
and the organisation were due to Mr. Bruce alone. A 
small Norwegian whaler, the Hekla, was bought, and 
repaired so extensively as to be practically rebuilt at 
Troon. She was renamed the Scotia, and was the most 
graceful and ship-shape of all the vessels which the 
beginning of the twentieth century sent out toward the 
South Pole. Bruce secured as captain of the ship 
Thomas Robertson of Dundee, one of the best ice-navi- 
gators alive, and keenly interested in exploration. His 
scientific staff included Mr. R. C. Mossman, a meteorolo- 
gist of high reputation, Mr. R. N. Rudmose Brown and 
Mr. D. W. Wilton as naturalists, and Dr. J. H. H. Pirie 
as surgeon and geologist. The Scotia left the Clyde 
on November 2nd, 1902. On January 26th, 1903, she left 
Port Stanley in the Falklands, and on February 2nd the 
edge of the pack was met in 6o° 20' S. and 43 0 50' W. 
Next day the South Orkneys were sighted and a landing 
was made on Saddle Island. There was a struggle with 
the heavy pack, but on February 18th the Scotia slipped 
across the Antarctic circle in a sea entirely free from pack 
ice, and she went on until she met the pack and was beset 
on the 22nd in 70° 25' S., midway between the tracks of 
Weddell and Ross. Soundings had been made at fre- 
quent intervals with a modern deep-sea sounding ma- 
chine, which can be trusted to give correct results, and 
at the farthest south the depth was 2,500 fathoms. The 
sea was freezing and it was necessary to retreat or be 
held prisoner for the winter, and so the Scotia's head was 
turned toward the South Orkneys and after a long hunt 
along the roughly charted coasts a good harbour was 
