RAISING OF THE SIEGE 435 
for a fraction, to be altered and put to any uses to which 
they could be adapted. 
The Antarctic perished honourably in the field of her 
last achievements. The Gauss was sold to the Canadian 
Government to be used as an Arctic exploring vessel 
under the versatile French-Canadian Captain Bernier, so 
that her destiny is being carried out according to the 
original design though at the other end of the world. 
The Terra Nova also remains an exploring ship in the 
service of a private United States Arctic expedition; the 
Morning has reverted to her old whaling life; the fate 
of the Scotia is unknown to us; but the magnificent 
Discovery, built to her innermost fastenings as a scientific 
ship, fitted in every detail of her structure for the one 
purpose for which she was designed, has sunk to mer- 
cantile uses which could be as well served by any common 
sealer. The fickle public has tired of the Antarctic Re- 
gions, the learned societies have folded their hands, glad 
to finish; the explorers, trained and toughened to their 
work, are scattered in the pursuit of their earlier occu- 
pations, and the few men of science who were interested 
in these matters before the spasm came are still as far 
as ever from the realisation of a plan for exploration at 
once economical in men, money, and ships, continuous, 
thorough, and promising success. 
The International Geographical Congress at its meet- 
ing in New York in September, 1904, before the dis- 
persal, while there seemed yet time, recorded this reso- 
lution : 
“ The Eighth International Geographical Congress 
realising that the only untouched fields for geographical 
discovery are the regions immediately surrounding the 
poles of the Earth, desires to place on record its sense 
