South with Scott | Page 5

his pluck and Anglophile sentiments cost him his
commission in the Norwegian Flying Corps.
Dr. Wilson assisted Captain Scott in selecting the scientific staff, while
the choice of the officers and crew was mainly left to myself as
Commander-elect of the "Terra Nova."
Most Polar expeditions sail under the Burgee of some yacht club or
other: We were ambitious to fly the White Ensign, and to enable this to
be done the Royal Yacht Squadron adopted us. Scott was elected a
member, and it cost him 100 pounds, which the Expedition could ill
afford. However, with the "Terra Nova" registered as a yacht we were
able to evade those Board of Trade officials who declared that she was
not a well-found merchant ship within the meaning of the Act. Having
avoided the scrutiny of the efficient and official, we painted out our
Plimsoll mark with tongue in cheek and eyelid drooped, and, this done,
took our stores aboard and packed them pretty tight. The Crown
Preserve Co. sent us a quantity of patent fuel which stowed beautifully
as a flooring to the lower hold, and all our provision cases were thus
kept well up out of the bilge water which was bound to scend to and fro
if we made any quantity of water, as old wooden ships usually do. The
day before sailing the Royal Geographical Society entertained Scott
and his party at luncheon in the King's Hall, Holborn Restaurant. About
300 Fellows of the Society were present to do us honour. The President,
Major Leonard Darwin, proposed success to the Expedition, and in the
course of his speech wished us God-speed. He congratulated Captain
Scott on having such a well-found expedition and, apart from dwelling
on the scientific and geographical side of the venture, the President said
that Captain Scott was going to prove once again that the manhood of
our nation was not dead and that the characteristics of our ancestors
who won our great Empire still flourished amongst us.
After our leader had replied to this speech Sir Clements Markham,
father of modern British exploration, proposed the toast of the officers

and staff in the most touching terms. Poor Sir Clements is no more, but
it was he who first selected Captain Scott for Polar work, and he,
indeed, who was responsible for many others than those present at
lunch joining Antarctic expeditions, myself included.
CHAPTER II
VOYAGE OF THE "TERRA NOVA"
Sailing day came at last, and on June 1, 1910, when I proudly showed
Scott his ship, he very kindly ordered the hands aft and thanked them
for what they had done.
The yards were square, the hatches on with spick-and-span white hatch
covers, a broad white ribbon brightened the black side, and gold leaf
bedizened the quarter badges besides gilding the rope scroll on the stern.
The ship had been well painted up, a neat harbour furl put on the sails,
and if the steamers and lofty sailing vessels in the basin could have
spoken, their message would surely have been, "Well done, little 'un."
What a change from the smudgy little lamp-black craft of last
November--so much for paint and polish. All the same it was the "Terra
Nova's" Indian summer. A close search by the technically expert would
have revealed scars of age in the little lady, furrows worn in her sides
by grinding ice floes, patches in the sails, strengthening pieces in the
cross-trees and sad-looking deadeyes and lanyards which plainly told of
a bygone age.
But the merchant seamen who watched from the dock side were kind
and said nothing. The old admirals who had come down to visit the
ship were used to these things, or perhaps they did not twig it. After all,
what did it matter, it was sailing day, we were all as proud as peacocks
of our little ship, and from that day forward we pulled together and
played the game, or tried to.
Lady Bridgeman, wife of the first Sea Lord, and Lady Markham
hoisted the White Ensign and the Burgee of the Royal Yacht Squadron
an hour or so before sailing. At 4.45 p.m. the visitors were warned off

the ship, and a quarter of an hour later we slipped from our wharf in the
South-West India Docks and proceeded into the river and thence to
Greenhithe, where we anchored off my old training ship, the
"Worcester," and gave the cadets a chance to look over the ship. On the
3rd June we arrived at Spithead, where we were boarded by Captain
Chetwynd, Superintendent of Compasses at the Admiralty, who swung
the ship and adjusted our compasses. Captain Scott joined us on the 4th
and paid a visit with his "yacht" to the R.Y.S. at Cows. On the 6th we
completed a series of