The Voyages of Captain Scott | Page 5

England was talking of him, one of his most novel
adventures was at last to go to a first-class tailor and be provided with a
first-class suit. He was as elated by the possession of this as a child.
When going about the country lecturing in those days he traveled third
class, though he was sometimes met at the station by mayors and
corporations and red carpets.
The hot tempers of his youth must still have lain hidden, but by now
the control was complete. Even in the naval cadet days of which
unfortunately there is so little to tell, his old friends who remember the
tempers remember also the sunny smile that dissipated them. When I
knew him the sunny smile was there frequently, and was indeed his
greatest personal adornment, but the tempers never reached the surface.
He had become master of his fate and captain of his soul.
In 1886 Scott became a middy on the Boadicea, and later on various
ships, one of them the Rover, of which Admiral Fisher was at that time
commander. The Admiral has a recollection of a little black pig having
been found under his bunk one night. He cannot swear that Scott was
the leading culprit, but Scott was certainly one of several who had to
finish the night on deck as a punishment. In 1888 Scott passed, his
examinations for sub-lieutenant, with four first-class honors and one
second, and so left his boyhood behind. I cannot refrain however from
adding as a conclusion to these notes a letter from Sir Courtauld
Thomson that gives a very attractive glimpse of him in this same year:
'In the late winter a quarter of a century ago I had to find my way from
San Francisco to Alaska. The railway was snowed up and the only
transport available at the moment was an ill-found tramp steamer. My
fellow passengers were mostly Californians hurrying off to a new
mining camp and, with the crew, looked a very unpleasant lot of
ruffians. Three singularly unprepossessing Frisco toughs joined me in
my cabin, which was none too large for a single person. I was then told
that yet another had somehow to be wedged in. While I was wondering
if he could be a more ill-favored or dirtier specimen of humanity than
the others the last comer suddenly appeared--the jolliest and breeziest

English naval Second Lieutenant. It was Con Scott. I had never seen
him before, but we at once became friends and remained so till the end.
He was going up to join his ship which, I think, was the Amphion, at
Esquimault, B. C.
'As soon as we got outside the Golden Gates we ran into a full gale
which lasted all the way to Victoria, B. C. The ship was so
overcrowded that a large number of women and children were allowed
to sleep on the floor of the only saloon there was on condition that they
got up early, so that the rest of the passengers could come in for
breakfast and the other meals.
'I need scarcely say that owing to the heavy weather hardly a woman
was able to get up, and the saloon was soon in an indescribable
condition. Practically no attempt was made to serve meals and the few
so-called stewards were themselves mostly out of action from drink or
sea-sickness.
'Nearly all the male passengers who were able to be about spent their
time drinking and quarrelling. The deck cargo and some of our top
hamper were washed away and the cabins got their share of the waves
that were washing the deck.
'Then it was I first knew that Con Scott was no ordinary human being.
Though at that time still only a boy he practically took command of the
passengers and was at once accepted by them as their Boss during the
rest of the trip. With a small body of volunteers he led an attack on the
saloon--dressed the mothers, washed the children, fed the babies,
swabbed down the floors and nursed the sick, and performed every
imaginable service for all hands. On deck he settled the quarrels and
established order either by his personality, or, if necessary, by his fists.
Practically by day and night he worked for the common good, never
sparing himself, and with his infectious smile gradually made us all feel
the whole thing was jolly good fun.
'I daresay there are still some of the passengers like myself who, after a
quarter of a century, have imprinted on their minds the vision of this
fair-haired English sailor boy with the laughing blue eyes who at that
early age knew how to sacrifice himself for the welfare and happiness
of others.'

THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY'

[Illustration: The 'Discovery'. Reproduced