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The Discovery. Captain Scott's
expedition to the Antarctic is one of the famous expeditions undertaken
at the start of the 20th Century. Scott's ship Discovery is pictured
below. |
The departure of Captain Scott's expedition on board
the Discovery for the Antarctic in 1902.
Below is a passage from the magazine Navy & Army Illustrated,
May 17th 1902. |
| Until the expedition of Sir James Ross, no
serious attempt had been made to penetrate the Antarctic. For many years
Arctic exploration was inspired by greed with the idea being that it was
possible to find a way round the north of America to the Indies. In
trying to carry out such a scheme, Florida was discovered.
Never-the-less, in this search for the North-West passage, we have one
reason why Arctic exploration has so long held the palm from Antarctic.
The glamour attaching to the early endeavours to find a route to India
was transferred later to attempts to find a waterway to the North Pole;
and after all the North Pole is nearer to European countries, and
particularly to Britain, than is the South. This, perhaps, accounts, in
more ways than one, for the preference which has been shown for Arctic
as opposed to Antarctic exploration. It is from Europe and America that
expeditions have sprung. The North Pole lies as it were, at the
threshold of these two continents. It is so near, and of late years the
attempt to reach it has become a sort of religion. And yet the South
Pole is far more interesting, perhaps in proportion to its isolation.
For it is isolated, and there is nothing more remarkable in geography
than the way in which land stretches away towards the North Pole, and
may possibly even reach it, while the South Pole and surroundings -
whether of land or ice - are separated by many miles from the nearest
land. A map hardly conveys to the observer a sense of the isolation of
the Southern White Land to which the Discovery has gone - unless the
reader of the chart be a little above the average. The interest of
Antarctic exploration among civilised nations is a plant of recent
growth. It has taken root, but we are not sure that even now it is
flourishing as strongly as it ought to do. The English whalers who went
southward in 1892, did not cross the Antarctic Circle. Then the Belgica
wintered in the Antarctic pack, and in 1894 the Antarctic spent some
time in exploration. The next attempt was that of the Southern Cross,
commanded by Mr Borchgrevink, and this vessel carried out systematic
exploration, and an expedition from her reached the most southern
latitude yet attained. The Discovery which is shown in our picture
leaving Port Chalmers, New Zealand, on her fateful voyage of discovery,
will we may fairly hope extend the information acquired by these
antecedent voyages. Her skipper, Captain Scott, is a naval officer of
well-known scientific attainments, and he is well supported by his
officers, and the picked men who form his crew. A relief ship, we
believe, is to be sent out, and there are other expeditions exploring
the same region, so that a certain amount of co-operation is
conceivable. That this co-operation will take place if practicable is
certain, but we know so little of the region in which the explorations
are being conducted that no-one can say what the chances are for or
against the meeting of the various expeditions. At any rate it is permissible
to indulge in high anticipations as to results. An isolated Australia
has yielded some strange types of animals resembling those extinct in
Europe in pre-historic times. If there exists any flora and fauna in the
ice-bound regions surrounding the South Pole, may we not anticipate that
they will be cognate to species now extinct in Europe rather than to
those with which we are familiar today? |
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