CAPTAIN SCOTT'S FIRST VISIT.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13876, 29 October 1910, Page 11

CAPTAIN SCOTT'S FIRST VISIT.

On the 29th December, 1901, Captain Scott, and some of the other members of the staff of the. Antarctic ship Discovery, caught their first glimpse of the coast lino of NeAV Zealand. His own comment on his reception it were seeming vanity to repeat, for in his book ho says that avo are people of the sort that avo should like to be. His praise Avas unstinted, and all embracing; he remembered even tho squatters tbat sent sheep, and he records the good quality of our butter. The Pressmen of those days did not fail to comment, after their landsmen., fashion, on tho very appearance of the Discovery. "The Discovery is essentially a vessel with* a mission," they said. "You can read that at a glance in her -bulging Avooden walls, her curiously rounded stem, and the general air of solidity and strength Avhich characterises her lines." So they Avrote up her peculiarities, pictured the cabins of the staff—"tiny but cosy-looking"— chronicled the incidents of her voyage. The necessary touch of Nature Avas given avhen they hold hoAV a lieutenant had roused the sleepy postmaster at ono a.m., having "called for the Discovery's letters." During tho following .avo days, visitors croAvded aboard. The majority of the cretv Avere off on shore leave, but those that remained Avero unwearied in their efforts to gratify tho insatiate curiosity of their visitors. The hospitality of the city ay.is slower-footed, but quite as sure. On the evening of tho 10th December tho staff were entertained at a- dinner given by the Philosophical Institute and tiie citizens. But they had not found time hanging heavily on .their hands, as their vessel Avas in dock, and there was work for all 'n the effort of attempting, metaphorically, "to crowd a quart into a pint pot," and ithe task of fitting her 'fothe work lying ahead. Even the scientists had their share of la hour; delicate instruments were receiving their final adjustment. Those that had been able to secure leave had been given ample opportunity for noting the fati ness of the land, and it seems certain that all hands would hay© joined in echoing the warm words a.hich Captain Scott lavished on the people of New Zealand. All the Avhile tliat the Discovery was in dock the process o~ (- restoring cargo was continued, and the comparative success achieved in that direction helped to compensate for tho chagrin occasioned by the presence of a small, but undiscoverable, leak. On December 21st preparations were completed, and tho small ship ready to begin her adventure—decks and cabins crammed with cases, a terrified flock of forty-fiv© sheep on the foredeok, and twenty-three dogs howling and yapping in weird counterpoint. At noon the Bishop conducted a simple, touching ceremony of fareAvell, and a couple of hours later the springs Avere cast off and the crowds on the wharves watched tho Discovery, accompanied by H.M.S. Lizard and and fire excursion steamers, go sloAvly towards the harbour mouth.