TO SEARCH FOR THE DISCOVERY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12450, 5 September 1902, Page 3

TO SEARCH FOR THE DISCOVERY

THE NEW STEAMER MORNING. (Fxou Ottb Own Coisrespondent.) LONDON, July 12. The following are the official particulars r&l&tive to the now Antarctic* steamer Morning, which left London on Wednesday in. Gearcb of the Antarctic exploring vessel Discovery:—The. Morning, which is a sleam yaoht, was built for strength by the late Svend' IToyn, of Tonsberg, Norway, in 1871, and lier purchasb was considered in 1897 for the main expedition. Her price then was £6000, whereas in 1901 she was bought for ±13800. Being 30 years old, however, she lias been thoroughly overhauled by Messrs Green, of Blackwall, at a cost of over £7013jD, so that the total cost of the ship, inchiding: new. boats, new propeller and shaft, cables, steering gear, spare rudder, ventilation, furniture, cold-storage room, arid other things, is probably not less than £11,000. The testing of the ship for stability and tho introduction of ballast tanks alcjie cost £500. Very serious repairs had to be made to the. engine. Altogether the Morning can carry 318 tons of coal, besides her deck load, and 107 tons of provisions. She is barque-rigged, has a good auxiliary engine and two boilers, and can eight knots. Her light drought is 15ift aft and 12ffc forward; loaded, 19ft aft and 17ft forward.- The main object of the Morning is to act as tender to the Discovery. She is, however, well equipped with eok-ntific instruments, including a large photographic equipment, sounding gear, and apparatus for collecting at least the surface fpuna. of the ocean. Constant meteorological observations will' bo taken, and in other respects the staff will supplement the work of the Discovery. The captain of the Morning and commander of the "relief " expedition is Mr William Colbeck, a sub-lieutenant in the Royal, Naval Reserve, who has been first officer on board the Wilson liner Montebello, and was one of the staff of the Southern Cro?3 Antarctic Expedition, on winch he took the observations and drew the charts. Captain Colbsck is 31 years of age, and, of course, has the entire confidence of those responsible for the expedition. His'first officer is Rupert England, aged 26, also an officer in the Wilson lino. The other officers are Edward R. J. Evans, sublieutenant, R.N., of his Majesty's ship Majestic, aged 21; Gerald S. Doorly, aged 22, midshipman of R.N.R., of the P. and 0.. steamer Nubia; George F. A. Mulock, aged 20, sub-lieutenant R.N. of his Majesty's ship Triton. The engineer is Mr J. S. Morrison, aged 29; the surgeon, George Adam Davidson, who has had eeyeral years' practical- experience; while there are two youngsters rated as midshipmen—F. L. Mait-Jand-Somerville and Neville Pepper,—both prepared to do the work of seamen. The crew consists of eight petty officers, nine seamen, and three firemen. Many of these llave been with Captain Colbeck in the Montebello, so that he is thoroughly familiar with'their qualifications and character. There will thus bo 29 all told on board tho Morning.

Madeira, and then Lyttelton, New Zealand, will both be visited by the Morning, the latter place in November. After provisioning and coaling, the vessel will proceed, south, and make her way to Cape Adare. Here, as well as at Possession Island, Coulman Island, Wood Bay, Franklin Island, and Cape Crozier, Captain Scott lias left records, and it will be Captain Colbeck's duty to search all these places—or such as he is able to reach—in order to find them. Ho will examine all the coast'from Cape Adare to Cape Crozier to find the Discovery in the event of her having wintered anywhere between these points. Of course, should he find tho Discovery anywhere along the east coast of Victcria Land, Captain Colbeck will use his best endeavovtrs to communicate with her, to assist in extricating her from her winter quarters, and to transfer the coals and provisions. Ho and all on board the Morning •will then be under the- command of Captain Soott, who will decide what will be the further procedure of the Morning. If, however, Captain Colbeck is satisfied that the Discovery has not wintered on the east coast of Victoria. Lnn'd, he is to proceed eastward along the ice barrier to the place where he and Mr Borchgrevink landed in February, 1900, as lioro it was the intention of Captain Scott to endeavour to leave a record on the ice. e !

Should the Discovery not be found on any part of the' east coast of Victoria Land the natural conclusion would be that she has succeeded in penetrating to the unknown, region to the eastward of the 161 th west meridian. In that case Captain. Colbeck is enjoined not to follow her in any circumstances. Should the Morning meet the Discovery. Captain Scott is instructed to extricate himself from his winter quarters with as little delay as possible. He will then, carry out as much scientific work and exploration as' the conditions will permit during the navigable season of 1903, returning to Lyttelton in March or April of that year. If he finds it impossible to return to Lyttelton at the time specified, a ship will be sent to take him back the following season. .Should Captain Scott succeed in returning as arranged, he is anxious to continue his work during a third season, though, of course, not to spend another winter in the south. Should thenecessary funds for this -work not be forthcoming Captain Scott will proceed to the Falkland Islands, taking, magnetic and other observations, and deep-sea soundings across the Pacific, in as high southern latitudes as he can traverse with safety. He will then return home, and in that case might be expected to arrive in England some time in August, 1903. Up to date £23,000 has been obtained with which to finance the expedition, but this lias not by any means been more than has been actually required for the purchase, reconstruction, and equipment of the Morning. After providing for all expenses, including the payment of officers and men. for 18 months, there is a balance of £1800.

This expedition of the Morning, though, of course, on© which is entirely subsidiary to that which has gone before, is one which itself 'offers material possibilities for adventure and even for work of a substantial scientific value, and the officer who commands it is thoroughly alive to these possibilities, and would be anxious, indeed, if the definite instructions which he has received allowed of it, to enlarge the scope of his own expedition. However, it is likely that he will have quite enough to do even if he. should locate the Discovery at tho outset. For example, it may not bo at all an easy matter to reach her even when found, and one of the most considerable possibilities, for which both the Discovery and the Morning are fully prepared, is that of the two ships having to blast their way through perhaps even miles of ice before they can effect a meeting. Captain Scott has a large quantity of gun-cotton with him for this purpose, and Captain Colbeck is taking with him a liberal supply of blasting powder. Down in these regions it is not anticipated that the ice will be more than sft or 6ft thick, but even that will be quite enough to afford very hard work. It has taken six weeks to blow a way through two miles of ice in the Arctic in this manner, and such heavy charges have had to' be used that the ship's bells have all been started, ringing when the explosion has occurred. One of the chief functions of the Morning, also, is to carry stores of various kinds out to the ship, which will have been isolated for more than a year. She will carry some 300 tone of coal, about half of which will be for the Discovery, and. besides extra supplies of clothing, she will carry' out 100 tons of provisions. The men of the Discovery are especially anxious to receive a supply of fresh meat after such a long course of tinned stuff, varied, as it is most likely will have been, by nothing •Ise ■ but, penguin, and therefore 100 carcasss of sheep will be taken from New Zealand, and a most excellent freezing chamber has been built on deck to keep them in. Large quantities of golden syrup, biscuits, butter, and other varieties of foods are also being 6cnt. As for clothes, a good fresh supply for antartie use is being despatched; out tho senders on this occasion are placing their faith, not in the usual fur, but in boxelotii. As is generally known, the president of the Royal Geographical Society is a man of great experience in these matters, end he is convinced that box-cloth is better «'or the purpose in. han'd than fur. It has «H the necessary qualities of protection from tha cold and of warmth, while it is obvious that the snow and ioe will brush from it very much more readily than from f.xir and besides this it restricts the raove-lm-nte of the wearer to a very miich lees extent. And not the least interesting feavuro of the cargo of the Morning, and quite likely the one which will be most apprewawxl by those on the Discovery, js the post cilice which she has had put aboard. A very good sized post office it is too, and its delivery will bo the first one which mil i.avo been made to Captain Scott and hie issociates, their first news from Home for more than a year. By this one and only mail all the relatives and friends of those oh the exploring ship are sending them big bulkv letter packages and parcels of comforts of one kind and another, in. large numbers. The Morning goes out not because any disaster to the Disoovery is ieared, but rimply because in such an adventurous, ana, It must lie said, perilous undertaking as that opon which. Captaia gcofcfc aud his men ars

engaged there must of necessity always be of a very considerable- risk of accident and of all preconceived plnns being upset; ami therefore upon tho simple score of human consideration for thos-o who are risking their lives in a national work this expedition becomes an absolute necessity. Ono eye-witness of the Moraing's departure writes: "Capta!« Colbeck, short, clean shaven, resolute, stood on the bridge as she glided from the quay. Her broad-cbesfeo crew were gathered about the deck, taking a last lingering look at the ugly roofs oi the Blaekwall. Two kittens and a ea"t alrc Bat watching the receding shore. They had been i+iristened earlier in the day. One of the kittens is grey and the other nearly \vl:ite, while the hue of the cat approaches black, and the sailors have dubbed them respectively 'Morning,' 'Noon,' aod 'Night.' Among those on board were Sit Clements Mnrkhnm and Dr Scott Keltic, president and Secretary of the Royal Geographical ■ Society. To the former is due the main credit for the despatch of this expedition, ■which is a necessary auxiliary to that which last year sailed in tho Discovery. . . ." In the last letter received from Captain Scott, after pointing out " how absolutely our retreat would otherwise bo cut off should any accident result in the low of the Discovery," ho goes oa to say: "The conditions which surround the Antarctic lands with a belt of tempestuous ocean have always impressed me with their difference from those existing in high northern' latitudes,: and I have felt that since our retreat by boats is- a practical impossibility, our movements and the risks we could rightfully take must be greatly limited, if the loss of the ship of necessity implied the loss of all on board " It was, from the first, in the mind of Sir Clements Markham and of those who cooperated with him in the despatch of tho Discovery, that a second vessel should, after a year's interval, follow in her wake. But the collection of funds for tho equipment of such a vessel has proved a work of great difficulty. On the 24th of last February Sir Clements was already zealously fighting this difficulty, and was, urging all to work for the great end of collecting sufficient funds to send out the relief ship next June. The relief ship did not depart in June. But she departed on Wednesday, and Sir Clements was on board the Morning as she was towed down the clock. She had to wait at the entrance for the rising, of tho tide, and until the president of tile society had stepped ashore, about a qifarter to 4, she passed through the lock gates ana set off down tho river under her own stream. In the course of an interview Sir Clements Mn.rkham, president of .the Royal Geographical Society, said: "The Germane sent on expedition which started in, January. In that case the vessel is somewhat after the type of the Fram. But those explorers proposed' to go a good deal to the westward of the Discovery's course. I think you may take this as certain—if tho Germans hear nothing of their brave countrymen by next April they will become alarmed, and send out a ship to the rescue, the German Government doubtless defraying the cost. , ' "Then.there is an expedition, that is soon, to sail from Scotland?" . "Yes, but only, I understand, to take deop-sea soundings, and observations on tho edge of the ice. Sho is to sail next December, I believe. They are going by Cape Horn, whereas, of, course,', the Morning is going south of New Zealand. So it is not probable that either the / German or the Scotch expedition will come in contact with the Discovery; but, of course, many things may occur, and one can never be sure." "As to the arrangements you have made for Captain Scott to leave records that will be accessible to Captain Colbeck, does no element of certainty enter there? Have not the precise localities been, definitely stated?" Yes, but there, again, the unforeseen may upset everything. For instance, Captain Colbeck may find it impossible to'effect a landing at a given point, or Captain Scott before him may have found it impossible to do so. Still with sis chances Captain Colbeck is pretty sure to find some of the records, but if he finds none ho will not be alarmed. Should the. Discovery have succeeded in passing away to the eastward the whole situation will become very complicated and difficult."