32]
to be off and doing, to justify the existence of the expedition at
the earliest possible moment, and to obey the instructions which
had been given him?

Before the _Discovery_ had crossed the Bay of Biscay it was evident
that she did not possess a turn of speed under any conditions,
and that there must be none but absolutely necessary delays on
the voyage, if she was to arrive in the Antarctic in time to take
full advantage of the southern summer of 1901-2 for the first
exploration in the ice. This proved a serious drawback, as it had
been confidently expected that there would be ample time to make
trial of various devices for sounding and dredging in the deep
sea, while still in a temperate climate. The fact that no trials
could be made on the outward voyage was severely felt when the
Antarctic was reached.

On October 2 the _Discovery_ arrived within 150 miles of the Cape,
and on the 5th was moored off the naval station at Simon's Bay.
The main object of staying at the Cape was to obtain comparisons
with the magnetic instruments, but Scott wrote: 'It is much to
be deplored that no permanent Magnetic Station now exists at the
Cape. The fact increased the number and difficulty of our own
observations, and it was quite impossible to spare the time for such
repetitions and verifications as, under the circumstances, could
alone have placed them beyond dispute.' Armitage and Barne, however,
worked like Trojans in taking observations, and received so much
valuable assistance 'that they were able to accomplish a maximum
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amount of work in the limited time at their disposal.' In every
way, indeed, the kindliest sympathy was shown at the Cape.

The magnetic work was completed on October 12, and two days later
the _Discovery_ once more put out to sea; and as time went on those
on board became more and more satisfied with her seaworthy qualities.
Towards the end of October there was a succession of heavy following
gales, but she rose like a cork to the mountainous seas that followed
in her wake, and, considering her size, she was wonderfully free
of water on the upper deck. With a heavy following sea, however,
she was, owing to her buoyancy, extremely lively, and rolls of
more than 40