Oates and Mr. Apsley Cherry-Garrard were included in the donors of 1000
pounds, but they gave more than this, for these gallant gentlemen gave
their services and one of them his life. An unexpected and extremely
welcome contribution came from Mr. Samuel Hordern of Sydney in the shape
of 2500 pounds, at a time when we needed it most. Many firms gave in cash
as well as in kind. Indeed, were it not for the generosity of such firms
it is doubtful whether we could have started. The services of Paymaster
Lieut. Drake, R.N., were obtained as secretary to the Expedition. Offices
were taken and furnished in Victoria Street, S.W., and Sir Edgar Speyer
kindly consented to act as Honorary Treasurer--without hesitation I may
say we owe more to Sir Edgar than ever we can repay.

We were somewhat limited in our choice of a ship, suitable for the work
contemplated. The best vessel of all was of course the "Discovery," which
had been specially constructed for the National Antarctic Expedition in
1900, but she had been acquired by the Hudson Bay Company, and although
the late Lord Strathcona, then High Commissioner for Canada, was
approached, he could not see his way to obtaining her for us in view of
her important employment as supply ship for the Hudson Bay Trading
Stations. There remained the "Aurora," "Morning," "Bjorn," "Terra Nova,"
Shackleton's stout little "Nimrod," and one or two other old whaling
craft. The "Bjorn," a beautiful wooden whaler, would have served our
purpose excellently, but, alas! she was too small for the enterprise and
we had to fall back on the "Terra Nova," an older ship but a much larger
craft. The "Terra Nova" had one great defect--she was not economic in the
matter of coal consumption. She was the largest and strongest of the old
Scotch whalers, had proved herself in the Antarctic pack-ice and
acquitted herself magnificently in the Northern ice-fields in whaling and
sealing voyages extending over a period of twenty years. In spite of her
age she had considerable power for a vessel of that type.