did not join until the expedition was almost on the point of sailing.

For many reasons Scott was obliged to make his own headquarters
in London, and the room that had been placed at his disposal in
Burlington House soon became a museum of curiosities. Sledges,
ski, fur clothing and boots were crowded into every corner, while
tables and shelves were littered with correspondence and samples
of tinned foods. And in the midst of this medley he worked steadily
on, sometimes elated by the hope that all was going well, sometimes
depressed by the thought that the expedition could not possibly
be ready to start at the required date.

During these busy months of preparation he had the satisfaction
of knowing that the first lieutenant, the chief engineer and the
carpenter were in Dundee, and able to look into the numerous small
difficulties that arose in connection with the building of the
ship. Other important posts in the expedition had also been filled
up, and expeditionary work was being carried on in many places.
Some men were working on their especial subjects in the British
Museum, others were preparing themselves at the Physical Laboratory
at Kew, and others, again, were traveling in various directions
both at home and abroad. Of all these affairs the central office
was obliged to take notice, and so for its occupants idle moments
were few and very far between. Nansen said once that the hardest work
[Page 20]
of a Polar voyage came in its preparation, and during the years
1900-1, Scott found ample cause to agree with him. But in spite
of conflicting interests, which at times threatened to wreck the
well-being of the expedition, work, having been properly organized,
went steadily forward; until on March 21, 1901, the new vessel was