The Voyage of the Discovery

by Robert Falcon Scott

'When I received the script of "The Voyage of the Discovery" I was amazed. I had only to read a few pages to realise that it was literature, unique of its kind...Scott's mind was like wax to receive an impression and like marble to retain it'. So wrote Leonard Huxley, and he was not alone in his opinion. When this account of Scott's first Antarctic expedition appeared in 1905 the reviewers recognised it as a masterpiece and the first printing sold out immediately. Scott is best known for his doomed last expedition in 1912, but it was this earlier voyage that truly began the opening up of the Antarctic continent and laid the groundwork for the 'Heroic Age' of Antarctic exploration. The record of that voyage is a classic account by a remarkable explorer who was also one of the most talented writers in the field of polar exploration. Scott brings alive for the reader the brilliance of the aurora in the long winter nights, the hunger and danger of sledging trips, the isolation, and the joy

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Adventure, History, Nautical, Survival

649 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1905

About the author

Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13. During this second venture, Scott led a party of five which made up the British part of what has become known as "the race to the South Pole." On January 17th, 1912 they reached the South Pole only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. The return journey that followed proved to be fatal, with Scott and the rest of his party dying from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold. The bodies were discovered by a search party on November 12th, 1912. Their final camp became their tomb which is now encased in the Ross Ice Shelf.

Reviews

[Evi Routoula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ο Ρόμπερτ Φ. Σκοτ περιγράφει το πρώτο ταξίδι που έκανε στην Ανταρκτική με το πλοίο Ντισκάβερι, και που κράτησε από το 1901 έως το 1903. Δεν διαθέτει την ομορφιά ενός λογοτεχνήματος αφού ο συγγραφέας του δεν είναι λογοτέχνης, οι περιγραφές του όμως είναι επεξγηματικές και κατατοπιστικές και μας μεταφέρει στην άκρη του κόσμου. Ο Σκοτ και οι άντρες του διέσχισαν ένα μεγάλο κομμάτι της έως τότε ανεξερεύνητης Ανταρκτικής ( σχεδόν 3.000 μίλια) , με έλκηθρα που τα τραβούσαν σκυλιά. Καθόρισαν τις ακριβείς θέσεις και το ύψος 200 βουνοκορφών, ανακάλυψαν και παρατήρησαν παγετώνες, έκαναν βιολογικές και μετεωρολογικές έρευνες, εξερεύνησαν το Μέγα Φράγμα που ανακάλυψε ο Ρος στα μέσα του 19ου αιώνα και έφαγαν τεράστιες ποσότητες από φώκιες και πιγκουίνους!
Η έκδοση συνοδεύεται από φωτογραφίες της αποστολής.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Scott's account of the Discovery expedition is like a glimpse back in time and one of the keys to understanding much that would happen later on Scott's Last Expedition and in Ernest Shackleton, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and Roald Amundsen's lives and how their experiences would be received by their contemporaries and later by today's readers.

There were three ways to find a way onto Scott's first National Antarctic Expedition aboard the Discovery: bad luck, directions from the Admiralty/Navy, or favoritism. Like so many human endeavors, this one did not get off to a smooth start.

Scott himself was one of two second-choice candidates and his appointment was made by an acrimonious committee decision on a slim majority vote . The Admiralty/Navy would not release the commitee's preferrred candidate, John de Robeck. In a way, the Admiralty's reluctance to release de Robeck and the expedition commitee's impatience may have doomed Scotts expeditions a little from the start?

Shackleton, who would later become reknowned for his ability to keep his men alive under extreme polar conditions, was first refused a spot on Scott's trip, then later mercuriously accepted when his candidacy was promoted by a financier of the expedition. He would accompany Scott on an overland journey during the trip and be invalided home. Upon the publication of Scott's memoir of the journey, Shackleton's attitude to Scott would turn to "smouldering scorn and dislike"

John Walter Gregory, an experienced field geologist/glaciologist had been appointed four months before Scott was selected. Gregory, was to have led the scientific team and expected to lead the overland journey as well. He resigned because of Scott's appointment over him.

William Speirs Bruce, another experienced man who'd previously explored the antarctic turned down a spot on the expedition, mounting his own in the Scotia. His men, like Shackleton's later, would successfully winter over when their ship was iced in.

The staffing of Scott's first expedition was determined by commitee, favoritism, and who the Admiralty/Navy was willing to release. Compromise and acrimony as much as aptitude and experience determined who would sail.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Falcon Scott war der Leiter der Expedition, die zwischen November 1902 und Februar 1903 einen Vorstoß zum Südpol unternahm. Gemeinsam mit Ernest Shakleton und Edward Wilson konnte er einen neuen Südrekord aufstellen. In The voyage of the Discovery erzählt er von dieser Reise.

Scott war eine ungewöhnliche Wahl für den Posten des Expeditionsleiters. Er war weder ein Wissenschaftler, noch hatte er viel Erfahrung auf dem Gebiet der Expeditionen. Vielleicht ist das ein Grund für seinen akribischen Bericht. Denn Scott beschrieb wirklich alles, von der Wahl der Besatzung bis zur Herstellung des Schiffs in den kleinsten Details. Gerade der letzte Punkt hat mich ein wenig an Berichte aktuellerer Expeditionen erinnert, bei denen die Teilnehmer den Sponsoren danken.

Aber so konnte ich mir auch ein gutes Bild vom Alltag der Männer machen, denn die lange Zeit auf See und im Eis war sicherlich nicht immer so spannend, wie man sich eine solche Reise vorstellt. Die Männer mussten viel lernen, denn wie Scott auch wussten sie nur wenig über das Leben in solchen extremen Regionen. Da blieb es nicht aus, dass der Lernprozess manchmal schmerzhaft war.

Aber es gab auch Heiteres zu berichten, wie Schlittenfahrten oder sportliche Aktivitäten auf dem Eis, Feiern oder gesellige Abende. Aber gerade hier hatte ich den Eindruck, als ob es manchmal zu zivilisiert zugehen würde. Streitereien schien es keine zu geben. Ob Scott der Meinung war, dass Berichte davon seine Eignung als Leiter in Frage stellen würden?

Ohne seine Leistung schmälern zu wollen, habe ich den Eindruck gewonnen, dass Scott sich gerne in den Vordergrund spielte. Gerade das, was er über Shakleton schrieb, wirkte auf den ersten Blick freundschaftlich und positiv. Zwischen den Zeilen aber waren kleine Spitzen ihm gegenüber versteckt.

So war The voyage of the discovery auf der einen Seite sehr interessant, auf der anderen Seite hat es für mich kein wirklich positives Bild von Scott gezeichnet, auch wenn ich seine Leistung anerkenne. Schade finde ich auch, dass er nur wenige der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse auf seine nächste Expedition mitgenommen hat.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Polar exploration narratives perforce have a slow start, and Scott is particularly boring when trying to politely thank everyone for the excruciating committee-based construction of the Discovery expedition. As expected, things improve once the Discovery reaches Antarctica; the more Scott quotes from his diary, the better the text, as Scott is less self-aware and over-explanatory in his direct account; that said, there's remarkable retrospective sections about the experience of (springtime) sledging in particular.

I'm struck by the fact that both of Scott's major sledging trips on this expedition were haunted by the same issues that would eventually kill him, re: fuel and food shortages, vitamin deficiencies, overwork, and weather. Not because they're surprising--they're endemic to the work. Rather, because he did learn and did improve and it was still, memorably!, unprepared: the risk I took was calculated.jpg. Scott also gives insight into his disinclination to use dogs in his subsequent attempt at the Pole; it's sympathetic without remotely vindicating the Terra Nova's use of either ponies or dogs: further inadequate improvement. While doomed to pale in comparison to Scott's final journals, I'm glad I plowed through this hefty memoir. Scott gets in his own way, and the Discovery is interesting largely in context rather than its own right, but it is interesting in that context, and Scott, at his best, is evocative, honest, and revealing.

[C.S. Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an absolutely riveting read. The candour with which Captain Scott writes of his expedition, flaws, failures and all is inspiring and the book is a wonderful insight into the spirit of the times when there were still areas of the world unknown and unexplored by Western/European people.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written first hand by Robert Scott using a mix of memory and diary entries. At 640 pages in length it can be a bit monotonous at times, but after reading it you'll be 639 pages smarter than the average person regarding this historic voyage.

[Tilda Pinto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some technical parts were quite hard to read but the exploration parts more than made up for it. Has fuelled my love of the Antarctic and I'm looking forward to reading about Captains Scott's next journey.

[Pedro Bello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um fantástico relato mas muito repetitivo.
Vale a pena ler

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery expedition to the Antarctic.

It was extremely interesting to learn about life and conditions the men went through during the expedition, but I also found the sections about the history of Antarctic exploration and planning stages of the expedition to be fascinating too.

I would heartily recommend this to anyone interested in Polar exploration, Captain Scott or adventure in general.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have actually concluded reading Volume 2 of this series. And it is superb. This is truly an epic exploration done under what we would now consider to be very primitive conditions. Yet Scott’s looming death later that decade hangs over all of this.

[Yvette Moreno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and beautifully written--very vivid.

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of an epic journey, a tale of courage and endurance and the comradeship of men facing almost certain death.

[yórgos]

το 1999 με 4.000 δραχμές πετάχτηκα μέχρι την ανταρκτική...

[Anne Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic adventure

What can anyone say; this a factual account of the early exploration of Antartica and makes fabulous reading four those of us interested in such things.