Voyage of the Scotia 1902-04

The Antarctic

The prospectus for the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition

William S Bruce's appetite for polar exploration had been whetted by his participation as surgeon and naturalist on the Balaena during the 1892-1893 Dundee Antarctic Expedition. As the impetus for that voyage had come from commercial whaling interests, there was little opportunity for Bruce to indulge his scientific interests, so on his arrival home he lost little time in looking for the means to return to the far south on a scientific mission.

He applied for inclusion as a member of Captain Robert F Scott's 1901-1904 British Antarctic Expedition on the Discovery, but his application was approved too late for practical purposes. Instead, he set about organising his own Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, of which this is the preliminary prospectus.

In the prospectus, Bruce detailed some of the scientific work to be undertaken during the voyage, including physical observations of "planktonic and nektonic collections", as well as meteorological and bathymetrical surveys. Bruce estimated the cost of the proposed expedition as not exceeding £35,000.