of a great venture springing suddenly before
the imagination is sobered by the calmness of pure reason. Perchance
this is true of certain moments, but they are rare and fleeting. It may
have been in one such phase that I suddenly found myself eager for more
than a glimpse of the great span of Antarctic coast lying nearest to
Australia.

Professor T. W. E. David, Dr. F. A. Mackay and I, when seeking the South
Magnetic Pole during the summer of 1908-09, had penetrated farthest into
that region on land. The limiting outposts had been defined by other
expeditions; at Cape Adare on the east and at Gaussberg on the west.
Between them lay my "Land of Hope and Glory," of whose outline and
glacial features the barest evidence had been furnished. There,
bordering the Antarctic Circle, was a realm far from the well-sailed
highways of many of the more recent Antarctic expeditions.

The idea of exploring this unknown coast took firm root in my mind
while I was on a visit to Europe in February 1910. The prospects of an
expedition operating to the west of Cape Adare were discussed with the
late Captain R. F. Scott and I suggested that the activities of his
expedition might be arranged to extend over the area in question.
Finally he decided that his hands were already too full to make any
definite proposition for a region so remote from his own objective.

Sir Ernest Shackleton was warmly enthusiastic when the scheme was laid
before him, hoping for a time to identify himself with the undertaking.
It was in some measure due to his initiative that I felt impelled
eventually to undertake the organization and leadership of an
expedition.

For many reasons, besides the fact that it was the country of my home
and Alma Mater, I was desirous that the Expedition should be maintained
by Australia. It seemed to me that here was an opportunity to prove that
the young men of a young country could rise to those traditions which
have made the history of British Polar exploration one of triumphant
endeavour as well as of tragic sacrifice. And so I was privileged to
rally the "sons of the younger son."

A provisional plan was drafted and put before the Australasian
Association for the Advancement of Science at their meeting held at
Sydney in January 1911, with a request for approval and financial
assistance. Both were unanimously granted, a sum of L1000 was voted and
committees were formed to co-operate in the arrangement of a scientific
programm