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The Voyage of the Discovery
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 of seeing what no human eye had previously seen.
672 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1905
15 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
About the author
Robert Falcon Scott
96 books25 followersRobert 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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 2, 2026
I was really intrigued to read this after Scott’s Last Journals as obviously that book was not edited by Scott and this was, for a very specific purpose, and although I’ve definitely been spoiled by Cherry’s Worst Journey in the World (polar literature par excellence), this was good! Was it a slog? Oh definitely. Would I recommend it to people if they don’t have a semi-obsession with Scott? No. Did I, disastrous polar expedition enjoyer, like it? YES.
I think it’s hard to overstate how detailed this is, in terms of life in the south: overwintering, sledging, rationing, clothing, navigating, science-ing… It’s not for everyone but you’ve got to go into polar memoirs expecting a good degree of this. And man, is this a HUGE degree. A large bulk of the start of the book, before they even get to the first winter, is background information and info-dumping about various things. Tbh that’s fine with me and will be amazing for my research but I will say that the book does shine when Scott quotes more from his diaries of the time. Then, we get the more day-to-day life and travels.
And there are some genuinely amazing moments there. The journey to the Farthest South is a stand out few chapters, with Scott, Shackleton and Wilson’s sledging journeys, then the next year’s expedition to Victoria Land. In both of these sections there are gorgeous descriptions of the landscape and very immersive details about the hardships as well as camaraderie (or not, if you then know about the ensuing rivalry between Scott and Shackleton but you don’t really get a sense of that here). I was gobsmacked at moments like this (that also gave a heavy dose of inherent Lovecraftian vibes):
‘… while on the vast expanse that one’s mind conceives one knows there is neither tree nor shrub, nor any living thing, nor even inanimate rock – nothing but this terrible limitless expanse of snow. It has been so for countless years, and it will be so for countless more. And we, little human insects, have started to crawl over this awful desert, and are now bent on crawling back again. Could anything be more terrible than this silent, windswept immensity when one thinks such thoughts?’
I also highly enjoyed the chapters covering the overwintering in the Discovery, something I knew very little about and something which was very interesting, considering in Scott’s next expedition, the winter was spent in the very different environment of the hut. I do love a claustrophobic ship setting.
Much of the narrative is very matter-of-fact, which is fascinating in itself, but there are some truly beautiful sections of writing. Scott had a habit of ending chapters on absolute bangers of paragraphs, but there were also gorgeous sections which leapt out from the placid recounting.
‘The night is at its blackest; each day will lengthen the pale noon twilight. Until now the black shadow has been descending on us; after this, day by day, it will rise until the great orb looms above our northern horizon to guide our footsteps over the great trackless wastes of snow.’
And although this is a serious book, there are delightful moments of (very English) humour. The whole account of the finding of the fish with no head doesn’t sound funny, but it really was. I also enjoyed the casual mentions of men inadvertently trying to capture one another in the polar darkness, thinking the other was a penguin.
So yes, took me a while to get into but once I was again accustomed to Scott’s distinctive style, I very much enjoyed it. I tried to finish it in 2025 but let this be my first finished read of 2026!
I will end on another amazing extract which sums up what I find so fascinating about polar literature.
‘For countless ages the great sombre mountains about us have loomed through the gloomy polar night with never an eye to mark their grandeur, and for countless ages the windswept snow has drifted over these great deserts with never a footprint to break its white surface; for one brief moment the eternal solitude is broken by a hive of human insects; for one brief moment they settle, eat, sleep, trample, and gaze, then they must be gone, and all must be surrendered again to the desolation of the ages.’
I think it’s hard to overstate how detailed this is, in terms of life in the south: overwintering, sledging, rationing, clothing, navigating, science-ing… It’s not for everyone but you’ve got to go into polar memoirs expecting a good degree of this. And man, is this a HUGE degree. A large bulk of the start of the book, before they even get to the first winter, is background information and info-dumping about various things. Tbh that’s fine with me and will be amazing for my research but I will say that the book does shine when Scott quotes more from his diaries of the time. Then, we get the more day-to-day life and travels.
And there are some genuinely amazing moments there. The journey to the Farthest South is a stand out few chapters, with Scott, Shackleton and Wilson’s sledging journeys, then the next year’s expedition to Victoria Land. In both of these sections there are gorgeous descriptions of the landscape and very immersive details about the hardships as well as camaraderie (or not, if you then know about the ensuing rivalry between Scott and Shackleton but you don’t really get a sense of that here). I was gobsmacked at moments like this (that also gave a heavy dose of inherent Lovecraftian vibes):
‘… while on the vast expanse that one’s mind conceives one knows there is neither tree nor shrub, nor any living thing, nor even inanimate rock – nothing but this terrible limitless expanse of snow. It has been so for countless years, and it will be so for countless more. And we, little human insects, have started to crawl over this awful desert, and are now bent on crawling back again. Could anything be more terrible than this silent, windswept immensity when one thinks such thoughts?’
I also highly enjoyed the chapters covering the overwintering in the Discovery, something I knew very little about and something which was very interesting, considering in Scott’s next expedition, the winter was spent in the very different environment of the hut. I do love a claustrophobic ship setting.
Much of the narrative is very matter-of-fact, which is fascinating in itself, but there are some truly beautiful sections of writing. Scott had a habit of ending chapters on absolute bangers of paragraphs, but there were also gorgeous sections which leapt out from the placid recounting.
‘The night is at its blackest; each day will lengthen the pale noon twilight. Until now the black shadow has been descending on us; after this, day by day, it will rise until the great orb looms above our northern horizon to guide our footsteps over the great trackless wastes of snow.’
And although this is a serious book, there are delightful moments of (very English) humour. The whole account of the finding of the fish with no head doesn’t sound funny, but it really was. I also enjoyed the casual mentions of men inadvertently trying to capture one another in the polar darkness, thinking the other was a penguin.
So yes, took me a while to get into but once I was again accustomed to Scott’s distinctive style, I very much enjoyed it. I tried to finish it in 2025 but let this be my first finished read of 2026!
I will end on another amazing extract which sums up what I find so fascinating about polar literature.
‘For countless ages the great sombre mountains about us have loomed through the gloomy polar night with never an eye to mark their grandeur, and for countless ages the windswept snow has drifted over these great deserts with never a footprint to break its white surface; for one brief moment the eternal solitude is broken by a hive of human insects; for one brief moment they settle, eat, sleep, trample, and gaze, then they must be gone, and all must be surrendered again to the desolation of the ages.’
April 14, 2018
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.
Η έκδοση συνοδεύεται από φωτογραφίες της αποστολής.
May 13, 2011
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.
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.
August 31, 2022
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.
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.
June 27, 2025
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.
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.
December 30, 2018
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.
March 5, 2020
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.
October 12, 2025
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.
March 16, 2024
Um fantástico relato mas muito repetitivo.
Vale a pena ler
Vale a pena ler
May 12, 2022
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.
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.
June 10, 2013
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.
August 2, 2011
Fascinating and beautifully written--very vivid.
October 22, 2012
The story of an epic journey, a tale of courage and endurance and the comradeship of men facing almost certain death.
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August 20, 2017το 1999 με 4.000 δραχμές πετάχτηκα μέχρι την ανταρκτική...
June 26, 2016
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.
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.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews