| The Cairn | Colour Frontispiece | |
| Plate | FACING PAGE | |
| 1. | Sir Ernest Shackleton in Polar Clothing | 4 |
| 2. | Mr. John Quiller Rowett | 5 |
| 3. | A Diagrammatic View of the Quest | 6 |
| 4. | Sectional Views of the Quest | 7 |
| 5. | The Sperry Gyroscopic Compass | 10 |
| 6. | The Enclosed Bridge of the Quest | 11 |
| 7. | The Quest at Hay’s Wharf | 12 |
| 8. | Kerr (Chief Engineer) Examining the Lucas Deep-sea Sounding Machine | 13 |
| 9. | The Wireless Operating Room—The Ward Room of the Quest | 20 |
| 10. | The Quest Passing the Tower of London on her way to the Sea—The Schermuly Portable Rocket Apparatus | 21 |
| 11. | The Quest in the North-east Trades | 28 |
| 12. | The Tow Net in Use | 29 |
| 13. | A Porpoise which was Harpooned from the Bowsprit | 32 |
| 14. | Query—The Boss Gives Query a Bath | 33 |
| 15. | Landing the Shore Party at St. Paul’s Rocks | 48 |
| 16. | The White-capped Noddy (Anous stolidus) on St. Paul’s Rocks—The Booby (Sula leucogastra) | 49 |
| 17. | Commander Worsley Superintending Work in the Rigging at Rio de Janeiro | 50 |
| 18. | The Quest in Gritviken Harbour | 51 |
| 19. | The Whaling Station at Gritviken | 62 |
| 20. | Sunset on the Slopes of South Georgia | 63 |
| 21. | The Resting Place of a Great Explorer | 64 |
| 22. | The Picturesque Setting of Prince Olaf Station | 65 |
| 23. | Prince Olaf Whaling Station | 68 |
| 24. | A Steam Whaler with Two Whales brought in for Flensing—Huge Blue Whales at South Georgia | 69 |
| 25. | The “Plan” at Gritviken, with a Whale in Process of Being Flensed | 76 |
| 26. | Leith Harbour, South Georgia | 77 |
| 27. | Chart of Larsen Harbour—The Entrance to Larsen Harbour | 80 |
| 28. | An Expedition in Search of Fresh Food—Marr, McIlroy, Commander Wild, Macklin | 81 |
| 29. | Commander Wild | 82 |
| 30. | A Small Berg—A Curious “Toothed” Berg | 83 |
| 31. | A Lovely Evening in the Sub-Antarctic | 86 |
| 32. | Too Many Cooks—Our First Deep-sea Sounding | 87 |
| 33. | The Western End of Zavodovski Island, showing Grounded Icebergs | 90 |
| 34. | Sentinel of the Antarctic | 91 |
| 35. | A Typical Scene at the Pack Edge | 94 |
| 36. | Killers Rising to “Blow”—The Quest Pushing Through Thin Ice | 95 |
| 37. | Loose Open Pack—Loose Pack Ice, with the Sea Rapidly Freezing Over | 96 |
| 38. | The Midnight Sun | 97 |
| 39. | The Loneliness of the Pack | 100 |
| 40. | An Unpleasant but Necessary Duty—Taking Crab-eater Seals for Food | 101 |
| 41. | Commander Wild at the Masthead | 108 |
| 42. | Pushing South Through Heavy Pack—The Quest Ploughing Through Heavy Ice Pack | 109 |
| 43. | The Quest at her Farthest South—Jeffrey and Douglas taking Observations for Magnetic Dip | 112 |
| 44. | Heavy Pressed-up Pack Ice, the Quest in the Distance—Commander Wild and Worsley Examining a Newly Formed “Lead” in the Pack Ice | 113 |
| 45. | The Quest Pushing North Through Rapidly Freezing Ice | 114 |
| 46. | “Watering” Ship with Floe Ice | 115 |
| 47. | Emperor Penguins on the Floe: A Still Evening in the Pack | 118 |
| 48. | Frozen Spray | 119 |
| 49. | Commander Wild’s Watch: McIlroy, Carr, Wild, Macklin—The “Black” Watch: Ross, Argles, Young, Kerr, Smith | 122 |
| 50. | Worsley’s Watch: Douglas, Wilkins, Watts, Worsley—Jeffrey’s Watch: McLeod, Marr, Jeffrey, Dell | 123 |
| 51. | Chipping Frozen Spray from the Gunwales | 126 |
| 52. | The Quest Beset near Ross’s Appearance of Land | 127 |
| 53. | Rowett Island, off Cape Lookout, Elephant Island | 150 |
| 54. | The Kent “Clear-View” Screen—Approaching Cape Lookout | 151 |
| 55. | Loading Sea-elephants’ Blubber, Elephant Island | 154 |
| 56. | Somnolent Content: a Sea-elephant on Elephant Island—Ringed Penguins and a Paddy Bird (Chionis alba) | 155 |
| 57. | Shackleton’s Last Anchorage—McLeod and Marr clearing up After a Blizzard | 160 |
| 58. | Sugar Top Mountain, Part of the Allardyce Range, South Georgia | 161 |
| 59. | A Glacier Face in South Georgia | 176 |
| 60. | A Rocky Outcrop in South Georgia | 177 |
| 61. | Distended Whale Carcasses in Prince Olaf Harbour | 178 |
| 62. | Cape Pigeons (Daption capensis) at South Georgia | 179 |
| 63. | The Northern Coast of Drygalski Fiord—Cape Saunders | 182 |
| 64. | The New Type of Whaler—The Black-browed Albatross or Mollymauk | 183 |
| 65. | A Pair of Adult Wandering Albatross—A Young Albatross | 186 |
| 66. | Gentoo Penguin Feeding its Chick—The Chick after Feeding | 187 |
| 67. | On the Way to the Cairn—Looking Shorewards from the Cairn | 190 |
| 68. | Our Farewell to the Boss | 191 |
| 69. | The Settlement at Tristan da Cunha from the Sea—View of the Settlement from the East | 208 |
| 70. | Landing at Big Beach, Tristan da Cunha—A Tristan Bullock Cart | 209 |
| 71. | Nightingale Island—Inaccessible Island | 224 |
| 72. | Wireless Pole being erected, Tristan—Carr and Douglas with Two Tristan Guides, Henry Green and Glass | 225 |
| 73. | John Glass and Family—The Mission House on Tristan da Cunha | 240 |
| 74. | The “Potato Patches” on Tristan da Cunha | 241 |
| 75. | Tristan Women Twisting Wool—The Tristan Method of Carding Wool | 256 |
| 76. | Henry Green’s Cottage, Tristan da Cunha—The Oldest Inhabitant of Tristan da Cunha, Miss Betty Cotton | 257 |
| 77. | View of Gough Island from the Glen Anchorage | 262 |
| 78. | The Apostle, an Acid Intrusive near the Summit of Gough Island—The Little Glen where the New Sophora was Discovered | 263 |
| 79. | On the Way to the Summit | 266 |
| 80. | The Glen Anchorage from the Higher Slopes | 267 |
| 81. | The Quest seen through the Archway Rock, Gough Island | 276 |
| 82. | Dell Rocks, at the North-eastern End of Glen Beach | 277 |
| 83. | Lot’s Wife Cove and Church Rocks, Gough Island | 284 |
| 84. | Lot’s Wife, Gough Island | 285 |
| 85. | The Quest Entering Table Bay—The Quest in Dock at Cape Town | 288 |
| 86. | The Summit of Ascension Island | 289 |
| 87. | The Abandoned Wireless Station on Ascension Island—Flowering Plants Growing in the Volcanic Ash at Ascension Island | 304 |
| 88. | Wideawake Plain, Ascension Island—A Wideawake | 305 |
| 89. | Weatherpost Hill, Ascension Island, Looking East | 308 |
| 90. | A View in San Miguel in the Azores | 309 |
| 91. | Booby with Chick—A Booby Chick | 316 |
| 92. | Types of Fish Caught in the Lagoon at St. Paul’s Rocks—White-capped Noddies at St. Paul’s Rocks | 317 |
| 93. | Gentoo Penguin with Two Chicks—Nesting Ground of the Mollymauk | 320 |
| 94. | Giant Petrel at Nest | 321 |
| 95. | The Surface of a Glacier, showing Numerous Crevasses | 336 |
| 96. | Sea-elephants in Tussock Grass | 337 |
| 97. | The Island Tree (Phylica nitida)—Sea-elephants among the Rocks | 340 |
| 98. | Commander Worsley taking Observations of the Sun by Sextant—Hussey (Taking Sea Temperatures), Commander Wild and McIlroy | 341 |
| 99. | Setting up Kites for the Taking of Meteorological Observations | 348 |
| 100. | An Apparatus for Bringing Up Specimens of the Sea Bottom | 349 |