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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18129-8.txt b/18129-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..914e4ac --- /dev/null +++ b/18129-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8998 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, South with Scott, by Edward R. G. R. Evans + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: South with Scott + + +Author: Edward R. G. R. Evans + + + +Release Date: April 7, 2006 [eBook #18129] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH WITH SCOTT*** + + +E-text prepared by James Tenison + + + +Transcriber's note: + + Our author had a very "informal" approach to grammar and syntax; + so apparently did his editor. I corrected several obvious errors + in the book and listed them at the end of the text. Many more + doubtful spellings and countless abbreviations remain as they + appear in the text. + + I have deleted the symbols for "degree" "minute" and "second" + which appear regularly throughout the text and substituted the + full word. The symbols + and - in relation to temperature are + retained. + + + + + +SOUTH WITH SCOTT + +by + +REAR-ADMIRAL EDWARD R. G. R. EVANS +C.B., D.S.O, R.N. + +Illustrated with Maps and Photographs + + + + + + + +London & Glasgow +Collins' Clear-Type Press + + + + +To +Lashly and Crean + +THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED + + + + +PREFACE + + +The object of this book is to keep alive the interest of English-speaking +people in the story of Scott and his little band of sailor-adventurers, +scientific explorers, and companions. It is written more particularly for +Britain's younger generations. + +I have to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of Miss Zeala +Wakeford Cox of Shanghai and Pay-master Lieutenant-Commander Bernard +Carter of H.M.S. "Carlisle." + +Without their help, I doubt if the book would have found its way into +print. + +Edward R.G.R. Evans. +HONG-KONG +February, 27, 1921. + + + + + +BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1910. + +PERSONNEL + + +_Shore Parties._ + + +ROBERT FALCON SCOTT Captain, C.V.O., R.N. (The "Owner," "The Boss"). +EDWARD R.G.R. EVANS Lieut. R.N. ("Teddy"). +VICTOR L.A. CAMPBELL Lieut. R.N. ("The Wicked Mate") +HENRY R. BOWERS Lieut. Royal Indian Marines ("Birdie"). +LAWRENCE E.G. OATES Captain 6th Inniskilling Dragoons ("Titus," + "Soldier"). +G. MURRAY LEVICK Surgeon R.N. +EDWARD L. ATKINSON Surgeon R.N., Parasitologist ("Atch"). + + +_Scientific Staff._ + + +EDWARD ADRIAN WILSON B.A., M.B. (Cantab.), Chief of the Scientific + Staff, and Zoologist ("Uncle Bill"). +GEORGE C. SIMPSON D.Sc., Meteorologist ("Sunny Jim.") +T. GRIFFITH TAYLOR B.A., B.Sc., B.E., Geologist ("Griff"). +EDWARD W. NELSON Biologist ("Marie"). +FRANK DEBENHAM B.A., B.Sc., Geologist ("Deb.") +CHARLES S. WRIGHT B.A., Physicist. +RAYMOND E. PRIESTLEY Geologist. +HERBERT G. PONTING F.R.G.S., Camera Artist. +CECIL H. MEARES In charge of dogs. +BERNARD C. DAY Motor Engineer. +APSLEY CHERRY-GARRARD B.A., Asst. Zoologist ("Cherry"). +TRYGGVE GRAN Sub.-Lieut. Norwegian N.R., B.A., Ski Expert. + + +_Men._ + + +W. LASHLY C. Stoker, R.N. +W.W. ARCHER Chief Steward, late R.N. +THOMAS CLISSOLD Cook, late R.N. +EDGAR EVANS Petty Officer, R.N. +ROBERT FORDE Petty Officer, R.N. +THOMAS CREAN Petty Officer, R.N. +THOMAS S. WILLIAMSON Petty Officer, R.N. +PATRICK KEOHANE Petty Officer, R.N. +GEORGE P. ABBOTT Petty Officer, R.N. +FRANK V. BROWNING Petty Officer, 2nd Class, R.N. +HARRY DICKASON Able Seaman, R.N. +F.J. HOOPER Steward, late R.N. +ANTON OMELCHENKO Groom. +DIMITRI GEROF Dog Driver. + + +_Ship's Party._ + + +HARRY L. L. PENNELL Lieutenant, R.N. +HENRY E. DE P. RENNICK Lieutenant. R.N. +WILFRED M. BRUCE Lieutenant, R.N.R. +FRANCIS R. H. DRAKE Assistant Paymaster, R.N.(Retired), Secretary and + Meteorologist in ship. +DENNIS G. LILLIE M.A., Biologist in ship. +JAMES R. DENNISTOUN In charge of Mules in ship. +ALFRED B. CHEETHAM R.N.R., Boatswain. +WILLIAM WILLIAMS Chief Engine Room Artificer, R.N., Engineer. +WILLIAM A. HORTON Engine Room Artificer, 3rd Class, R.N., 2nd + Engineer +FRANCIS E. C. DAVIES Leading Shipwright, R.N. +FREDERICK PARSONS Petty Officer, R.N. +WILLIAM L. HEALD Late Petty Officer, R. N. +ARTHUR S. BAILEY Petty Officer, 2nd Class, R.N. +ALBERT BALSON Leading Seaman, R.N. +JOSEPH LEESE Able Seaman, R.N. +JOHN HUGH MATHER Petty Officer, R.N.V.R. +ROBERT OLIPHANT Able Seaman. +THOMAS F. MCLEOD Able Seaman. +MORTIMER MCCARTHY Able Seaman. +WILLIAM KNOWLES Able Seaman. +CHARLES WILLIAMS Able Seaman. +JAMES SKELTON Able Seaman. +WILLIAM MCDONALD Able Seaman. +JAMES PATON Able Seaman. +ROBERT BRISSENDEN Leading Stoker, R.N. +EDWARD A. MCKENZIE Leading Stoker, R.N. +WILLIAM BURTON Leading Stoker, R.N. +BERNARD J. STONE Leading Stoker, R.N. +AGUS MCDONALD Fireman. +THOMAS MCGILLON Fireman. +CHARLES LAMMAS Fireman. +W.H. NEALE Steward. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. SOUTH POLAR EXPEDITION--OUTFIT AND AIMS + +II. VOYAGE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + +III. ASSEMBLING OF UNITS--DEPARTURE FROM NEW ZEALAND + +IV. THROUGH STORMY SEAS + +V. ANTARCTICA--THROUGH THE PACK ICE TO LAND + +VI. SETTLING DOWN TO THE POLAR LIFE + +VII. ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE WINTER + +VIII. THE WINTER CLOSES IN + +IX. PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS + +X. SPRING DEPOT JOURNEY + +XI. PREPARATIONS AND PLANS FOR THE SUMMER SEASON + +XII. SOUTHERN JOURNEY--MOTOR SLEDGES ADVANCE + +XIII. THE BARRIER STAGE + +XIV. ON THE BEARDMORE GLACIER AND BEYOND + +XV. RETURN OF THE LAST SUPPORTING PARTY + +XVI. THE POLE ATTAINED--SCOTT'S LAST MARCHES + +XVII. THE SECOND WINTER--FINDING OF THE POLAR PARTY + +XVIII. ADVENTURES OF THE NORTHERN PARTY + +XIX. NARRATIVE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +SOUTH POLAR EXPEDITION--OUTFIT AND AIMS + + +It is nine years since the last supporting party bid farewell to Captain +Scott and his four brave companions, whose names are still fresh in the +memory of those who were interested in Captain Scott's last Polar +Expedition. The Great War has come and gone and the majority of us wish +to forget it, but the story of Scott undoubtedly appeals still to a great +number of people. It is a good story, and my only hope is that I can +retell it well enough to make my volume worth while reading after so much +has already been published concerning the work of the British Antarctic +Expedition of 1910. + +The main object of our expedition was to reach the South Pole and secure +for the British nation the honour of that achievement, but the attainment +of the Pole was far from being the only object in view, for Scott +intended to extend his former discoveries and bring back a rich harvest +of scientific results. Certainly no expedition ever left our shores with +a more ambitious scientific programme, nor was any enterprise of this +description ever undertaken by a more enthusiastic and determined +personnel. We should never have collected our expeditionary funds merely +from the scientific point of view; in fact, many of our largest +supporters cared not one iota for science, but the idea of the Polar +adventure captured their interest. On the other hand, a number of our +supporters affected a contempt for the Polar dash and only interested +themselves in the question of advanced scientific study in the Antarctic. +As the expedition progressed, however, the most unenthusiastic member of +the company developed the serious taste, and in no case did we ever hear +from the scientific staff complaints that the Naval members failed to +help them in their work with a zeal that was quite unexpected. This +applies more particularly to the seamen and stokers. + +Captain Scott originally intended to make his winter quarters in King +Edward VII. Land, but altered the arrangement after the fullest +discussion with his scientific friends and advisers, and planned that a +small party of six should examine this part of the Antarctic and follow +the coast southward from its junction with the Great Ice Barrier, +penetrating as far south as they were able, surveying geographically and +geologically. This part of the programme was never carried out, owing to +the ice conditions thereabouts preventing a landing either on the Barrier +or in King Edward VII. Land itself. + +The main western party Scott planned to command himself, the base to be +at Cape Crozier or in McMurdo Sound, near the site of the "Discovery's" +old winter quarters at Cape Armitage, the exact position to be governed +by the ice conditions on arrival. + +Dogs, ponies, motor sledges and man-hauling parties on ski were to +perform the Polar journey by a system of relays or supporting parties. +Scott's old comrade, Dr. E.A. Wilson of Cheltenham, was selected as chief +of the scientific staff and to act as artist to the expedition. Three +geologists were chosen and two biologists, to continue the study of +marine fauna and carry out research work in depths up to 500 fathoms. The +expeditionary ship was to be fitted for taking deep-sea soundings and +magnetic observations, and the meteorological programme included the +exploration of the upper air currents and the investigation of the +electrical conditions of the atmosphere. We were fortunate in securing as +meteorologist the eminent physicist, Dr. G. Simpson, who is now head of +the Meteorological Office in London. Dr. Simpson was to have charge of +the self-recording magnetic instruments ashore at the main base. + +Study of ice structure and glaciation was undertaken by Mr. C.S. Wright, +who was also assistant physicist. The magnetic work of the ship was +entrusted to Lieut. Harry Pennell, R.N., an officer of more than ordinary +scientific attainments and a distinguished navigator. Lieut. Henry +Rennick was given control of the hydrographical survey work and deep-sea +sounding. Two surgeons were lent by the Royal Navy for the study of +bacteriology and parasitology in addition to their medical duties, and +Mr. Herbert G. Ponting was chosen as camera artist and cinematographer to +the Expedition. + +To my mind the outfit and preparations were the hardest part of our work, +for we were not assure of funds until the day of our departure. This did +not lighten Scott's burden. The plans of the British Antarctic Expedition +of 1910 were first published on September 13, 1909, but although Scott's +appeal to the nation was heartily endorsed by the Press, it was not until +the spring of 1910 that we had collected the first 10,000 pounds. +Personally, I was despatched to South Wales and the west of England to +raise funds from my Welsh and west country friends. Scott, himself, when +he could be spared from the Admiralty, worked Newcastle, Liverpool, and +the North, whilst both of us did what we could in London to obtain the +money necessary to purchase and equip the ship. It was an anxious time +for Scott and his supporters, but after the first 10,000 pounds had been +raised the Government grant of 20,000 pounds followed and the Expedition +came properly into being. Several individuals subscribed 1000 pounds +each, and Government grants were subsequently made by the Australian +Commonwealth, the Dominion of New Zealand and South Africa. Capt. L.E.G. +Oates and Mr. Apsley Cherry-Garrard were included in the donors of 1000 +pounds, but they gave more than this, for these gallant gentlemen gave +their services and one of them his life. An unexpected and extremely +welcome contribution came from Mr. Samuel Hordern of Sydney in the shape +of 2500 pounds, at a time when we needed it most. Many firms gave in cash +as well as in kind. Indeed, were it not for the generosity of such firms +it is doubtful whether we could have started. The services of Paymaster +Lieut. Drake, R.N., were obtained as secretary to the Expedition. Offices +were taken and furnished in Victoria Street, S.W., and Sir Edgar Speyer +kindly consented to act as Honorary Treasurer--without hesitation I may +say we owe more to Sir Edgar than ever we can repay. + +We were somewhat limited in our choice of a ship, suitable for the work +contemplated. The best vessel of all was of course the "Discovery," which +had been specially constructed for the National Antarctic Expedition in +1900, but she had been acquired by the Hudson Bay Company, and although +the late Lord Strathcona, then High Commissioner for Canada, was +approached, he could not see his way to obtaining her for us in view of +her important employment as supply ship for the Hudson Bay Trading +Stations. There remained the "Aurora," "Morning," "Bjorn," "Terra Nova," +Shackleton's stout little "Nimrod," and one or two other old whaling +craft. The "Bjorn," a beautiful wooden whaler, would have served our +purpose excellently, but, alas! she was too small for the enterprise and +we had to fall back on the "Terra Nova," an older ship but a much larger +craft. The "Terra Nova" had one great defect--she was not economic in the +matter of coal consumption. She was the largest and strongest of the old +Scotch whalers, had proved herself in the Antarctic pack-ice and +acquitted herself magnificently in the Northern ice-fields in whaling and +sealing voyages extending over a period of twenty years. In spite of her +age she had considerable power for a vessel of that type. + +After a preliminary survey in Newfoundland, which satisfied us as to her +seaworthiness in all respects, the "Terra Nova" was purchased for the +Expedition by Messrs. David Bruce & Sons for the sum of 12,500 pounds. It +seems a high price, but this meant nothing more than her being chartered +to us for 2000 pounds a year, since her owners were ready to pay a good +price for the ship if we returned her in reasonably good condition at the +conclusion of the Expedition. + +Captain Scott handed her over to me to fit out, whilst he busied himself +more with the scientific programme and the question of finance. We had +her barque-rigged and altered according to the requirements of the +expedition. A large, well-insulated ice-house was erected on the upper +deck which held 150 cascases of frozen mutton, and, owing to the position +of the cold chamber, free as it was from the vicinity of iron, we mounted +here our standard compass and Lloyd Creek pedestal for magnetic work. Our +range-finder was also mounted on the ice-house. A new stove was put in +the galley, a lamp room and paraffin store built, and store-rooms, +instrument, and chronometer rooms were added. A tremendous alteration was +made in the living spaces both for officers and men. Twenty-four bunks +were fitted around the saloon accommodation, whilst for the seamen and +warrant officers hammock space or bunks were provided. It was proposed to +take six warrant officers, including carpenter, ice-master, boatswain, +and chief steward. Quite good laboratories were constructed on the poop, +while two large magazines and a clothing-store were built up between +decks, and these particular spaces were zinc-lined to keep them +damp-free. The ship required alteration rather than repair, and there +were only one or two places where timber had rotted and these were soon +found and reinforced. + +I shall never forget the day I first visited the "Terra Nova" in the West +India Docks: she looked so small and out of place surrounded by great +liners and cargo-carrying ships, but I loved her from the day I saw her, +because she was my first command. Poor little ship, she looked so dirty +and uncared for and yet her name will be remembered for ever in the story +of the sea, which one can hardly say in the case of the stately liners +which dwarfed her in the docks. I often blushed when admirals came down +to see our ship, she was so very dirty. To begin with, her hold contained +large blubber tanks, the stench of whale oil and seal blubber being +overpowering, and the remarks of those who insisted on going all over the +ship need not be here set down. However, the blubber tanks were +withdrawn, the hold spaces got the thorough cleansing and whitewashing +that they so badly needed. The bilges were washed out, the ship +disinfected fore and aft, and a gang of men employed for some time to +sweeten her up. Then came the fitting out, which was much more pleasant +work. + +Scott originally intended to leave England with most of the members of +the Expedition on August 1, 1910, but he realised that an early start +from New Zealand would mean a better chance for the big depot-laying +journey he had planned to undertake before the first Antarctic winter set +in. Accordingly the sailing date was anticipated, thanks to the united +efforts of all concerned with the fitting out, and we made June 1 our day +of departure, which meant a good deal of overtime everywhere. + +The ship had to be provisioned and stored for her long voyage, having in +view the fact that there were no ship-chandlers in the Polar regions, but +those of us who had "sailed the way before" had a slight inkling that we +might meet more ships, and _others_ who would lend us a helping hand in +the matter of Naval stores. + +Captain Scott allowed me a sum with which to equip the "Terra Nova"; it +seemed little enough to me but it made quite a hole in our funds. There +were boatswain's stores to be purchased, wire hawsers, canvas for +sail-making, fireworks for signalling, whale boats and whaling gear, +flags, logs, paint, tar, carpenter's stores, blacksmith's outfit, +lubricating oils, engineer's stores, and a multitude of necessities to be +thought of, selected, and not paid for if we could help it. The verb "to +wangle" had not then appeared in the English language, so we just +"obtained." + +The expedition had many friends, and it was not unusual to find Petty +Officers and men from the R.N.V.R. working on board and helping us on +Saturday afternoons and occasionally even on Sundays. They gave their +services for nothing, and the only way in which we could repay them was +to select two chief Petty Officers from their number, disrate them, and +take them Poleward as ordinary seamen. + +It was not until the spring of 1910 that we could afford to engage any +officers or men for the ship, so that most of the work of rigging her was +done by dock-side workers under a good old master rigger named Malley. +Landsmen would have stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Malley's men +with their diminutive dolly-winch had they watched our new masts and +yards being got into place. + +Six weeks before sailing day Lieut. Campbell took over the duties of +Chief Officer in the "Terra Nova," Pennell and Rennick also joined, and +Lieut. Bowers came home from the Indian Marine to begin his duties as +Stores Officer by falling down the main hatch on to the pig iron ballast. +I did not witness this accident, and when Campbell reported the matter I +am reported to have said, "What a silly ass!" This may have been true, +for coming all the way from Bombay to join us and then immediately +falling down the hatch did seem a bit careless. However, when Campbell +added that Bowers had not hurt himself my enthusiasm returned and I said, +"What a splendid fellow!" Bowers fell nineteen feet without injuring +himself in the slightest. This was only one of his narrow escapes and he +proved himself to be about the toughest man amongst us. + +Quite a lot could be written of the volunteers for service with Scott in +this his last Antarctic venture. There were nearly 8000 of them to select +from, and many eligible men were turned down simply because they were +frozen out by those who had previous Antarctic experience. We tried to +select fairly, and certainly picked a representative crowd. It was not an +all-British Expedition because we included amongst us a young Norwegian +ski-runner and two Russians; a dog driver and a groom. The Norwegian has +since distinguished himself in the Royal Air Force--he was severely +wounded in the war whilst fighting for the British and their Allies, but +his pluck and Anglophile sentiments cost him his commission in the +Norwegian Flying Corps. + +Dr. Wilson assisted Captain Scott in selecting the scientific staff, +while the choice of the officers and crew was mainly left to myself as +Commander-elect of the "Terra Nova." + +Most Polar expeditions sail under the Burgee of some yacht club or other: +We were ambitious to fly the White Ensign, and to enable this to be done +the Royal Yacht Squadron adopted us. Scott was elected a member, and it +cost him 100 pounds, which the Expedition could ill afford. However, with +the "Terra Nova" registered as a yacht we were able to evade those Board +of Trade officials who declared that she was not a well-found merchant +ship within the meaning of the Act. Having avoided the scrutiny of the +efficient and official, we painted out our Plimsoll mark with tongue in +cheek and eyelid drooped, and, this done, took our stores aboard and +packed them pretty tight. The Crown Preserve Co. sent us a quantity of +patent fuel which stowed beautifully as a flooring to the lower hold, and +all our provision cases were thus kept well up out of the bilge water +which was bound to scend to and fro if we made any quantity of water, as +old wooden ships usually do. The day before sailing the Royal +Geographical Society entertained Scott and his party at luncheon in the +King's Hall, Holborn Restaurant. About 300 Fellows of the Society were +present to do us honour. The President, Major Leonard Darwin, proposed +success to the Expedition, and in the course of his speech wished us +God-speed. He congratulated Captain Scott on having such a well-found +expedition and, apart from dwelling on the scientific and geographical +side of the venture, the President said that Captain Scott was going to +prove once again that the manhood of our nation was not dead and that the +characteristics of our ancestors who won our great Empire still +flourished amongst us. + +After our leader had replied to this speech Sir Clements Markham, father +of modern British exploration, proposed the toast of the officers and +staff in the most touching terms. Poor Sir Clements is no more, but it +was he who first selected Captain Scott for Polar work, and he, indeed, +who was responsible for many others than those present at lunch joining +Antarctic expeditions, myself included. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +VOYAGE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + + +Sailing day came at last, and on June 1, 1910, when I proudly showed +Scott his ship, he very kindly ordered the hands aft and thanked them for +what they had done. + +The yards were square, the hatches on with spick-and-span white hatch +covers, a broad white ribbon brightened the black side, and gold leaf +bedizened the quarter badges besides gilding the rope scroll on the +stern. The ship had been well painted up, a neat harbour furl put on the +sails, and if the steamers and lofty sailing vessels in the basin could +have spoken, their message would surely have been, "Well done, little +'un." + +What a change from the smudgy little lamp-black craft of last +November--so much for paint and polish. All the same it was the "Terra +Nova's" Indian summer. A close search by the technically expert would +have revealed scars of age in the little lady, furrows worn in her sides +by grinding ice floes, patches in the sails, strengthening pieces in the +cross-trees and sad-looking deadeyes and lanyards which plainly told of a +bygone age. + +But the merchant seamen who watched from the dock side were kind and said +nothing. The old admirals who had come down to visit the ship were used +to these things, or perhaps they did not twig it. After all, what did it +matter, it was sailing day, we were all as proud as peacocks of our +little ship, and from that day forward we pulled together and played the +game, or tried to. + +Lady Bridgeman, wife of the first Sea Lord, and Lady Markham hoisted the +White Ensign and the Burgee of the Royal Yacht Squadron an hour or so +before sailing. At 4.45 p.m. the visitors were warned off the ship, and a +quarter of an hour later we slipped from our wharf in the South-West +India Docks and proceeded into the river and thence to Greenhithe, where +we anchored off my old training ship, the "Worcester," and gave the +cadets a chance to look over the ship. On the 3rd June we arrived at +Spithead, where we were boarded by Captain Chetwynd, Superintendent of +Compasses at the Admiralty, who swung the ship and adjusted our +compasses. Captain Scott joined us on the 4th and paid a visit with his +"yacht" to the R.Y.S. at Cows. On the 6th we completed a series of +magnetic observations in the Solent, after which many officers were +entertained by Captain Mark Kerr in the ill-fated "Invincible." We were +royally looked after, but I am ashamed to say we cleared most of his +canvas and boatswain's stores out of the ship. Perhaps a new 3 1/2-inch +hawser found its way to the "Terra Nova"; anyway, if the "Invincible's" +stores came on board the exploring vessel she made good use of them and +saved them their Jutland fate. We left the Solent in high feather on the +following day. + +The "Sea Horse" took us in tow to the Needles, from whence H.M.S. +"Cumberland," Cadets' Training Ship; towed us to Weymouth Bay. This was +poor Scott's last Naval review. He had landed at Portsmouth and busied +himself with the Expedition's affairs and rejoined us at Weymouth in time +to steam through the Home Fleet assembled in Portland Harbour. We steamed +out of the 'hole in the wall' at the western end of Portland Breakwater +and rounded Portland Bill at sunset on our way to Cardiff, where we were +to be received by my own Welsh friends and endowed with all good things. +We were welcomed by the citizens of the great Welsh seaport with +enthusiasm. Free docking, free coal, defects made good for nothing, an +office and staff placed at our disposal, in fact everything was done with +an open-hearted generosity. We took another 300 tons of patent fuel on +board and nearly 100 tons of Insole's best Welsh steaming coal, together +with the bulk of our lubricating oils. When complete with fuel we met +with our first setback, for the little ship settled deeply in the water +and the seams, which had up till now been well above the water-line, +leaked in a way that augured a gloomy future for the crew in the nature +of pumping. With steam up this did not mean anything much, but under sail +alone, unless we could locate the leaky seams, it meant half an hour to +an hour's pumping every watch. We found a very leaky spot in the fore +peak, which was mostly made good by cementing. + +On the 15th June we left the United Kingdom after a rattling good time in +Cardiff. Many shore boats and small craft accompanied us down the Bristol +Channel as far as Breaksea Light Vessel. We hoisted the Cardiff flag at +the fore and the Welsh flag at the mizen--some wag pointed to the flag +and asked why we had not a leek under it, and I felt bound to reply that +we had a leak in the fore peak! It was a wonderful send-off and we +cheered ourselves hoarse. Captain Scott left with our most intimate +friends in the pilot boat and we proceeded a little sadly on our way. + +After passing Lundy Island we experienced a head wind and the gentle +summer swell of the Atlantic. In spite of her deeply-laden condition the +"Terra Nova" breasted each wave in splendid form, lifting her toy +bowsprit proudly in the air till she reminded me, with her deck cargo, of +a little mother with her child upon her back. + +Our first port of call was Madeira, where it was proposed to bunker, and +we made good passage to the island under steam and sail for the most +part. We stayed a couple of days coaling and taking magnetic observations +at Funchal, then ran out to the north-east Trades, let fires out, and +became a sailing ship. + +Whilst lazily gazing at fertile Madeira from our anchorage we little +dreamt that within two months the distinguished Norseman, Roald Amundsen, +would be unfolding his plans to his companions on board the "Fram" in +this very anchorage, plans which changed the whole published object of +his expedition, plans which culminated in the triumph of the Norwegian +flag over our own little Union Jack, and plans which caused our people a +fearful disappointment--for Amundsen's ultimate success meant our failure +to achieve the main object of our Expedition: to plant the British Flag +first at the South Pole. + +Under sail! Quite a number of the scientists and crew had never been to +sea in a sailing ship before, but a fair wind and a collection of keen +and smiling young men moving about the decks were particularly refreshing +to me after the year of fund collecting and preparation. + +We learnt to know a great deal about one another on the outward voyage to +New Zealand, where we were to embark our dogs and ponies. The most +surprising personality was Bowers, considering all things. + +Officers, scientists, and the watch worked side by side trimming coals +and restoring the 'tween decks as cases were shaken and equipment +assembled. The scientific staff were soon efficient at handling, reefing, +and steering. Every one lent a hand at whatever work was going. Victor +Campbell was christened the "Wicked Mate," and he shepherded and fathered +the afterguard delightfully. + +Wilson and I shared the Captain's cabin, and when there was nothing afoot +he made lovely sea sketches and water colour drawings to keep his hand +in. Certainly Uncle Bill (Dr. Wilson's nickname) had copy enough in those +days of sunlit seas and glorious sunrises. He was up always an hour +before the sun and missed very little that was worth recording with his +artistic touch. Wilson took Cherry-Garrard under his wing and brought him +up as it were in the shadow of his own unselfish character. We had no +adventures to record until the last week in July beyond the catching of +flying-fish, singing chanties at the pump, and Lillie getting measles. We +isolated him in the dark room, which, despite its name, was one of the +lightest and freshest rooms in the ship. Atkinson took charge of the +patient and Lillie could not have been in the hands of a better or more +cheery medico. + +Not all of the members of the Expedition had embarked in England, +although the majority came out in the ship to save expense. + +Captain Scott had remained behind to squeeze out more subscriptions and +to complete arrangements with the Central News, which he was making in +order to give the world's newspapers the story of the Expedition for +simultaneous publication as reports came back to civilisation in the +"Terra Nova." He also had finally to settle magazine and cinematograph +contracts which were to help pay for the Expedition, and lastly, our +leader, with Drake and Wyatt, the business manager, were to pay bills we +had incurred by countless items of equipment, large and small, which went +to fill up our lengthy stores lists. Thankless work enough--we in the +ship were much better off with no cares now beyond the handling of our +toy ship and her safe conduct to Lyttelton. Cecil Meares and Lieut. Bruce +were on their way through Siberia collecting dogs and ponies. Ponting was +purchasing the photographic and cinematographic outfit, Griffith Taylor, +Debenham, and Priestley, our three geologists, and Day, the motor +engineer, were to join us in New Zealand, and Captain Scott with Drake at +Capetown. + +In order to get another series of magnetic observations and to give the +staff relief from the monotony of the voyage as well as an opportunity +for doing a little special work, we stopped at the uninhabited island of +South Trinidad for a couple of days, arriving on July 26. + +Trinidad Island looked magnificent with its towering peaks as we +approached it by moonlight. We dropped anchor shortly after dawn, the +ship was handed over to the Wicked Mate and Boatswain, who set up the +rigging and delighted themselves with a seamanlike refit. Campbell had a +party over the side scrubbing the weeds off, and many of the ship's +company attempted to harpoon the small sharks which came close round in +shoals and provided considerable amusement. These fish were too small to +be dangerous. After breakfast all the scientists and most of the officers +landed and were organised by Uncle Bill into small parties to collect +birds' eggs, flowers, specimens, to photograph and to sketch. A good +lunch was taken ashore, and we looked more like a gunroom picnic party +than a scientific expedition when we left the ship in flannels and all +manner of weird costumes. Wilson, Pennell, and Cherry-Garrard shot a +number of birds, mostly terns and gannets, and climbed practically to the +top of the island, where they could see the Martin Vaz islets on the +horizon. Wilson secured some Trinidad petrels, both white breasted and +black breasted, and discovered that the former is the young bird and the +latter the adult of the same species. He found them in the same nests. We +collected many terns' eggs; the tern has no nest but lays its eggs on a +smooth rock. Also one or two frigate birds were caught. Nelson worked +along the beach, finding sea-urchins, anemones, and worms, which he +taught the sailors the names of--polycheats and sepunculids, I think he +called them. He caught various fishes, including sea-perches, garfish, +coralfish, and an eel, a small octopus and a quantity of sponges. +Trigger-fish were so abundant that many of them were speared from the +ship with the greatest of ease, and Rennick harpooned a couple from a +boat with an ordinary dinner fork. Lillie, who had recovered from +measles, was all about, and his party went for flowering plants and +lichens. He climbed to the summit of the island--2000 ft.--and gave it as +his opinion that the dead trees strewn all round the base of the island +had been carried down with the volcanic debris from higher altitudes. It +was also his suggestion that the island had only recently risen, the +trees which originally grew on the top of the island having died from +unsuitable climate in the higher condition. Gran went up with Lillie and +took photographs. "Birdie" Bowers and Wright were employed collecting +insects, and, with those added by the rest of us, the day's collection +included all kinds of ants, cockroaches, grasshoppers, mayflies, a +centipede, fifteen different species of spider, locusts, a cricket, +woodlice, a parasite fly, a beetle, and a moth. We failed to get any of +the dragonflies seen, and, to the great sorrow of the crews who landed +with us, missed capturing a most beautiful chestnut-coloured mouse with a +fur tail. Land crabs, a dirty yellow in colour, were found everywhere, +the farther one went inland the bigger were the crabs. The blue shore +crabs were only to be seen near the sea or along the coast and water +courses. Several of these were brought off to the ship for Dr. Atkinson +to play with, and he found nematodes in them, and parasites in the birds +and fish. + +During the afternoon a swell began to roll in the bay and those on board +the ship hoisted the warning signal and fired a sound rocket to recall +the scattered parties. By 4.30 we had reassembled on the rocks where we +had landed in the forenoon, but the rollers being fifteen feet high, it +was obviously unwise to send off cameras and perishable gear, and since +it was equally inadvisable to leave the whole party ashore without food +and sufficient clothing and the prospect of an inhospitable island home +for days, we all swam off one by one, the boat's crew working a grassline +bent to a lifebuoy. The boat to which we swam was riding to a big anchor +a hundred feet from the shore, just outside the surf. There were a few +sharks round the whaler, but they were shy and left us alone. Rennick +worked round the boat in a small Norwegian pram and scared them away. +Many trigger fish swallowed the thick vegetable oil which the boat's crew +ladled into the sea to keep the surf down, and I think this probably +attracted the sharks, though it was not very nice to swim through. None +of us were any the worse for our romp ashore, but the long day and the +hot sun tired us all out. Nearly all the afterguard slept on the upper +deck that night, and, but for the dismal roar of the swell breaking on +the rocks and the heavy rolling of the "Terra Nova," we spent quite a +comfortable night. Dr. Atkinson and Brewster had been left ashore with +the gear, but they got no sleep because all night the terns flew round +crying and protesting against their intrusion. The wail of these birds +sounds like the deep note of a banjo. The two men mostly feared the land +crabs, but to their surprise they were left in peace. + +Next day about 9 a.m. I went in with Rennick, Bowers, Oates, Gran, and +two seamen to the landing place, taking a whaler and pram equipped with +grass hawser, breeches buoy, rocket line, and everything necessary to +bring off the gear. We had a rough time getting the stuff away undamaged +by the sea, but the pram was a wonderful sea-boat and we took it in turns +to work her through the surf until everything was away. + +At the last, when nearly everything had been salved and got to the +whaler, the collections in tin boxes, wooden cases and baskets, and the +two men, Atkinson and Brewster, were on board, a large wave threw the +pram right up on the rocks, capsizing her and damaging her badly. Her two +occupants jumped out just before a second wave swept the boat over and +over. Then a third huge roller came up and washed the pram out to sea, +where she was recovered by means of a grapnel thrown from the whaler. The +two on the rocks had to face the surf again but were good swimmers, and +with their recovery our little adventure ended. It was a pity we had bad +weather, because I intended to give the crew a run on the island when +Campbell had finished with them. + +We remained another day under the lee of Trinidad Island owing to a hard +blow from the south-east--a dead head wind for us--because I felt it +would be useless to put to sea and punch into it. We were anchored one +mile S. 4 degrees E (magnetic) from the Ninepin Rock, well sheltered from +the prevailing wind. We left Trinidad at noon on the 28th, well prepared +for the bad weather expected on approaching the Cape of Good Hope. + +Whilst clearing the land we had an excellent view of South West Bay and +saw a fine lot of rollers breaking on the beach. I was glad we kept there +that day, as, in my opinion, our anchorage was really the only fair one +off the island. By noon on the 29th we had left South Trinidad out of +sight, the wind had freshened again and we could almost lay our course +under sail for the Cape. This next stage of the voyage was merely a story +of hard winds and heavy rolls. The ship leaked less as she used up the +coal and patent fuel. All the same we spent many hours at the pump, but, +since much of the pumping was done by the afterguard--as were called the +officers and scientists we developed and hardened our muscles finely. In +the daytime the afterguard were never idle; there is always plenty to do +in a sailing ship, and when not attending to their special duties the +scientists were kept working at everything that helped the show along. +Whilst on deck they were strictly disciplined and subordinate and +respectful to the ship's executive officers, while in the wardroom they +fought these same officers in a friendly way for every harsh word and +every job they had had imposed on them. + +Campbell was a fine seaman; he was respected and admired by such people +as Oates and Atkinson, who willingly pocketed their pride and allowed +themselves to be hustled round equally with the youngest seaman on board. +The Wicked Mate generally had all the afterguard under the hose before +breakfast, as washing water was scarce and the allowance meagre on such a +protracted voyage. + +In the hotter weather we nearly all slept on deck, the space on top of +the ice-house and in the boats being favourite billets. There was no +privacy in the ship and only the officers of watches and lookout men were +ever left with their thoughts. One or two of the younger members +confessed to being home-sick, for the voyage was long and it was not at +all certain that we should all win back to "England, home, and beauty." + +Those who were not sailor men soon acquired the habit of the sea, growing +accustomed to meeting fair and foul weather with an equally good face, +rejoicing with us sailor men at a fair wind and full sail and standing by +top-gallant and topsail halyards when the prospects were more leaden +coloured and the barometer falling. We numbered about forty now, which +meant heaps of beef to haul on ropes and plenty of trimmers to shift the +coal from the hold to the bunkers. One or two were always stoking side by +side with the firemen, and in this fashion officers, seamen, and +scientific staff cemented a greater friendship and respect for one +another. + +On August 7, after drinking to absent friends, Oates, Atkinson, and Gran, +"the three midshipmen" were confirmed in their rank and a ship's biscuit +broken on the head of each in accordance with gunroom practice, and after +this day, during good and bad weather, these three kept regular watch +with the seamen, going aloft, steering, and taking all the usual duties +in their turn. + +From the start Pennell, who was to relieve me in command of the ship on +her arrival at the Antarctic base, showed an astounding knowledge of +birds, and Wilson took the keenest interest in teaching him about +bird-life in the Great Southern ocean and giving him a preliminary idea +of the bird types to be met with in Antarctica. + +Reflecting back to these days one sees how well we all knitted into the +places we were to fill, because a long sea-voyage searches out hidden +qualities and defects, not that there were many of the latter, still one +man developed lung trouble and another had a strained heart. One of +these, to our great regret, was forced to leave the expedition before the +ship went south, while the other had to be ruled out of the shore +party--an awful disappointment to them both. + +We reached Simon's Town on August 15, and here the Naval authorities gave +us every assistance, lent us working parties and made good our long +defect list. We were disappointed on arriving to find that Captain Scott +was away in Pretoria, but he succeeded in obtaining a grant of 500 pounds +from the South African Government and raised another 500 pounds by +private subscription. When Captain Scott came amongst us again he wrote +of the "Terra Nova" party that we were all very pleased with the ship and +very pleased with ourselves, describing our state of happiness and +overflowing enthusiasm exactly. + +Those who could be spared were given leave here; some of us went +up-country for a few days and had a chance to enjoy South African +scenery. Oates, Atkinson, and Bowers went to Wynberg and temporarily +forgot the sea. Oates's one idea was a horse, and he spent his holiday as +much on horse-back as he possibly could. In a letter he expressed great +admiration for the plucky manner in which Atkinson rode to hounds one day +at Wynberg. These two were great friends, but it would be hard to imagine +two more naturally silent men, and one wonders how evident pleasure can +be obtained with a speechless companion. + +Scott now changed with Wilson, who went by mail steamer to Australia in +order to organise and finally engage the Australian members of our staff. +Our leader was without doubt delighted to make the longer voyage with us +in the "Terra Nova" and to get away from the hum of commerce and the +small talk of the many people who were pleased to meet him--until the hat +was handed round--that awful fund-collecting. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +ASSEMBLING OF UNITS--DEPARTURE FROM NEW ZEALAND + + +The trip from Simon's Town to Melbourne was disappointing on account of +the absence of fair winds. We had a few gales, but finer weather than we +expected, and took advantage of the ship's steadiness to work out the +details for the sledge journeys and depot plans. The lists of those who +were to form the two shore parties were published, together with a +skeleton list for the ship. The seamen had still to be engaged in New +Zealand to complete this party. + +A programme was drawn up for work on arrival at winter quarters, a +routine made out for McMurdo Sound or Cape Crozier, if it so happened +that we could effect a landing there, weights were calculated for the +four men sledging-units, sledge tables embellished with equipment +weights, weekly allowances of food and fuel, with measures of quantities +of each article in pannikins or spoonfuls, provisional dates were set +down in the general plan, daily ration lists constructed, the first +season's depot party chosen and, in short, a thoroughly comprehensive +hand-book was made out for our guidance which could be referred to by any +member of the Expedition. Even an interior plan of the huts was made to +scale for the carpenter's edification. + +It was an enormous advantage for us to have our leader with us now, his +master mind foresaw every situation so wonderfully as he unravelled plan +after plan and organised our future procedure. + +Meantime, the seamen were employed preparing the sledge gear, sewing up +food bags, making canvas tanks and sledge harness, fitting out Alpine +ropes; repair bags, thongs, lampwick bindings, and travelling equipment +generally. Gran overlooked the ski and assigned them to their future +owners, Petty Officer Evans prepared the sewing outfits for the two shore +parties, the cooks assembled messtraps and cooking utensils, and Levick +and Atkinson, under Dr. Wilson's guidance, assembled the medical +equipment and fixed up little surgical outfits for sledge parties. By the +time we arrived at Melbourne, our next port of call, a great deal had +been accomplished and people had a grasp of what was eventually expected +of them. + +Scott left us again at Melbourne and embarked on yet another begging +campaign, whilst I took the ship on to Lyttelton, where the "Terra Nova" +was dry-docked with a view to stopping the leak in her bows. The decks, +which after her long voyage let water through sadly, were caulked, and +barnacles six inches long were taken from her bottom and sides. Whilst in +New Zealand all the stores were landed, sorted out and restowed. On a +piece of waste ground close to the wharves at Lyttelton the huts were +erected in skeleton in order to make certain that no hitch would occur +when they were put up at our Antarctic base. Davis, the carpenter, with +the seamen told off to assist him, marked each frame and joist, the +tongued and grooved boards were roughly cut to measure and tied into +bundles ready for sledge transport in case it happened that we could not +put the ship close to the winter quarters. Instruments were adjusted, the +ice-house re-insulated and prepared to receive the 150 frozen sheep and +ten bullocks which were presented to us by New Zealand farmers. Stables +were erected under the forecastle and on the upper deck of the "Terra +Nova," ready for the reception of our ponies, and a thousand and one +alterations and improvements made. The ship was restowed, and all fancy +gear, light sails and personal baggage put ashore. We took on board 464 +tons of coal and embarked the three motor sledges, petrol, and paraffin. + +We spent four weeks in Port Lyttelton, four weeks of hard work and +perfect happiness. Our prospects looked very rosy in those days, and as +each new member joined the Expedition here he was cordially welcomed into +the "Terra Nova" family. + +Mr. J. J. Kinsey acted as agent to the Expedition, as he had done for the +National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-4, and, indeed, for every Polar +enterprise that has used New Zealand for a base. + +New Zealanders showed us unbounded hospitality; many of us had visited +their shores before and stronger ties than those of friendship bound us +to this beautiful country. + +When we came to Lyttelton, Meares and Bruce had already arrived with +nineteen Siberian and Manchurian ponies and thirty-four sledge dogs, and +these were now housed at Quail Island in the harbour. All the ponies were +white, animals of this colour being accepted as harder than others for +snow work, and the dogs were as fine a pack as one could select for hard +sledging and rough times. Meares had had adventure in plenty when +selecting the dogs and told us modestly enough of his journeys across +Russia and Siberia in search of suitable animals. Scott was lucky to get +hold of such an experienced traveller as Meares, and the "Terra Nova" +gained by the inclusion of Lady Scott's brother, Wilfred Bruce, in the +Expedition. Wilfred Bruce was christened "Mumbo," and, although a little +older than the rest of the officers, he willingly took a subordinate +place, and Pennell, writing of him after the Expedition was finished, +said that he withheld his advice when it was not asked for and gave it +soundly when it was. + +Lieut. Bruce joined Meares at Vladivostock, and he must have thought he +was joining a travelling circus when he ran into this outfit. Meares +crossed by Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostock, thence made +preparation to travel round the Sea of Okotsk to collect the necessary +dogs. He started off by train to Kharbarovsk, where he got in touch with +the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, General Unterberger, who helped +him immensely, got him a good travelling sledge for the trip down the +Amur River to Nikolievsk, and wrote a letter which he gave Meares to show +at the post-houses and whenever in difficulties. The Governor-General +ordered frozen food to be got ready for Meares's journey. A thousand +versts (roughly 660 miles) had to be traversed, and this only took seven +days; the going was interesting at times, and Meares had good weather on +the sledge journey to Nikolievsk, although the cold was intense and +sometimes the road was very bad. The sledges were horse-drawn between the +post-houses. + +Mr. Rogers, the English manager of the Russo-Chinese Bank of Nikolievsk, +helped Meares considerably in securing the dogs. Most of them were picked +up in the neighbourhood of that place, but were not chosen before they +had been given some hard driving tests. In one of the trial journeys the +dogs pulled down a horse and nearly killed it before they could be beaten +off. Some of them have a good deal of the wolf in their blood. + +A settlement of "fish-skin" Indians was visited in the dog search, and +Meares told us of natives who dressed in cured skins of salmons. These +people were expert hunters who trekked weeks on end with just a pack of +food on their backs, their travelling being done on snowshoes. + +After taking great pains, thirty-four fine dogs were collected, all used +to hard sledge travelling, and these Meares shipped on board steamer +which took him and his menagerie by river to Kharbarovsk. The journey to +Vladivostock was by train. The Russian officials allowed him to hitch on +a couple of cattle trucks containing the dogs to the mail train for that +part of the journey. + +Russian soldiers and Chinamen were detailed by the Governor-General to +assist the procession through the streets of Vladivostock to their +kennels here. A slight upset was caused by a mad dog rushing in amongst +them, but fortunately it was killed before any of our dogs were bitten. +Some of them were flecked by the foam from the mad dog's jaws, but none +were any the worse after a good carbolic bath. After the dogs were +settled and in good shape the ponies were collected and brought from +up-country in batches. On arrival at the Siberian capital they were +examined by the Government vet., after which Meares and an Australian +trainer picked the best, until a score were purchased. Horse boxes were +obtained now and feed tins made for the voyage and, after minor troubles +with shipping firms, Meares, Bruce, and three Russians sailed from +Vladivostock in a Japanese steamer which conveyed them to Kobe. Here they +transhipped into a German vessel that took then via Hong-kong, Manila, +New Guinea, Rockhampton, and Brisbane, to Sydney. There the animals were +inoculated for the N'th time and a good deal of palaver indulged in +before they were again shifted to the Lyttelton steamer. The poor beasts +suffered from the heat, particularly the dogs, although they had been +close-clipped for the long and trying voyage. + +At Wellington, New Zealand, Meares was compelled to trans-ship the +animals to yet another steamer. When the travelling circus was safely +installed in Quail Island our dogs and ponies had undergone shipments, +trans-shipments, inoculations and disinfectings sufficient to make them +glad to leave civilisation, and we had to thank Meares for his patience +in getting them down without any losses. + +We sailed from Lyttelton on November 25 for Port Chalmers, had a +tremendous send-off and a great deal of cheering as the ship moved slowly +away from the piers. Bands played us out of harbour and most of the ships +flew farewell messages, which we did our best to answer. + +Some members went down by train to Dunedin and joined us at Port +Chalmers. We filled up here with what coal we could squeeze into our +already overloaded ship and left finally for the Great Unknown on +November 29, 1910. + +Lady Scott, Mrs. Wilson, and my own wife came out with us to the Heads +and then went on board the "Plucky" tug after saying good-bye. We were +given a rousing send-off by the small craft that accompanied us a few +miles on our way, but they turned homeward at last and at 3.30 p.m. we +were clear with all good-byes said--personally I had a heart like lead, +but, with every one else on board, bent on doing my duty and following +Captain Scott to the end. There was work to be done, however, and the +crew were glad of the orders that sent them from one rope to another and +gave them the chance to hide their feelings, for there is an awful +feeling of loneliness at this point in the lives of those who sign on the +ships of the "South Pole trade"--how glad we were to hide those feelings +and make sail--there were some dreadfully flat jokes made with the best +of good intentions when we watched dear New Zealand fading away as the +spring night gently obscured her from our view. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THROUGH STORMY SEAS + + +After all it was a relief to get going at last and to have the Expedition +on board in its entirety, but what a funny little colony of souls. A +floating farm-yard best describes the appearance of the upper deck, with +the white pony heads peeping out of their stables, dogs chained to +stanchions, rails, and ring-bolts, pet rabbits lolloping around the ready +supply of compressed hay, and forage here, there, and everywhere. If the +"Terra Nova" was deeply laden from Cardiff, imagine what she looked like +leaving New Zealand. We had piled coal in sacks wherever it could be +wedged in between the deck cargo of petrol. Paraffin and oil drums filled +up most of the hatch spaces, for the poop had been rendered uninhabitable +by the great wooden cases containing two of our motor sledges. + +The seamen were excellent, and Captain Scott seemed delighted with the +crowd. He and Wilson were very loyal to the old "Discovery" men we had +with us and Scott was impressed with my man, Cheetham, the Merchant +Service boatswain, and could not quite make out how "Alf," as the sailors +called him, got so much out of the hands--this little squeaky-voiced +man--I think we hit on Utopian conditions for working the ship. There +were no wasters, and our seamen were the pick of the British Navy and +Mercantile Marine. Most of the Naval men were intelligent petty officers +and were as fully alive as the merchantmen to "Alf's" windjammer +knowledge. Cheetham was quite a character, and besides being immensely +popular and loyal he was a tough, humorous little soul who had made more +Antarctic voyages than any man on board. + +The seamen and stokers willingly gave up the best part of the crew space +in order to allow sheltered pony stables to be built in the forecastle; +it would have fared badly with the poor creatures had we kept them out on +deck on the southward voyage. + +A visit to the Campbell Islands was projected, but abandoned on account +of the ship being unable to lay her course due to strong head winds on +December 1. We therefore shaped to cross the Antarctic Circle in 178 +degrees W. and got a good run of nearly 200 miles in, but the wind rose +that afternoon and a gale commenced at a time when we least could afford +to face bad weather in our deeply-laden conditions. By 6 p.m. I had to +heave the ship to under lower topsails and fore topmast staysail. Engines +were kept going at slow speed to keep the ship under control, but when +night fell the prospect was gloomy enough. Captain Scott had consented to +my taking far more on board than the ship was ever meant to carry, and we +could not expect to accomplish our end without running certain risks. To +sacrifice coal meant curtailing the Antarctic cruising programme, but as +the weather grew worse we had to consider throwing coal overboard to +lighten the vessel. Quite apart from this, the huge waves which washed +over the ship swamped everything and increased the deck weights +considerably. Ten tons of coal were thrown over to prevent them from +taking charge and breaking petrol cases adrift. In spite of a liberal use +of oil to keep heavy water from breaking over, the decks were continually +swept by the seas and the rolling was so terrific that the poor dogs were +almost hanging by their chains. Meares and Dimitri, helped by the watch, +tended them unceasingly, but in spite of their combined efforts one dog +was washed overboard after being literally drowned on the upper deck. One +pony died that night, Oates and Atkinson standing by it and trying their +utmost to keep the wretched beast on its feet. A second animal succumbed +later, and poor Oates had a most trying time in caring for his charges +and rendering what help he could to ameliorate their condition. Those of +his ship-mates who saw him in this gale will never forget his strong, +brown face illuminated by a hanging lamp as he stood amongst those +suffering little beasts. He was a fine, powerful man, and on occasions he +seemed to be actually lifting the poor little ponies to their feet as the +ship lurched heavily to leeward and a great sea would wash the legs of +his charges from under them. One felt somehow, glancing into the ponies' +stalls, which Captain Scott and I frequently visited together, that +Oates's very strength itself inspired his animals with confidence. He +himself appeared quite unconscious of any personal suffering, although +his hands and feet must have been absolutely numbed by the cold and wet. + +In the middle watch Williams, the Chief Engineer, reported that his pumps +were choked and that as fast as he cleared them they choked again, the +water coming into the ship so fast that the stoke-hold plates were +submerged and water gaining fast. I ordered the watch to man the +hand-pump, but that was soon choked too. Things now looked really +serious, since it was impossible to get to the pump-well while terrific +seas were washing over the ship and the afterhatch could not be opened. +Consequently we started to bail the water out with buckets and also +rigged the small fire-engine and pumped with this as well. + +The water in the engine room gradually gained until it entered the ashpit +of the centre furnace and commenced to put the fires out. Both Williams +and Lashly were up to their necks in water, clearing and re-clearing the +engine room pump suctions, but eventually the water beat them and I +allowed Williams to let fires out in the boiler. It could not be +otherwise. We stopped engines, and with our cases of petrol being lifted +out of their lashings by the huge waves, with the ponies falling about +and the dogs choking and wallowing in the water and mess, their chains +entangling them and tripping up those who tried to clear them, the +situation looked as black and disheartening as it well could be. + +When dawn broke the greater part of the lee bulwarks had been torn away +and our decks laid open to the sea, which washed in and out as it would +have over a rock. The poor ship laboured dreadfully, and after +consultation with Captain Scott we commenced to cut a hole in the engine +room bulkhead to get at the hand pump-well. + +Meanwhile I told the afterguard off into watches, and, relieving every +two hours, they set to work, formed a chain at the engine room ladder way +and bailed the ship out with buckets. In this way they must have +discharged between 2000 and 3000 gallons of water. The watch manned the +hand pump, which, although choked, discharged a small stream, and for +twenty-four hours this game was kept up, Scott himself working with the +best of them and staying with the toughest. + +It was a sight that one could never forget: everybody saturated, some +waist-deep on the floor of the engine room, oil and coal dust mixing with +the water and making every one filthy, some men clinging to the iron +ladder way and passing full buckets up long after their muscles had +ceased to work naturally, their grit and spirit keeping them going. I did +admire the weaker people, especially those who were unhardened by the +months of physical training of the voyage out from England. + +When each two-hour shift was relieved, the party, coughing and +spluttering, would make their way into the ward-room where Hooper and +Neale, the stewards, mere boys, supplied them with steaming cocoa. How on +earth the cooks kept the galley fires going I could never understand: +they not only did this, but fed us all at frequent intervals. + +By 10 p.m. on the 2nd December the hole in the engine room bulkhead was +cut completely. I climbed through it, followed by Bowers, the carpenter, +and Teddy Nelson, and when we got into the hold there was just enough +room to wriggle along to the pump-well over the coal. We tore down a +couple of planks to get access to the shaft and then I went down to the +bottom to find out how matters stood. Bowers came next with an electric +torch, which he shone downwards whilst I got into the water, hanging on +to the bottom rungs of the ladder leading to the bilge. Sitting on the +keel the water came up to my neck and, except for my head, I was under +water till after midnight passing up coal balls, the cause of all the +trouble. Though, of course, we had washed out the bilges in New Zealand, +the constant stream of water which leaked in from the topsides had +carried much coal-dust into them. This, mixed with the lubricating oil +washed down from the engines, had cemented into buns and balls which +found their way down and choked both hand and engine pump suctions. I +sent up twenty bucketfuls of this filthy stuff, which meant frequently +going head under the unspeakably dirty water, but having cleared the +lower ends of the suction pipe the watch manning the hand pump got the +water down six inches, and it was obvious by 4 o'clock in the morning +that the pump was gaining. We therefore knocked the afterguard off +bailing, and the seamen worked steadily at the pump until 9 a.m. and got +the water right down to nine inches, so we were able to light fires again +and once more raise steam. We made a serviceable wire grating to put +round the hand pump suction to keep the bigger stuff from choking the +pipes in future. It was days before some of us could get our hair clean +from that filthy coal-oil mixture. + +One more pony died during the gale, but when the weather moderated early +on the 3rd, the remaining seventeen animals bucked up and, when not +eating their food, nonchalantly gnawed great gaps in the stout planks +forming the head parts of their stalls. At last the sun came out and +helped to dry the dogs. Campbell and his seamen cleared up the decks and +re-secured the top hamper in the forenoon, we reset sail, and after tea +Scott, Oates, Atkinson, and a few more of us hoisted the two dead ponies +out of the forecastle, through the skylight, and over the side. It was a +dirty job, because the square of the hatch was so small that a powerful +purchase had to be used which stretched out the ponies like dead rabbits. + +We only made good twenty-three miles that day and, although the gale had +abated, it left us a legacy in the shape of a heavy uncomfortable swell. +Most of the bunks were in a sad state, the ship having worked so badly +that the upper deck seams opened everywhere and water had literally +poured into them. + +Looking at the fellows' faces in the ward-room at dinner that night there +was no trace of anxiety, worry, or fatigue to be seen. We drank to +sweet-hearts and wives, it being Saturday evening, and those who had no +watch were glad to turn in early. + +More fresh wind next day but finer weather to follow. Gran declared he +saw an iceberg on the 5th December, but it turned out to be a whale +spouting. Our runs were nothing to boast of, 150 miles being well above +the average, but the lengthening days told us that we were rapidly +changing our latitude and approaching the ice. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +ANTARCTICA--THROUGH THE PACK ICE TO LAND + + +We sighted our first iceberg in latitude 62 degrees on the evening of +Wednesday, December 7. Cheetham's squeaky hail came down from aloft and I +went up to the crow's-nest to look at it, and from this time on we passed +all kinds of icebergs, from the huge tabular variety to the little +weathered water-worn bergs. Some we steamed quite close to and they +seemed for all the world like great masses of sugar floating in the sea. + +From latitudes 60 to 63 degrees we saw a fair number of birds: southern +fulmars, whale birds, molly-mawks, sooty albatrosses, and occasionally +Cape-pigeons still. Then the brown-backed petrels began to appear, sure +precursors of the pack ice--it was in sight right enough the day after +the brown-backs were seen. By breakfast time on December 9, when nearly +in latitude 65 degrees, we were steaming through thin streams of broken +pack with floes from six to twelve feet across. A few penguins and seals +were seen, and by 10 a.m. no less than twenty-seven icebergs in sight. +The newcomers to these regions were clustered in little groups on the +forecastle and poop sketching and painting, hanging over the bows and +gleefully watching this lighter stuff being brushed aside by our strong +stem. + +We were passing through pack all day, but the ice hereabouts was not +close enough nor heavy enough to stop us appreciably. The ship was +usually conned by Pennell and myself from the crow's-nest, and I took the +ship very near one berg for Ponting to cinematograph it. We now began to +see snow petrels with black beaks and pure white bodies, rather +resembling doves. Also we saw great numbers of brown-backed petrels the +first day in the pack, whole flights of them resting on the icebergs. The +sun was just below the horizon at midnight and we had a most glorious +sunset, which was first a blazing copper changing to salmon pink and then +purple. The pools of water between the floes caught the reflection, the +sea was perfectly still and every berg and ice-floe caught something of +the delicate colour. Wilson, of course, was up and about till long after +midnight sketching and painting. The Antarctic pack ice lends itself to +water-colour work far better than to oils. + +When conning the ship from up in the crow's-nest one has a glorious view +of this great changing ice-field. Moving through lanes of clear blue +water, cannoning into this floe and splitting it with iron-bound stem, +overriding that and gnawing off a twenty ton lump, gliding south, east, +west, through leads of open water, then charging an innocent-looking +piece which brings the ship up all-standing, astern and ahead again, +screwing and working the wonderful wooden ship steadily southward until +perhaps two huge floes gradually narrow the lane and hold the little lady +fast in their frozen grip. + +This is the time to wait and have a look round: on one side floes the +size of a football field, all jammed together, with their torn up edges +showing their limits and where the pressure is taken. Then three or four +bergs, carved from the distant Barrier, imprisoned a mile or so away, +with the evening sun's soft rays casting beautiful shadows about them and +kissing their glistening cliff faces. + +Glancing down from the crow's-nest the ship throws deep shadows over the +ice and, while the sun is just below the southern horizon, the still +pools of water show delicate blues and greens that no artist can ever do +justice to. It is a scene from fairyland. + +I loved this part of the voyage, for I was in my element. At odd times +during the night, if one can call it night, the crow's-nest would have +visitors, and hot cocoa would be sent up in covered pots by means of +signal halyards. The pack ice was new to all the ship's officers except +myself, but they soon got into the way of conning and working through +open water leads and, as time went on, distinguished the thinner ice from +the harder and more dangerous stuff. + +On December 10 we stopped the ship and secured her to a heavy floe from +which we took in sufficient ice to make eight tons of fresh water, and +whilst doing this Rennick sounded and obtained bottom in 1964 fathoms, +fora-minifera and decomposed skeleton unicellular organs, also two pieces +of black basic lava. Lillie and Nelson took plankton and water bottle +samples to about 280 fathoms. A few penguins came round and a good many +crab-eater seals were seen. In the afternoon we got under way again and +worked for about eight miles through the pack, which was gradually +becoming denser. About 2:30 p.m. I saw from the crow's-nest four seals on +a floe. I slid down a backstay, and whilst the officer on watch worked +the ship close to them, I got two or three others with all our firearms +and shot the lot from the forecastle head. We had seal liver for dinner +that night; one or two rather turned up their noses at it, but, as Scott +pointed out, the time would come when seal liver would be a delicacy to +dream about. + +Campbell did not do much conning except in the early morning, as his +executive duties kept him well occupied. The Polar sledge journey had its +attractions, but Campbell's party were to have interesting work and were +envied by many on board. For reasons which need not here be entered into +Campbell had to abandon the King Edward VII. Land programme, but in these +days his mob were known as the Eastern Party, to consist of the Wicked +Mate, Levick, and Priestley, with three seamen, Abbott, Browning, and +Dickason. Campbell had the face of an angel and the heart of a hornet. +With the most refined and innocent smile he would come up to me and ask +whether the Eastern Party could have a small amount of this or that +luxury. Of course I would agree, and sure enough Bowers would tell me +that Campbell had already appropriated a far greater share than he was +ever entitled to of the commodity in question. This happened again and +again, but the refined smile was irresistible and I am bound to say the +Wicked Mate generally got away with it, for even Bowers, the +incomparable, was bowled over by that smile. + +We crossed the Antarctic Circle on the morning of the 10th, little +dreaming in those happy days that the finest amongst us would never +recross it again. + +We took a number of deep-sea soundings, several of over 2000 fathoms, on +this first southward voyage. Rennick showed himself very expert with the +deep-sea gear and got his soundings far more easily than we had done in +the "Discovery" and "Morning" days. + +We were rather unfortunate as regards the pack ice met with, and must +have passed through 400 miles of it from north to south. On my two +previous voyages we had had easier conditions altogether, and then it had +not mattered, but all with these dogs and ponies cooped up and losing +condition, with the "Terra Nova" eating coal and sixty hungry men +scoffing enormous meals, we did not seem to be doing much or getting on +with the show. It was, of course, nobody's fault, but our patience was +sorely tried. + +We made frequent stops in the pack ice, even letting fires out and +furling sail, and sometimes the ice would be all jammed up so that not a +water hole was visible--this condition would continue for days. Then, for +no apparent reason, leads would appear and black water-skies would tempt +us to raise steam again. Scott himself showed an admirable patience, for +the rest of us had something to occupy our time with. Pennell and I, for +instance, were constantly taking sights and working them out to find our +position and also to get the set and drift of the current. Then there +were magnetic observations to be taken on board and out on the ice away +from the magnetic influence of the ship, such as it was. Simpson had +heaps to busy himself with, and Ponting was here, there, and everywhere +with his camera and cinematograph machine. Had it not been for our +anxiety to make southward progress, the time would have passed pleasantly +enough, especially in fine weather. Days came when we could get out on +the floe and exercise on ski, and Gran zealously looked to all our +requirements in this direction. + +December 11 witnessed the extraordinary sight of our company standing +bareheaded on deck whilst Captain Scott performed Divine Service. Two +hymns were sung, which broke strangely the great white silence. The +weather was against us this day in that we had snow, thaw, and actually +rain, but we could not complain on the score of weather conditions +generally. Practically all the ship's company exercised on the floes +while we remained fast frozen. Next day there was some slight loosening +of the pack and we tried sailing through it and managed half a degree +southward in the forty-eight hours. We got along a few miles here and +there, but when ice conditions continued favourable for making any +serious advance it was better to light up and push our way onward with +all the power we could command. We got some heavy bumps on the 13th +December and as this hammering was not doing the ship much good, since I +was unable to make southing then at a greater rate than one mile an hour, +we let fires right out and prepared, as Captain Scott said, "To wait till +the clouds roll by." For the next few days there was not much doing nor +did we experience such pleasant weather. + +Constant visits were made to the crow's-nest in search of a way through. +December 16 and 17 were two very gray days with fresh wind, snow, and +some sleet. Affectionate memories of Captain Colbeck and the little +relief ship, "Morning," came back when the wind soughed and whistled +through the rigging: This sound is most uncanny and the ice always seemed +to exaggerate any noise. + +I hated the overcast days in the pack. It was bitterly cold in the +crow's-nest however much one put on then, and water skies often turned +out to be nimbus clouds after we had laboured and cannoned towards them. +The light, too, tired and strained one's eyes far more than on clear +days. + +When two hundred miles into the pack the ice varied surprisingly. We +would be passing through ice a few inches thick and then suddenly great +floes four feet above the water and twelve to fifteen feet deep would be +encountered. December 18 saw us steaming through tremendous leads of open +water. A very funny occurrence was witnessed in the evening when the wash +of the ship turned a floe over under water and on its floating back a +fish was left stranded. It was a funny little creature, nine inches in +length, a species of notathenia. Several snow petrels and a skua-gull +made attempts to secure the fish, but the afterguard kept up such a +chorus of cheers, hoots and howls that the birds were scared away till +one of us secured the fish from the floe. + +Early on the 19th we passed close to a large iceberg which had a shelving +beach like an island. We began to make better progress to the +south-westward and worked into a series of open leads. We came across our +first emperor penguin, a young one, and two sea-leopards, besides +crab-eater seals, many penguins, some giant petrels, and a Wilson petrel. +That afternoon tremendous pieces of ice were passed; they were absolutely +solid and regular floes, being ten to twelve feet above water and, as far +as one could judge, about 50 feet below. The water here was beautifully +clear. + +We had now reached latitude 68 degrees and, as penguins were plentiful, +Archer and Clissold, the cooks, made us penguin stews and "hooshes" to +eke out our fresh provisions. Concerning the penguins, they frequently +came and inspected the ship. One day Wilson and I chased some, but they +continually kept just out of our reach; then Uncle Bill lay down on the +snow, and when one, out of curiosity, came up to him he grabbed it by the +leg and brought it to the ship, protesting violently, for all the world +like a little old man in a dinner jacket. Atkinson and Wilson found a new +kind of tapeworm in this penguin, with a head like a propeller. This worm +has since been named after one of us! + +We were now down to under 300 tons of coal, some of which had perforce to +be landed, in addition to the 30 tons of patent fuel which were under the +forward stores. I had no idea that Captain Scott could be so patient. He +put the best face on everything, although he certainly was disappointed +in the "Terra Nova" and her steaming capacity. He could not well have +been otherwise when comparing her with his beloved "Discovery." Whilst in +the pack our leader spent his time in getting hold of the more detailed +part of our scientific programme and mildly tying the scientists in +knots. + +We had some good views of whales in the pack. Whenever a whale was +sighted Wilson was called to identify it unless it proved to belong to +one of the more common species. We saw Sibbald's whale; Rorquals, and +many killer whales, but no Right whales were properly identified this +trip. + +I very much wanted to show Scott the island we had discovered in the +first Antarctic Relief Expedition and named after him, but when in its +vicinity snow squalls and low visibility prevented this. + +On the 22nd Bowers, Wright, Griffith Taylor and myself chased a lot of +young penguins on the ice and secured nine for our Christmas dinner. We +spent a very pleasant Christmas this year, devoting great attention to +food. We commenced the day with kidneys from our frozen meat store. +Captain Scott conducted the Christmas church service and all hands +attended since we had no steam up and were fast held in the pack. The +ward-room was decorated with our sledge flags and a new blue tablecloth +generally brightened up our Mess. We had fresh mutton for lunch and the +seamen had their Christmas dinner at this time. The afterguard dined at +6.30 on fresh penguin, roast beef, plum pudding, mince pies, and +asparagus, while we had champagne, port, and liqueurs to drink and an +enormous box of Fry's fancy chocolates for dessert. This "mortal gorge" +was followed by a sing-song lasting until midnight, nearly every one, +even the most modest, contributing. Around the Christmas days we made but +insignificant headway, only achieving thirty-one miles in the best part +of the week, but on the 29th the floes became thin and the ice showed +signs of recent formation, though intermingled with heavier floes of old +and rotten ice. There was much diatomacea in the rotten floes. About 2.40 +a.m. the ship broke through into a lead of open water six miles in +length. + +I spent the middle watch in the crow's-nest, Bowers being up there with +me talking over the Expedition, his future and mine. He was a wonderful +watch companion, especially when he got on to his favourite subject, +India. He had some good tales to tell of the Persian Gulf, of days and +weeks spent boat-cruising, of attacks made on gun-running dhows and +kindred adventure. He told me that one dhow was boarded while he was up +the Gulf, when the Arabs, waiting until most of the boat's crew of +bluejackets were on board, suddenly let go the halyards of their great +sail and let it down crash over the lot, the boom breaking many heads and +the sail burying our seamen, while the Arabs got to work and practically +scuppered the crowd. + +Soon after 4 a.m. I went below and turned in, confident that we were +nearing the southern extreme of the pack. Captain Scott awoke when I went +into the cabin, pleased at the prospect, but after so many adverse ice +conditions he shook his head, unwilling to believe that we should get +clear yet awhile. I bet him ten sardine sandwiches that we should be out +of the pack by noon on the 30th, and when I turned out at 8 o'clock I was +delighted to find the ship steaming through thin floes and passing into a +series of great open water leads. By 6 p.m. on the 29th a strong breeze +was blowing, snow was falling, and we were punching along under steam and +sail. Sure enough we got out of the pack early on the 30th and, cracking +on all our canvas, were soon doing eight knots with a following wind. + +Later in the day the wind headed us with driving snow, fine rain, and, +unfortunately, a considerable head swell. This caused the ship to pitch +so badly that the ponies began to give trouble again. Oates asked for the +speed to be reduced, but we got over this by setting fore and aft sail +and keeping the ship's head three or four points off the wind. New Year's +Eve gave us another anxious time, for we encountered a hard blow from the +S.S.E. It was necessary to heave the ship to most of the day under bare +poles with the engines just jogging to keep the swell on her bow. A thin +line of pack ice was sighted in the morning and this turned out to be +quite a blessing in disguise, for I took the ship close to the edge of it +and skirted along to leeward. The ice formed a natural break-water and +damped the swell most effectually. The swell and sea in the open would +have been too much for the ponies as it must be remembered that they had +been in their stalls on board for five weeks. + +We had now reached the Continental Shelf, the depth of water had changed +from 1111 fathoms on the 30th to 180 fathoms this day. The biologists +took advantage of our jogging along in the open water to trawl, but very +few specimens were obtained. At midnight the "youth of the town" made the +devil of a din by striking sixteen bells, blowing whistles on the siren, +hooting with the foghorn, cheering and singing. What children we were, +but what matter! + +1911 came like the opening of a new volume of an exciting book. This was +the year in which Scott hoped to reach the Pole, the ideal date he had +given being December 21. This was the year that Campbell and his party +were looking forward to so eagerly--if only they could be successful in +landing their gear and equipment in King Edward VII. Land--and, for the +less showy but more scientific sledgers, 1911 held a wealth of excitement +in store. Griffith Taylor and Debenham knew pretty well that next New +Year's Day would see them in the midst of their Western journey with the +secrets of those rugged mountains revealed perhaps. I do not know what my +own feelings were, it would be impossible to describe them. I read up +part of Shackleton's diary and something of what his companion Wilde had +written. Just this: + + 12 _miles_, 200 _yards_.--1/1/08. + + "Started usual time. Quan (pony) got through the forenoon fairly well + with assistance, but after lunch the poor chap broke down and we had + to take him out of harness. Shackleton, Adams, and Marshall dragged + his sledge, and I brought the ponies along with the other load. As + soon as we camped I gave Quan the bullet, and Marshall and I cut him + up. He was a tough one. I am cook this week with Marshall as my tent + mate." + +The more one read into Shackleton's story the more wonderful it all +seemed, and with our resources failure appeared impossible--yet that +telegram which Captain Scott had received at Melbourne: + + "Beg leave to inform you proceeding Antarctic. + ----AMUNDSEN." + +We all knew that Amundsen had no previous Antarctic sledging experience, +but no one could deny that to Norwegians ice-work, and particularly +ski-ing, was second nature, and here lay some good food for thought and +discussion. Where would the "Fram" enter the pack? Where would Amundsen +make his base? The answers never once suggested anything like the truth. + +Actually on New Year's Day Amundsen was between 500 and 600 miles north +of us, but of Roald Amundsen more anon. + +How strange to be once more in open water, able to steer whatever course +we chose, with broad daylight all night, and at noon only a couple of +days' run from Cape Crozier. Practically no ice in sight, but a sunlit +summer sea in place of the pack, with blue sky and cumulo stratus clouds, +so different from the gray, hard skies that hung so much over the great +ice field we had just forced. The wind came fair as the day wore on and +by 10 p.m. we were under plain sail, doing a good six knots. High +mountains were visible to the west-ward, part of the Admiralty Range, two +splendid peaks to be seen towering above the remainder, which appeared to +be Mounts Sabine and Herschell. Coulman Island was seen in the distance +during the day. + +What odd thrills the sight of the Antarctic Continent sent through most +of us. Land was first sighted late on New Year's Eve and I think +everybody had come on deck at the cry "Land oh!" To me those peaks always +did and always will represent silent defiance; there were times when they +made me shudder, but it is good to have looked upon them and to remember +them in those post-War days of general discontent, for they remind me of +the four Antarctic voyages which I have made and of the unanimous +goodwill that obtained in each of the little wooden ships which were our +homes for so long. How infinitely distant those towering mountains seemed +and how eternal their loneliness. + +As we neared Cape Crozier Wilson became more and more interested. He was +dreadfully keen on the beach there being selected as a base, and his +enthusiasm was infectious. Certainly Scott was willing enough to try to +effect a landing even apart from the advantage of having a new base. The +Cape Crozier beach would probably mean a shorter journey to the Pole, for +we should be spared the crevasses which radiated from White Island and +necessitated a big detour being made to avoid them. + +As we proceeded the distant land appeared more plainly and we were able +to admire and identify the various peaks of the snow-clad mountain range. +The year could not have opened more pleasantly. We had church in a warm +sun, with a temperature several degrees above freezing point, and most of +us spent our off-time basking in the sunshine, yarning, skylarking, and +being happy in general. + +We tried to get a white-bellied whale on the 2nd January, but our +whale-gun did not seem to have any buck in it and the harpoon dribbled +out a fraction of the distance it was expected to travel. + +The same glorious weather continued on January 2, and Oates took five of +the ponies on to the upper deck and got their stables cleared out. The +poor animals had had no chance of being taken from their stalls for +thirty-eight days, and their boxes were between two and three feet deep +with manure. The four ponies stabled on the upper deck looked fairly well +but were all stiff in their legs. + +Rennick took soundings every forty or fifty miles in the Ross Sea, the +depth varying from 357 fathoms comparatively close up to Cape Crozier to +180 fathoms in latitude 73 degrees. + +Cape Crozier itself was sighted after breakfast on the 3rd, and the Great +Ice Barrier appeared like a thin line on the southern horizon at 11.30 +that morning. We were close to the Cape by lunch time, and by 1.30 we had +furled sail in order to manoeuvre more freely. The "Terra Nova" steamed +close up to the face of the Barrier, then along to the westward until we +arrived in a little bay where the Barrier joins Cape Crozier. Quite a +tide was washing past the cliff faces of the ice; it all looked very +white, like chalk, while the sun was near the northern horizon, but later +in the afternoon blue and green shadows were cast over the ice, giving it +a softer and much more beautiful appearance. Ponting was given a chance +to get some cinema films of the Barrier while we were cruising around, +and then we stopped in the little bay where the Ice Barrier joins Cape +Crozier, lowered a boat, and Captain Scott, Wilson, myself, and several +others went inshore in a whaler. We were, however, unable to land as the +swell was rather too heavy for boat work. We saw an Emperor penguin chick +and a couple of adult Emperors, besides many Adèlie penguins and +skua-gulls. We pulled along close under the great cliffs which frown over +the end of the Great Ice Barrier. They contrasted strangely in their +blackness with the low crystal ice cliffs of the Barrier itself. In one +place we were splashed by the spray from quite a large waterfall, and one +realised that the summer sun, beating down on those black foothills, must +be melting enormous quantities of ice and snow. A curious ozone smell, +which must have been the stench of the guano from the penguin rookeries, +was noticed, but land smells of any sort were pleasant enough now for it +brought home to us the fact that we should shortly embark on yet another +stage of the Expedition. + +Pennell conned the ship close under the cliffs and followed the boat +along the coast. The "Terra Nova" was quite dwarfed by the great rocky +bluffs and we realised the height of the cliffs for the first time. + +Whilst we were prospecting Nelson obtained water-bottle samples and +temperatures at 10, 50, 100, and 200 fathoms. The deep water apparently +continued to the foot of the cliff in most places but there were two or +three tiny steep beaches close to the junction of the Barrier and Ross +Island. + +Captain Scott being satisfied that no landing was possible, we in the +boat returned to the ship and proceeded in her to the penguin rookery, a +mile or so farther west. When half a mile from the shore, we found the +bottom rapidly shoaling, the least depth being 9 1/2 fathoms. Several +small bergs were ashore hereabouts, but the swell breaking on the beach +plainly told us that a landing was out of the question. After carefully +searching the shore with glasses while the ship steamed slowly along it +all, ideas of a landing were abandoned and we set course for McMurdo +Sound. As soon as the ship was headed for her new destination we +commenced to make a running survey of the coast to Cape Bird. This took +until ten o'clock at night, and we found a great bight existed in Ross +Island which quite changed its shape on the map. After 10 p.m. we ran +into some fairly heavy pack ice, gave up surveying, and had a meal. + +I went up to the crow's-nest in order to work the ship to the best +advantage, and spent eleven hours on end there, but the excitement of +getting the "Terra Nova" round Cape Bird and into McMurdo Sound made the +time fly. Occasionally the ship crashed heavily as she charged her way +through the ice masses which skirted the shore. Whilst I conned the ship +leadsmen sounded carefully, and I was able to work her close in to the +coast near Cape Bird and avoid some heavy ice which we could never have +forced. At 4.30 a.m. I broke through the Cape Bird ice-field and worked +the ship on as far as Cape Royds, which was passed about 6.30 a.m. +Looking through our binoculars we noticed Shackleton's winter hut looking +quite new and fresh. + +Leaving Cape Royds we made our way up McMurdo's Sound as far as +Inaccessible Island, where we found the Strait frozen over from east to +west. Skirting along the edge of the sea ice I found there was no way in, +although I endeavoured to break into it at several points to reach what +looked like open water spaces a mile or two from the ice edge. +Accordingly, we stopped and I came down to report on the outlook. Captain +Scott, Wilson, and I eventually went aloft to the cross-trees and had a +good look round; we finally decided to land and look at a place where +there appeared to be a very good beach. In "Discovery" days this spot was +known as the skuary, being a favourite nesting place for skua-gulls, a +sort of little cape. I piloted the ship as close I could to this +position, which is situate midway between Cape Bird and Cape Armitage on +Ross Island. An ice anchor was laid out and then Scott, Wilson, and I +landed on the sea ice and walked a mile or so over it to the little cape +in question. + +It appeared to be an ideal winter quarters, and was then and there +selected as our base. Captain Scott named it Cape Evans, after me, for +which I was very grateful. Wilson already had a Cape named after him on +the Victoria Land coast in latitude 82 degrees. + +We now returned on board and immediately commenced landing motor sledges, +ponies, etc. For better working, once the various parties were landed, we +adopted the standard time of meridian 180 degrees, in other words, twelve +hours fast on Greenwich Mean Time. + +We now organised ourselves into three parties and I gave up the command +of the "Terra Nova" to Pennell till the ship returned from New Zealand +next year. The charge of the transport over the one and a half miles of +sea ice which lay between the ship and shore was given to Campbell, +whilst I took charge of the Base Station, erection of huts, and so forth, +Captain Scott himself supervising, planning and improving. + +We continued getting stuff out on the ice until late at night, and by +dinner time, 7 p.m., we had put two motor sledges, all the dogs and +ponies ashore, besides most of the ordinary sledges and tents. + +Next day we turned out all hands at 4.30, breakfasted at 5, started work +at 6, and landed all the petrol, kerosene, and hut timber. Most of the +haulage was done by motors and men, but a few runs were made with ponies. +We erected a big tent on the beach at Cape Evans and in this the +hut-building party and those who were stowing stores and unloading +sledges on the beach got their meals and sleep. We worked continuously +until 10 p.m. with only the shortest of meal intervals, and then, tired +but contented, we "flattened out" in our sleeping-bags, bunks, or +hammocks. + +The following day the same routine was continued and nearly the whole of +the provision cases came ashore and were stacked in neat little piles +under Bowers's direction. This indefatigable little worker now devoted +himself entirely to the western party stores. He knew every case and all +about it. Each one weighed approximately 60 lb. We had purposely arranged +that this should be so when ordering stores in London to save weight and +space. The cases were made of Venesta 3-ply wood. Of course, the +instruments and heavier scientific gear could not stow in these handy +packages, but the sixty-pound-Venesta was adhered to whenever possible. +The ponies were not worked till the afternoon of the 6th, and then only +the best of them with light loads. + +Davis, the carpenter, had with him seaman Ford, Keohane, and Abbot. Their +routine was a little different from ours: they worked at hut building +from 7 a.m. till midnight usually, and their results were little short of +marvellous. Odd people helped them when they could, and of these Pouting +showed himself to be _facile princeps_ as carpenter. I never saw anything +like the speed in which he set up tongued and grooved match boarding. + +Day, Nelson, and Lashly worked with the motor sledges; the newest motor +frequently towed loads of 2500 lb. over the ice at a six mile an hour +speed. The oldest hauled a ton and managed six double trips a day. Day, +the motor engineer, had been down here before--both he and Priestley came +from the Shackleton Expedition. The former had a decidedly comic vein +which made him popular all round. From start to finish Day showed himself +to be the most undefeated sportsman, and it was not his fault that the +motor sledges did badly in the end. + +Perhaps my diary from January 7, 1911, to the 8th gives a good idea of +the progress we were making with the base station and of the general +working day here. It reads as follows: + + "_Saturday, January_ 7, 1911. + + "All hands hard at work landing stores. Meares and Dimitri running dog + teams to and fro for light gear. + + "Captain Scott, Dr. Wilson, Griffith Taylor, Debenham, Cherry-Garrard, + and Browning leading ponies. Campbell, Levick, and Priestley hauling + sledges with colossal energy and enormous loads, the majority of the + ship's party unloading stores; Bowers, two seamen, Atkinson, and I + unloading sledges on the beach and carrying their contents up to their + assigned positions, Simpson and Wright laying the foundations for a + magnetic hut, and so on. Every one happy and keen, working as + incessantly as ants. I took on the job of ice inspector, and three or + four times a day I go out and inspect the ice, building snow bridges + over the tide cracks and thin places. The ice, excepting the floe to + which the ship is fast, is several feet thick. The floe by the 'Terra + Nova' is very thin and rather doubtful. We, ashore, had dinner at 10 + p.m. and turned in about 11." + +But the following day, although included here, was by no means typical. + + "_Sunday, January_ 8. + + "This morning a regrettable accident took place. The third and newest + motor sledge was hoisted out and, while being hauled clear on to the + firm ice, it broke through and sank in deep water. Campbell and Day + came in with the news, which Captain Scott took awfully well. + + "It was nobody's fault, as Simpson and Campbell both tested the floe + first and found it quite thick and apparently good. However, there it + is, in about 100 fathoms of water. + + "We stopped sledging for the day and those on board shifted the ship + by warping, but could not get her into a satisfactory billet, so + raised steam. + + "We spent the day working on the hut and putting chairs and benches + together. Captain Scott put the sledge meters together and I helped + him. These are similar to the distance meters on motor-cars. They + register in nautical miles (6084 feet) and yards, to 25 yards or less + by interpolation. + + "Took a True Bearing and found the approximate variation for Simpson + (149 degrees E.)." + +On the following day those on board the ship shifted her to a new +position alongside the fast ice, just under a mile from our beach. The +transportation of stores continued and we got ashore a great number of +bales of compressed fodder, also some Crown Preserve Patent Fuel. As +there was nothing much to do on the beach my party lent a hand with the +landing of fodder, and I led the ponies Miki, Jehu, and Blossom; the +latter, having suffered greatly on the outward voyage, was in poor +condition. Still, most of the ponies were doing well, and at night were +picketed on a snowdrift behind the hut. They occasionally got adrift, but +I usually heard them and got up to make them fast, my small sleeping-tent +being right alongside their tethering space. + +Nelson continued working with me unless the requirements of his +biological work called him away. In less than a week we had the whole of +our stores and equipment landed, and from the beginning many of us took +up our quarters at Cape Evans itself. We pitched several small tents on +the beach; and it was an agreeable change to roll up and sleep in a fur +bag after the damp, cold berths we had occupied in the ship. Teddy Nelson +became my particular friend in the shore party and shared a sledging tent +with me. The rest of the shore staff paired off and slept in the small +tents, while Captain Scott had one to himself. We called it the "Holy of +Holies," and from the privacy of this tiny dwelling Scott issued his +directions, supervised, planned, and improved whenever improvement could +be made in anything. He had a marvellous brain and a marvellous way of +getting the best possible work out of his subordinates, still he never +spared himself. One did with extraordinary little sleep, and in the sunny +days it became necessary to leave tent doors wide open, otherwise the +close-woven wind-proof tent cloth kept all the fresh air out and one woke +with a terrific head. + +To rightly get hold of our wintering place one must imagine a low spit of +land jutting out into a fiord running, roughly north and south and +bounded on both sides by a steep-to coast line indented with glaciers of +vast size. Here and there gigantic snow-slopes were to be seen which more +gradually lowered into the sea, and all around ice-covered mountains with +black and brown foothills. A few islands rose to heights of 300 or 400 +feet in McMurdo Sound, and these had no snow on them worth speaking of +even in the winter. The visible land was of black or chocolate-brown, +being composed of volcanic tuff, basalts, and granite. There were +occasional patches of ruddy brown and yellow which relieved the general +black and white appearance of this uninhabitable land, and close to the +shore on the north side of Cape Evans were small patches of even gritty +sand. In the neighbourhood of our Cape hard, brittle rocks cropped up +everywhere, rocks that played havoc with one's boots. Sloping up fairly +steeply from Cape Evans itself we had more and more rock masses until a +kind of rampart was reached, on which one could see a number of +extraordinary conical piles of rock, which looked much as if they had +been constructed by human hands for landmarks or surveying beacons--these +were called debris cones. This part above and behind Cape Evans was +christened The Ramp, and from it one merely had to step from boulders and +stones on to the smooth blue ice-slope that extended almost without +interruption to the summit of Erebus itself. From The Ramp one could gaze +in wonder at that magnificent volcano, White Lady of the Antarctic, +beautiful in her glistening gown of sparkling crystal with a stole of +filmy smoke-cloud wrapped about her wonderful shoulders. + +We used to gaze and gaze at that constantly changing smoke or steam which +the White Lady breathes out at all seasons, and has done for thousands of +years. + +Those were such happy days during the first Cape Evans summer. For the +most part we had hot weather and could wash in the thaw pools which +formed from the melting snow, and even draw our drinking water from the +cascades which bubbled over the sun-baked rock, much as they do in +summer-time in Norway. + +The progress made by Davis and his crew of voluntary carpenters was +amazing. One week after our arrival at the Cape, Nelson, Meares, and I +commenced to cut a cave out of the ice cap above our camp for stowing our +fresh mutton in. When knock-off work-time came Bowers, Nelson, and I made +our way over to the ship with a hundred gallons of ice from this cave to +be used for drinking water, it all helped to save coal and nobody made a +journey to or fro empty handed if it could be helped. Once on board we +took the opportunity to bath and shave. In this country it is certainly a +case of "Where I dines I sleeps," so after supper on board we coiled down +in somebody's beds and slept till 5.30 next morning when we returned to +camp and carried on all day, making great progress with the grotto, which +was eventually lit by electric light. We had plenty of variety in the +matter of work; one part of the grotto was intended for Simpson's +magnetic work, and this was the illuminated section. Whenever people +visited the ice caves we got them to do a bit of picking and hewing; even +roping in Captain Scott, who did a healthy half-hour's work when he came +along our way. + +Scott and Wilson got their hands in at dog-driving now, as I did +occasionally myself. Nobody could touch Meares or Dimitri at dog-team +work, although later on Cherry-Garrard and Atkinson became the experts. + +The hut was finished externally on January 12 and fine stables built up +on its northern side. This complete, Bowers arranged an annexe on the +south side from which to do the rationing and provision issues. How we +blessed all this fine weather; it was hardly necessary to wear snow +glasses, in spite of so much sunshine, for the glare was relieved by the +dark rock and sand around us. When all the stores had been discharged +from the ship she lightened up considerably, and Campbell then set to +work to ballast her for Pennell. Meares amused the naval members of our +party by asking, with a childlike innocence, "Had they got all the cargo +out of the steamer?" There was nothing wrong in what he said, but the +"Terra Nova," Royal Yacht Squadron--and "cargo" and "steamer"--how our +naval pride was hurt! + +Incidentally we called the sandy strand (before the winter snow came, and +covered it, and blotted it all out) Hurrah Beach; the bay to the +northward of the winter quarters we christened Happy Bay. Although our +work physically was of the hardest we lived in luxury for a while. Nelson +provided cocoa for Captain Scott and myself at midnight just before we +slept. He used to make it after supper and keep it for us in a great +thermos flask. We only washed once a week and we were soon black with sun +and dirt but in splendid training. In the first three weeks my shore +gang, which included the lusty Canadian physicist, Wright, carried many +hundreds of cases, walked miles daily, dug ice, picked, shovelled, handed +ponies, cooked and danced. Outwardly we were not all prototypes of "the +Sentimental Bloke," but occasionally in the stillness of the summer +nights, we some of us unbent a bit, when the sun stood low in the south +and all was quiet and still, and we did occasionally build castles in the +air and draw home-pictures to one another, pictures of English summers, +of river picnics and country life that framed those distant homes in gold +and made them look to us like little bits of heaven--however, what was +more important, the stores were all out of the "Terra Nova," even to +stationery, instruments, and chronometers, and we could have removed into +the hut at a pinch a week before we did, or gone sledging, for that +matter, had we not purposely delayed to give the ponies a chance to +regain condition. It was certainly better to let the carpenter and his +company straighten up first, and in our slack hours we, who were to live +in the palatial hut, got the house in order, put up knick-knacks, and +settled into our appointed corners with our personal gear and +professional impedimenta only at the last moment, a day or two before the +big depot-laying sledge journey was appointed to start. Simpson and +Ponting had the best allotments in the hut, because the former had to +accommodate anemometers, barometers, thermometers, motors, bells, and a +diversity of scientific instruments, but yet leave room to sleep amongst +them without being electrocuted, while the latter had to arrange a +small-sized dark room, 8 ft. by 6 ft. floor dimension, for all his +developing of films and plates, for stowing photographic gear and +cinematograph, and for everything in connection with his important and +beautiful work as camera artist to the Expedition. Ponting likewise slept +where he worked, so a bed was also included in the dark room. + +Before moving the chronometers ashore Pennell, Rennick, and I myself took +astronomical observations to determine independently the position of the +observation spot on the beach at Cape Evans. The preliminary position +gave us latitude 77 degrees 38 minutes 23 seconds S. longitude 166 +degrees 33 minutes 24 seconds E., a more accurate determination was +arrived at by running meridian distances from New Zealand and taking +occultations during the ensuing winter, for longitude: latitudes were +obtained by the mean results of stars north and south and meridian +altitudes of the sun above and below pole. + +Before getting busy with the preliminaries for the big depot journey, I +took stock of the fresh meat in the grotto. The list of frozen flesh +which I handed over to Clissold, the cook, looked luxurious enough, for +it included nothing less than 700 lb. of beef, 100 sheep carcasses, 2 +pheasants, 3 ox-tails, and 3 tongues, 10 lb. of sweetbread, 1 box of +kidneys, 10 lb. of suet, 82 penguins, and 11 skua-gulls! The cooks' +corner in the hut was very roomy, and, if my memory serves me aright, our +cooking range was of similar pattern to one supplied to the Royal yacht, +"Alexandra." + +On January 19 a snow road was made over to the ice foot on the south side +of Cape Evans in order to save the ponies' legs and hoofs. The Siberian +ponies were not shod, and this rough, volcanic rock would have shaken +them considerably. + +A great deal of the bay ice had broken away and drifted out of the Sound, +so that by the 20th the ship was only a few hundred yards from Hurrah +Beach. This day Rennick, smiling from ear to ear, came across the ice +with the pianola in bits conveyed on a couple of sledges. He fixed it up +with great cleverness at one end of the hut and it was quite wonderful to +see how he stripped it on board, brought it through all sorts of spaces, +transported it undamaged over ice and rocky beach, re-erected it, tuned +it, and then played "Home, Sweet Home." What with the pianola going all +out, the gramophone giving us Melba records, and the ship's company's +gramophone squawking out Harry Lauder's opposition numbers, Ponting +cinematographing everything of interest and worthy of pictorial record, +little Anton rushing round with nosebags for the ponies, Meares and +Dimitri careering with the dog teams over ice, beach, packing cases, and +what not, sailors with coloured tam-o'-shanters bobbing around in +piratical style, the hot sun beating down and brightening up everything, +one might easily have imagined this to be the circus scene, in the great +Antarctic joy-ride film. Everything ran on wheels in these days, and it +was difficult to imagine that in three months there would be no sun, that +this sweltering beach would be encrusted with ice, and that the cold, +dark winter would be upon us. + +The 21st was quite an exciting day. Captain Scott woke me at 4 a.m. to +tell me that the ship was in difficulties. I got up at once, called the +four seamen, and with Uncle Bill we all went out on to the floe. The ice +to which the ship was fast had broken away, and so we helped her re-moor +with her ice-anchors. Petty Officer Evans went adrift on the floe, but we +got him back in the pram. We turned in again at 5.15 and set a watch, but +at 6.30 the "Terra Nova" hoisted an ensign at the main, a pre-arranged +signal, and so all hands again went out and got her ice anchors; she +slipped the ends of the wire hawsers holding them and stood out into the +Sound. The ice was breaking up fast, a swell rolling in causing the big +floes to grind and crunch in rather alarming fashion. Fortunately, +Pennell had raised steam, which was just as well for before he got clear +the ship was only half a cable from Cape Evans, which lay dead to +leeward--she was well out of it. We took the wire hawsers, pram and ice +anchors to our winter quarters and kept them in readiness for the ship's +return, then had a delightful breakfast, with appetites sharpened from +the early morning exercise and chill wind. Afterwards we continued the +preparations for the depot trip and got eight out of eleven sledges +fitted up with the bulk of their gear and a portion of stores. + +At about 3 p.m. the "Terra Nova" came in, and just as she was turning to +come alongside the fast ice she struck a rock with only twelve feet of +water on it. This pinnacle, as it proved to be, lay within twenty feet of +a sounding of eleven fathoms. Pennell immediately sounded all round, +shifted several tons weight aft, and with the engines going full speed +astern, he made his crew run from side to side and roll ship. Scott sent +me out in the whaler with a party to assist the ship; we sounded all +round and quickly made a plan of the relative disposition of the +soundings round the "Terra Nova." However, as we finished, the ship moved +astern and successfully floated, the crew gave three cheers, and we +cheered lustily from the whaler. Pennell, as usual, was quite equal to +the occasion when the ship struck; he was absolutely master of the +situation, cool, decided, and successful. I was thankful to see the ship +floating again, for, unlike the "Discovery" expedition, we had no plans +for a relief ship. + +When I told Captain Scott that the "Terra Nova" had run ashore he took it +splendidly. We ran down to the beach, and when we beheld the ship on a +lee shore heeling over to the wind, a certain amount of sea and swell +coming in from the northward, and with the ultimate fate of the +Expedition looking black and doubtful, Scott was quite cheerful, and he +immediately set about to cope with the situation as coolly as though he +were talking out his plans for a sledge journey. + +After the "Terra Nova" got off this intruding rock she was steamed round +to the edge of the fast ice, near the glacier tongue which juts out +between Cape Evans and Cape Barne. We placed her ice-anchors, and after +that Wilson and I went on board and had a yarn with Pennell, whom we +brought back to tea. Scott was awfully nice to him about the grounding +and told him of his own experience in 1904, when the "Discovery" was +bumping heavily in a gale just after freeing herself from the ice at Hut +Point. + +Nelson, Griffith Taylor, Meares, and Day helped me with the sledge +packing until 11.30 p.m. when we rolled into our bunks tired out and +immediately fell asleep. + +The next day, a Sunday, was entirely devoted to preparing personal gear +for the depot journey: this means fitting lamp wick straps to our fur +boots or finnesko, picking from our kits a proportion of puttees and +socks, sewing more lamp wick on to our fur gloves so that these could +hang from our shoulders when it was necessary to uncover our hands. We +also had to fit draw-strings to our wind-proof blouses and adjust our +headgear according to our individual fancy, and finally, tobacco and +smokers' requisites would be added to the little bundle, which all packed +up neatly in a pillow-slip. This personal bag served also as a pillow. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +SETTLING DOWN TO THE POLAR LIFE + + +The following members were selected for the depot journey which Captain +Scott elected to lead in person: Wilson, Bowers, Atkinson, Oates, +Cherry-Garrard, Gran, Meares, Ford, Crean, Keohane, and myself. It was +decided to take eight pony-sledges and two dog-sledges, together with +about a ton of pony food, sledging rations, dog biscuit, and paraffin to +a position on the Great Ice Barrier as far south as we could get before +the first winter set in. This decision was arrived at by Scott after +consultation with Oates and others, and, as will be seen by reference to +the list of those chosen for the journey, none of the scientific staff +were included except Wilson himself. + +The ponies selected were either those in the best condition or the weaker +beasts which from Oates's viewpoint would hardly survive the rigours of +the winter. Apart from the animals picked for this journey, we had nine +beasts left to be taken care of by the little Russian, Anton, and the +trusty Lashly, whose mechanical knowledge and practical ability were +needed to help get the Base Station going. + +On January 3 I was sent on board with all the sledges, including two for +a western geological reconnaissance and a small spare sledge for use in +case of breakdown or accident to the depot-laying people. By this time no +ice remained in the bay north of Cape Evans and the transport out to the +"Terra Nova" had perforce to be done by boat. + +I was glad to have this chance of working out the errors and rates of our +chronometer watches, and, although I was up at 5 a.m., I could not resist +having a long yarn, which continued far into the night, with those +never-to-be-forgotten friends of mine, Campbell, Pennell, Rennick, and +Bruce, the worthy and delightful lieutenants of the Expedition. Like +little Bowers, Pennell and Rennick have made the supreme sacrifice, and +only Campbell, Bruce and myself remain alive to-day. + +January 24 was a busy day. Captain Scott was fetched from the shore +directly after breakfast, and at 10 a.m. the ship left for Glacier Tongue +to shadow as it were, the string of white Siberian ponies which were +being led round over the fast ice in the bay to the southward of Cape +Evans. + +On arriving at the Tongue, Pennell selected a nice, natural wharf to put +his ship alongside, and, this done, I got a picketing line out on the ice +for the horses and then got the sledges on to the glacier. It is as well +here to describe Glacier Tongue briefly, since frequent reference will be +made to that icy promontory in this narrative. + +Glacier Tongue lies roughly six miles to the S.S.E. of Cape Evans and is +a remarkable spit of ice jutting out, when last surveyed, for four miles +into McMurdo Sound. Soundings showed that it was afloat for a +considerable part of its length, and as Scott found subsequently, a great +portion of it broke adrift in the autumn or winter of 1911 and was +carried by the winds and currents of the Sound to a position forty miles +W.N.W. of Cape Evans, where it grounded, a huge flat iceberg two miles in +length. Glacier Tongue was an old friend of mine, for it was here in the +1902-4 Relief Expedition that the crew of the little "Morning" dumped +twenty tons of coal for the "Discovery" to pick up on her way northward, +when the time came for her to free herself from the besetting ice which +held her prisoner off Hut Point. + +The ponies were marched to their tethering place without further accident +than one falling through into the sea, but he was rescued none the worse. +Oates showed himself to advantage in managing the ponies: he was very +fond of telling us that a horse and a man would go anywhere, and I +believe if we sailor-men had had the bad taste to challenge him he would +have hoisted one of those Chinese ma[1] up to the crow's-nest! +[1: Chinese for horse.] + +We all had tea on board and then, after checking the sledge loads and +ascertaining that nothing had been forgotten, the depot party started out +with full loads and marched away from Glacier Tongue for seven miles, +when our first camp was made on the sea ice. To commence with I went with +Meares and No. 1 dog-sledge; the dogs were so eager and excited that they +started by bolting at a breakneck speed and, in spite of all that we +could do, took us over the glacier edge on to the sea ice. The sledge +capsized and both Meares and I were thrown down somewhat forcibly. We +caught the sledge, however, and got the dogs in hand after their initial +energy had been expended. Scott and Wilson managed their dog sledge +better as Meares gave them a quieter team. + +It was about nine o'clock when we camped, Meares, Wilson, Scott and I +sharing a tent. Uncle Bill was cook, and I must say the first sledging +supper was delightful. + +We went back to Glacier Tongue the next day to relay the fodder and dog +biscuit which was to be depoted. We had brought the provisions for depot +along the eve before. I went in with Meares and Nelson, who had come out +on ski to "speed the parting guest." We had a rare treat all riding in on +the dog sledge at a great pace. Had lunch on board and then Captain Scott +gave us an hour or two to ourselves, for it was the day of farewell +letters, everybody sitting round the ward-room table sucking pens or +pencils, looking very wooden-faced and nonchalant despite the fact that +we were most certainly writing to our nearest and dearest, sending +through our letters an unwritten prayer that we should be spared after +steadfastly performing our alloted tasks with credit to our flag and with +credit to those at whose feet we yearned to lay the laurels we hoped to +win. Even as I wrote my farewell letters Captain Scott, Wilson, Bowers, +and Nelson found time to write to my wife; Scott's letter may well be +included here for it shows his thoughtfulness and consideration: + + "_January_, 25, 1911, + Glacier Tongue, + McMurdo Sound. + + "Dear Mrs. Evans,--I thought you might be glad to have a note to tell + you how fit and well your good man is looking, his cheery optimism has + already helped me in many difficulties and at the present moment he is + bubbling over with joy at the 'delights' of his first sledge trip. + + "He will have told you all the news and the ups and downs of our + history to date, and you will have guessed that he has always met the + misfortunes with a smile and the successes with a cheer, so that very + little remains for me to say--except that I daily grow more grateful + to you for sparing him for this venture. I feel that he is going to be + a great help in every way and that it will go hard if, with so many + good fellows, we should fail in our objects. + + "Before concluding I should really like to impress on you how little + cause you have for anxiety. We have had the greatest luck in finding + and establishing our winter quarters, and if I could go shopping + to-morrow I should not know what to buy to add to our comfort. We are + reaping a full reward for all those months of labour in London, in + which your husband took so large a share--if you picture us after + communication is cut off it must be a very bright picture, almost a + scene of constant revelry, with your husband in the foreground amongst + those who are merry and content--I am sure we are going to be a very + happy family and most certainly we shall be healthy and well cared + for. + + "With all kind regards and hopes that you will not allow yourself to + be worried till your good man comes safely home again. + + "Yours sincerely, + + "R. SCOTT." + +I said my good-byes after an early tea to the fellows of the "Terra Nova" +and also to the Eastern party, the lieutenants saw me over the side, and +I went away with a big lump in my throat, then Nelson and I took out a +10-ft. sledge with 530 lb. of fodder on it--rather too heavy a load, but +it all helped, and the sea ice surface was none too bad. We did not get +to camp till 10.35 p.m.: Meares, with his usual good-heartedness, came +out from the tent and helped us in for the last miles or so. He had +driven the dogs out with another load after tea time. Uncle Bill had a +fine pemmican supper awaiting us. My job kept me in camp next day to +adjust theodolites, but the rest of the party went out to bring the final +relay of depot stores from the "Terra Nova." During the following days we +relayed the depot stuff along to a position near the edge of the Barrier, +and whilst so engaged most of us found time to visit Hut Point. While +Captain Scott was selecting the position for dumping a quantity of +compressed fodder bales the remainder of the party dug the snow out of +the old hut left by the Discovery in 1904. It looked a very deserted +place, and the difference between the two winter quarters, Hut Point and +Cape Evans, was amazing. One could quite understand the first expedition +here selecting Hut Point for its natural harbour, but for comfort and +freedom from unwelcome squalls and unpleasant gusts of wind commend me to +Cape Evans. Never in my life had I seen anything quite so dreary and +desolate as this locality. Practically surrounded by high hills, little +sunshine could get to the hut, which was built in a hollow. Of course, we +saw the place at its worst, for the best summer months had passed. The +hut itself had been erected as a magnetic observatory and it contrasted +shabbily with our 50-ft by 25-ft. palace. We did not finish clearing the +snow away, although with so many willing workers we made considerable +progress. In parts the midsummer sun had melted the snow, which in turn +had re-frozen into blue ice, and this we found troublesome because the +slender woodwork of the hut would not stand any heavy pick work. + +We christened the place on the Barrier edge Fodder Camp, and it was the +general opinion that we could risk leaving the bales of hay here until +the depot stuff had been taken south. Accordingly, all the more important +stores were relayed on January 29 to a position two miles in from the +Barrier edge. Whilst doing this relay work I went in with Meares to Hut +Point to bring out some 250 lb. of dog biscuit, and our dogs, being very +fresh, scented a seal, took charge of the light sledge, and, in spite of +all the brakeing and obstructing Meares and I put up, the dogs went +wildly forward until they reached the seal. The second they came to it +Meares and I found ourselves in the midst of a snapping, snarling, and +biting mixture, with the poor seal floundering underneath. While we were +beating the dogs off the seal bit Meares in the leg; he looked awfully +surprised and showed great forbearance in not giving the seal one for +himself with the iron-shod brake stick. I never saw anybody less vicious +in nature than "Mother" Meares: he never knocked the dogs about unless it +was absolutely necessary. Even Osman, the wild wolf-like king-dog, showed +affection for him. + +Whilst moving the sledging stores to Safety Camp, as we called the depot, +two miles in, we came across two tents left by Shackleton two or three +years before. They contained a few stores and a Primus stove, which +proved to be most useful later on. On January 30 and 31 we completed the +depot at Safety Camp and then reorganised the depot party, owing to +Atkinson's developing a very sore heel, which made it impossible for him +to accompany us. It did not matter very much, because we had heaps of +people to work the depot-laying journey, only it meant a disappointment +for Atkinson, which he took to heart very much. The question of sledging +experience made us wish to have Atkinson on this trip, but he gained it a +few weeks later. Accordingly, I took over Crean's pony, Blossom, whilst +he took charge of our sick man and returned with him to Hut Point. Scott +himself took Atkinson's pony, and on the 2nd February the caravan +proceeded in an E.S.E. direction to make for a point in approximately 78 +degrees S. 169 degrees E. Most of the ponies had 600 lb. leads on their +sledges, Meare's dog team 750, and Wilson's 600. We found the surface +very bad, most of the ponies sinking deep in the snow. After doing +roughly five miles we halted and had a meal. Oates was called into our +tent and consulted with a view to bettering the conditions for the +ponies. As a result it was decided to march by night and rest during the +day when the sun would be higher and the air warmer. There was quite a +drop in the temperature between noon and midnight, and it was natural to +suppose that we should get better and harder surfaces with the sun at its +lower altitude. We still, of course, had the sun above the horizon for +the full twenty-four hours, and should have for three weeks yet; the +choice was altogether a wise one and we therefore turned in during the +afternoon and remained in our sleeping-bags until 10 p.m. when we arose +and cooked our breakfast. + +Camp was broken at midnight and the march resumed. For three hours we +plodded along, a little leg weary perhaps, on account of the unusual time +for marching and working physically. We had lunch about 3 a.m. and rested +the ponies for a couple of hours. The surface was still very bad, the +ponies labouring heavily, and my own animal, Blossom, suffered through +his hoofs being very small, so that he sank into the snow far more than +did the other horses. It was on his account that we only covered nine +miles. I did some surveying work after our 7.30 a.m. supper and turned in +at 10 o'clock until 7 p.m. Captain Scott took over cook in our tent and +made the breakfast. + +For the next few days we continued marching over the Great Ice Barrier, +the distances covered depending on the condition of Blossom and another +pony, Blücher. Both of these animals caused anxiety from the start, and, +owing to their weakness the depot-laying distances scarcely exceeded ten +miles daily. There is nothing to be gained from a long description of +this autumn journey, it was merely a record of patiently trudging and of +carefully watching over the ponies. Generally speaking, the weather was +not in our favour, the sky being frequently overcast, and we experienced +an unpleasant amount of low drift. + +February 5 and 6 were blizzard days during which no move could be made, +and it was not until nearly 11 p.m. on the 7th that the hard wind took +off and the snow ceased to drift about us. The blizzards were not serious +but were quite sufficient to try the ponies severely--Blossom, Blücher, +and a third animal, James Pigg, could in no way keep up with the van, +although their loads were lightened considerably. The bluejackets, Forde +and Keohane, showed extraordinary aptitude in handling the ponies, but in +spite of their efforts their animals were quite done up by February 12, +as also was poor old Blossom. It would have been cruel to continue with +them, they were so wasted, and even their eyes were dull and lustreless. +Accordingly, Scott decided to send Blücher, James Pigg, and Blossom back +with Forde, Keohane, and myself. A reorganisation was made near the 79th +parallel, and whilst the main party proceeded southward, Forde, Keohane, +and I took our feeble ponies northward with the intention of getting them +home to Hut Point before the temperature fell, until the cold would be +too great for them to stand. It was annoying for me to be sent back, +still there was plenty of survey work to be done between the +turning-point and Safety Camp. Blücher failed from the start and lay down +in the snow directly the depot party left us. Forde lifted him up, but +his legs were limp and would not support him. We rubbed the poor pony's +legs and did what we could for him, poor old Forde being practically in +tears over the little beast. To give one an idea of this wretched +animal's condition, when it was decided to kill him for humanity's sake +and his throat was cut by Keohane with a sailor's knife, there was hardly +any blood to let out. It was a rotten day for all three of us, blowing +too hard to travel until very late, and a second pony, Blossom, was doing +his best to die. We made some little way homeward, Keohane, James Pigg +and myself pulling the sledge with our gear on it, and Forde lifting, +carrying, and pushing Blossom along. I felt I ought to kill this animal +but I knew how angry and disappointed Scott would be at the loss, so kept +him going although he showed so much distress. It was surprising what +spirit the little brute had: if we started to march away Blossom +staggered along after us, looking like a spectre against the white +background of snow. We kept on giving him up and making to kill him, but +he actually struggled on for over thirty miles before falling down and +dying in his tracks. We built a snow-cairn over him and planted what pony +food we had no further use for on the top of the cairn. + +The third pony, James Pigg, was kept fit and snug under a big snow-wall +whenever we were not marching, and he won home to Safety Camp with very +little trouble, frequently covering distances equal to our own marching +capability. Once Safety Camp had been regained we got good weather again +and James Pigg became quite frisky, ate all that we could give him, and, +to our delight, his eyes regained their brightness and he began to put on +flesh. + +We spent a couple of days at Safety Camp before Captain Scott returned +with the dog teams. In order to cut off corners he shaved things rather +fine, and getting rather too close to White Island, the dog teams ran +along the snow-bridge of a crevasse, the bridge subsided, and all the +dogs of Scott's and Meares's sledge, with the exception of Osman, the +leader, and the two rear animals, disappeared into a yawning chasm. Scott +and Meares secured their sledge clear of the snow bridge and with the +assistance of their companions, Wilson and Cherry-Garrard, who had the +other team, they were lowered by means of an Alpine rope into the +crevasse until they could get at the dogs. They, found the poor animals +swinging round, snapping at one another and howling dismally, but in an +awful tangle. The dogs were rescued a pair at a time and, fortunately for +all concerned, they lay down and rested when hauled up to the surface by +Uncle Bill and "Cherry." When all the animals were up and Scott and +Meares themselves had regained safety, a dog fight took place between the +two teams. Apart from this excitement things had gone very well. Scott +was most enthusiastic about the capabilities of Meares's dogs, and he +then expressed an opinion that he would probably run the dogs light on +the Polar journey and do the final plateau march to the Pole itself with +them. What a pity he didn't! Had he done so he might have been alive +to-day. + +We learnt from the dog-drivers that the depot had been established in 79 +degrees 30 minutes S. 169 degrees E., practically one hundred and fifty +miles distant from the base, and here a ton or so of sledging stores +awaited us preparatory for the great sledge journey to the Pole. + +Bowers, Oates, and Gran had been left to build up the depot and lead back +the other five ponies with their empty sledges. We waited for them at +Safety Camp before transporting some of the stuff we had left here out to +Corner Camp, the position thirty-five miles E.S.E. of Safety Camp, where +the crevasses ended. Some of us went into Hut Point to see if the ship +had been there with any message. Little did we dream whilst we sauntered +in over the ice of the news that awaited us. We found that the "Terra +Nova" had been there the day before Atkinson and Crean had got there; she +had also made a second visit on the 9th or 10th February, bringing the +unwelcome news that Amundsen's expedition had been met with in the Bay of +Whales. The "Terra Nova" had entered the bay and found the "Fram" there +with the Norwegians working like ants unloading their stores and +hut-building in rather a dangerous position quite close to the Barrier +edge. Amundsen's people had about 120 dogs and a hard lot of men, mostly +expert ski-runners. They were contemplating an early summer journey to +the Pole and not proposing to attempt serious scientific work of any +sort. Further, to our chagrin, the eastern party had not effected a +landing, for Campbell realised that it would be profitless to set up his +base alongside that of the Norwegians. + +The ice conditions about King Edward VII. Land had been found +insuperable, great masses of land ice barring the way to their objective, +and so poor Campbell and his mates left news that they were reluctantly +seeking a landing elsewhere. We spent a very unhappy night, in spite of +all attempts to be cheerful. Clearly, there was nothing for us but to +abandon science and go for the Pole directly the season for sledging was +advanced enough to make travelling possible after the winter. It now +became a question of dogs versus ponies, for the main bulk of our stuff +must of necessity be pony-drawn unless we could rely on the motor +sledges--nobody believed we could. However, all the arguing in the world +wouldn't push Amundsen and his dogs off the Antarctic continent and we +had to put the best face on our disappointment. Captain Scott took it +very bravely, better than any of us, I think, for he had done already +such wonderful work down here. It was he who initiated and founded +Antarctic sledge travelling, it was he who had blazed the trail, as it +were, and we were very very sorry for him, for such news, such a menace, +could hardly be expected to give him a happy winter. + +Scott did the best thing under the circumstances: he set us all to work +on the 23rd February to get out three weeks' men provisions for eight men +from the stores at Safety Camp, and these collected and packed, he, +Cherry-Garrard, and Crean took a 10-ft. sledge, and Forde, Atkinson, and +myself a 12-ft. one, while Keohane and James Pigg pulled another big +sledge containing oats and paraffin, and we all set out in a bunch for +Corner Camp, thirty odd miles away. All this depot work meant an easy +start next season, since the transport of great loads over sea ice and +the deep, soft snow, which is usually encountered when first getting on +to the Barrier hereabouts, would strain the ponies' legs and break the +hearts of the dogs. Scott thought all this out and certainly overcame +preliminary difficulties by getting so much pony food, provision, and +paraffin out to One Ton Camp and Corner Camp. He felt the benefit next +springtime. This second little run out is not worth describing; we +sighted Bowers's party coming back with the five ponies whilst we were +camped one night, and we noted that they were travelling very quickly, +which proved all was well with these animals. + +On arrival at Corner Camp Scott left us in order to get back and see the +five ponies safely conducted to Hut Point. He instructed me to make easy +marches with our friend James Pigg as there was no further work for him +this season. Cherry-Garrard and Crean accompanied Scott, and the three +pushed on at their utmost for blizzard weather had come again and the +snow fall was considerable. + +We must now follow Captain Scott's and Bowers's party, who, in +conjunction, engaged on the problem of getting five ponies and two dog +teams to Hut Point. There did not seem to be anything in doing this, but +if ever a man's footsteps were dogged by misfortune, they surely were our +leader's. + +Scott sent Cherry-Garrard and Crean with Bowers and four ponies across +the sea ice from the Barrier edge to reach Hut Point on March 1. He +himself had remained with Oates and Gran to tend the pony Weary Willie, a +gutless creature compared to the others, which was showing signs of +failing. Weary Willie died for no apparent reason, unless his loss of +condition was due to the blizzards we encountered on the depot journey. + +Bowers and Co. made a good start, but the ponies they had were +undoubtedly tired and listless after their hard journey, they were also +in bad condition and frequently had to be rested. When they had advanced +some way towards Hut Point over good strong sea ice, cracks became +apparent and a slight swell showed Bowers that the sea ice was actually +on the move. Directly this was appreciated his party turned and hastened +back, but the ice was drifting out to sea. The ponies behaved splendidly, +jumping the ever widening cracks with extraordinary sagacity, whilst +Bowers and his two companions launched the sledges over the water spaces +in order not to risk the ponies' legs. Eventually they reached what +looked like a safe place and, since men and ponies were thoroughly +exhausted, camp was pitched and the weary party soon fell asleep, but at +4.30 the next morning Bowers awoke hearing a strange noise. He opened the +tent and found the party in a dreadful plight--the ice had again +commenced to break up and they were surrounded by water. One of the +ponies had disappeared into the sea. Camp was again struck and for five +hours this plucky little party fought their way over three-quarters of a +mile of drifting ice. They never for an instant thought of abandoning +their charge, realising that Scott's Polar plans would in all probability +be ruined if four more ponies were lost with their sledges and equipment. +Crean, with great gallantry, went for support, clambering with difficulty +over the ice. He jumped from floe to floe and at last climbed up the face +of the Barrier from a piece of ice which swung round in the tideway and +just touched the ice cliff at the right moment. Cherry-Garrard stayed +with Bowers at his request, for this undaunted little seaman would never +give up his charge while a gleam of hope remained. + +For a whole day these two were afloat on a floe about 150 ft. square, all +the ice around was broken up into similar floes, which were rising and +falling at least a foot to the heavy swell. A moderate breeze was blowing +from the eastward, and nothing was visible above the haze and frost smoke +except the tops of two islands named White and Black Islands, and the +hills around Hut Point. Whilst Crean was clambering over bits of ice and +jumping by means of connecting pieces from one big floe to another, his +progress was watched by Bowers through the telescope of a theodolite. One +can gather how delighted Bowers must have been to see Crean eventually +high up on the Barrier in the distance, for it meant that he would +communicate with Captain Scott, whose intelligent, quick grasp, in +emergency would surely result in Gran being despatched on ski over to +Cape Evans, for he alone could do this. Once there, a boat could have +been launched and the floe party rescued. Bowers's satisfaction was +short-lived, however, since Killer whales were noticed cruising amongst +the loose ice, and these soon became numerous, some of them actually +inspecting the floe by poking their noses up and taking an almost +perpendicular position in the water, when their heads would be raised +right above the floe edge. The situation looked dangerous, for the whales +were evidently after the ponies. The wind fell light as the day +progressed and the swell decreased and vanished altogether. This +fortunately resulted in the floes closing near to the Barrier, and the +open water spaces decreased then to such a degree that the party were +able to bridge the cracks by using their sledges until they worked the +whole of their equipment up to the Barrier face, where Bowers and +Cherry-Garrard were rescued by Scott, Oates, Gran, and Crean. After a +further piece of manoeuvring a pony and all the sledges were recovered, +the three other ponies were drowned. Only those who have served in the +Antarctic can realise fully what Bowers's party and also Scott's own +rescue party went through. + +The incident which terminated in the loss of three more of our ponies +cast a temporary gloom over the depot party when we reassembled in the +safety of the old ramshackle magnetic lean-to at Hut Point. I use the +word lean-to because one could hardly describe it as a hut, for the +building was with out insulation, snow filled the space between ceiling +and roof, and whenever a fire was kindled or heat generated, water +dripped down in steady pit-a-pat until there was no dry floor space worth +the name. + +It might be interesting to touch on the experiences of our friend James +Pigg, for this pony can only be described as a quaint but friendly little +rogue. He and Keohane seemed to have their own jokes apart from us. We +were left to ourselves on the 27th February, while Scott, as stated, +pushed forward to Safety Camp, "we," meaning Atkinson, Forde, Keohane, +and myself. We were kept in camp on the 27th by a strong blizzard, and +the next day when the weather abated, during our forenoon march James +Pigg fell into a crevasse, quite a small one, and his girth, through so +much high feeding, jammed him by his stomach and prevented him falling +far down. The whole situation was ridiculous. We parbuckled him out by +means of the Alpine rope, which was quickly detached from the sledge, +James Pigg taking a lively interest in the proceedings, and finally +rolling over on his back and kicking himself to his feet as we four +dragged him up to the surface. This done, Keohane looking very Irish and +smiling, bent over and peered down into the bluey depths of the crevasse +and, to our intense amusement, James Pigg strolled over alongside of him +and hung his head down too. He then turned to Keohane, who patted his +nose and said, "That was a near shave for you, James Pigg!" + +We got to Safety Camp on the evening of March 1 and found two notes from +Captain Scott directing us to make for Hut Point via Castle Rock, and +notifying us that the sea ice was all on the move. We had an interesting +climb next day, but a very difficult one, for we were on the go from 9 +a.m. until after 11 that night. First we found our way over the Barrier +Ice to the foot of the slope leading up to the ice ridge northward of +Castle Rock. Here we tethered James Pigg and spent some hours getting our +gear and sledges up the slope. We had no crampons for this work as they +were all on Scott's own sledge, so that it was necessary at times to pull +up the slopes on hands and knees, assisted by our ski sticks, an unusual +procedure but the only one possible to employ on the steeper blue ice. We +took the sledges up one by one and then went down with an Alpine rope to +help James Pigg. We found the pony very bored at our long absence; he +neighed and whinnied when we came down to him, and, to our great +surprise, went up the long, steep slope with far greater ease than we did +ourselves. + +It was out of the question for us to proceed the four and a half miles +along the ridges which led down to Hut Point, for darkness had set in and +we had no wish to repeat the performance of an earlier expedition when a +man lost his life hereabouts through slipping right over one of these +steep slopes into the sea on the western side of the promontory ridge +which terminates at Hut Point. + +It was snowing when we turned in and still snowing on March 3 when we +turned out of our sleeping-bags. James Pigg, quite snug, clothed in his +own, Blossom's, and Blücher's rugs, had a little horseshoe shelter built +up round him. We did not know at this time of the pony disaster, but, +thinking Captain Scott might be anxious if he got no word as to our +whereabouts or movements, Atkinson and I started to march along the ice +ridges of Castle Rock and make our way to Hut Point. It was blowing hard +and very cold, but the joy of walking on firm ice without a sledge to +drag was great. When finally we came to the old "Discovery" hut at lunch +time, we found Wilson, Meares, and Gran in very low spirits. They told us +that Bowers and Cherry-Garrard were adrift on an ice floe and the +remainder of the party had gone to the rescue along the Barrier edge. We +were much downcast by this news, and after a meal of biscuit and tea, +started back for our camp. The weather was now clearer, and we could see +some way out over the Barrier; we could also see the sea looking very +blue against the white expanse of ice. + +On the way back we discussed a plan and arranged that we should leave +Keohane with the pony, take a sledge, and make our way along the ice edge +of the Barrier searching for Scott and joining up with him, but just +before descending to the hollow where our tent was we spied a sledge +party on the Barrier and, on reaching our camp, were delighted to see +through my telescope six men. Thank God! This meant that all were safe. +We went out to meet the party, reaching them about 8 p.m. where they had +camped, a couple of miles from Cape Armitage, between two pressure ridges +that formed great frozen waves. Bowers told me that when Scott's party +attempted to save the horses at the Barrier edge, rotten ice and open +water leads were the cause of their downfall, and when the horses slipped +into the sea, that he had been compelled to kill his own pony with a +pickaxe to save him being taken alive by one of the Orcas or Killer +whales. The only horse saved was Captain Scott's, one of the best we had +in that Expedition. + +I think the Irish sailors must have spoilt James Pigg, for, when +eventually we got Scott's sledge loads up to the hill-crest where our +camp was, James Pigg, instead of welcoming the other pony, broke adrift, +and jumping into the new-comer's shelter, leapt on him, kicked him and +bit him in the back. On March 5 we all started for Hut Point, having +previously sent in Atkinson with the good news that no men's lives were +lost. Wilson and party met us near Castle Rock and led the ponies in +while we dropped the laden sledges, full of pony harness, tents, and +sledging gear, with a sufficiency of pony fodder for a fortnight, down +the ski-slope to Hut Point. It was a fine bit of toboganning and Captain +Scott showed himself to be far more expert than any of us in controlling +a sledge on a slippery slope. + +We soon got into the way of climbing around on seemingly impossible +slopes and could negotiate the steepest of hills and the slipperiest of +steep inclines. It was largely a question of good crampons, which we +fortunately possessed. + +The month of March and the first half of April, 1911, proved to be the +most profitless and unsatisfactory part of the Expedition. This was due +to a long compulsory wait at Hut Point, for we could not cross the +fifteen miles that lay between our position there and the Cape Evans +Station until sea ice had formed, which could be counted on not to break +away and take us into the Ross Sea in its northward drift. Time after +time the sea froze over to a depth of a foot or even more and time and +again we made ready to start for Cape Evans to find that on the day of +departure the ice had all broken and drifted out of sight. As it was, we +were safely, if not comfortably, housed at Hut Point, with the two dog +teams and the two remaining ponies, existing in rather primitive fashion +with seal meat for our principal diet. By the end of the first week in +March we had converted the veranda, which ran round three sides of the +old magnetic hut, into dog and pony shelters, two inner compartments were +screened off by bulkheads made of biscuit cases, a cook's table was +somehow fashioned and a reliable stove erected out of petrol tins and +scrap-iron. Our engineers in this work of art were Oates and Meares. For +a short while we burnt wood in the stove, but the day soon came when seal +blubber was substituted, and the heat from the burning grease was +sufficient to cook any kind of dish likely to be available, and also to +heat the hut after a fashion. + +Round the stove we built up benches to sit on for meals, and two sleeping +spaces were chosen and made snug by using felt, of which a quantity had +been left by Scott's or Shackleton's people. The "Soldier" and Meares +unearthed same fire bricks and a stove pipe from the debris heap outside +the hut and then we were spared the great discomfort of being smoked out +whenever a fire was lit. An awning left by the "Discovery" was fixed up +by several of us around the sleeping and cooking space, and although +rather short of luxuries such as sugar and flour, we were never in any +great want of good plain food. + +On March 14 the depot party was joined by Griffith Taylor, Debenham, +Wright, and Petty Officer Evans. + +Taylor's team had been landed by the "Terra Nova" on January 27, after +the start of the depot party, to make a geological reconnaissance. In the +course of their journeying they had traversed the Ferrar Glacier and then +come down a new glacier, which Scott named after Taylor, and descended +into Dry Valley, so called because it was entirely free from snow. +Taylor's way had led him and his party over a deep fresh-water lake, four +miles long, which was only surface frozen--this lake was full of algae. +The gravels below a promising region of limestones rich in garnets were +washed for gold, but only magnetite was found. When Taylor had thoroughly +explored and examined the region of the glaciers to the westward of Cape +Evans, his party retraced their footsteps and proceeded southward to +examine the Koettlitz Glacier. Scott had purposely sent Seaman Evans with +this party of geologists, reasoning with his usual thoughtfulness that +Evans's sledging experience would be invaluable to Taylor and his +companions. + +Taylor and his party made wonderful maps and had a wonderful store of +names, which they bestowed upon peak, pinnacle, and pool to fix in their +memories the relative positions of the things they saw. Griffith Taylor +had a remarkable gift of description, and his Antarctic book, "The Silver +Lining," contains some fine anecdotes and narrative. + +According to Taylor's chart the Koettlitz Glacier at its outflow on to +the Great Ice Barrier is at least ten miles wide. The party proceeded +along the north of the glacier for a considerable distance, sketching, +surveying, photographing, and making copious notes of the geological and +physiographical conditions in the neighbourhood, and one may say +fearlessly that no Antarctic expedition ever sailed yet with geologists +and physicists who made better use of the time at their disposal, +especially whilst doing field work. + +This party hung on with their exploration work until prudence told them +that they must return from the Koettlitz Glacier before the season closed +in. Their return trip led them along the edge of the almost impenetrable +pinnacle of ice which is one of the wonders of the Antarctic. Their +journey led them also through extraordinary and difficult ice-fields that +even surprised the veteran sledger Evans. Their final march took them +along the edge of the Great Ice Barrier and brought them to Hut Point on +March 14. + +We now numbered sixteen at this congested station; the sun was very +little above the horizon and gales were so bad that spray dashed over the +small hut occasionally, whilst all round the low-lying parts of the coast +wonderful spray ridges of ice were formed. We had our proportion of +blizzard days and suffered somewhat from the cold, for it was rarely +calm. Some of us began to long for the greater comforts of the Cape Evans +Hut; there was no day, no hour in fact, when some one did not climb up +the hillock which was surmounted by the little wooden cross put up in +memory of Seaman Vince of the "Discovery" expedition, to see and note the +ice conditions. + +Winter was coming fast and night shadows of cruel dark purple added to +the natural gloom of Hut Point and its environments. Wilson was the one +man amongst us who profited most from our sojourn here. In spite of bad +light and almost frozen fingers he managed to make an astonishing +collection of sketches, portraying the autumn scenes near this corner of +Ross Isle. How sinister and relentless the western mountains looked, how +cold and unforgiving the foothills, and how ashy gray the sullen icefoots +that girt this sad, frozen land. + +There was, of course, no privacy in the crowded hut-space, and when +evening came it was sometimes rather a relief to get away to some +sheltered corner and look out over the Sound. The twilight shades and +colours were beautiful in a sad sort of way, but the stillness was awful. +Whenever the wind fell light new ice would form which seemed to crack and +be churned up with every cat's-paw of wind. The currents and tidal +streams would slowly carry these pancakes of ice up and down the Strait +until the weather was calm enough and cold enough to cement them together +till they formed floes, which in their turn froze fast into great white +icefields strong enough to bear us and any weights we liked to take +along. One often turned in, confident that a passage could be made over +the frozen sea to Glacier Tongue at least, but in the morning everything +would be changed and absolutely no ice would be visible floating in the +sea. When Taylor's party had rested a little at Hut Point they threw in +their lot with the rest of us and made occasional trips out on the silent +Barrier as far as Corner Camp, to add sledge loads of provisions now and +again to the stores already depoted there in readiness for the southern +sledge journey, on which we built our hopes for ultimate triumph. + +Eight of us went out for a week's sledging on March 16, but the +temperatures were now becoming too low to be pleasant and touching 40 +degrees or so below zero. What tried us more than anything else was thick +weather and the fearfully bad light on days when no landmarks were +visible to guide us to the depot. Our sleeping-bags also were frozen and +uncomfortable, thick rime collecting on the insides of our tents which +every puff of wind would shake down in a shower of ice. When sitting +round on our rolled-up sleeping-bags at meal times we could not help our +heads and shoulders brushing off patches of this frost rime, which soon +accumulated in the fur of the sleeping-bags and made life at night a +clammy misery. The surfaces were very heavy, and dragging even light +sledges when returning from the depot proved a laborious business. + +This autumn time gave a series of gales and strong winds with scarcely +ever more than a few hours of calm or gentle breeze, sandwiched in +between. Sometimes we used ski, but there are occasions when ski are +quite useless, owing to snow binding in great clogs underneath them. The +Norwegians use different kinds of paraffin wax and compositions of tar +and other ingredients for overcoming this difficulty. Gran had brought +from Christiania the best of these compositions, nevertheless there were +days when whatever we put on we had difficulty with ski and had to cast +them aside. There were people who preferred foot-slogging to ski at any +time, and there were certainly days when teams on foot would literally +dance round men pulling on ski. In the light of experience, however, the +expert ski-runner has enormous advantage over the "foot-slogger," however +good an athlete. + +What strikes me here is the dreadful similarity in weather condition, +wind, temperature, etc., surface and visibility to that which culminated +in the great disaster of our expedition and resulted in poor Scott's +death exactly a year later. Here is a day taken haphazard from my diary: + + "From Corner Camp to Hut Point: + + "March 18, 1911.--Called the hands at 6.15 and after a fine warming + breakfast started off on ski. The light was simply awful and the + surface very bad, but we did six miles, then lunched. After lunch + carried on with a strong wind blowing, but after very heavy dragging + we were forced to camp when only nine and a half miles had been laid + between us--we really couldn't see ten yards. Just after we camped the + wind increased to about force 6, alternately freshening up and dying + away, and a good deal of snow fell. Temperature 32.5 below zero." + +One year later Scott was facing weather conditions and surfaces almost +identical, but the difference lay in that he had marched more than +sixteen hundred miles, was short of food, and his party were suffering +from the tragic loss of two of their companions and the intense +disappointment of having made this great sledge journey for their +country's honour to find that all their efforts had been in vain, and +that they had been anticipated by men who had borne thither the flag of +another nation. + +When Scott found that we sledgers were getting temperatures as low as +minus forty he decided to discontinue sledging rather than risk anything +in the nature of severe frostbite assailing the party and rendering them +unfit for further work, for it must be remembered that we had already +been away from our base ten weeks, that many of us had never sledged +before, and that the depot journey was partly undertaken to give us +sledging experience and to point out what improvements could be made in +our clothing and equipment. + +The first and second weeks in April brought the ice changes that we had +so long awaited, and after one or two false starts two teams set out from +Hut Point on April 11 to make their way across the fifteen miles of sea +ice to Cape Evans. + +This turned out to be a somewhat hazardous journey, since it had to be +made in the half light with overcast weather and hard wind. Scott took +charge of one tent and had with him Bowers, Griffith Taylor, and Petty +Officer Evans, while I had in my party Wright, Debenham, Gran, and Crean. +The seven who remained at Hut Point in charge of dogs and ponies helped +us out a league or so for the first part of our journey. + +The route led first up the steep ice slope over-hanging Hut Point, and +then to the summit of the ridge, which is best described as the Castle +Rock promontory. Our sojourn at Hut Point had given us plenty of chance +to learn the easier snow roads and the least dangerous, and Scott chose +the way close eastward of Castle Rock to a position four miles beyond it, +which his first expedition had named Hutton Cliffs. From Castle Rock +onward the way took us to the westward of two conical hills which were +well-known landmarks--a hitherto untrodden route--but the going was by no +means bad. Bitingly cold for faces and finger-tips, still, no weights to +impede us. We camped for lunch after covering seven miles, for the light +was bad, but it improved surprisingly whilst we were eating our meal. +Accordingly, we put on our crampons about 3 p.m. and struck camp, +securely packing the two green tents on the sledges, and casting a +careful eye round the loads, tightened a strap here, hitched there, and +then led by Scott we made a careful descent to the precipitous edge of +the ice cap which overlays the promontory. We got well down to a part +that seemed to overhang the sea and, to our delight, found a good +solid-looking ice-sheet below us which certainly extended as far as +Glacier Tongue. The drop here was twenty-five feet or so and Taylor and I +were lowered over the cornice in an Alpine rope, then Wright and then the +sledges, after that the remainder of the party. An ash-pole was driven +into the snow and the last few members sent down in a bowline at one end +of the rope whilst we below eased them down with the other part. The two +parts of the Alpine rope working round the pole cut deeply into the +over-hanging snow and brought a shower of ice crystals pouring over the +heads and shoulders of whoever was sitting in the bowline. It was a good +piece of work getting everything down safely, and I admired Scott's +decision to go over; a more nervous man would have fought shy because, +once down on the sea ice there was little chance of our getting back and +we had got to fight our way forward to Cape Evans somehow. + +When Taylor and I got first down we were greeted with a weird and +wonderful sight: constant drifts of snow had formed a great overhang and +the ice cliff was wreathed in a mass of snowy curtains and folds which +took all manner of fantastic turns and shapes. A fresh wind was blowing +continuously that made it most unpleasant for those above, and it was a +relief to us all when the last man was passed down in safety, it was +Scott himself. + +We quickly harnessed up again and swung out over the sea ice towards +Glacier Tongue, the cliffs of which stood out in a hard, white line to +the northward, a couple of miles away. Arrived at the Tongue, Bowers and +I clambered up a ten-foot cliff face by standing on Wright's and Crean's +shoulders. We then reached down and hauled up the sledges and the others, +harnessed up again, and proceeded to cross the Glacier, which was full of +small crevasses. We reached the northern side of it and went down an easy +snow slope to the sea ice beyond. As far as one could see this ice +continued right up to and around Cape Evans, seven miles away to the N.W. +It was now 6.30 p.m.; Scott halted us and discussed our readiness to make +a night march into the winter quarters. There was not one dissentient +voice, and we gladly started off at 8 o'clock for a night march to our +snug and comfortable hut, picturing to ourselves a supper of all things +luxurious. Our feet seemed suddenly to have taken wings, but, alas, the +supper was not to be, for thick weather set in, and when, by 10 o'clock +the wind was blowing hard and it was pitch dark, Scott suddenly decided +to camp under the shelter of Little Razorback Island, where by that time +we had arrived. We passed a filthy night here, for the snow on the sea +ice was saturated with brine and, in no time, our sleeping-bags became +wet and sticky. + +Next day we were called at six to find a blizzard with a high drift +making it impossible to move, so we remained in our bags until 4 p.m., +when we shifted on to the narrow platform of rock situated on the south +side of Little Razorback. We had one small meal here, but our condition +was not a pleasant one, since little food remained and fuel was short. +There was undoubtedly a chance that the sea ice would break up and drift +away in this high wind. Had that happened we should have been left to +starve on the tiny island. The position was not an enviable one. We got +back into our bags, which were, as stated, wet and beastly, after a +scanty supper and tried to sleep, but our feet were wet too, and cold, so +that few of us could do more than close our eyes. The night passed slowly +enough, and we turned out at 7 a.m. to cook what remained of our food +before attempting to make Cape Evans. We were glad that it had stopped +snowing and, although the light was bad enough, we could just make out +the ice foot showing up bold and white on the south side of the Cape. +After the meal we struck camp, formed marching order, and started half +running for winter quarters. Covering a couple of miles we found, to our +great relief, that the fast ice not only extended up to the Cape but +right round into North Bay. We soon sighted the hut, and shortly after +saw some people working outside. Directly they saw us in they ran to +bring the others out at full speed, and coming to meet us they cheered +and greeted us, then hauled our sledges in. It appeared they were unable +to recognise any of us owing to our dirty and dishevelled state. This was +not to be wondered at, for we had not washed nor had we shaved for eighty +days: We all talked hard and exchanged news. Ponting lined us up to be +photographed--the first nine Bolshevists--we looked such awful +blackguards. + +Now, April 13, 1911, as communication had been established between Hut +Point and Cape Evans, we settled down for the winter. I shall never +forget the breakfast that Clissold prepared for us at 10.30 that morning. +It was delicious--hot rolls, heaps of butter, milk, sugar, jam, a fine +plate of tomato soup, and fried seal cooked superbly. The meal over, we +shaved, bathed, and put on clean clothes, smoked cigarettes, and took a +day's holiday. At 10 o'clock that evening, by prearrangement, Very's +lights were fired to let them know at Hut Point of our safe arrival. Our +own signal was answered by a flare. Gramophone records were dug out and +we lazily listened to Melba singing and to musical comedy tunes, those +who had energy and sufficient inclination got the pianola going, and +finally each man unfolded his little story to another member of the +Expedition who had taken no part in the sledging. + +Captain Scott was delighted at the progress made by those left in our hut +under Dr. Simpson, everything was in order, the scientific programme in +full swing, and nothing in the shape of bad news beyond the loss of an +ill-tempered pony called Hackenschmidt, and one more dog that appeared to +have died from a peculiar disease--a minute thread-worm getting to his +brain, this according to Nelson who had conducted the post-mortem. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE WINTER + + +Less than a fortnight from the day of our return to Cape Evans, on April +23 to be exact, the sun left us to remain below the horizon for four long +weary months. Of course, there was a considerable amount of twilight, and +even on midwinter's day at noon there was some gray light in the north. +Different people took the winter in different fashion, according to their +temperaments. There were some who never could have faced a second winter +with any degree of cheerfulness, but taking it all round, we did well +enough, and when summer came again our concrete keenness and zeal had not +one whit abated. That is especially true in the case of those who were +chosen to make the great journey southward, even though it was obvious +that certain members could only accompany their leader for a mere +fraction of the great white way. + +During the four months' winter darkness each one occupied himself with +his special subject, and Dr. Wilson not only proved himself to be an +efficient chief of our scientific staff, but a sound friend and companion +to the executive members, Bowers, Oates, Meares, and myself. Uncle Bill +was our Solomon and it was to him that we all went for sympathy and +practical advice. It was to him the staff went, that is to say, the +officers and scientists, for the smoothing over of those little +difficulties, roughnesses, and unevennesses that were bound to arrive +from time to time during the course of winter. The sailors came more to +Bowers, Oates, and myself, for, in their conservative naval way, they +could never quite get over the fact that the hut was not a ship and that +there were other members who, although they had never come under any sort +of naval or military discipline, were men of greater age and experience +in fending for themselves than youngsters like Bowers and myself. Still, +things went beautifully, and so they should have, when one considers the +great care our leader had exercised in the selection of his personnel. + +If Scott had had his choice again and if he had been allowed to select +from the whole world, one can say without hesitation he would have chosen +Wilson to captain our splendid scientific team and to be his human book +of reference. Wilson was more nearly Scott's own age than the other +important members of this enterprise, and Wilson, it must be remembered, +had pulled shoulder to shoulder with Scott on his southern sledge journey +in 1902-3. + +Before taking a peep at the individuals forming the rest of our party and +at their delicate scientific work at the base station, I must not forget +to mention that Scott, with his indomitable energy, was away again four +days after his return to Cape Evans with Bowers, Crean, and five fresh +men to Hut Point for the dual purpose of replenishing that station with +fuel, lighting material, etc., and getting those who should be at Cape +Evans for certain work and duty back there. Scott returned by the way we +had come, i.e. the Glacier Tongue-Castle Rock route, and then left the +dog-boy with Meares to take charge of these animals, Lashly and Keohane +to nurse and exercise the two ponies, and Nelson and Forde to get into +the way of winter roughing it, besides which he left Day over at Hut +Point, where his clever fingers found plenty to do to ameliorate the +condition of those living there. Day had learnt much under Shackleton in +these parts, and by some of us he was nicknamed "Handy Andy." Meares was +now appointed "Governor of Hut Point." As a matter of fact he and his +dogs were better off here than at Cape Evans, because the dogs could use +the big sheltered verandas already mentioned, whereas they had no such +shelter at Cape Evans. + +Scott was back in the hut by April 21, having left Meares definite orders +that James Pigg and Punch the ponies were not to leave Hut Point for Cape +Evans until the entire journey could be made over the sea ice under +conditions of absolute safety. This meant a wait of three weeks to a +month before everything suited, and the "Governor of Hut Point" did not +come in until the 13th May, when he arrived in pomp and splendour with +all the dogs and the two ponies fit and well--his party, black with soot +and blubber, their wind-proof clothing smelly and greasy, a dirty but +robust and cheerful gang. + +A glance at the accompanying plan shows whereabout we worked. Starting at +the left hand top corner we find Simpson's laboratory, and we usually +found Simpson in it at work, always at work, except when he was engaged +in scientific argument or when, just after lunch, he stretched himself +out on his bunk at the end of a large cigar! Simpson was no novice to +work in the frigid zones, for he had already wintered within the Arctic +circle in northern Norway. Weather did not worry him much nor apparently +did temperatures, for since his investigations midst the snows of the +Vikings' land, Simpson had worked extensively in India. His enduring good +humour and his smiling manner earned for him the sobriquet of Sunny Jim. + +In the first year the self-registering instruments that found themselves +in Simpson's corner, or in the small hut which contained his magnetic +observatory, gave us an admirable record of temperatures, barometric +pressures, wind force and direction, atmospheric electricity, sunshine +when the sun did shine, and the elements of terrestrial magnetism. Thanks +to Simpson, we also had investigations of the upper air currents, aurora +observations, atmospheric optics, gravity determination and what is more, +some fine practical teaching that enabled the various sledging units +properly to observe and collect data of meteorological importance. +Simpson's place was essentially at the base station; and his consequent +work as physicist and meteorologist prevented him from taking an active +part in our sledge journeys. When he was recalled to Simla in 1912 his +work was ably continued by Wright, our Canadian chemist, who, as I have +said elsewhere, accompanied us south to make a special study of ice +structure and glaciation. + +Wright lived in the bunk above Simpson's, and when not devoting his +energy and magnificent physique to sledging and field work, he gave +himself up to the study of ice physics, a somewhat new scientific line of +research. Wright was originally introduced to the Expedition by Griffith +Taylor, and Scott, advised by Wilson, was so keen on the inclusion of +this young Canadian chemist in our scientific staff that really the study +of ice structure and glaciation was made for Wright and his science +coined for him. He photographed ice flowers formed in the sea, he found +out how long ice took to freeze down our way, cast aspersions on the +bearing capabilities of our beloved sea ice and, generally, brought his +intelligence to bear in a way that commanded the approbation of Wilson +and our chief. Wright was one of the strongest members of our Expedition, +and he had the most powerful flow of language. He made some beautiful +photographs of ice crystals and surprised the simple sailor like myself +with his ability as a navigator and astronomer. + +Moving along from Wright and Simpson we come to Nelson and Day. Teddy +Nelson, our marine biologist, did both winters at Cape Evans, and he not +only carried out biological work but studied the tides. His corner was +pleasant to look upon, with its orderly row of enamelled and china trays +and dishes. During the winter months holes were made in the sea ice +through which were lowered tow-nets, for collecting drifting organisms +and so on. Special thermometers of German make were lowered by Nelson +through the ice holes to get sea temperatures, and likewise reversing +water bottles were employed to obtain samples of sea-water daily. + +Day, the motor engineer, was responsible for the lighting by acetylene. +He was wonderfully clever as a mechanic and also a good carpenter. He +took charge of our petrol, paraffin, and spirit store, and was never idle +for a minute. + +Moving along to the right we come to the last cubicle, where the +"Rubbleyubdugs" lived. These were Tryggve Gran, Griffith Taylor, and +Frank Debenham. (All libel actions in connection with the Ubdugs I am +prepared to settle out of port in the long bar at Shanghai.) Quoting from +the "South Polar Times": "'The Ubdug Burrow' is festooned with kodaks, +candles and curtains; they (the Ubdugs) are united by an intense love of +the science of autobiography, their somewhat ambiguous motto is 'the pen +is mightier than the sword, but the tongue licks them both!'" Griffith +Taylor and Debenham were both Australians: the former was probably the +wittiest man in the Expedition, and, in my opinion, the cleverest +contributor to the "South Polar Times," excepting of course the artistic +side. The "South Polar Times" was our winter magazine, beautifully +illustrated by Wilson's water colours and Ponting's photographs. Taylor's +motto was "Advance, Australia!"--most certainly he helped it to. People +were always welcome in the Ubduggery, where they seemed to have an +unlimited supply of cigarettes and good novels. + +Debenham was certainly nurse to the Ubdugs, that is to say he was the +least untidy, but then of course he was the smallest. In this cubicle the +most voluminous of diaries were kept, and at least two books have been +published therefrom. Gran kept his diary mostly in Norwegian, but there +were many words coined in our Expedition which had no Scandinavian +equivalent, and Gran failed to translate them, in spite of his having +more imagination than any one amongst us. + +Crossing over the hut to the cubicle opposite one arrives at the somewhat +congested space in which Cherry-Garrard was housed, with Bowers above +him. In their corner were store lists, books, and mystery bags which +contained material for the "South Polar Times," toys and frivolous +presents to liven us up at the midwinter and other festivities. Bowers +and Cherry-Garrard were, in a way, worse off than the others, for they +had the darkest part of the hut, yet in this gloomy tenement all kinds of +calculations were made and much other good work done. + +Oates came next, with his bunk more free of debris than anybody else's, +for he was the horse man, pure and simple, and his duties freed him from +that superabundance of books, instruments, stationery, specimens, charts, +and what-not with which we others had surrounded ourselves. Any spare +gear he kept in the saddle room, a specially cleared space in the +stables, where he was assisted by the little Russian groom, Anton, who +soon became devoted to his hard-working and capable master. The two men, +so unlike in appearance and character, etc., and such miles apart in +social standing and nationality, worked shoulder to shoulder in the +stables throughout the long winter night. By the dim candle-light which +illuminated our pony-shelter, one could see Oates grooming his charges, +clearing up their stall, refitting their harness, and fixing up the +little improvements that his quick, watchful eye continually suggested. +At the far end of his stables he had a blubber stove, where he used to +melt ice for the ponies' drinking water and cook bran mashes for his +animals. Here he would often sit and help Meares make dog pemmican out of +seal meat--they made about 8 cwt. of this sustaining preparation. + +Moving along from the Château, Oates, Meares's and Atkinson's two bunks +came next, Meares above and Atkinson below. These two sleeping berths +likewise were not conspicuous by any superfluity of scientific oddments, +for Meares's work took him outside of the hut as a rule, unless he was +engaged in making dog harness. Meares and Oates were the greatest +friends, and these two, Atkinson, Cherry-Garrard and Bowers, were, if I +remember rightly, known collectively as the Bunderlohg. Although +numerically superior to their _vis-à-vis_, the Ubdugs, and always ready +to revile them, the Ubdugs kept their end up and usually came out +victorious in discussions or in badinage. + +Finally, the Holy of Holies, where Captain Scott and the library occupied +one end and Uncle Bill and myself the far corner, with the ceaselessly +ticking chronometers and many sledging watches. There was an air of +sanctity about this part: all the plotting was done here, charts made and +astronomical observations worked out. Wilson worked up his sketches at +the "plotting table," interviewed the staff here, and above his bunk kept +a third of the shore party's library. We had two comfortable trestle beds +up our end and our leader also had a bed in preference to the +built-up bunk adopted by most of the afterguard. Ours was the Mayfair +district: Wilson and I lived in Park Lane in those days, whilst Captain +Scott occupied Grosvenor Street! He had his own little table covered with +"toney" green linoleum, and also had a multiplicity of little shelves on +which to keep his pipes, tobacco, cigars, and other household gods. It +was well illuminated in this part, and, although, hung around with fur +mitts, fur boots, socks, hats and woollen clothing, there was something +very chaste about this very respectable corner. For the rest of it we had +our Arctic library, and the spare spaces on the matchboard bulkhead, +which fenced it on three sides, were decorated with photographs. In place +of eiderdown Scott's old uniform overcoat usually covered his bed, while +peeping out from under his sleeping place one could espy an emblem of +civilisation and prosperity in the shape of a very good suit-case. + +The foregoing pages illustrate sufficiently the grouping of the +afterguard, and if one adds an anthracite stove, a 12 ft. by 4 ft. table, +a pianola, gramophone, and a score of chairs, with a small shelf-like +table squeezed in between the dark-room and Simpson's corner, one +completes the picture of the officers' quarters in the Cape Evans Hut. +A bulkhead of biscuit cases and so on divided us from the men's +accommodation. They were very well off, each seaman having a trestle bed +similar to Captain Scott's, unless he preferred to build a bunk for +himself, as one or two did. They had a table 6 ft. by 4 ft., and the cook +had a kitchen table 4 ft. square, and certainly no crew space was ever +provided on a Polar Expedition that gave such comfortable and cosy +housing room. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +THE WINTER CLOSES IN + + +The closing down of the Polar night was very swift now and the few hours +of gray daylight were employed collecting what data was required by +certain members for working on during the forthcoming days of darkness. +Young Gran was handed over to me to help with the survey work and +astronomical observations which had to be taken from time to time. He was +a most entertaining assistant. Without complaint, he stood patiently +shivering in that cutting winter wind whilst I swung around the +theodolite telescope and took angles for him to write down in my +notebook. I don't think anybody has made a triangulated survey under +conditions worse than we endured that epoch: the weather was beastly and +we spent much time dancing when nearly sick with cold, our fingers tucked +under our arms to recover their feelings. When one's extremities did get +frost-bitten it was no joke--frost-bitten finger tips gave us little +peace at night with their sharp burning pain. + +The most interesting part of the survey work was what is known to the +surveyor as coast-lining. This meant walking along the edge of the sea +ice, fixing one's position by sextant angle every five hundred yards or +so, and sketching in a notebook the character and features of the ever +changing coast between the various "fixes." One could keep warm doing +this and one saw more of the land and ice formation than the others, for +it meant following carefully round-cape and glacier edge, penetrating +inlets and delineating every islet, promontory, cliff, and talus. + +In spite of the cold, the gloom, and the sad whistling wind that heralded +the now fast approaching darkness, I felt glad to work with my sextant +and sketch-book under the shadow of those fantastic ice-foots hung round +with fringes of icicle. I loved to go with Gran into the deep bays and +walk for miles under the overhanging of the vast ice cliffs all purple in +the reflection of the early winter noon, and to come out sometimes as we +did on to the sea ice clear of a jutting glacier, to face suddenly +northward over the frozen sea where nothing but a great waste of ice +stretched away to meet the horizon and the rosy, copper glow of the +departed sun's rays. Some of the cloud effects at the end of April were +too wonderful for mere pen or brush to describe. To appreciate them one +must go there and see them, those wonderful half-light tints. + +Then there were the ice caves and grottos which were formed in the +grounded icebergs that had overturned before we came, and the still more +wonderful caves in the ice-sheet where it over-rode Ross Island and +formed a cliff-face between Cape Evans and Glacier Tongue, +extraordinarily like the white chalk cliffs of Studland Bay I found them, +with here and there outstanding pinnacles which a little imagination +would liken to Old Harry Rocks when the gray light was on them. + +At the most we could only take sextant and theodolite angles for two +hours on either side of noon, so Gran and I went without our lunch, +taking a few biscuits and some chocolate out with us on our survey days, +and as we worked farther and farther from our base we found it necessary +to start out in the darkness in order to take full advantage of what +light was vouchsafed us. It was good healthy work and we developed +glorious appetites, so that our mouths ran with water when perhaps we met +a couple of fellows leading the little white ponies on the sea ice for +exercise, and they told us what they had had for lunch and what was being +kept for us. We found it all most interesting and, although I detested +that sunless winter, I loved the changing scenery, which never seemed +monotonous when there was any daylight or moonlight. To mark our +"stations" we used red and black bunting flags, and they showed up very +well. We gave them all sorts of weird names, such as Sardine, Shark, and +so forth, and we knew almost to a yard their distances from one another, +as also their bearings, which helped us when we were overtaken by bad +weather. Eventually it became too dark for any survey work, but there was +always plenty to do indoors for the majority of us. Apart from our +specialist duties some one was always to be found who could give +employment to the willing--there were no idlers or unwilling folk amongst +us. Simpson, for example, would employ as many volunteers as he could get +to follow the balloons which he frequently sent up to record temperature +and pressure. To each of these balloons a fine silk thread was attached, +or rather the thread was attached to the little instrument it carried. +When any strain was put on the thread it broke the thread connecting the +small temperature and pressure instrument to the balloon, the former +dropped on to the ice and was recovered by one of the volunteers, who +followed the silk thread up until he came to the instrument where it had +fallen. One required good eyesight for this work as for everything else +down here, and I have never ceased to marvel at the way Cherry-Garrard +got about and worked so well when one considers that he was very +short-sighted indeed. + +Everybody exercised generously, whether by himself on ski, leading a +pony, digging ice for the cook or ice to melt for the ponies' drinking +water, or even with a whole crowd playing rather dangerous football on +the sea ice north of Cape Evans. + +When the real winter came I used to walk, after winding the chronometers, +until breakfast time to begin with. This gave me half an hour, then again +before lunch I would put on ski and go for a run with anybody who had not +a pony to exercise. The visibility was frequently limited, particularly +on overcast days; one would glide along over the sea ice, which was in +places wind-swept and in others covered with snow. Nothing in sight but +the gray-white shadow underfoot and the blue-black sky above, a streak or +band just a mere smudge of daylight in the north, but this would be +sufficient to give one direction to go out on. Then slowly, dim, +spectre-like shapes would appear which would gradually sort themselves +out into two lots, black and white--these were Titus's ponies--the white +shapes, the black were the men leading them. On they came, seemingly at a +great pace, and one heard a crunching noise as the hoofs of the ponies +trod down the snow crust, but one could not hear the footfalls of the +men. One exchanged a "Hallo" with the leading man and passed on until a +much bigger white shape loomed up in the obscurity of the noon-twilight, +the going underfoot changed and skis fetched up against a great lump of +ice which was scarcely discernible in the confusing darkness, and one +realised that what little light there was to the northward had been +blotted out by one of the big grounded icebergs. Directly one realised +which berg it was a new course would be shaped, say to the end of the +Barne Glacier; the cliffs of this reached, one proceeded homeward a +league to the hut. This could not be missed on the darkest day if the +coast-line was followed, and, at last, when stomach cried out like a +striking clock, one realised that it was 2 p.m. or so, and a little glow +indicated the whereabouts of the hut. Approaching it, one saw the tall +chimney silhouetted against the sky, then the black shapes which oddly +proclaimed themselves to be motor-sledges, store heaps or fodder dumps, +and finally the hut itself. One stumbled over the tide-crack and up on to +the much trodden snow which covered the Cape Evans's beach. Six or seven +pairs of skis stuck in the snow near the hut door indicated that most +people had come in to lunch, so there was need to haste. Off came one's +own skis, and with a lusty stab in they went heel downwards into the snow +alongside the other ones, so that when a new fall came they would stand +up vertically and be easily found again. + +The sticks one took into the hut, because even in our well-appointed +family there were pirates who borrowed them and forgot to replace them. +Entering the hut after kicking much snow from boots one passed first +through the acetylene smelling porch--Handy Andy's pride--as we called +Day's gas plant, then in to the seamen's quarters, where the smell of +cooking delighted and the sight of those great, hefty sailors scoffing +the midday meal hustled one still more. + +In the officers' half of the hut most people were already busy with their +knives and forks, two or three perhaps just sitting down, the night +watch-man probably sitting up on the edge of his bunk putting on his +slippers, and cheerfully accepting the friendly insults from his pals at +table who told him the date and year--down went ski-sticks on the bed, +room would be made at the table, and half a dozen dishes pushed your way, +and although the mess-traps were enamelled, the food you shuffled down +from the tin plate and the cocoa you lapped from the blue and white mug +had not its equal at the Carlton, the Ritz, or the Berkeley. + +Concerning the night watchman and his duties, although we had so many +self-recording instruments, there were certain things which called for +attention during the silent hours. Aurora observations had to be made +which no instrument would record, movement of clouds had to be noted in +the meteorological log, the snow cleared from the anemometer and so +forth, then of course rounds had to be made in case of fire, ponies and +dogs visited, the galley fire lit or kept going according to +requirements, and so on. Night watch-keeping duty was only undertaken by +certain members chosen from the afterguard. Scott himself always took a +share in this, as he did in everything else that mattered. One came to +welcome the night on, for the attendant work was not very strenuous and +the eight hours' quietude gave the watchman a chance to write up a +neglected diary, to wash clothes, work out observations, and perhaps make +contributions to the "South Polar Times" undisturbed by casual +well-wishers who were not meant to see the article in question until the +day of publication. We were allowed to choose from the stores more or +less what we liked for consumption in the stillness of the night watch. I +always contributed special China or Ceylon tea for the benefit of the +lonely watchman--I had two big canisters of the beverage, a present from +one of our New Zealand well-wishers, Mrs. Arthur Rhodes of Christchurch, +and these lasted the afterguard watch-keepers through the Expedition. +The auroras were a little disappointing this first winter as seen from +Cape Evans, they were certainly better seen from the Barrier. We only got +golden bands and curtains splaying in the heavens, except for one or two +rare occasions when there were distinct green rays low down amongst the +shafts of weird light farthest from the zenith. + +In view of the possibility of a second winter one kept a few letters +going which contained a little narrative of our work to date. We had most +imposing note-paper which was used for these occasions: the crest +consisted of a penguin standing on the South Pole with the southern +hemisphere underfoot, a garter surrounding this little picture inscribed +with "British Antarctic Expedition--'Terra Nova' R.Y.S." Alas, some of +the letters were never delivered, for death not only laid his hand upon +certain members of the Expedition, but also upon some of our older +friends, supporters, and subscribers. + +One passed out of the hut hourly at least and, on moonlight nights +especially, one found something beautiful in the scenery about Cape +Evans. At full moon time everything turned silver, from towering Erebus +with gleaming sides to the smooth ice slopes of Ross Island in the +north-east, while away to the southward the high black Dellbridge Islands +thrust up from a sea of flat silver ice. Even the conical hills and the +majestic Castle Rock, fifteen miles away, stood out quite clearly on +occasions. The weirdest thing of all was to hear the dogs howling in the +middle of the night, they made one think of wolves and of Siberia. + +All things considered, the winter passed quickly enough: we had three +lectures a week, and our professional occupations, our recreations and +different interests soon sped away the four months' winter darkness. The +lectures embraced the technical and the practical side of the Expedition; +thus, besides each of the scientific staff lecturing on his individual +subject, Oates gave us two lectures on the care and management of horses; +Scott outlined his plans for the great southern journey, giving probable +dates and explaining the system of supporting parties which he proposed +to employ; Ponting told us about Japan, and illustrated his subject with +beautiful slides made from photographs that he himself had taken; Bowers +lectured on Burma, until we longed to be there; and Meares gave us a +light but intensely interesting lecture on his adventures in the Lolo +country, a practically unknown land in Central Asia. + +In connection with the work of Simpson at the base station, I must not +forget the telephones. Certain telephones and equipment sufficient for +our needs were presented to us in 1910 by the staff of the National +Telephone Co., and they were very largely used in scientific work at the +base station as well as for connecting Cape Evans to Hut Point, fifteen +miles away. Simpson made the Cape Evans-Hut Point connection in +September, 1911, by laying the bare aluminium wire along the surface of +the snow-covered sea ice, and for a long time there was no difficulty in +ringing up by means of magnetos. However, when the sun came back and its +rays became reasonably powerful, difficulty in ringing and speaking was +experienced. + +We used the telephones almost daily for taking time, and Simpson used to +stand inside the hut at the sidereal clock whilst I took astronomical +observations outside in the cold. We also telephoned time to the ice cave +in which the pendulums were being swung when determining the force of +gravity. Telephones were quite efficient in temperatures of 40 degrees +and more below zero. + +Midwinter Day arrived on June 22, and here one must pay an affectionate +and grateful tribute to Bowers, Wilson, Cherry-Garrard, and Clissold the +cook. + +To start with, we had to discuss whether we would hold the midwinter +festival on the 22nd or 23rd of June, because in reality the sun reached +its farthest northern Declination at 2.30 a.m. on the 23rd by the +standard time which we were keeping. We decided to hold it on the evening +of the 22nd, this being the dinner time nearest the actual culmination. A +Buszard's cake extravagantly iced was placed on the tea-table by +Cherry-Garrard, his gift to us, and this was the first of the dainties +with which we proceeded to stuff ourselves on this memorable day. +Although in England it was mid-summer we could not help thinking of those +at home in Christmas vein. The day here was to all intents and purposes +Christmas Day; but it meant a great deal more than that, it meant that +the sun was to come speeding back slowly to begin with, and then faster +and faster until in another four months or so we should find ourselves +setting out to achieve our various purposes. It meant that before another +year had passed some of us, perhaps all of us, would be back in +civilisation taking up again the reins of our ordinary careers which, of +necessity, would lead us to different corners of the earth. The +probability was that we should never all sit down together in a peopled +land, for Simpson was bound to be racing back to India with Bowers and +probably Oates, whose regiment was at Mhow; Gran would away to Norway, +and the other Ubdugs to Australia. One or two of us had been tempted to +settle in New Zealand, and the old Antarctics amongst us knew how useless +it had been to arrange those Antarctic dinners which never came off as +intended. + +But to return to the menu for Midwinter Day. When we sat down in the +evening we were confronted with a beautiful water-colour drawing of our +winter quarters, with Erebus's gray shadow looming large in the +background, from the summit of which a rose-tinted smoke-cloud delicately +trended northward, and, standing out from the whole picture a neatly +printed tablet which proclaimed the nature of this much-looked-forward-to +meal: + + Consomme Seal. + Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. + Horseradish Sauce. + Potatoes a la mode and Brussels Sprouts. + Plum Pudding. Mince Pies. + Caviare Antarctic. + Crystallised fruits. Chocolate Bonbons. + Butter Bonbons. Walnut Toffee. + Almonds and Raisins. + + _Wines._ + + Sherry, Champagne, Brandy Punch, Liqueur. + Cigars, Cigarettes, and Tobacco. + Snapdragon. + Pineapple Custard. Raspberry jellies. + +and what was left of the Buszard's cake! + +The menu was, needless to say, Wilson's work, the exquisite dishes +Clissold produced, the maitre d'hotel was Birdie, and Cherry-Garrard the +producer of surprises in the shape of toys which adorned the Christmas +Tree that followed on the dinner. Everybody got something from the tree, +which was in reality no tree at all, for it was a cleverly constructed +dummy, with sticks for branches and coloured paper leaves. Still, it +carried little fairy candles and served its purpose well. + +Then I must not forget the greatest treat of all: an exhibition of slides +showing the life about our winter quarters and the general work of the +Expedition from the starting away in New Zealand to this actual day +almost in the hut. The slides were wonderful and they showed every stage +of the ice through which we had come and in which we lived. There were +penguin pictures, whales and seals, bird life in the pack, flash light +photographs of people and ponies, pictures of Erebus and other splendid +and familiar landmarks, and, in short, a magnificent pictorial record of +events, for Ponting had been everywhere with his camera, and it is only +to be regretted that the Expedition did not take him to the Pole. This +was, of course, impossible, when everything had to give way to food. +Following the photographic display and the Christmas Tree came the only +Antarctic dance we enjoyed. Few of us remember much about it for we were +very merry, thanks to the wine, and there was considerable horseplay. I +remember dancing with the cook whilst Oates danced with Anton. Everybody +took a turn, and associated with this dance I might mention that Clissold +so far forgot himself as to call Scott "Good old Truegg." Truegg was the +composition used by us for cooking in various ways omelets, buttered +eggs, puddings, and cakes of all kinds, and, although it was a great boon +to the Expedition, we had by this time tired of it. Still, we used it as +a term of endearment, but nobody in his sober senses would have dreamt of +calling our much respected Commander "Good old Truegg"; the brandy punch +must have been responsible for Clissold's mixing up of names! We had now +arrived at the stage when it was time to shut up, the officers became +interested in an aurora display and gradually rolled off to bed. It was +left to me to see the seamen turned in; they were good-humoured but +obstreperous, and not until 2 a.m. did silence and order once more reign +in the hut. + +Very wisely our leader decided on June 23 being kept as a day of rest; +our digestions were upset and we took this time off to make and mend +clothes, and returned to our winter routine, a little subdued perhaps, on +June 24. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS + + +So much for the winter life up to date; no great excitements, nothing +untoward, but a remarkable bonhomie obtaining in our little company +despite the tedium of so many days of winter gloom. On June 27 Dr. Wilson +with Bowers and Cherry-Garrard started on a remarkable journey to Cape +Crozier, nearly seventy miles distant from Cape Evans, via Hut Point and +the Barrier. The object of these intrepid souls was to observe the +incubation of the Emperor Penguins at their rookery, which was known to +exist near the junction point of the Barrier Edge with the rocky cliff +south of Cape Crozier. It must be borne in mind that this was the first +Antarctic midwinter journey, and that the three men must of necessity +face abnormally low temperature's and unheard of hardships whilst making +the sledge journey over the icy Barrier. We had gathered enough knowledge +on the autumn sledge journeys and in the days of the Discovery expedition +to tell us this, so that it was not without considerable misgivings that +Captain Scott permitted Wilson to carry the winter expedition to Cape +Crozier into being. The scope of my little volume only permits me to tell +this story in brief. No very detailed account has yet been published, +although Cherry-Garrard, the only survivor of the three, wrote the far +too modest memoir of the journey which has been published in Volume II of +"Scott's Last Expedition." + +Apart from the zoological knowledge Wilson hoped to gain from the Cape +Crozier visit in mid-winter, there was a wealth of other information to +be collected concerning the Barrier conditions, particularly the +meteorological conditions, but above all we knew that with such quick and +reliable observers as Wilson and his companions we must derive additional +experience in the matter of sledging rations, for the party had agreed to +make experiments in order to arrive at the standard ration to be adopted +for the colder weather we must face during the second half of the +forthcoming Polar journey. + +Wilson took two small 9 ft. sledges, and after being photographed was +helped out to Glacier Tongue by a small hurrah party. In the bad light he +was handicapped from the very first, and it took the party two days to +get on to the Ice Barrier. Their progress was dreadfully slow, which was +not to be wondered at, for they were pulling loads of 250 lb. per man, +the surfaces were beyond anything they had faced hitherto, and the +temperatures seldom above 60 degrees. Relay work had to be resorted to, +and in consequence the party took eighteen days to reach Cape Crozier. +They met with good weather, that is, calm weather, to begin with, but the +bad surfaces handicapped them severely. After rounding Cape Mackay they +reached a wind-swept area and met with a series of blizzards. Their best +light was moonlight, and they were denied this practically by overcast +skies. Picture their hardships: frozen bags to sleep in, frozen finnesko +to put their feet in every time they struck camp, finger-tips always +getting frost-bitten and sometimes toes and heels; no comfort was to be +derived within camp, for, at the best, they could only sit and shiver +when preparing the food, and once the bags were unrolled to sleep in more +trouble came. It is on record that Cherry-Garrard took as long as +three-quarters of an hour to break his way into his sleeping-bag, and +once inside it he merely shook and froze. The party used a double tent +for this journey, that is to say, a light lining was fitted on the inner +side of the five bamboo tent poles, so that when the ordinary wind-proof +tent cloth was spread over the poles an air space was provided. There +was, I may say, a sharp difference of opinion as to the value of the +tent; Wilson's party swore by it and Scott was always loud in its praise. +The sailors hated it and despised it; they always argued, when consulted +on the subject of the double tent, that it collected snow and rime and +added much to the weights we had to drag along. Perhaps they were right, +and I remember one occasion when two members of the Expedition dumped the +inner lining after carrying it many hundred miles with the remark, +"Good-bye, you blighter, you've had a damn good ride!" + +The scene inside the little green tent baffles description: the three +men's breath and the steam from the cooker settles in no time on the +sides of the tent in a thick, white rime; the least movement shakes this +down in a shower which brings clammy discomfort to all; the dimmest of +light is given by the sledging lantern with its edible candle (for +Messrs. Price and Co. had made our candles eatable and not poisonous), +everything is frozen stiff, fur boots, bags and fur mitts break if +roughly handled, for they are as hard as boards. The cold has carved deep +ruts in the faces of the little company who, despite their sufferings and +discomforts, smile and keep cheerful without apparent effort. This +cheerfulness and the fragrant smell of the cooking pemmican are the two +redeeming features of a dreadful existence, but the discomforts are only +a foretaste of what is to come--one night the temperature fell to 77 +degrees below zero, that is 109 degrees of frost. There is practically no +record of such low temperature, although Captain Scott found that Roald +Amundsen in one of his northern journeys encountered something nearly as +bad. One cannot wonder that Wilson's party scarcely slept at all, but +their outward experiences were nothing to what they put up with at Cape +Crozier, which was reached on July 15. To get on to the slopes of Mount +Terror near Crozier the party climbed over great pressure ridges and up a +steep slope to a position between the end of a moraine terrace and the +conspicuous hillock known as The Knoll. In the gap here the last camp was +made in a windswept snow hollow, a stone hut was constructed behind a +land ridge above this hollow, the party using a quantity of loose rocks +and hard snow to build with. Cherry-Garrard did most of the building, +while the others provided the material, for, in his methodical way, +Cherry had built a model hut before leaving Cape Evans. The hut was 800 +ft. above sea-level, roofed with canvas, with one of the sledges as a +rafter to support the canvas roof. + +On the 19th July the party descended by the snow slopes to the Emperor +penguin rookery. They had great trouble in making this descent, on +account of crevasses in the ice slopes which overhung the level way under +the rock cliffs. As a matter of fact, the attempt on the 19th proved +abortive, although the little band got close to the rookery. They reached +it successfully on the 20th when the light was almost failing, and were +mortified to find only about one hundred Emperor penguins in place of the +two or three thousand birds which the rookery had been found to contain +in the "Discovery" days. Possibly the early date accounted for the +absence of Emperors; however, half a dozen eggs were collected, and three +of these found their way home to England. Wilson picked up rounded pieces +of ice at the rookery which the stupid Emperors had been cherishing, +fondly imagining they were eggs; evidently the maternal instinct of the +Emperor penguin is very strong. + +The party killed and skinned three birds and then returned to the shelter +of the stone hut, not without difficulty, it is true. It is worthy of +note that the three birds killed by the party were very thickly +blubbered, and the oil obtained from them burned well. + +The Ross Sea was found to be frozen over as far as the horizon. When the +party got back to their shelter two eggs had burst and saturated +Cherry-Garrard's mitts. This optimistic young man found good even in +this, for he said that on the way home to Cape Evans his mitts thawed out +far more easily than Bowers's did, and attributed the little triumph to +the grease in the broken egg! That night they slept for the first time in +the stone hut; perhaps it was fortunate that they did so for it was +blowing hard and the wind developed into a terrific storm. + +One of the hurricane gusts of wind swept the roof of the hut away, and +for two days the unfortunate party lay in their bags half smothered by +fine drifting snow. The second day was Dr. Wilson's birthday; he told me +afterwards that had the gale not abated when it did all three men must +have perished. They had not dared to stir out of the meagre shelter +afforded by their sleeping-bags. Wilson prayed hard that they might be +spared. His prayer was answered, it is true, but before another year had +passed two of this courageous little band lost their lives in their eager +thirst for scientific knowledge. + +When the three men crept out of their bags into the dull winter gloom +they groped about and searched for their tent, which had blown away from +its pitch near the stone hut. By an extraordinary piece of good fortune +it was recovered, scarcely damaged, a quarter of a mile away. +Cherry-Garrard describes the roar of the wind as it whistled in their +shelter to have been just like the rush of an express train through a +tunnel. + +Wilson, Bowers, and Cherry-Garrard started home after this, but were +caught by another blizzard, which imprisoned them in their tent for +another forty-eight hours. They were now running short of oil for warming +and cooking purposes, but the little party won through after a very rough +march full of horrible hardships and discomforts, and reached Cape Evans +on the 1st August, when they had faced the dreadful winter weather +conditions on the cruel Ice Barrier for five weeks. What forlorn objects +they did look: it was pathetic to see them as they staggered into the +hut. Wilson, when he could give a collected account of what he and his +party had faced, was loud in the praise of Birdy and Cherry. + +The party were examined by Atkinson, who gave some direction and advice +concerning their immediate diet--they seemed to want bread, butter, and +jam most, and the little loaves provided by Clissold disappeared with +extraordinary speed. They were suffering from want of sleep, but were all +right in a few days. One of the remarkable features of this journey was +the increase of weights due to ice collecting in their sleeping-bags, +gear and equipment. Their three bags, which weighed forty-seven pounds on +leaving Cape Evans, had increased their weight to one hundred and +eighteen at the conclusion of the trip. Other weights increased in the +same proportion, and the sledge had dragged very heavily in consequence. + +The three men when they arrived were almost encased with ice, and I well +remember undressing poor Wilson in the cubicle which he and I shared. His +clothes had almost to be cut off him. + +From this journey, as stated, we evolved the final sledging ration for +the Summit, it was to consist of: + + 16 ozs. biscuit. + 12 " pemmican. + 3 " sugar. + 2 " butter. + 0.7 " tea. + 0.6 " cocoa. + daily 34.3 ozs. + +It may seem little enough for a hungry sledger, but, no one could +possibly eat that amount in a temperate climate; it was a fine filling +ration even for the Antarctic. The pemmican consisted of the finest beef +extract, with 60 per cent. pure fat, and it cooked up into a thick tasty +soup. It was specially made for us by Messrs. Beauvais of Copenhagen. + +No casualties occurred during the winter, but Dr. Atkinson sustained a +severely frost-bitten hand on July 4 when we had one of our winter +blizzards. Certain thermometers had been placed in positions on the sea +ice and up on the Ramp by Simpson, and these we were in the habit of +visiting during the course of our exercise; the thermometer reading was +done by volunteers who signified their intention to Simpson in order to +avoid duplication of observation. On blizzard days we left them alone, +but Atkinson, seeing that the wind had modified in the afternoon, +zealously started out over the ice and was absent from dinner. Search +parties were sent in various directions, each taking a sledge with +sleeping-bags, brandy flask, thermos full of cocoa, and first-aid +equipment. Flares were lit and kept going on Wind Vale Hill, Simpson's +meteorological station overlooking the hut. Search was made in all +directions by us, and difficulty was experienced due to light snowfall. +Atkinson fetched up at Tent Island, apparently, which he walked round for +hours, and, in trying to make the Cape again, became hopelessly lost, +and, losing one of his mitts for a time, fell into a tide crack and did +not get home till close upon midnight. Search parties came in one by one +and were glad to hear the good news of Atkinson's return. My own party, +working to the south of Cape Evans, did not notice how time was passing, +and we--Nelson, Forde, Hooper, and myself--fetched up at 2 a.m. to be met +by Captain Scott and comforted with cocoa. + +Atkinson's hand was dreadful to behold; he had blisters like great +puffed-out slugs on the last three fingers of his right hand, while on +the forefinger were three more bulbous-looking blisters, one of them an +inch in diameter. For days and days the hand had constantly to be +bandaged, P. O. Evans doing nurse and doing it exceedingly well. +Considering all things, we were fairly free of frostbite in the Scott +expedition, and there is no doubt that Atkinson's accident served as an +example to all of us to "ca' canny." + +Although we had our proportion of blizzard days I do not think our +meteorological record showed any undue frequency of high wind and +blizzards; but, as Simpson in his meteorological discussion points out, +we suffered far more in this respect than Amundsen, who camped on the Ice +Barrier far from the land. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but in the +light of after events one is compelled to state that had we stuck to our +original plan and made our landing four hundred miles or so to the +eastward of Ross Island, we should have escaped, in all probability, the +greater part of the bad weather experienced by us. Comparison with +Framheim, Amundsen's observation station, shows that we at Cape Evans had +ten times as much high wind as the Norwegians experienced. Our wind +velocities reached greater speeds than 60 miles an hour, whereas there +does not appear to be any record of wind higher than 45 miles an hour at +Amundsen's base at the Bay of Whales. Some of our anemometer records were +very interesting. In the month of July, when Wilson's party was absent, +we recorded 258 hours of blizzards, that is, of southerly winds of more +than 25 miles an hour speed. This was the record for the winter months, +but while we were depot-laying and waiting for the sea to freeze over at +Hut Point, no less than 404 hours of blizzard were recorded in one +month--March. Think of it, well over half the month was blizzard, with +its consequent discomfort and danger. The blizzard which nearly caused +the loss of the Cape Crozier party measured a wind force up to 84 miles +an hour; no wonder the canvas roof of the stone hut there was swept away! + +Our minimum temperature at the hut meteorological station was 50 degrees +below zero in July, 1911, and the maximum temperature during the winter +occurred in June when the thermometer stood as high as +19 degrees. + +Our ten ponies stood the winter very well, all things being considered. +One nearly died with cramp, but he pulled round in extraordinary fashion +after keeping Oates and myself up all night nursing him. In spite of the +names we assigned to the animals, largely on account of their being +presented to us by certain schools, institutions, and individuals, the +ponies were called by names conferred on them by the sailors and those +who led them out for exercise. The ten animals that now survived were +James Pigg, Christopher, Victor, Nobby, Jehu, Michael, Snatcher, Bones, +Snippets, and a Manchurian animal called Chinaman, who behaved very badly +in that he was always squealing, biting, and kicking the other ponies. A +visitor to the stables, if he lent a hand to stir up the blubber which +was usually cooking there, found himself generally welcome and certain to +be entertained. Oates and Meares, his constant companions, had both +served through the South African War, and had many delightful stories to +tell of their experiences in this campaign; their anecdotes are not all +printable, but no matter. Of Oates it is correct to say that he was more +popular with the seamen than any other officer. He understood these men +perfectly and could get any amount of work out of them, this was a great +advantage, because he only had his Russian groom permanently to assist +him, and he generally used volunteer labour after working hours to carry +out his operations. In the two lectures he gave us on "The Care and +Management of Horses," to which reference has been made, Oates showed how +much time and thought he had devoted to his charges, and to the +forthcoming pony-sledge work over the Great Ice Barrier. + +During the latter half of the winter Oates and I saw a good deal of one +another, as we daily exercised our ponies on the sea ice when Wilson's +party was away and afterwards also till the weather was light enough for +me to continue surveying. Oates led two ponies out generally-- +Christopher, the troublesome, and Jehu, the indolent while the care of +the rogue pony, Chinaman, devolved on myself. When the ponies went well, +which was usually the case, when they did not suffer from the weather, we +used to have long yarns about our respective services and mutual friends. +Oates would often discuss the forthcoming southern journey, and his +ambition was to reach the top of the Beardmore Glacier; he did not expect +to be selected for the southern party, which was planned to contain four +men only--two of these must have special knowledge of navigation, to +check one another's observations--the third would be a doctor, and it was +expected that a seaman would be chosen for the fourth. So Oates was +convinced that he had no chance, never for a moment appreciating his own +sterling qualities. + +By the spring the ponies were all ready to start their serious training +for the southern journey, and the proper leaders now took charge to daily +exercise their animals in harness. The older sledges were used with dummy +loads, varying in weight according to the condition and strength of the +pony. So well in fact and so carefully did Oates tend his charges, that +by the time they were required for the southern journey only Jehu caused +him any anxiety, even so this beast managed to haul a reasonable load for +a distance of nearly 280 miles. + +As to the dogs, the list was as follows: + + Poodle--killed during gale outward in ship. + Mannike Rabchick (Little Grouse)--died from fall into crevasse. + Vashka--died suddenly, cause unknown. + Sera Uki (Gray Ears)--died after cramp and paralysis of hind legs. + Seri do. do. + Deek do. do. + Stareek (Old Man)--sent back with first supporting party. + Deek the Wild One. + Brodiaga (Robber). + Biele Glas (White Eye). + Wolk (Wolf). + Mannike Noogis (Little Leader). + Kesoi (One Eye). + Julik (Scamp). + Tresor (Treasure). + Vida. + Kumugai. + Biela Noogis (White Leader). + Hohol (Little Russian). + Krisraviza (Beauty). + Lappe Uki (Lap Ears). + Petichka (Little Bird). + Cigane (Gipsy). + Giliak (Indian). + Osman. + Seri (Gray). + Sukoi (Lean). + Borup. + Rabchick (Grouse). + Ostre Nos (Long Nose). + Makaka (Monkey). + Chorne Stareek (Black Old Man). + Peary. + +_Note._--Borup and Peary were from the American North Polar Expedition +puppies. Borup was used in Dimitri's dog team which got right on to the +Beardmore Glacier, but Peary was never any use except for the other dogs +to sharpen their teeth on. He was a regular pariah. + +Apart from the sledge dogs, we had a bitch called Lassie for breeding +purposes, but she was a rotten dog and killed her puppies, so we might as +well have left her in New Zealand, where we got her. + +The dogs came through the winter very well, and during blizzards they +merely coiled themselves up into round balls of fur and let the snow +drift over them. Meares and Dimitri kept a very watchful eye over the dog +teams, and protected them against the prevailing winds with substantial +snow-shelters, always taking the weaker or sick animals into the annexe +where Birdie kept his stores, or else into the small dog hospital, which +was made by Dimitri and perfected by Meares. + +The sun returned to us on the 22nd August. We were denied a sight of it +owing to bad weather, for on the 22nd and 23rd August we had a blizzard +with very heavy snowfall, and the drift was so great that, when it became +necessary to leave the hut for any purpose, the densely packed flakes +almost stifled us. We hoped to see the sun at noon on the 23rd when it +was denied us on the previous day, but no such luck, the sun's return was +heralded by one of our worst blizzards, which continued with very +occasional lulls until August 26, when we actually saw the sun, just a +bit of it. I saw the upper limb from out on the sea ice, and Sunny Jim at +the same time got a sight of it from his observatory hill. How glad we +were. We drank champagne to honour the sun, people made poetry concerning +it, some of which--Birdie Bowers's lines--found their way eventually into +the "South Polar Times." The animals went half dotty over it, frisking, +kicking, and breaking away even from their leaders; they seemed to +understand so well, these little ponies, that the worst part of the +winter was gone--poor ponies! Long before the sun again disappeared below +the northern horizon the ponies were no more. + +There is not so very much in the statement that the sun had now returned, +but the fact, of little enough significance to those without the +Antarctic Circle, left something in our minds, an impression never to be +effaced--the snowed-up hut surrounded by a great expanse of white, the +rather surprised look an the dogs' faces, the sniffing at one's knees and +the wagging of tails as one approached to pat their heads, the twitching +of the ponies' ears and nostrils, and the rather impish attitude the +fitter animals adopted, the occasional kick out, probably meant quite +playfully, and above all the grins on the faces of the Russian grooms. +Yes, we were all smiling when the sun came back, even the horizon smiled +kindly at us from the north. The Barne Glacier's snout lost its +inexorable hard gray look and took on softer hues, and Erebus's slopes +were now bathed in every shade of orange, pink, and purple. To begin +with, we had very little of this lovely colouring, but soon the +gladdening tints stretched out over morning and afternoon. We were never +idle in the hut, but the sun's return seemed to make fingers lighter as +well as hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +SPRING DEPOT JOURNEY + + +However well equipped an expedition may be, there are always special +arrangements and adaptions necessary to further the labour-saving +contrivances and extend the radius of action. + +For this reason the short autumn journeys had been undertaken to test the +equipment as well as to give us sledging experience and carry weights of +stores out on to the Barrier. And now that Wilson had added yet more +knowledge to what we were up against, we set Evans and his seamen +companions on to the most strenuous preparations for going South with +sledges. Thus, while one lot of men were skilfully fitting sledges with +convenient straps to secure the loads against the inevitable bumping, +jolting, and capsizing, and lashing tank-like contrivances of waterproof +canvas on, to contain the component units of food, another set of people +would be fastening light wicker or venesta boxes athwart the sledge ends +for carrying instruments and such perishable things as the primus stoves +and methylated spirit bottles. These sledges were under the particular +charge of Petty Officer Evans, and he took delightful pride in his +office. What little gray dawn there was enabled him gleefully to inspect +the completed sledges as they stood ready in their special groups outside +our hut. + +The more general type would be the 12 ft. sledge, constructed of light +elm with hickory runners. On it were secured venesta wood trays for the +tins of paraffin, usually in front, the aforesaid capacious canvas tank, +and behind everything the oblong instrument box surmounted by light +wooden chocks for holding the aluminium cooker. + +All sledges had small manilla rope spans, secured in most seamanlike +fashion, to take the towing strain and throw it fairly through the +structure of these light but wonderfully strong sledges. + +While the sledging equipment advanced, Bowers, aided by Cherry-Garrard, +sorted out the rations, which he weighed and packed in the most +business-like manner. Bowers was always well served, for he had the happy +knack of enlisting volunteers for whatever his particular purpose called. + +By September 1 Scott must have felt that no portion of his preparations +was incomplete, for the travelling equipment had been taken in hand with +a thoroughness that was the outcome of zeal and thoughtful attention to +detail. + +Previous to the departure of the large caravan for the Polar journey, a +spring journey was proposed for the purpose of laying a small depot at +Corner Camp and generally reconnoitring. On account of the low spring +temperatures no animals were used for this trip, which was carried out by +Gran, Forde, and myself. + +We started on ski, pulling a heavy load of over six hundred pounds. We +marched from eight o'clock in the morning until nine at night, with a +short interval for lunch, and that first day out we covered twenty miles +and arrived on the Great Ice Barrier at the close of our march. The +Barrier in its bleak loneliness is probably the most desolate portion of +the earth's surface, with the possible exception of the high plateau +which forms the ice cap of the great Antarctic mountain ranges. Although +only twenty miles from our winter quarters at Cape Evans, the temperature +was 21 degrees lower, as we afterwards found by comparison. + +We were all three anxious to acquit ourselves well, and although the +temperature on camping was 42 degrees below zero we had not experienced +any great discomfort until we encountered a sharp, cold breeze off Cape +Armitage, which resulted in Forde having his nose badly frost-bitten. +Directly this was noticed we quickly unpacked our sledge, erected our +tent, and whilst Gran cooked the supper I applied what warmth I could to +Forde's nose to bring the frozen part of it back to life. + +Needless to say, the sharp air had keened our appetites, and we were all +eager for the fragrant smelling pemmican. We sat round on our rolled-up +fur sleeping-bags, warming our hands over the primus stove, and literally +yearning for the moment to arrive when the pemmican would boil and we +could absorb the delicious beverage and derive some badly needed warmth +therefrom. Following the pemmican and biscuit came a fine brew of cocoa. +This finished, the bags were unstrapped and laid out, when the three of +us soon curled up and, huddling together for warmth, endeavoured to get +to sleep. The thermometer, however, fell to 60 degrees below zero, and +the cold seemed to grip us particularly about the feet and loins. All +night we shivered and fidgeted, feeling the want of extra beat in the +small of our backs more than elsewhere. We got little or no sleep that +night, and my companions were as glad as I was myself when daylight came +and we got busy with our breakfast. + +We arrived at the old pony-food depot, Safety Camp, during the forenoon +of September 9, and dug out the stores and bales of compressed hay, which +we carefully tallied and marked by setting up a large black flag. Then we +continued towards Corner Camp. We covered only eight or nine miles this +second day on account of spending much time in digging out the depot at +Safety Camp. The temperature seemed to fall as we advanced into the +Barrier, and this night the thermometer fell to 62 degrees below zero, +which meant more shivering and even more discomfort, because now the +moisture from our bodies and our breath formed ice in the fur of our +sleeping-bags, especially at the head, hips, and feet. One can never +forget the horrible ice-clammy feeling of one's face against the frozen +fur. How I yearned for a whiff of mild New Zealand air and an hour of its +glorious sunshine to thaw my frozen form. + +In spite of the low temperature we did sleep this second night, for we +were tired men, and Nature nursed us somehow into a sort of mild +unconsciousness. + +On the third day of our march a considerable effort was necessary to +bring the sledge out of its settled position in the hard snow, but we +soon got going, like willing horses swaying at our load. The day was very +cold and our breath came out grayly steaming in the clear, crisp air. + +At first our faces, feet, and fingers were quite painful from the cold, +which bit right through, but as the march progressed the temperature rose +kindly, until towards noon it was only about 30 degrees below zero, warm +enough after what we had experienced earlier. + +As we trudged along we watched the mist which clothed the distant hills +uncurl from their summits and roll back into rising sheets of vapour +which finally dispersed and left a cloudless sky. The awful absence of +life struck strong notes within us. Even our feet made no noise at all, +clad in their soft fur boots, for we could no longer pull on ski owing to +the increasing weight of ice collecting in our sleeping-bags and on the +sledging equipment. + +We were disappointed as the day progressed, for the sky became overcast +and the wind blew stronger and stronger from the W.S.W: with low drifts, +and at 8.30 p.m., it being too dark to see properly, we camped. By the +time our tent was pitched a fair blizzard was upon us, and by 10 o'clock +the camp was well snowed up. In spite of the howling wind we made all +snug inside, and the temperature rose to such an extent that we got quite +a good night's rest. + +The blizzard continued throughout the night, but on the following day the +wind took off somewhat, and by the afternoon it was fine enough for us to +make a start again, which we did in a biting cold wind. We marched on +until nightfall, covering about seven and a half miles. + +On the 13th September, having shivered in my bag all night, at five +o'clock I told my companions to get up, both of them being awake. The +cold had been so dreadful that none of us had slept a wink, and we were +not at all surprised on looking at the thermometer when we found the +temperature was 73.3 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. + +We cooked a meal and then prepared to scout for Corner Camp. I got a +glimpse of Observation Hill, a well-known landmark, and took a bearing of +that and another hill. + +This gave me our whereabouts, and then we struck southward for a short +distance until we saw just the top of the flagstaff of Corner Camp, which +had been entirely buried up by the winter's snow-drifts. When we reached +the Camp we pitched our tent and dug out all the forenoon, until +eventually we had got all the stores repacked in an accessible fashion at +the top of a great snow cairn constructed by the three of us. It was +about the coldest day's work I ever remember doing. + +The job finished, we made ourselves some tea and then started to march +back to Hut Point, nearly thirty-five miles away. We proposed to do this +distance without camping, except for a little food, for we had no wish to +remain another minute at Corner Camp, where it was blowing a strong +breeze with a temperature of 32 degrees below zero all the time we were +digging, in fact about as much as we could stick. When four miles on our +homeward journey the wind dropped to a calm, and at 10.30 we had some +pemmican and tea, having covered nine and a half miles according to our +sledge meter. We started again at midnight, and, steering by stars, kept +our course correct. The hot tea seemed to run through my veins; its +effect was magical, and the ice-bitten feeling of tired men gave way once +more to vigour and alertness. + +As we started out again we witnessed a magnificent Auroral display, and +as we dragged the now light sledge onward we watched the gold white +streamers waving and playing in the heavens. The atmosphere, was +extraordinarily clear, and we seemed to be marching in fairyland, but for +the cold which made our breath come in gasps. We were cased lightly in +ice about the shoulders, loins, and feet, and we were also covered with +the unpleasant rime which our backs had brushed off the tent walls when +we had camped. On we went, however, confident but silent. No other sound +now but the swish, swish of our ski as we sped through the soft new snow. +In the light of the Aurora objects stood out with the razor-edge +sharpness of an after-blizzard atmosphere, and the temperature seemed to +fall even lower than at midnight. Our fingers seemed to be cut with the +frost burn, and frost bites played all round our faces, making us wince +with pain. + +We were marching, as, it were, under the shadow of Erebus, the great +Antarctic volcano, and on this never-to-be-forgotten night the Southern +Lights played for hours. If for nothing else, it was worth making such a +sledge journey to witness the display. First, vertical shafts ascended in +a fan of electric flame, and then the shafts all merged into a filmy, +pale chrome sheet. This faded and intensified alternately, and then in an +instant disappeared, but more flaming lights burst into view in other +parts of the heavens, and a phantom curtain of glittering electric violet +trembled between the lights and the stars. + +No wonder Wilson and Bowers stated that the Aurora effects were much +better and more variegated in colour this southern side of Mount Erebus. +The awful splendour of this majestic vision gave us all a most eerie +feeling, and we forgot our fatigue and the cold whilst we watched. + +The Southern Lights continued for some hours, only vanishing with the +faint appearance of dawn. With daylight the well-known hills which +surrounded our winter quarters thrust themselves into view, and gladdened +by this sight we redoubled our efforts. + +At 5 a.m. we had alight breakfast of tea and biscuits. We were off again +before six, and we continued marching until we came to the edge of the +Great Ice Barrier shortly before 1 p.m. We did not stop for lunch, but +marched straight to Hut Point, arriving at three o'clock at the Hut. + +We cooked ourselves a tremendous meal, which we ate steadily from 4 to +5.30, and then we discussed marching on to our winter quarters at Cape +Evans, fifteen miles farther. + +Had we started we might have got in by 3 a.m., but not before. We had +marched all through one night, and besides digging out Corner Camp, we +had covered nearly thirty-five miles, which on top of a day's work we +considered good enough. We therefore prepared the hut for the night; two +of us turned in about seven and soon fell asleep. Gran remained sitting +at the stove, as his bag was in such a shockingly iced-up condition that +he could not yet get into it. He awoke us about 10 p.m. with more food, +cocoa and porridge, both of which were excellent. I full well remember +that he put about four ounces of butter into each bowl of porridge, which +we mightily enjoyed. We then slept again till morning--a long, warm, +dreamless sleep. + +We had an easy march back to Cape Evans on the sea ice, and arrived in +the evening at the Main Hut, which appeared to us like a palace after our +cold spring journey. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +PREPARATIONS AND PLANS FOR THE SUMMER SEASON + + +Whilst the spring depot-laying party was absent, Scott, on September 15, +took a small sledge party counting Bowers, Seaman Evans, and Simpson away +westward. They covered over 150 geographical miles, and commenced by +taking over to Butter Point a quantity of stores for Griffith Taylor's +forthcoming western summer journey. + +The provisions deposited, Scott marched up the Ferrar Glacier to +Cathedral Rocks and did some scientific work and surveying. He found that +the Ferrar Glacier moved 32 feet in seven months. He then came back down +the Glacier and continued his march on sea ice, following the coast into +the five mile deep bay known as New Harbour, thence outward and North +Eastward to Cape Bernacchi and on past Marble Point, where the broken-off +portion of Glacier Tongue was found aground as stated already. + +After an examination of this ice mass the party pressed on past Spike +Point to Dunlop Island, sledging coastwise parallel to the Piedmont +Glacier, named by Griffith Taylor after Dr. Wilson. A thorough +examination was made of Dunlop Island, revealing many facts of +extraordinary scientific interest. + +On 24th September the sledge team retraced their steps from Dunlop Island +to a camp near Marble Point, and, after spending a night close to the +remnant of Glacier Tongue, they shaped course direct for Cape Evans, +which was reached about 1 a.m. on 29th September. + +Travelling mostly on sea ice, and well away from the frigidity of the Ice +Barrier, Scott was not troubled with any particularly low temperatures, +but he experienced a nasty blizzard on the two days preceding his return +to headquarters. + +Apart from the value of this journey in observations of a technical +nature, Scott gleaned much information, which he was able to impart to +Griffith Taylor concerning the very important journey to be undertaken by +the latter. + +Once back in the Hut, Scott set to work to put the final touches to his +elaborate plans, drew up instructions, got his correspondence in order +lest he should miss the "Terra Nova" through a late return from the Pole, +and even wrote a special letter urging that special promotion to +Commander's rank should be given to Pennell and myself. + +About this time he called on us severally to relieve him if we could of +the responsibility of paying us for the second season. Most of us signed +the document, but not all could afford to do so. + +The general outline plan for the Polar journey was now understood by all +concerned in it to be as follows: + +_The Motor Party._--Day, Lashly, Hooper, and myself to leave winter +quarters about October 22, the two motors dragging fuel and forage. + +_The Pony Party,_ consisting of Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers, +Cherry-Garrard, Atkinson, Wright, Petty Officer Evans, Crean, and +Keohane, to be independent of the success of the motors, to work light +loads and easy distances out to Corner Camp, full loads and easy +distances to One Ton Camp, and full distances beyond this point. + +_The Dog Teams,_ starting later, to rejoin Scott at One Ton Camp. + +The first object was to get twelve men with 43 weekly food units +provision (four men per weekly unit) to the foot of Beardmore Glacier. +Thence, with 3 units of four men and 21 units of provision, it was hoped +to extend the advance unit (Polar party of four men) the required +distance. The route intended was the actual one taken, as shown on the +accompanying map. + +All our instructions were clear, and we knew what was expected of us long +before the start for the Southern journey was made. + +The plans and instructions complete, we had a full month for our own +individual work. + +I had plenty to do in conjunction largely with Debenham, and accordingly +he, I, and Gran set out on September 23 with sledge, tent, and a week's +food supply to complete and extend our surveys, and in Debenham's case to +"geologise." + +We had an interesting but somewhat chilly time. Theodolite and plane +table work are not suited to very cold climates. We all three worked long +hours, usually turning out between 5 and 6 a.m. and not wasting time over +meals. + +Whilst away surveying we mostly worked on the sea ice, and pitched our +tent there. On October 2 at, midnight a terrific squall struck our tent. +We knew what Wilson's experience had been and consequently we were out of +our bags in a moment. Being close to land we got Gran to collect rocks on +the valance, while Debenham and I held on for our lives to it, otherwise +the tent would have blown away via McMurdo Sound into the Ross Sea. + +Eventually all was serene, the tent securely anchored by rocks piled +close around, and we three were snoring in our bags. + +We lay still until the following afternoon, by which time the blizzard +had abated, and one could see a mile or two; accordingly we were up and +about, so that when the visibility suited, Debenham and I were once more +at work and Gran was away to Cape Evans for the purpose of replenishing +our food bag. + +It is worthy of mention that Gran could easily carry sixty pounds weight +in a "rygsaek," (Norwegian knapsack for ski running and towing) and hung +about him whilst keeping up a speed on ski that made the best of us +sweat. + +Debenham whilst in the neighbourhood of the Turk's Head found much of +interest to geologists, and was pleased at what we collected in the way +of information. "Deb" was one of the best cooks in the expedition, so we +fared well whilst he was with Gran and myself. + +Gran kept us alive with his reminiscences, which were always amusing, and +he certainly possessed the liveliest imagination in the Expedition. He +ought to have been a brigand chief. Sometimes his imaginative foresight +led him to commit slight breaches of discipline, as the following +anecdote will show. On midwinter night when our table was gay and festive +Gran noticed an unopened pint bottle of champagne towards the end of the +feast, when "bubbley" was being superseded by port and liqueurs. Cleverly +he coaxed the champagne bottle on to his lap, under his jersey, and +finally into his bunk, where it remained hidden until such opportunity +should arise for its consumption. + +Gran was too generous to finish it himself, and too wise to divide it +with many--a pint was for two and no more. + +It so happened that whilst we two were working around Glacier Tongue this +spring doing survey work we had to come in to Cape Evans for some +purpose. We had a hard run out on ski to our camp, and my short legs +found great effort necessary to keep pace with the swarthy ski-runner. +Once arrived at the survey camp I puffed and blew and sank nearly +exhausted on my sleeping-bag in the tent. I told Gran we must have some +tea before re-commencing work, and reached out to get the cooker ready. +Gran asked me what I fancied most in the world, and my reply was--a pint +of champagne. + +He laughed and asked me what I would give him for that same, to which I +articulated, "FIVE POUNDS," and sank my tired head between my knees. +Noiselessly the Norwegian glided from the tent to reappear with the +stolen champagne bottle. I smiled delightedly, and soon we were hard at +work cooking the champagne into its liquid state once more, for it was of +course hard frozen in the low temperature. + +When we got the stuff melted it had lost its "fizz," but it tasted +nectar-like even from our aluminium sledge mugs, and such was the +stimulus from it that we worked until darkness had set in. I have never +paid the five pounds, for the reason that Gran chose a dinner party at +the Grand Hotel, Christiania instead: from a financial point of view I +should have gained by paying--but that is another story and has no +connection with the Frozen South. + +On October 13 we finished the coast survey in McMurdo Sound: generally +the weather was wretched, but this notwithstanding we got along fairly +well with our work. Once back in the Hut there was plenty to be done +preparing for the Southern Journey. + +My particular work consisted of rating chronometers, sewing, packing, +stowing, making sundials, calibrating instruments, and preparing little +charts which could be rolled up on a bamboo stick and carried in the +instrument boxes of the sledges. + +Poor Clissold, our cook, fell off an iceberg while posing for Ponting, +and was on account of his severe shaking unable to accompany the Motor +party for which Scott had detailed him. + +After dinner on October 17 Day started his motors, and amidst a perfect +furore of excitement he got one motor sledge down on to the sea ice. At +the ice foot, alas, one of the rear axle cases fractured badly and the +car was out of action 30 yards from the garage. The other car wouldn't +start. + +From the 18th until the 24th October, Day and Lashly were at work +repairing the disabled car, and they made an excellent job of it, so that +there was no delay in the starting date for the pioneer party with the +motors. + +We got all news by telephone from Hut Point with reference to the state +of the surface on the Great Ice Barrier, as Meares and Dimitri returned +on October 15 from a flying journey to Corner Camp and back with depot +stores. Meares's dogs on this trip covered the seventy statute miles, out +and home, in thirty-six hours, including their resting time. + +Scott handed me my instructions on October 20, which read as follows: + + _Instructions for Motor Party._ + + Proceed at convenient speed to Corner Camp, thence to One Ton Camp, + and thence due South to Latitude 80 1/2 degrees South. If motors + successful + + (i) Carry forward from Corner Camp 9 bags forage, 1 bag of oilcake; + _but_ see that provision for ponies is intact, _viz._: 3 sacks oats, + 1 bag oilcake, 4 bags of forage. If motors pulling very well you can + also take 9 cases emergency biscuit. + + (ii) In addition carry forward from One Ton Camp all man food and fuel + in depot, _viz._: 7 units bagged provisions, 4 boxes biscuit, 8 + gallons paraffin, but see that provision for ponies is intact, _viz._: + 5 sacks oats; and deposit second bag of oil-cake brought from Corner + Camp. If motors pulling very well you can also take 2 or 3 bales of + compressed fodder. + + It being important that I should have latest news of your success I am + arranging for dog teams to follow your tracks for some distance. + + If motors break down temporarily you will have time for repairs. + + If motors break down irretrievably, take 5 weeks' provision and 3 + gallons extra summit oil on 10 foot sledge and continue South easy + marches. Arrange as best you can for ponies to overtake you three or + four marches due South One Ton Camp. Advance as much weight (man food) + as you can conveniently carry from One Ton Camp, but I do not wish you + to tire any of party. The object is to relieve the ponies as much as + possible on leaving One Ton Camp, but you must not risk chance of your + tracks being obliterated and pony party missing you. + + (Signed) R. F. SCOTT. + +On October 23 I wrote my final letters to my wife and friends lest I +should get back to Cape Evans after the departure of the "Terra Nova": we +had by now decided that another winter was imperious, and as far as +possible those who were likely to remain a second winter wrote to this +effect, and left their letters in Simpson's charge. Before my departure +with the motors I also spent some time with my leader, and he gave me all +his instructions to the various parties to read. + +They are so explicit and comprehensive that I may well append certain of +them here, for they clearly show how Scott's organisation covered the +work of the ship, the base, the western party, the dog teams, and +even the arrangements for Campbell's party. + +I.--INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMMANDING OFFICER, "Terra Nova." + + _October_, 1911. + +The expedition suffered a considerable loss of ponies in March, but +enough remain to carry out the Southern Plan, under favourable +circumstances. + +This loss and experience with the remaining animals have decided me to +start the Southern journey at a later date than originally intended. + +As at present arranged the Southern Party leaves at the end of this month +(October), and it is estimated that if all goes well the earliest date at +which the most advanced party can return to McMurdo Sound is March 15. + +As it is probable the ship will be obliged to leave the Sound before this +party has returned, arrangements have been made to pass a second winter +at Cape Evans, and as is clearly desirable, the Scientific Staff will +remain to continue their work. + +If fresh transport is brought by the ship, other members of the +Expedition will remain to work it, and it is probable that an attempt +will be made to cross the Barrier in a S.S.E.ly direction in 1912-13. + +The ship must be prepared to return to the Sound in 1912-13 to relieve +those that remain for the second winter. + +Details concerning past events can be learned from the bearers of these +instructions. + +In all that follows I want you to understand clearly that you should +proceed in accordance with your judgment rather than the letter of these +instructions, where the further information you possess may cause it to +appear more expedient. + +Subject to this condition I wish you to carry out the following +programme:-- + +I assume that you arrive at the rendezvous, Granite Harbour, on or about +January 15, and pick up the Western Geological Party as arranged. + +The party will consist of Griffith-Taylor, Debenham, Gran, and Forde. + +The first copy of this document may be found by you at the depot made by +this party on the Bluff at the entrance of the Harbour, but I hope that +Taylor himself will hand it to you. + +In case the party should be absent it is well to quote Taylor's plan in +brief: + + To November 10--Exploring along coast North of Granite Harbour. + November 14 to 28--Exploring coast and inland South of Granite Harbour. + December 8 to January 8-Exploring inland of Granite Harbour region. + +Taylor will make every effort to return to Granite Harbour in time to +meet you, and should the party be absent you may assume that it has +probably been delayed inland. On the chance that it may have been cut off +you may proceed to search the coast in a Southerly direction if ice +conditions permit. + +The time occupied in the search must be left to your judgment, observing +that the party will reach Granite Harbour with sufficient provision to +last till April, 1912, and should be able to work its way back to this +depot. + +All things considered, I do not think you need be anxious about the +party, even if you find a search impracticable, having regard to your +future movements, and you will remember that the search will be more +easily prosecuted as the season advances. + +Should the party be recovered at once, as is most probable, I wish you to +take it to Evans Coves, and land it without delay. The provisions carried +by the party should be sufficient to support it for about two months, to +provide for the possibility of the failure of the ship to return. + +I imagine this landing will be effected about January 18 or 19, and the +party should be instructed to be prepared to be re-embarked on February +15. It will, of course, be under your orders, and you should be careful +that the place for relief is thoroughly understood by all concerned. + +After landing this party you will proceed to Cape Evans, and should you +reach it on or about January 23 you will have three weeks in McMurdo +Sound before proceeding to finally relieve the Geological Party. + +There will be a great deal of work to be done and very little assistance: +the order in which it is performed must depend on the state of the ice, +etc., but of course the practical work of relieving the station must take +precedence in point of importance. + +Simpson will remain in charge of the station, and is provided with +complete lists of the stores remaining, together with the requirements +for the future. Bowers will have left a letter for you concerning these +matters. It is probable that a good many of the stores you bring will not +be required on shore, and in any case you will easily determine what is +wanted. If 10 tons of patent fuel remain, we shall not require more than +15 tons of additional fuel. + +In addition to stores I hope you will be landing some fresh transport +animals. Oates has drawn a plan for extending the stable accommodation, +which will be left with Simpson. The carpenter should be landed for this +work and for the few small alterations in the hut accommodation which may +be necessary. + +The Discovery Hut at Cape Armitage has now been put into fairly good +order, and anticipating that returning parties may have to remain there +for some time, as we did last year, I am arranging to transport a +quantity of stores to Hut Point. In case the ponies are unable to finish +this work, I should like you to complete it at some convenient season. +According to circumstances you will probably wait till the ice has broken +well back. + +Mails and letters for members of the Southern Party should be taken to +Hut Point and left in clearly marked boxes. + +Simpson will inform you of the plan on which the Southern Journey is +being worked. The first returning parties from the South should reach Hut +Point towards the end of January. At as early a date as convenient I +should like you to proceed to the Western side of the Sound + +(i) To find a snug berth in which the ship can take shelter during +gales. + +(ii) To erect the meteorological hut if you have brought it with you. + +From a recent sledge trip to the West I am inclined to think that +excellent shelter could be found for the ship alongside the fast ice in +the Ferrar Glacier Inlet or in New Harbour, and it might be well to make +headquarters in such a place in time of disturbance. But it would be wise +to keep an eye to the possibility of ice pressure across the Sound. + +It might be possible to moor the ship under the shelter of Butter Point +by a hawser secured to balks of timber buried deep in the snow; she +should he easy at a long scope. In regards to the hut my idea is to place +it in as sheltered a spot as possible, at or near a spot which commands a +view of the Strait, the main object being to make it a station from which +the phenomena of blizzards, etc., can be observed. Simpson, who was with +me in the West, will give you some idea of our impressions. + +You will understand that neither of the above objects are of vital +importance. + +On the proper date you will return to Evans Coves to pick up the +Geological Party. + +I must assume that Campbell has been landed in the region of Robertson +Bay in a place that is fairly accessible at this season. If this is so I +think it is desirable that you should visit his station after leaving +Evans Coves to communicate fresh instructions to him. + +Campbell was directed to be prepared to embark on February 25, and it is +probable that he will have returned a few days before that date. + +In view of the return of the ship in 1912-13 I propose to give Campbell's +Party the choice of remaining another winter in their station under +certain conditions or of returning to New Zealand. Should they decide to +stay, the necessary stores for them can now be landed. Should they decide +to return, inform Priestley that he is at liberty to remain at Cape Evans +for a second winter if he wishes to do so. + +Should the party be absent from the station you must leave the +instructions and return to McMurdo Sound. I do not think you should delay +beyond February 24 on this service. + +You should be back in McMurdo Sound at the end of February or March, and +after collecting fresh news, I hope you will be able to moor the ship and +await developments for at least ten days. + +The term of this stay must be left entirely to your judgment, observing +that whilst it is highly undesirable for you to miss the latest possible +news, it would be more undesirable for you to be caught in the ice and +forced to winter. + +Concerning this matter I can only give you information as to what had +happened in previous years: + + Last year the Bays froze permanently on March 24. + Last year the Sound froze permanently on May 7 or 8. + +By the Bays I mean the water south of Hut Point, inside Turtle Back +Island, south of Glacier Tongue, inside the islands north of Glacier +Tongue, and, I think, the western shores of the Sound. + +The following gives the ice movements in the Sound in more detail: + + March 24.-25. Ice forming and opening with leads. + " 26. Sea clear. + " 27. Strait apparently freezing. + " 28 (early). Ice over whole Sound. + " 29. All Ice gone. + " 30. Freezing over. + April 1. Ice out, etc. + +This sort of thing continued till May, with lengthening intervals, but +never more than three days of frozen sea. + +The dates of freezing over in 1902 were approximately the same, except +that the Sound continued to open beyond the Glacier Tongue throughout the +winter. + +In 1903 the Bays did not break out, but the Sound was freezing and +opening in March and April as in the other years. I think it is certain +that the old ice lately broken as well as all the broken young ice drifts +to the west, and that a ship on the western side of the Sound would be +pretty certainly entangled at this season of the year. + +I think it more than probable that you will find all the old ice broken +out when you return from the north, and the Bay south of Cape Armitage +completely open. + +If so, this seems to me to be a good place for you to wait, moored to the +edge of the Barrier, if possible. Young ice will constantly form about +you, but I do not think you need fear its detaining you until after the +third week in March. I am afraid it may be very cold and unpleasant +waiting in such a situation, and possibly better and safer conditions for +the ship can be found farther to the west and nearer to the decayed +Glacier ice south of Black Island. + +Moored here the ship would have a clear sea to leeward, whereas in the +Bay beyond Cape Armitage she might have a lee shore. You will know best +how to make a good permanent ice anchor. + +There are shoals off Cape Armitage which may extend for one or even two +miles, and careful navigation is needed in this immediate vicinity. The +shoals off Hut Point and the west side of the Peninsula do not extend +more than a ship's length from the shore. Otherwise, except inside the +Islands, I believe the Sound to be free from such dangers. + +In case you choose to wait in a spot somewhat remote from Hut Point I am +arranging to attract your attention in the following manner:--Very's +lights will be discharged and as large a flare as possible will be burnt +at Hut Point at midnight or noon (you will remember we are keeping time +for 180th meridian). + +As large a flag as possible will be displayed on the skyline of the +heights near by, and attempts to heliograph with a looking-glass will be +made. + +With a keen lookout for such signals you need not frequently approach the +Hut. + +In the above I have referred to the young ice in the Sound only; there is +no means of knowing what is happening farther north, but I am of opinion +that as long as the "Terra Nova" is free to move in the Southern Bays, +she will have no great difficulty in leaving the Ross Sea. + +You will understand that the foregoing remarks are intended as helpful +suggestions and that I do not wish them to interfere with your judgment +of the situation as it stands; above all, I would not have them to prompt +you to take a risk in detaining the ship beyond the time which you think +proper for her departure. I fully realise that at this critical time, +when gales are very frequent, your position will be beset with +difficulties, and I much regret that it is necessary to ask you to +undertake such an uncomfortable service. + +Apart from, but concurrently with, the services which have been +discussed, I know that you will be anxious to help forward the scientific +objects of the Expedition. Having regard to your interests in such +matters, they also are left mainly to your judgment, and I wish only to +specify some lines on which any soundings taken would be especially +important. + +These seem to be: + + 1. In the space occupied by the old Glacier Tongue (some two miles of + the Tongue was broken off last summer). + 2. Across the Sound in one or two places to give a section of the + bottom elevations. + 3. Across any fiords on the coast such as the Ferrar Glacier Inlet. + 4. Off the end of ice tongues or the edge of ice walls. + 5. Off the old pinnacled ice north of Black Island. + 6. From a boat near the Barne Glacier. + 7. From a boat around grounded bergs. + +I have now to mention various matters of lesser importance to which I +should like attention given if time and circumstances permit. + +1. The Hut Galley is not in a very satisfactory condition. I should like +Williams to overhaul it and try to make it more serviceable for a second +season. + +2. The coast of Victoria Land has been redrawn over the "Discovery" +track. I should be glad to have definite evidence on this point. Any +replotting of coast will of course be valuable. + +3. Boot-leather, stout boot-nails, and useful paper are requirements +which I hope you will be able to supply sufficiently for a second season. + +4. The only want for the second season which I can foresee is reindeer +pelts for repairing sleeping-bags. I very much fear you will not have +brought any: anything you can provide to make good the want would be +acceptable. + +5. If convenient Williams might look at the blubber cooking stove in the +Discovery Hut and provide some sheet metal, etc., to keep it in good +repair. + +6. One of the old blubber stoves adapted as in stables and some chimney +pipe should be placed in the Meteorological Hut if it is erected to the +west. + +7. To provide for possible difficulty in keeping up supply of blubber for +Discovery Hut stove in March and April it might be useful to have a few +bags of coal there, if you can spare them and land them conveniently. +Last year we managed very well without coal. + +8. If when erecting the stables, etc., the carpenter has not time to see +to smaller matters, such as the repairing of the porch entrance, etc., +will you please leave sufficient wood for the purpose. A drift screen +would be an advantage outside door of porch. + +9. If you erect the Meteorological Hut, and can conveniently do so, it +would help for you to leave a few cases of provisions in it. Bowers +leaves a note with Simpson on this point. + +10. If at any time during the season it is convenient to you without +undue expenditure of coal to land at Cape Crozier, I should like you to +leave a small depot of provisions there. The object of this depot is to +support a sledge party to visit the region early next season. Bowers +leaves a note with Simpson concerning the stores required. They should be +placed near the Discovery record post. + +11. To assist the signalling to you from Hut Point you might land rockets +or port-fires. + +In regard to the constitution of the wintering party for the second +winter, much must remain in doubt. The following members will return in +any case: + + 1. Taylor, whose leave of absence transpires. + 2. Ponting, who will have completed his work. + 3. Anton, who has had enough of it. + +_Anton_ took the dark season very badly; it preyed on his superstitions, +but he has worked like a Trojan and is an excellent little man. Please +recommend him highly if he wants to get work in New Zealand. + +_Meares_ may possibly return; it depends on letters from home. + +The following are certain to stay: Bowers, Simpson, Debenham, Wright, +Nelson, Atkinson, Clissold, Hooper, Dimitri. + +The movements of the following depend (i) on the date of the return from +the South; (ii) on the fresh transport which you have brought: Myself, +Wilson, Evans, Oates, Cherry-Garrard, Gran, Day, and the seamen. + +If you have brought fresh transport the probability is that all these +will remain. If you have not brought fresh transport the majority, if not +all, who are able to catch the ship will return. The decision is in every +case voluntary and subject to alteration on receipt of home news or from +other causes. + +It is impossible for me to speak too highly of any member of the +Expedition who has remained in this party, and you must do your best to +see that the reasons of returning members are generally understood. + +In regard to my agreement with the Central News I am leaving with Simpson +under separate cover a telegraphic despatch concerning the doings of this +party, containing about 3000 words. I hope you will duly receive letters +from me through returning sections of the Southern Party. I must leave it +to you to complete the despatch with this material, with news from +Campbell, and with an account of your own doings. + +You will remember that the agreement is for a minimum of 6000 words, and +we must not fail in the performance of our part, Drake must take special +care to have the "Hereward" message correct. + +As a matter of form, it will be well for you to remind every one +returning in the ship of the terms of the ship's articles. + +Ponting will be in charge of all the photographic material returning, and +will see to the observance of the various agreements concerning it. + +His own work is of the greatest importance, and it is probable that he +will wish to be in the ship during your trip to recover the Geological +Party and communicate with Campbell. + +I should like you to give him every facility you can for his work, but of +course you will remember that he is an enthusiast, and in certain +circumstances might undervalue his own safety or that of the ship. I +don't want you to run risks to get pictures. + +I have hitherto made no mention of Amundsen, as we have no news of him +beyond that which you brought. The circumstances do not appear to me to +make it incumbent on you to attempt to visit his station. But should the +"Fram" not have been heard of, or public opinion seem to point to the +advisability, you are of course at liberty to go along the Barrier and to +rearrange this programme as necessary for the purpose. + +Finally, I wish you every sort of good fortune in the work that is to do, +and better weather than you encountered last year. I am sure that you +will do all that is possible under the circumstances. + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + +II.--INSTRUCTIONS TO DR. G. C. SIMPSON. + +MY DEAR SIMPSON,--In leaving you in charge of the Cape Evans Station I +have little to do beyond expressing the hearty wish that all may be well +with yourself and the other members of the Expedition remaining with you. + +I leave in your charge a box containing instructions for the Commanding +Officer of the "Terra Nova" and other documents which I wish you to +deliver to the proper persons. + +I think you are fully aware of my plans and wishes, beyond their +expression in the various statements you have seen, and that it is +needless to go further with written explanations. + +As you know, it is arranged for Ponting, Hooper, and Anton to make a +journey to the S.W. in December. Ponting will leave with you a written +statement giving an outline of his intended movements. Later in the +season he will probably visit Cape Royds and other interesting +localities: please give him what assistance you can in his important +work. + +From time to time Meares may be visiting the station, and I hope that by +this means, or through the telephone, you may receive information as to +the progress of the Southern Party. + +The thawing of the drifts in summer will have to be carefully watched and +such measures as are necessary taken to avoid injury to the Hut and the +stores. Cases should not be exposed to wet or tins to rust. + +The breaking of the sea ice should be carefully watched, noted, and +reported to Hut Point when possible. + +Bowers will leave notes with you concerning store requirements and +desirable expenditure. I anticipate the ship may have some difficulty in +reprovisioning the station. You will of course render all the assistance +you can. + +Details as to the improvement of the Hut for a second winter will become +more evident as the season advances. In addition to the probable +renovation of the stables I can only suggest the following points at +present: + + 1. An extension or rebuilding of the entrance porch so that the outer + door faces north. Regard must be had to the possibility of bringing + sledges into hut. + 2. A shelter extension to latrine. + 3. The construction of an air-tight embankment or other device at the + base of the hut walls to keep the floor warmer. + 4. The betterment of insulation in your corner, and the provision of a + definite air inlet there. + 5. The caulking of small holes and slits in the inner roof. + 6. The whale boat should be looked to and probably filled with water + under advice from ship. + +After departure of Southern Party all mattresses and bedding should be +rolled up, and as opportunity occurs they should be thoroughly dried in +the sun. + +You will remember that as the summer advances certain places in the solid +floe become dangerously weak. It should be well to keep watch on such +places, especially should they occur on the road to Hut Point, over which +parties may be travelling at any time. It is probable there will be a +rearrangement of the currents in the region of Tent Island since the +breaking of the Glacier Tongue. + +(Signed) R.F. Scott. + + +III.--INSTRUCTIONS LEADER OF WESTERN PARTY. + +1911. +The objects of your journey have been discussed, and need not here be +particularised. In general they comprise the Geological exploration of +the coast of Victoria Land. + +Your party will consist of Debenham, Gran, and Forde, and you will cross +the Sound to Butter Point on or about October. + +You will depart from Butter Point with provision as under: + + 11 weeks' pemmican. + 10 gallons oil. + 18 weeks' remainder. + 25 lb. cooking fat. + +and make along the coast to Granite Harbour. You will leave at Butter +Point two weeks' provision for your party, for use in case you are forced +to retreat along the coast late in the season, and for the same +eventuality you will depot a week's provision at Cape Bernacchi. + +On arrival in Granite Harbour you will choose a suitable place to depot +the main bulk of your provision. + +As the Commanding Officer of the "Terra Nova" has been referred to the +bluff Headland, shown in the photograph on page 154 "Voyage of the +'Discovery'," as the place near which you are likely to be found, it is +obviously desirable that your depot should be in this vicinity. + +I approve your plan to employ your time thereafter approximately as +follows: + +During what remains of the first fortnight of November in exploring north +of Granite Harbour. + +During the last fortnight in November in exploring south of Granite +Harbour. + +The only importance attached to the observance of this programme, apart +from a consideration of the work to be done, lies in the fact that in +case of an early break up of the sea ice and your inability to reach the +rendezvous, the ship is directed to search the coast south of Granite +Harbour. + +You should act accordingly in modifying your plans. + +It will certainly be wise for you to confine your movements to the +regions of Granite Harbour during the second week in January. + +You will carry a copy of my instructions to the Commanding Officer of the +"Terra Nova," which you are at liberty to peruse. + +This should be left at your depot and the depot marked, so that the ship +has a good chance of finding it in case of your absence. + +You will, of course, make every effort to be at the rendezvous at the +proper time, January 15, and you need not be surprised if the ship does +not appear on the exact date. The Commanding Officer has been instructed +in the following words: + + "I wish the ship to be at Granite Harbour on or about January 15.... + No anxiety need be felt if she is unable to reach this point within a + week or so of the date named." + +You are now in possession of all the information I can give you on this +point, and it must be left to your discretion to act in accordance with +unforeseen circumstances. + +Should the ship fail to find you it is probable she will not make a +protracted search before going to Cape Evans to gather further +particulars and land stores; it is to be remembered also that an extent +of fast ice or pack may prevent a search of the coast at this early +season. + +Should the ship fail to appear within a fortnight of the date named you +should prepare to retreat on Hut Point, but I am of opinion that the +retreat should not be commenced until the Bays have refrozen, probably +towards the end of March. An attempt to retreat over land might involve +you in difficulties, whereas you could build a stone hut, provision it +with seal meat, and remain in safety in any convenient station on the +coast. In no case is an early retreat along the coast to be attempted +without the full concurrence of the members of your party. + +Should the ship embark you on or about the proper date, you will take on +board your depot stores, except one week's provision. These stores should +serve your travelling needs for the remainder of the season. + +Whilst expressing my wishes to the Commanding Officer of the "Terra +Nova," I have given him full discretion to act according to +circumstances, in carrying out the further programme of the season. + +You will, of course, be under his orders and receive his instructions +concerning your further movements. + +In your capacity as leader of a party I cannot too strongly impress on +you the necessity for caution in your movements. Although you will +probably travel under good weather conditions, you must remember that +violent storms occasionally sweep up the coast and that the changes of +weather are quite sudden, even in summer. I urge this the more especially +because I think your experiences of last year are likely to be +misleading. + +I am confident that it is not safe for a party in these regions to be at +a great distance from its camp, and that, for instance, it would be +dangerous to be without shelter in such storms as that encountered by the +"Discovery" off Coulman Island early in January, 1902. + +With camp equipment a party is always safe, though it is not easy to +pitch tent in a high wind. + +I can forsee no object before you which can justify the risk of accident +to yourself or to the other members of your party. + +I wish you to show these instructions to Debenham, who will take charge +of the party in case you should be incapacitated. + +I sincerely hope you will be able to accomplish your work without +difficulty, and I am sure that Pennell will do his best to help you. +Yours, + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + +IV.--INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOG TEAMS. + +_October_ 20. +DEAR MEARES,--In order that there may be no mistake concerning the +important help which it is hoped the dog teams will give to the Southern +Party, I have thought it best to set down my wishes as under: + +Assuming that you carry two bags of oilcake to Hut Point, I want you to +take these with five bags of forage to Corner Camp before the end of the +month. This will leave two bags of forage at Hut Point. + +If the motors pass Hut Point en route for the Barrier, I should be glad +to get all possible information of their progress. About a day after they +have passed if you are at Hut Point I should like you to run along their +tracks for half a day with this object. The motors will pick up the two +bags of forage at Hut Point--they should be placed in a convenient +position for this purpose. + +The general scheme of your work in your first journey over the +Barrier has been thoroughly discussed, and the details are +contained in Table VIII of my plan of which you should have a +copy. I leave you to fix the date of your departure from Hut Point, +observing that I should like you to join me at One Ton Camp, or very +shortly after. + +We cannot afford to wait. Look for a note from me at Corner Camp. The +date of your return must be arranged according to circumstances. Under +favourable conditions you should be back at Hut Point by December 19 at +latest. + +After sufficient rest I should like you to transport to Hut Point such +emergency stores as have not yet been sent from Cape Evans. At this time +you should see that the Discovery Hut is provisioned to support the +Southern Party and yourself in the autumn in case the ship does not +arrive. + +At some time during this month or early in January you should make your +second journey to One Ton Camp and leave there: + + 5 units X.S. ration. + 3 cases of biscuit. + 5 gallons of oil. + As much dog food as you can conveniently carry (for third journey). + +This depot should be laid not later than January 19, in case of rapid +return of first unit of Southern Party. + +Supposing that you have returned to Hut Point by January 13, there will +be nothing for you to do on the Southern road for at least three weeks. +In this case, and supposing the ice conditions to be favourable, I should +like you to go to Cape Evans and await the arrival of the ship. + +The ship will be short-handed and may have difficulty in landing stores. +I should like you to give such assistance as you can without tiring the +dogs. + +About the first week of February I should like you to start your third +journey to the South, the object being to hasten the return of the third +Southern unit and give it a chance to catch the ship. The date of your +departure must depend on news received from returning units, the extent +of the depot of dog food you have been able to leave at One Ton Camp, the +state of the dogs, etc. + +Assuming that the ship will have to leave the Sound soon after the middle +of March, it looks at present as though you should aim at meeting the +returning party about March 1 in Latitude 82 or 82.30. If you are then in +a position to advance a few short marches or "mark time" for five or six +days on food brought, or ponies killed, you should have a good chance of +affecting your object. + +You will carry with you beyond One Ton Camp one X.S. ration, including +biscuit and one gallon of paraffin, and of course you will not wait +beyond the time when you can safely return on back depots. + +You will of course understand that whilst the object of your third +journey is important, that of the second is vital. At all hazards three +X.S. units of provision must be got to One Ton Camp by the date named, +and if the dogs are unable to perform this service, a man party must be +organised. + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + +V.--INSTRUCTIONS TO LIEUT. VICTOR CAMPBELL. + +Cape Evans, _October_, 1911. +MY DEAR CAMPBELL,--This letter assumes that you are landed somewhere to +the north of this station and that Pennell is able to place it in your +hands in the third week of February before he returns to McMurdo Sound. + +From Pennell's instructions, which I have asked him to show you, you will +see that there is a probability of some change in the future plans +whereby some members of the Expedition remain for a second winter at Cape +Evans. + +You will learn the details of the situation and the history of this +station from Pennell and others, and I need not go into these matters. + +If things should turn out as expected, arrangements will have to be made +for the "Terra Nova" to return to the Ross Sea in the open season +1912-13. Under these circumstances an opportunity offers for the +continuance of useful work in all directions. I have therefore to offer +you the choice of remaining in your present station for a second year or +of returning in the "Terra Nova." + +I shall not expect you to stay unless: + + (1) All your party are willing or can be replaced by volunteers. + (2) The work in view justifies the step. + (3) Your food supplies are adequate. + (4) Your party is in a position to be relieved with certainty on and + after February 25, 1913. + (5) Levick and Priestley are willing to forgo all legal title to + expeditionary salary for the second year. + +I should explain that this last condition is made only because I am in +ignorance of the state of the expeditionary finances. + +Should you decide to stay I hope that Pennell may be able to supply all +your requirements. Should you decide to return please inform Priestley +that he is at liberty to stay at Cape Evans for the second winter. + +The same invitation is extended to yourself should you wish to see more +of this part of the continent. + +We could not afford to receive more of your party. + +Should you not have returned from your sledge trip in time to meet the +"Terra Nova" when she bears this letter, you will understand that the +choice of staying or returning is equally open to you when she returns in +March. + +In this case it would of course be impossible for any of your party to +stay at Cape Evans. + +Should you see Pennell in February and decide to return, you could remain +at your station till the ship sails north in March if you think it +advisable. + +Being so much in the dark concerning all your movements and so doubtful +as to my ability to catch the ship, I am unable to give more definite +instructions, but I know that both you and Pennell will make the best of +the circumstances, and always deserve my approval of your actions. + +In this connection I conclude by thanking you for the work described in +your report of February last. I heartily approve your decision not to +winter in King Edward's Land, your courteous conduct towards Amundsen, +and your forethought in returning the two ponies to this station. + +I hope that all has been well with you and that you have been able to do +good work. I am sure that you have done everything that circumstances +permitted and shall be very eager to see your report. +With best wishes, etc., + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +SOUTHERN JOURNEY--MOTOR SLEDGES ADVANCE + + +On October 24, 1911, the advance guard of the Southern Party, consisting +of Day, Lashly, Hooper, and myself, left Cape Evans with two motor +sledges as planned. We had with us three tons of stores, pony food, and +petrol, carried on five 12 ft. sledges, and our own tent, etc., on a +smaller sledge. The object of sending forward such a weight of stores was +to save the ponies' legs over the variable sea ice, which was in some +places hummocky and in others too slippery to stand on. Also the first +thirty miles of Barrier was known to be bad travelling and likely to tire +the ponies unnecessarily unless they marched light, so here again it was +desirable to employ the motors for a heavy drag. + +We had fine weather when at 10.30 a.m. we started off, with the usual +concourse of well-wishers, and after one or two stops and sniffs we +really got under way, and worked our loads clear of the Cape on to the +smoother stretch of sea ice, which improved steadily as we proceeded. +Hooper accompanied Lashly's car and I worked with Day. + +A long shaft protruded 3 ft. clear each end of the motors. To the +foremost end we attached the steering rope, just a set of man-harness +with a long trace, and to the after end of the shaft we made fast the +towing lanyard or span according to whether we hauled sledges abreast or +in single line. Many doubts were expressed as to the use of the despised +motors--but we heeded not the gibes of our friends who came out to speed +us on our way. They knew we were doing our best to make the motors +successful, and their expressed sneers covered their sincere wishes that +we should manage to get our loads well on to the Barrier. + +We made a mile an hour speed to begin with and stopped at Razorback +Island after 3 1/2 miles. + +We had lunch at Razorback, and after that we "lumped," man-hauled, and +persuaded the two motors and three tons of food and stores another mile +onward. The trouble was not on account of the motors failing, but because +of a smooth, blue ice surface. We camped at 10 p.m. and all slept the +sleep of tired men. October 25 was ushered in with a hard wind, and it +appeared in the morning as if our cars were not going to start. We had +breakfast at 8 a.m. and got started on both motors at 10.45, but soon +found that we were unable to move the full loads owing to the blue ice +surface, so took to relaying. We advanced under three miles after ten +hours' distracting work--mostly pulling the sledges ourselves, jerking, +heaving, straining, and cursing--it was tug-of-war work and should have +broken our hearts, but in spite of our adversity we all ended up smiling +and camped close on 9 p.m. + +The day turned out beautifully fine and calm, but the hard ice was +absolutely spoiling the rollers of both cars. + +Whilst we were preparing for bed, Simpson and Gran passed our tent and +called on us. They were bound for Hut Point. I told Simpson our troubles +about the surface, and he promised to telephone from Hut Point to Captain +Scott. + +Next day we got going with certain difficulties, and met Gran and Simpson +four miles from Hut Point. They told us that a large man-hauling party +was on its way out from Cape Evans to assist us. The weather was superb +and we all got very sunburnt. Captain Scott and seven others came up with +us at 2 p.m., but both motors were then forging ahead, so they went on to +Hut Point without waiting. + +Meantime we lunched, and afterwards struck a bad patch of surface which +caused us frequent stops. We reached Hut Point at 8 p.m. after stopping +the motors near Cape Armitage, and spent the night in the Hut there, +camping with Scott's party, Meares and Dimitri. + +The motor engines were certainly good in moderate temperatures, but our +slow advance was due to the chains slipping on hard ice. Scott was +concerned, but he made it quite clear that if we got our loads clear of +the Strait between White Island and Ross Isle, he would be more than +satisfied. + +Meares and Bowers cooked a fine seal fry for us all, and we spent a happy +evening at Hut Point. The Hut, thanks to Meares and Dimitri, was now, for +these latitudes, a regular Mayfair dwelling. The blubber stove was now a +bricked-in furnace, with substantial chimney, and hot plates, with +cooking space sufficient for our needs, however many, were being +accommodated. + +On October 27 I woke the cooks at 6.30 a.m., and we breakfasted about 8 +o'clock, then went up to the motors off Cape Armitage. Lashly's car got +away and did about three miles with practically no stop. Our carburettor +continually got cold, and we stopped a good deal. Eventually about 1 p.m. +we passed Lashly's car and made our way up a gentle slope on to the +Barrier, waved to the party, and went on about three-quarters of a mile. + +Here we waited for Lashly and Hooper, who came up at 2.30, having had +much trouble with their engine, due to overheating, we thought. When +Day's car glided from the sea ice, over the tide crack and on to the +Great Ice Barrier itself, Scott and his party cheered wildly, and Day +acknowledged their applause with a boyish smile of triumph. As soon as +Lashly got on to the Barrier, Scott took his party away and they returned +to Cape Evans. It would have been a disappointment to them if they had +known that we shortly afterwards heard an ominous rattle, which turned +out to be the big end brass of one of the connecting rods churning +up--due to a bad casting. + +Luckily we had a spare, which Day and Lashly fitted, while Hooper and I +went on with the 10 ft. sledge to Safety Camp. + +Here we dug out our provisions according to instructions and brought them +back to our camp to avoid further delay in repacking sledges. We then +made Day and Lashly some tea to warm them up. They worked nobly and had +the car ready by 11 p.m. We pushed on till midnight in our anxiety to +acquit ourselves and our motors creditably. The thermometer showed -19.8 +degrees on camping, and temperature fell to -25 degrees during the night. + +October 28 was my birthday; all hands wished me many happy returns of the +day, and I was given letters from my wife and from Forde and Keohane, who +somehow remembered the date from last year--these two, with Browning and +Dickason, I had brought into the Expedition from H.M.S. "Talbot," one of +my old ships. But to continue: we were all ready to start at 11 a.m. in a +stiff, cold breeze, when I discovered that my personal bag had been taken +off by the man-hauling party that came to assist us, so I put on ski and +went to Hut Point, six miles back. I found Meares there, and he gave me a +surprised but hearty welcome and wished me "Happy returns, Teddy." I +explained what had happened; it had been done of course the night before +when my namesake had taken my personal bag in to Hut Point from Cape +Armitage to save me the trouble of carrying it after a hard day's work +with the motors. As I had had no need of it, I never noticed its presence +at Hut Point, so there it was. Meares made me laugh by an in the most +friendly way, as if I was calling on him in his English home, "Stay and +have lunch, won't you, Teddy?" Of course I did, but as I was wanted by +the Motor Party it was a somewhat hurried meal, fried seal liver and +bacon. We were not allowed to eat bacon on account of scurvy precaution, +but still, it was my birthday, and nobody let me forget it. Feeling much +better and less angry after this unlooked for ski-run, I swung out to the +Barrier edge, over the sea ice, up the Barrier slope, and on to the +Barrier itself, where I picked up the tracks of the motors and followed +them for seven miles. I remember that ski run well: I felt so very lonely +all by myself on the silent Barrier, surrounded as I was by lofty white +mountains, which lifted their summits to the blue peaceful heavens. I +thought over the future of the Southern Party and wondered how things +would be one year hence; this was indeed facing the unknown. I enjoyed +the keen air, and the crisp surface was so easy to negotiate after my +former Barrier visits with a heavy sledge dragging one back, but the very +easiness I was enjoying made me think of Amundsen and his dogs. + +If the Norwegians could glide along like this, it would be "good-bye" to +our hopes of planting Queen Alexandra's flag first at the South Pole. As +a matter of fact, while I was then making my way along to overtake the +motors, Amundsen and his Polar party were beyond the 80th parallel, +forcing their way Southward and hourly increasing their distance from us +and from Captain Scott, who had not even started. Yes, Amundsen was over +150 miles farther South, and his sledge runners were slithering over the +snow, casting its powdered particles aside in beautiful little clouds +while I was rapidly overhauling the motors with their labouring, sorely +taxed custodians, Day, Lashly, and Hooper. It seems very cruel to say +this, but there's no good in shutting one's eyes to Truth, however +unpleasantly clad she may be. I caught the motors late in the afternoon +after running nine miles; they had only done three miles whilst I had +been doing fifteen. We continued crawling along with our loads, stopping +to cool the engines every few minutes, it seemed, but at 11 p.m. they +overheated to such an extent that we stopped for the night. I was fairly +done, but not too tired to enjoy the supper which Hooper cooked, with its +many luxuries produced by him. Hooper had informed Bowers of my birthday, +and obtained all kinds of good things, which we despatched huddled +together in our tents; for it was about 20 degrees below zero when we +turned in well after midnight. + +We intentionally lay in our bags until 8.30 next morning, but didn't get +those dreadful motors to start until 10.45 a.m. Even then they only gave +a few sniffs before breaking down and stopping, so that we could not +advance perceptibly until 11.30. We had troubles all day, and were forced +to camp on account of Day's sledge giving out at 5 p.m.--we daren't stop +for lunch earlier, for once stopped one never could say when a re-start +could be made. + +We depoted here four big tins of petrol and two drums of filtrate to +lighten load of Day's sledge. Started off at six and soon found that the +big end brass on No. 2 cylinder of this sledge had given out, so dropped +two more tins of petrol and a case of filtrate oils. We thereupon +continued at a snail's pace, until at 9.15 the connecting rod broke +through the piston. We decided to abandon this sledge, and made a depot +of the spare clothing, seal meat, Xmas fare, ski belonging to Atkinson +and Wright, and four heavy cases of dog biscuit. I left a note in a +conspicuous position on the depot, which we finished constructing at +midnight. We wasted no time in turning in. + +The clouds were radiating from the S.E., a precursor of blizzard, we +feared, and sure enough we got it next day, when it burst upon us whilst +we were putting on our footgear after breakfast. There was nothing for it +but to get back into our sleeping-bags, wherein we spent the day. + +On the 31st we were out of our bags and about, soon after six, to find it +still drifting but showing signs of clearing. After breakfast we dug out +sledges, and Lashly and Day got the snow out of the motor, a long and +rotten job. The weather cleared about 11 a.m. and we got under way at +noon. It turned out very fine and we advanced our weights 7 miles 600 +yards, camping at 10.40. P.M. + +As will be seen, these were long days, and although he did not say it, +Day must have felt the crushing disappointment of the failure of the +motors--it was not his fault, it was a question of trial and experience. +Nowadays we have far more knowledge of air-cooled engines and such +crawling juggernauts as tanks, for it may well be argued that Scott's +motor sledges were the forerunners of the tanks. + +On November 1 we advanced six miles and the motor then gave out. Day and +Lashly give it their undivided attention for hours, and the next day we +coaxed the wretched thing to Corner Camp and ourselves dragged the loads +there. + +Arrived at this important depot we deposited the dog pemmican and took on +three sacks of oats, but after proceeding under motor power for 1 1/2 +miles, the big end brass of No. 1 cylinder went, so we discarded the car +and slogged on foot with a six weeks' food supply for one 4-man unit. Our +actual weights were 185 lb. per man. We got the whole 740 lb. on to the +10 ft. sledge, but with a head wind it was rather a heavy load. We kept +going at a mile an hour pace until 8 p.m. + +I had left a note at the Corner Camp depot which told Scott of our trying +experiences: how the engines overheated so that we had to stop, how by +the time they were reasonably cooled the carburettor would refuse duty +and must be warmed up with a blow lamp, what trouble Day and Lashly had +had in starting the motors, and in short how we all four would heave with +all our might on the spans of the towing sledges to ease the starting +strain, and how the engines would give a few sniffs and then stop--but we +must not omit the great point in their favour: the motors advanced the +necessaries for the Southern journey 51 miles over rough, slippery, and +crevassed ice and gave the ponies the chance to march light as far as +Corner Camp--this is all that Oates asked for. + +It was easier work now to pull our loads straight-forwardly South than to +play about and expend our uttermost effort daily on those "qualified" +motors. + +Even Day confessed that his relief went hand in hand with his +disappointment. He and Hooper stood both over six feet, neither of them +had an ounce of spare flesh on them. + +Lashly and I were more solid and squat, and we fixed our party up in +harness so that the tall men pulled in front while the short, heavy pair +dragged as "wheelers." Scott described our sledging here as "exceedingly +good going," we were only just starting, that is Lashly and myself, for +we two were in harness for more than three months on end. + +I was very proud of the Motor Party, and determined that they should not +be overtaken by the ponies to become a drag on the main body. As it +happened, there was never a chance of this occurrence, for Scott +purposely kept down his marches to give the weaker animals a chance. + +As will be seen, we were actually out-distancing the animal transport by +our average marches, for in spite of our full load we covered the +distances of 15 1/2 to 17 miles daily, until we were sure that we could +not be overtaken, before arriving at the appointed rendezvous in latitude +80 degrees 30 minutes. + +Now was the time for marching though, fine weather, good surfaces, and +not too cold. The best idea, of our routine can be gleaned by a type +specimen diary page of this stage of the journey: + + "_November_ 4, 1911.--Called tent at 4.50 a.m. and after building a + cairn started out at 7.25. Marched up to 'Blossom' cairn (Lat. 78 + degrees 2 minutes 33 seconds S. Long. 169 degrees 3 minutes 25 + seconds E.) where we tied a piece of black bunting to pull Crean's + leg--mourning for his pony. We lunched here and then marched on till + 6.55 p.m., when we camped, our day's march being 15 miles 839 yards. + I built a snow cairn while supper was being prepared. Surface was very + good and we could have easily marched 20 miles, but, we were not + record breaking, but going easy till the ponies came up. All the same + we shall have to march pretty hard to keep ahead of them. Minimum + temperature: -12.7 degrees, temperature on camping +5 degrees." + +We were very happy in our party, and when cooking we all sang and yarned, +nobody ever seemed tired once we got quit of the motors. We built cairns +at certain points to guide the returning parties. We had a light snowfall +on November 6 and occasional overcast, misty weather, but in general the +visibility was good, and although far out on the Barrier we got some view +of the Victoria Land mountain ranges. Very beautiful they looked, too, +but their very presence gave an awful feeling of loneliness. + +I must admit it all had a dreadful fascination for me, and after the +others had got into their sleeping-bags I used to build up a large snow +cairn, and whilst resting, now and again I gazed wonderingly at that +awful country. + +The Bluff stood up better than the rest, as of course it was so much +nearer to us, and the green tent looked pitifully small and inadequate by +itself on the Barrier, nothing else human about us. Just the sledge trail +and the thrown-up snow on the tent valance, a confused whirl of sastrugi +leading in no direction particularly, a glistening sparkle here, there, +and everywhere when the sun was shining, and the far distant land sitting +Sphinx-like on the Western horizon, with its shaded white slopes, and its +bare outcrops of black basalt. Wilson in our "South Polar Times" wrote +some lines entitled, "The Barrier Silence"--sometimes the silence was +broken by howling blizzard, then and only then, except by the puny +handful of men who have passed this way. Only in Scott's first and +Shackleton's "Nimrod" Expedition had men ever come thus far. + +We reached One Top Depot on November 9, and took on four cases of +biscuits and one pair of ski, which brought our loads up to 205 lb. per +man. Even this extra weight permitted us to keep our marches over 12 +miles, but we had the virtue of being very early risers, a sledging habit +to which I owe my life. + +We snatched many an hour outward and home, ward due to this. + +In Latitude 80 degrees we found an extraordinary change in the surface: +so soft in fact that we found ourselves sinking in from 8 to 10 +inches--this gave us a very hard day on 13th November when, with load +averaging over 190 lb. per man, we hauled through it for 12 miles. Fears +were expressed for the ponies at this stretch, for here they would be +pulling full loads. The 14th offered no better conditions of surface, but +we stuck it out for 10 hours' solid foot slogging, when we camped after +hauling 12 miles. + +Apart from the surface we enjoyed the weather, a wonderful calm and +beautiful blue sky. On November 15, after building a guiding snow cairn, +we continued southward to Lat. 80 degrees 31 minutes 40 seconds S. Long. +169 degrees 23 minutes E., where we camped to await Scott, his party, and +the ponies. I proposed to build an enormous cairn here to mark the 80 1/2 +degree depot, so after lunch we inspected ourselves and found nothing +worse than sunburnt faces and a slight thinning down all round. + +We commenced the cairn after a short rest. + +November 16 passed quietly with no signs of the ponies, and on November +17 we remained in camp all day wondering rather why the ponies had not +come up with us. We thought they must be doing very poor marching. To +employ our time we worked hours at the cairn, which soon assumed gigantic +proportions. We called it Mount Hooper after our youngest member. Day +amused us very distinctly at Mount Hooper Camp. + +Day, gaunt and gay, but what a lovable nature if one can apply such an +adjective to him. He entertained the rest of us for a week out of +"Pickwick Papers." The proper number of hours in the forenoon were spent +in building the giant depot cairn, then lunch, and then the cosy +sleeping-bags and Day's reading. It was unforgettable, and I think we all +watched his face, which took somehow the expression of the character he +was reading about. + +We put in a good deal of sleep in those days and went walks, such as they +were, in a direct line away from the tent and directly back to the tent. +We must surely have been the first in the world to spend a week +holiday-making on that frozen Sahara, the Great Ice Barrier. + +There is little enough to record during this wait at Mount Hooper. We +could have eaten more than our ration, and to save fuel we occasionally +had dry hoosh for supper, which means that we broke all our biscuits up +and melted the pemmican over the primus, half fried the biscuit in the +fat pemmican, and made a filling dish. The temperature varied between +twenty below zero and a couple of degrees above. + +November 20 found us growing impatient, for I find in my diary that day: + + "Once again we find no signs of the ponies: we all say D---- and look + forward to the next meal: Day reads more Pickwick to us and keeps us + out of mischief. I got sights for error and rate of chronometer + watches, but these are not satisfactory with so short an epoch as our + stay at Mount Hooper, when change in altitude is so slow. Beyond + working out the sights I did really nothing. Temperature at 8 p.m. +7 + degrees, Wind South-West 3-4. Cirrus clouds radiating from S.W. + Minimum temperature -14 degrees." + +But at last relief from our inactivity came to us. On 21st November, just +before 5 a.m., Lashly woke me and said the ponies had arrived. Out we all +popped to find Atkinson with poor, old "Jehu," Wright with "Chinaman," +and Keohane with my old friend "James Pigg." + +They looked tired, the ponies' leaders, and we looked as though we had +come out of a bull fight in a barn, with our hair grown long and full of +the loose reindeer hairs from the sleeping-bags, all mixed with our +beards and jerseys. After hallos and handshakes, smiles and grunts, we +asked for news, and were gratified to find that all was well with men and +beasts alike. What delay there was was due to blizzards and to the +marches being purposely kept down to give the weaker animals a chance: +Day facetiously remarked, "We haven't seen anything of Amundsen"--seeing +that the valiant Norseman was in Latitude 85 degrees 30 minutes S. nearly +eleven thousand feet up above the altitude of the Barrier at this date +one is not surprised. + +For all our peace of mind it was well we did not know it. + +We yarned away about ourselves and our experiences, then got our cooker +under way to have breakfast and to await the arrival of Captain Scott and +the seven lustier ponies. They arrived before our breakfast was ready; +more greetings and much joy in the motor party. Scott expressed his +satisfaction at our share in the advance, hurriedly gave us further +instructions, and then proceeded, leaving us to join at their camp 3 1/2 +miles farther south: Accordingly we deposited a unit of provisions at the +cairn, put up a bamboo with a large black flag on it, left two of the +boxes of biscuit from One Ton Depot and three tins of paraffin, and then +set out. + +We came up to the Main Camp at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, pitched our +tent, had a conference with Captain Scott, cadged some biscuits, and then +cooked lunch and got into our sleeping-bags to await the hour of 6 p.m. +before commencing our southward march as pioneers and trail breakers. + +Scott had with him the following, leading ponies: Wilson, Oates, Bowers, +Cherry-Garrard, Edgar Evans, and Crean, besides the aforesaid three with +the "crocks." + +Meares and Dimitri drove dog teams and every one was in good health and +sparkling spirits. Our leader ordered the motor party, or man-hauling +party, as we were now termed, to go forward and advance 15 miles daily, +and to erect cairns at certain prearranged distances, surveying, +navigating, and selecting the camping site. The ponies were to march by +night and rest when the sun was high and the air warmer. Meares's dogs +were to bring up the rear--and start some hours after the ponies since +their speed was so much greater. + +So we started away at 8.15 p.m., marched 7 miles and a bittock to lunch, +putting up a "top-hat" cairn at 4 miles, two cairns at the lunch camp, +one cairn three miles beyond, and so on according to plan. + +Atkinson's tent gave us some biscuit, cheese, and seal liver, so that day +we lived high. After lunch we continued until the prescribed distance had +been fully covered. + +We noticed that there were ice crystals like spikes, with no glide about +them, and the surface continued thus until 3 a.m. when there was a sudden +change for the better. Quite substantial pony walls were built by the +horsemen when they camped--all these marks ensuring a homeward marching +route like a buoyed channel. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +THE BARRIER STAGE + + +Depots were made every 65 miles: they were marked by big black flags +flying from bamboos, and we saw one of them, Mount Hooper, nine miles +away. Each depot contained one week's rations for every returning unit. + +That outward Barrier march will long be remembered, it was so full of +life, health, and hope--our only sad days came when the ponies were +killed, one by one. But hunger soon defeated sentiment, and we grew to +relish our pony-meat cooked in the pemmican "hoosh." + +On November 24 Oates slew poor old "Jehu" by a pistol shot in Latitude 81 +degrees 15 minutes--this being the first pony to go. The dogs had a fine +feed from the poor animal's carcass, and Meares was very glad, likewise +Dimitri. + +Incidentally, the dogs were not the only ones who feasted on "Jehu's" +flesh. Pony-meat cooks very well, and it was a rare delicacy to us, the +man-haulers. + +As will be gathered, Scott proposed to kill pony after pony as a +readjustment to full load became possible with the food and fodder +consumption. The travelling now was a vastly different matter to the work +of the autumn. The weather was fine and the going easy. Every day made +sledging more pleasant, for the ponies had got into their swing, and the +sun's rays shed appreciable warmth. Although we spoke of day and night +still, it must be remembered that there was really no longer night, for +the sun merely travelled round our heavens throughout the twenty-four +hours. Its altitude at midnight would be about 12 or 13 degrees, whilst +at noon it would have risen to 28 or 29. + +Some of the days of travel were without incident almost, the men leading +their ponies in monotonous file across the great white waste. The ponies +gave little trouble; Meares's dogs, with more dash, contained their +drivers' attention always. + +Day and Hooper turned back in Latitude 81 degrees 15 minutes at "Jehu's" +grave, and Atkinson, his erstwhile leader, joined the man-haulers. The +two who now made their way homeward found considerable difficulty in +hauling the sledge, so they bisected it and packed all their gear on a +half sledge. They were accompanied by two invalid dogs, Cigane and +Stareek, and their adventures homeward bound were more amusing than +dangerous--the dogs were rogues and did their best to rob the sledge +during the sleeping hours. In due course Day and Hooper reached Cape +Evans none the worse for their Barrier trudge. + +Wright's pony, Chinaman, was shot on November 28, and the Canadian joined +the man-haulers. We were glad of his company and his extra weight. + +On November 29 we passed Scott's farthest South, (82 degrees 17 minutes), +and near this date had light snow and thick weather. + +On November 30 we had a very hard pull, the Barrier surface being covered +with prismatic crystals--without any glide we felt we might as well be +hauling the sledges over ground glass, but diversion in the shape of +Land-oh: I think I sighted Mount Hope refracted up, and pointed it out to +Captain Scott. + +On December 1 we began to converge the coast rapidly, and we were only +thirty miles from the nearest land. The view magnificent, though lonely +and awful in its silence. One would very soon go mad without company down +here. + +December 1 saw the end of "Christopher," but as the soldier fired his +pistol at him the pony threw up his head and the bullet failed to kill, +although passing through the beast's forehead. Christopher ran to the +lines bleeding profusely, but Keohane and I kept him from the other +ponies, and Oates shortly after put another bullet into the wretched +animal, which dropped him. Christopher was no loss, as he gave endless +trouble on the Barrier march. However, he was tender enough, as we found +when Meares cut him up for the dogs and brought our tent a fine piece of +undercut. + +On December 2 we had a trying time, starting off in a perfectly poisonous +light, which strained our eyes and made them very painful. It snowed +almost incessantly throughout the day. Nevertheless we had a dim, sickly +sun visible which helped the steering. As the pony food was running short +the pony "Victor" was shot on camping. + +I visited Meares and Dimitri in the dog-tent, and they gave me some +"overs" in the shape of cocoa and biscuit, for which I was truly +grateful, as I had been hungry for a month. + +A blizzard started on December 4, which delayed us for some hours. Our +party found it had a surplus of 27 whole biscuits--no one could account +for this; we told Bowers, however, and he did not seem surprised, so I +think he shoved in a few biscuits here and there. He told me that some +tins carried 2 lb. more than was marked on them. We covered about 13 +miles despite the bad weather beginning the day. + +On December 4 we arrived within 12 miles of Shackleton's gap or Southern +Gateway: we could see the outflow of the Beardmore Glacier stretching +away to our left like a series of huge tumbling waves. As we advanced +southwards hopes ran high, for we still had the dogs and five ponies to +help us. Scott expected to camp on the Beardmore itself after the next +march, but bad luck, alas, was against us. The land visible extended from +S.S.W. through S. to N.W. More wonderful peaks or wedge-shaped spines of +snow-capped rock. The first and least exciting stage of our journey was +practically complete. A fifth pony was sacrificed to the hungry +dogs--"Michael," of whom Cherry Garrard had only good words to say--but +then the altruistic Cherry only spoke good words. We did over 17 miles on +December 4, heading for the little tributary glacier which Shackleton +named the Gap; it bore S. 9 degrees E. fifteen miles distant when we put +up our tent. + +Whilst marching well ahead of the pony party we unconsciously dropped +into a hollow of an undulation, and foolishly did not spot it when we +paused to build a cairn. Continuing our march we looked back to find no +cairn. This first indicated to us the existence of undulations in the +neighbourhood, and we frequently lost the ponies to view. + +We appreciated that we were outdistancing them, however, and camped at 8 +p.m. + +It being my cooking week, and, as we fondly imagined, our penultimate day +on the Great Ice Barrier, combined with a very good march and a very +bright outlook, we had an extra fine hoosh; it contained the full +allowance of pemmican, a pannikin full of pony flesh cut in little +slices, about 1 1/2 pints of crushed biscuit from our surplus, and some +four ounces of cornflour with pepper and salt. + +I also had the pleasure of issuing four biscuits each, or twice the +ration, Meares and Dimitri having given us eight whole biscuits which +they spared from their supply. + +The dog drivers were not so ravenous as the man-hauling party, which was +natural, but still it was uncommonly generous of them to give us part of +their ration for nothing. + +I made an extra strong whack of cocoa, as we still had some of my private +tea left, so could save cocoa. I brought tea in lieu of tobacco in my +personal bag. At least that night the man-hauling party turned in on full +stomachs. + +We were all tired out and asleep in no time, confident and expectant, but +before enjoying the comfort and warmth of our sleeping-bags had an +admiring look at the land stretched out before us, and particular +application of the eye to the Gap or Southern Gateway, which seemed to +say "Come on." + +So far on the journey I have not mentioned the word "blizzard" seriously, +for we had not hitherto been hampered severely. The 5th December was in +truth a Black Day for all. Once more the demon of bad luck held the trump +cards against us. Another blizzard started, which tore our chances of any +great success to ribbons--it was the biggest knock-down blow that Scott +sustained in the whole history of his expedition to date. Here he was, a +day's march from the Beardmore Glacier, with fourteen men, in health and +high fettle, with dogs, ponies, food, and everything requisite for a +great advance, but it was not to be, our progress was barred for four +whole days, and during that period we had essentially to be kept on full +ration, for it would have availed us nothing to lose strength in view of +what we must yet face in the way of physical effort and hardship--we were +but one day's march from Mount Hope, our ponies had to be fed, the dogs +had to be fed, but they could do no work for their food. There was +nothing for it but cheerful resignation. Our tent breakfasted at the +aristocratic hour of 10.15 a.m., and Atkinson and I went out to fill the +cooker afterwards--the drift was terrible and the snow not fine as usual, +but in big flakes driving in a hard wind from S.S.E. It was not very +cold, perhaps it would have helped things later if it had been. Our tents +quickly snowed up for nearly three feet to leeward. In the camp we could +only sleep and eat, the tent space became more and more congested, and +those lying closest to the walls of the tents were cramped by the weight +of snow which bore down on the canvas. The blizzard on the second day +pursued its course with unabated violence, the temperature increased, +however, and we experienced driving sleet. The tent floor cloths had +pools of water on them, and water dripped on our faces as we lay in our +sleeping-bags. Outside the scene was miserable enough, the poor ponies +cowering behind their snow walls the picture of misery. Their more +fortunate companions, the dogs, lay curled in snug balls covered in snow +and apparently oblivious to the inclemency of the weather. Our lunch at +5.30 broke the monotony of the day. + +We had supper somewhere near 9 p.m. and then slept again. + +December 6 found still greater discomfort, for we had sleet and actually +rain alternating. The wind continued and ploughed and furrowed the +surface into a mash. Our tents became so drifted up that we had hardly +room to lie down in our bags. I fancied the man-haulers were better off +than the other tents through having made a better spread, but no doubt +each tent company was sorrier for the others than for itself. We +occasionally got out of our bags to clear up as far as we were able, but +we couldn't sit around and look foolish, so when not cooking and eating +we spent our time in the now saturated bags. The temperature rose above +freezing point, and the Barrier surface was 18 inches deep in slush. +Water percolated everywhere, trickling down the tent poles and dripping +constantly at the tent door. + +We caught this water in the aluminium tray of our cooker. + +The ponies arrived at the state of having to be dug out every now and +again. They were wretchedness itself, standing heads down, feet together, +knees bent, the picture of despair. Hard and cruel as it may seem, it was +planned that we should keep them alive, ekeing out their fodder until +December 9, when it was proposed that we should use them to drag our +loads for 12 miles and shoot them, the last pound of work extracted from +the wretched little creatures. + +I am ashamed to say I was guilty of an unuttered complaint after visiting +the ponies, for I wrote in my diary for December 6 concerning the five +remaining Siberian ponies: + + "I think it would be fairer to shoot them now, far what is a possible + 12 miles' help? We could now, pulling 200 lb. per man, start off with + the proper man-hauling parties and our total weights, so why keep + these wretched animals starving and shivering in the blizzard on a + mere chance of their being able to give us a little drag? Why, our + party have never been out of harness for nearly 400 miles, so why + should not the other eight men buckle to and do some dragging instead + of saving work in halfpenny numbers?" + +Still, it is worthy of mention that on the day the ponies did their last +march every man amongst their leaders gave half his biscuit ration to his +little animal. + +This dreadful blizzard was a terrific blow to Oates. He of all men set +himself to better the ponies' state during the bad weather. The animals +lost condition with a rapidity that was horrible to observe. The cutting +wind whirling the sleet round the ponies gave them a very sorry time, but +whenever one peeped out of the tent door there was Oates, wet to the +skin, trying to keep life in his charges. I think the poor soldier +suffered as much as the ponies. He had felt that every time he re-entered +his tent (which was also Captain Scott's) that he took in more wet snow +and helped to increase the general discomfort. This being the case when +he went out to the ponies, he stopped out, and kept his vigil crouching +behind a drifted up pony-wall. We others could not help laughing at him, +after the blizzard, when he wrung the icy water out of his clothing. His +personal bag was in a fearful state, his sodden tobacco had discoloured +everything, and as he squeezed his spare socks and gloves a stream of +nicotine-stained water flowed out. I am unable to reproduce his +observations on the subject--they were dry, picturesque, and to the +point, and even our bluejackets, who were none too particular about +language, looked at Oates with undisguised astonishment at the length and +variety of his emergency vocabulary. + +December 7 showed no change: the blizzard was continuous, food our only +comfort. Personally I read Atkinson's copy of "Little Dorrit," for it +sufficed nothing to despair; we could not move, and one had to be +patient. + +Next day we had less wind, but it snowed most of the day. We did, all the +same, get glimpses of the sun and one of the land. Dug out all sledges +and hauled them clear, then tried the surface, and to Scott's and our own +surprise my party hauling on ski dragged the sledge with four big men +sitting on it over the surface as much as we chose. + +I had thought it beyond our power, it is true. We then returned to camp. +Without ski one sank more than knee deep in the snow. The horses were +quite unable to progress, sinking to their bellies, so no start was made. +We shifted our tent and re-spread it on new snow well trampled down. This +brief respite from our sleeping-bags freed our cramped limbs. Weather +improved and we did not find it necessary after all to get back into our +bags, for it was still warm and quite pleasant sitting in the tent. + +What a sight the camp had presented before we started digging out. The +ponies like drowned rats, their manes and tails dank and dripping, a +saturated blotting-paper look about their green horse cloths, eyes half +closed, mouths flabby and wet, each animal half buried in this Antarctic +morass, the old snow walls like sand dunes after a storm. + +The green tents just peeping through the snow, mottled and beaten in, as +it were, all sledges well under, except for here and there a red paraffin +oil tin and the corner of an instrument box peeping out. Our ski-sticks +and ski alone stood up above it all, and those sleeping-bags, +ugh--rightly the place was christened "Shambles Camp." + +On December 9 the blizzard was really over; we completed the digging out +of sledges and stores and wallowed sometimes thigh-deep whilst getting +the ponies out of their snow-drifted shelters. Then we faced probably the +hardest physical test we had had since the bailing out in the great gale +a year ago. We had breakfast and got away somewhere about 8 a.m. My party +helped the pony sledges to get away for a mile or two; the poor brutes +had a fearful struggle, and so did we in the man-hauling team. We panted +and sweated alongside the sledges, and when at last Captain Scott sent us +back to bring up our own sledge and tent we were quite done. Arrived at +the Shambles Camp we cooked a little tea, and then wearily hauled our +sledge for hour after hour until we came up with the Boss, dead +cooked--we had struggled and wallowed for nearly 15 hours. The others had +certainly an easier time but a far sadder time, for, they had to coax the +exhausted ponies along and watch their sufferings, knowing that they must +kill the little creatures on halting. + +Oh, Lord--what a day we had of it. Fortunately we man-haulers missed the +"slaughter of the innocents," as some one termed the pony killing. When +we got to the stopping place all five ponies had been shot and cut up for +dog and man food. + +This concluded our Barrier march: the last was tragic enough in its +disappointment, but one felt proud to be included in such a party, and +none, of us survivors can forget the splendid efforts of the last five +ponies. + +Meantime Roald Amundsen had a gale in Lat. 87-88 degrees on December 5, +with falling and drifting snow, yet not too bad to stop his party +travelling: he was 11,000 feet above our level at this time and covering +25 miles a day. He also experienced thick weather but light wind on the +7th December and on the day of our sorrowful march he was scuttling along +beyond Shackleton's farthest South, indeed close upon the 89th Parallel. +It is just as well we did not know it too. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +ON THE BEARDMORE GLACIER AND BEYOND + + +Probably no part of the Southern journey was enjoyed more thoroughly than +that stage which embraced the ascent of the Beardmore Glacier. Those who +survive it can only have refreshing reminiscences of this bright chapter +in our great sledge excursion. Scientifically it was by far the most +interesting portion travelled over, and to the non-scientific it +presented something interesting every day, if only in the shape, colour, +and size of the fringing rocks and mountains--a vast relief from the +monotony of the Barrier travel. + +First we had Mount Hope at the lower end of the Glacier. Mount Hope is a +nunatak of granite, about 2800 feet in height, of which the summit is +strewn with erratics, giving evidence of former glaciation of far greater +extent. + +This was the first land we had passed close to since leaving Hut Point +six weeks previously, and now we had roughly 150 miles of travelling, +with something to look at, some relief for the eyes to rest on in place +of that dazzling white expanse of Barrier ice, with its glitter and +sparkle, so tiring to the eyes. We knew that we must expect crevasses +now, hidden and bare, and we also knew that we must every day rise our +camps until we reached the plateau summit in 10,000 feet. The Beardmore +itself is about 120 miles in length and from 10 to 30 miles wide. We had +no geologist with us, but specimens have been collected by Shackleton's +people, and our own members, particularly Scott's Polar sledge party, +which are sufficient to give a history of this part of Antarctica. + +December 10 showed our party on to the Glacier, but we were not "out of +the wood" by this date. For we had some hard graft marching up the steep +incline called by Shackleton the Southern Gateway. We had made a depot of +three ten-foot sledges in good condition to be used for the homeward +journey over the Barrier by each returning unit--realising that the +descent of the Glacier would knock our sledges about and most likely +break them up to some extent. + +We were now organised into three teams of four, pulling 170 lb. per man, +and in this formation we made the advance up the Glacier. + +The teams were as follows: + + 1.--Scott. 2.--Evans (Lieut.) 3.--Bowers. + Wilson. Atkinson. Cherry-Garrard + Oates. Wright. Crean. + Evans (Seaman). Lashly. Keohane. + +With us we kept the dog teams pulling 600 lb. of our own weights and the +200 lb. gross for placing in the Lower Glacier Depot. + +Soft snow made the dragging very heavy, and in the afternoon, working on +ski, I am sorry to say my party dropped astern and got into camp an hour +late--it could not be helped, we had borne the brunt of the hard work; +Lashly and I had man-hauled daily for five weeks, and Atkinson and Wright +for some time also. I had a long talk next morning after breakfast with +Captain Scott. He was disappointed with our inability to keep up with the +speed of the main party, but I pointed out that we could not expect to do +the same as fresh men--the other eight had only put on the sledge harness +for the first time on December 10: Scott agreed, but seemed worried and +fretful. However that may be, we got into the lunch camp first of the +three sledges, to have our short-lived triumph turned to disaster by a +very poor show after the meal--Scott was much disappointed and +dissatisfied: he appeared to think Atkinson was done; Wilson said Wright +was played out and Lashly tired. They both seemed to think I was all +right, but all the same I felt that my unit had been called on to do more +than its share and was suffering as a natural consequence. The depot was +built in a conspicuous position, and this done, Meares's work ended. He +and Dimitri came along with us for a while and then turned back for a +long, lonely run over the inhospitable Barrier. + +To help us Meares and the Russian dog-boy had travelled farther South +than their return rations allowed for, and for the 450 mile Northward +march to Cape Evans the two of them went short one meal a day rather than +deplete the depots. It is a dreadful thing on an Antarctic sledge journey +to forfeit a whole meal daily, and Meares's generosity should not be +forgotten. + +The advance of Scott's men up the Beardmore was retarded considerably by +the deep, wet snow which had accumulated in the lower reaches of the +Glacier. + +Panting and sweating we could only make 4 mile marches until the 13th +December, and even then the soft snow was 18 inches deep. On the 14th we +made a good 9 miles, but only by dint of our utmost efforts--we worked on +ski, and I tremble to think what we should have done here without them. +The aneroids gave us a rise of about 500 feet a day. Things were +improving now, and on December 15 we passed the 84 degree parallel--about +this time we succeeded in covering 9 to 10 miles daily, and to do this we +marched that same number of hours. A good deal of snow covering the +mountain ranges, but some remarkable outcrops of rock to vary the +scenery. The temperature was very high, and we were punished severely on +this account, for the snow was like beef dripping, and we flopped about +in it and hove our sledges along with no glide whatever to help us move +forward. Such panting, puffing, and sweating, but all in good humour and +bent on doing our best. Snowing hard in the latter part of the afternoon +just as the surface was improving--we were forced to camp before the +proper time on this account. On camping we calculated that we were 2500 +feet above the Barrier, the surface promising better things, for there +was hard blue ice six inches from the surface, and the snow itself was +fairly close-packed and good for ski. + +On December 16 we were out of our sleeping bags at 5 and we were under +way by 7 a.m., marching till noon, when we lunched and took sights and +angles. The surface remained fairly good until 2 p.m., when it took an +unaccountable turn for the worse. We covered 12 miles. + +Several of us dropped a leg down crevasses here and there, nothing +alarming. We reached 3000 feet altitude, and the day ended in the most +perfect weather. For the first time since leaving Corner Camp we felt +that our ration was sufficient; we had now commenced the "Summit ration," +which contained considerable extra fats. Snow-blindness caused trouble +here and there, due principally to our removing our goggles when they +clouded up--due to sweating so much in the high temperature. The goggles, +which Wilson was responsible for, served excellently. Yellow and orange +glasses were popular, but some preferred green. As we progressed and our +eyes had to be used for long periods without glasses for clearing +crevasses, etc., we found that a double glass acted best, and used this +whenever the going was easy and goggles could be used. + +The contrast between the goggled and the ungoggled state was +extraordinary--when one lifted one's orange-tinted snow glasses it was to +find a blaze of light that could scarcely be endured. Snow-blindness gave +one much the same sensations as those experienced by standing over a +smoking bonfire keeping eyes open. + +Sunday, December 17, differed from the preceding days, for we got into +huge pressure ridges--we hauled our sledges up these and tobogganed down +the other sides, progressing half the forenoon thus. We wore our +excellent crampons and made lighter work of our loads than we had done +since facing the Beardmore, and now that the summer season was well +advanced the surface snow on the Glacier had mostly disappeared through +the effects of the all day sun added to the early summer winds. The +clouding of our goggles made the crevasses more difficult to spot, and +one or other of the party got legs or feet down pretty often. + +This and the following day were precursors to good marches and easy +times. We made the Mid-Glacier Depot in Latitude 84 degrees 33 minutes 6 +seconds S., Longitude 169 degrees 22 minutes 2 seconds E., and set +therein one half-week's provision. We marked the depot cairn with bamboo +and red flag to show up against the ice as well as to contrast with the +land. Hitherto only black flags had been employed to mark depots. + +The weather and surface were both in our favour at last. It was sunny, +warm, and clear now, and there was nothing to impede us. Wilson did a +large amount of sketching on the Beardmore--his sketches, besides being +wonderful works of art, helped us very much in our surveys. + +Fringing the great glittering river of ice were dark granite and dolerite +hills, some were snow-clad and some quite bare, for their steepness +resisted the white cloak of this freezing clime. The new hills were +surveyed, headlands plotted, and names bestowed where Shackleton had not +already done so. Of course we had Shackleton's charts, diaries, and +experience to help us. We often discussed Shackleton's journey, and were +amazed at his fine performance. We always had full rations, which +Shackleton's party never enjoyed at this stage. After December 17 our +marches worked up from 13 to 23 miles a day. + +Shackleton bestowed the name of Queen Alexandra Range on the huge +mountains to the westward of the Beardmore. + +The most conspicuous is the "Cloudmaker," which he gives as 9.971--I like +the 1 foot when heights are so hard to determine hereabouts! To the three +secondary ranges, on the S.W. extreme of the Beardmore, nearly in 85 +degrees, he gave the names Adams, Marshall, and Wild, after his three +companions on the farthest South march. To get into one's head what we +had to look at on the upper half of the Beardmore, imagine a moderate +straight slope: this is the Glacier like a giant road, white except where +the sun has melted the snow and bared the blue ice. Looking up the +Glacier an overhang of ice-falls and disturbances, with three nunataks or +mountains sticking through the ice-sheet like islands--the disturbance is +mostly to the left (Eastwards) of these, and the road here looks cruelly +steep even where it is not broken up. Down the Glacier the great white +way is broken here and there where tributary glaciers join it, and above +the Cloudmaker the glacier is cut up badly in several places, how badly +we were not to know until the middle of January, 1912--but of that more +anon. To the left (S.E.) a great broad river of ice, the Mill Glacier, +and so on. + +The land is extraordinary--gigantic snow drifts like huge waves breaking +against a stone pier beset the lower cliff faces and steeper slopes, then +dark red-brown rock carved by glaciers long since vanished, and above +this rocky bands of limestone, sandstone; and dolerite. Some rocky talus +showing through the big snow drifts, and in some cases talus alone. + +From my letter to be taken by the next homeward party in case I missed +the ship: + + "The Wild range is extraordinary in its curious stratification, and + one feels when gazing at it some-thing of a wish to scramble along the + crests, if only to feel land underfoot instead of ice, ice, ice. + + "The prevailing colours here are blacks, grays, reds, like the cliffs + at Teignmouth and Exmouth, and another more chocolate red. Then the + whites in all kind of shade--fancy different shades of white, but + there are here any amount of them, and a certain sparkle of blue ice + down the Glacier where the sun is shining on it that reminds one of a + tropical sea. Except when marching we don't spend much time out of our + tents, but I take a breather now and again when surveying, and then I + sit on a sledge-box and wonder what is in store for us and where all + this will lead us. Amundsen has certainty not come this way, although + dogs could work here easily enough." + +On December 20 Scott came into our tent after supper and told us that the +first return party would be Atkinson (in charge), Wright, Cherry-Garrard, +and Keohane, and that they would turn back after the next day's march. +We were all very sad, but each one thus detailed loyally abided by the +decision of our chief. I worked till nearly midnight getting out copy of +route and bearings for Wright to navigate back on. + +Here is a specimen page of my diary: + + "_December_ 21. + + "Out at 5.45 a.m. and away at 8. Had a very heavy pull up steep slope + close to S.E. point of Buckley Island. Passed over many crevasses and + dropped into some. Once I fell right down in a bottomless chasm to + the length of my harness. I was pulled out by the others, Bowers and + Cherry helping with their Alpine rope. Not hurt but amused. All of us + dropped often to our waists and Atkinson completely disappeared once, + but we got him out. We got into a very bad place at noon, and a fog + coming on had to stop and lunch as one could not see far. This has + been our worst day for crevasses up to now, some of them are 100 feet + across, but well bridged. + + "It was very cold, with a sharp southerly wind when we started, but + later on got quite warm. We rose 1130 feet in the forenoon and made 5 + miles 1565 yards up to lunch. We started again at 3 o'clock, and the + fog lifting, we made a good march for the day: 11 miles 200 yards + geographical (Stat. 12 miles 1388 yards). In the afternoon we had a + very heavy drag and did not camp till 7.30 p.m., about 4 miles S. 30 + degrees W. of Mount Darwin (summit), Latitude 85 degrees 7 minutes S., + Longitude 163 degrees 4 minutes E. + + "Our height above the Barrier is 7750 feet by aneroid. + + "Had a fine hoosh with a full pannikin of pony meat added to celebrate + our 'De-tenting,' which takes place to-morrow morning. We make a depot + here with half a week's provision for two parties." + +We repacked the sledges after breakfast. This place was called the Upper +Glacier Depot--and it marked the commencement of the third and final +stage of the Poleward Journey. We said good-bye to Atkinson's party, and +they started down the Glacier after depositing the foodstuffs they had +sledged up the Beardmore for the Polar Party and the last supporting +party. Atkinson and his tent-mates now had to face a homeward march of +584 miles. They spent Christmas Day collecting geological specimens, and +reached Cape Evans on January 28. They had some sickness in the shape of +enteritis and slight scurvy, but Dr. Atkinson's care and medical +knowledge brought them through safely. Captain Scott with his two sledge +teams now pushed forward, keeping an average speed of 15 miles per day, +with full loads of 190 lb. a man. + +When we started off we were: + + Scott. Self. + Wilson. Bowers. + Oates. Crean. + Seaman Evans Lashly. + +We steered S.W. to begin with to avoid the great pressure ridges and ice +falls which barred our way to the South. We began to rise very +perceptibly, and, looking back after our march, realised what enormous +frozen falls stretch across the top of the Beardmore. I noted that these, +with Scott's consent should be called "The Shackleton Ice Falls," +according to _his_ track he went _up_ them. When we looked back on +starting our march we could see the depot cairn with a black flag tied to +a pair of 10 foot sledge runners for quite three miles--it promised well +for picking up. Next day we were away early, marching 8 1/2 miles to +lunch camp, and getting amongst crevasses as big as Regent Street, all +snow bridged. + +We rushed these and had no serious falls; the dangerous part is at the +edge of the snow bridge, and we frequently fell through up to our armpits +just stepping on to or leaving the bridge. We began now to experience the +same tingling wind that Shackleton speaks of, and men's noses were +frequently frost-bitten. On Christmas Eve we were 8000 feet above the +Barrier, and we imagined we were clear of crevasses and pressure ridges. +We now felt the cold far more when marching than we had done on the +Beardmore. + +The wind all the time turned our breath into cakes of ice on our beards. +Taking sights when we stopped was a bitterly cold job: fingers had to be +bared to work the little theodolite screws, and in the biting wind one's +finger-tips soon went. Over 16 miles were laid behind us on Christmas Eve +when we reached Latitude 85 degrees 35 minutes S., Longitude 159 degrees +8 minutes E. I obtained the variation of the compass here--179 degrees 35 +minutes E., so that we were between the Magnetic and Geographical Poles. + +The temperature down to 10 degrees below zero made observing unpleasant, +when one had cooled down and lost vitality at the end of the day's march. + +Christmas Day, 1911, found our two tiny green tents pitched on the King +Edward VII. Plateau--the only objects that broke the monotony of the +great white glittering waste that stretches from the Beardmore Glacier +Head to the South Pole. A light wind was blowing from the South, and +little whirls of fine snow, as fine as dust, would occasionally sweep +round the tents and along the sides of the sledge runners, streaming away +almost like smoke to the Northward. Inside the tents breathing heavily +were our eight sleeping figures--in these little canvas shelters soon +after 4 a.m. the sleepers became restless and occasionally one would +wake, glance at one's watch, and doze again. Exactly at 5 a.m. our leader +shouted "Evans," and both of us of that name replied, "Right-o, sir." + +Immediately all was bustle, we scrambled out of our sleeping-bags, only +the cook remaining in each tent. The others with frantic haste filled the +aluminium cookers with the gritty snow that here lay hard and windswept. +The cookers filled and passed in, we, gathered socks, finnesko, and +putties off the clothes lines which we had rigged between the ski which +struck upright in the snow to save them from being drifted over in the +night. The indefatigable Bowers swung his thermometer in the shade until +it refused to register any lower, glanced at the clouds, made a note or +two in his miniature meteorological log book, and then blew on his +tingling fingers, noted the direction of the wind, and ran to our tent. +Inside all had lashed up their bags and converted them into seats, the +primus stove burnt with a curious low roar, and peculiar smell of +paraffin permeated the tent. By the time we had changed our footgear the +savoury smell of the pemmican proclaimed that breakfast was ready. The +meal was eaten with the same haste that had already made itself apparent. + +A very short smoke sufficed, and Captain Scott gave the signal to strike +camp. Out went everything through the little round door, down came both +tents, all was packed in a jiffy on the two 12-foot sledges, each team +endeavouring to be first, and in an incredibly short space of time both +teams swung Southward, keeping step, and with every appearance of perfect +health. But a close observer, a man trained to watch over men's health, +over athletes training, perhaps, would have seem something amiss. + +The two teams, in spite of the Christmas spirit, and the "Happy +Christmas" greetings, they exchanged to begin with, soon lost their +springy step, the sledges dragged more slowly, and we gazed ahead almost +wistfully. + +Yes, the strain was beginning to tell, though none of us would have +confessed it. Lashly and I had already pulled a sledge of varying +weight--but mostly a loaded one--over 600 miles, and all had marched this +distance. + +During the forenoon something was seen ahead like the tide race over a +rocky ledge--it was another ice fall stretching from East to West, and it +had to be crossed, there could be no more deviation, for since Atkinson's +party turned we had been five points West of our course at times. Alas, +more wear for the runners of the sledge, which meant more labour to the +eight of us, so keen to succeed in our enterprise--soon we are in the +thick of it; first one slips and is thrown violently down, then a sledge +runs over the slope of a great ice wave. + +The man trying to hold it back is relentlessly thrown, and the bow of the +sledge crashes on to the heel of the hindermost of those hauling ahead +with a thud that means "pain." But the victim utters no sound, just +smiles in answer to the anxious questioning gaze of his comrades. + +Something happened in the last half of that Christmas forenoon. Lashly, +whose 44th birthday it was, celebrated the occasion by falling into a +crevasse 8 feet wide. + +Our sledge just bridged the chasm with very little to spare each end, and +poor Lashly was suspended below, spinning round at the full length of his +harness, with 80 feet of clear space beneath him. We had great difficulty +in hauling him upon account of his being directly under the sledge. We +got him to the surface by using the Alpine rope. Lashly was none the +worse for his fall, and one of my party wished him a "Happy Christmas," +and another "Many Happy Returns of the Day," when he had regained safety. +Lashly's reply was unprintable. + +Soon after this accident we topped the ice fall or ridge, and halted for +lunch--we had risen over 250 feet, according to aneroid; it seemed funny +enough to find the barometer standing at 21 inches instead of 30. + +Lunch camp, what a change. The primus stove fiercely roaring, the men +light up their pipes and talk Christmas--dear, cheery souls, how proud +Scott must have been of them; no reference to the discomforts of the +forenoon march, just brightness and the nicest thoughts for one another, +and for "those," as poor Wilson unconsciously describes them, by humming: +"Keep our loved ones, now far absent, 'neath Thy care." After a mug of +warming tea and two biscuits we strike camp, and are soon slogging on. +But the crevasses and icefalls have been overcome, the travelling is +better, and with nothing but the hard, white horizon before us, thoughts +wander away to the homeland--sweet little houses with well-kept gardens, +glowing fires on bright hearths, clean, snowy tablecloths and polished +silver, and then the dimpled, smiling faces of those we are winning our +spurs for. Next Christmas may we hope for it? Yes, it must be. + +But with the exception of Lashly and Crean that daydream never came true, +for alas, those whose dearest lived for that Christmas _never_ came home, +and the one other spared lost his wife, besides his five companions. + +The two teams struggled on until after 8 p.m., when at last Scott +signalled to camp. How tired we were--almost cross. But no sooner were +the tents up than eyes looked out gladly from our dirty, bearded faces. +Once again the cooker boiled, and for that night we had a really good +square meal--more than enough of everything--pemmican with pieces of pony +meat in it, a chocolate biscuit, "ragout" raisins, caramels, ginger, +cocoa, butter, and a double ration of biscuits. How we watched Bowers +cook that extra thick pemmican. Had he put too much pepper in? Would he +upset it? How many pieces of pony meat would we get each? But the careful +little Bowers neither burnt nor upset the hoosh: it was up to our wildest +expectations. No one could have eaten more. + +After the meal we gasped, we felt so comfortable. + +But we had such yarns of home, such plans were made for next Christmas, +and after all we got down our fur sleeping-bags, and for a change we were +quite warm owing to the full amount of food which we so sorely needed. + +After the others in my tent were asleep, little Birdie Bowers, bidding me +"Good-night," said, "Teddy, if all is well next Christmas we will get +hold of all the poor children we can and just stuff them full of nice +things, won't we?" + +It was unthinkable then that five out of the eight of us would soon be +lying frozen on the Great Ice Barrier, their lives forfeited by a series +of crushing defeats brought about by Nature, who alone metes out success +or failure to win back for those who venture into the heart of that +ice-bound continent. + +Our Latitude was now 85 degrees 50 minutes S., we were 8000 feet above +the Barrier. Temperature -8 degrees, with a fresh southerly wind, but we +didn't care that night how hard it blew or whether it was Christmas or +Easter. We had done 17 miles distance and success lay within our grasp +apparently. + +On the following day we were up at six and marched a good 15 miles south +with no opposition from crevasses or pressure ridges. The march over the +Plateau continued without incident--excepting that on December 28 my team +had a great struggle to keep up with Captain Scott's. + +The surface was awfully soft, and though we discarded our outer garments +we sweated tremendously. At about 11 a.m. Scott and I changed places. I +found his sledge simply glided along whereas he found no such thing. The +difference was considerable. After lunch we changed sledges and left +Scott's team behind with ease. We stopped at the appointed time, and +after supper Captain Scott came into our tent and told us that we had +distorted our sledge by bad strapping or bad loading. This was, I think, +correct, because Oates had dropped his sleeping-bag off a few days back +through erring in the other direction and not strapping securely--we +meant to have no recurrence and probably racked our sledge by heaving too +hard on the straps. + +The 29th was another day of very hard pulling. We were more than 9000 +feet up--very nearly at the "summit of the summit." Quoting my diary I +find set down for December 30 and 31 as follows. + + "Saturday, _December_ 30. + + "Away at 8 a.m. Had a hell of a day's hauling. We worked independently + of the other sledge, camping for lunch at 1 p.m. about half a mile + astern of them. Then off again, and hauled till 7.15 p.m., when we + reached Captain Scott's camp, he being then stopped 3/4-hour. The + surface was frightful and they had a heavy drag. Our distance to-day + was 12 miles 1200 yards statute. We all turned in after our welcome + hoosh, too tired to write up diaries even. + + "Bill came in and had a yarn while we drank our cocoa. + + "We are now about 9200 feet above the Barrier, temperature falls to + about -15 degrees now. Position 86 degrees 49 minutes 9 seconds S., + 162 degrees 50 minutes E." + + "_December_ 31. + + "Out at 5.45, and then after a yarn with Captain Scott and our welcome + pemmican, tea and biscuit. We in our tent depoted our ski, Alpine + rope, and ski shoes, saving a considerable weight. We then started off + a few minutes ahead of Captain Scott, and his team never got near us, + in fact they actually lost ground. We marched for 5 1/2 hours solid, + and had a good heavy drag, but not enough to distress us. We stopped + at 1.30 p.m., having done 8 miles 116 yards statute. After our lunch + we made a depot and put two weekly units in the snow cairn, which we + built and marked with a black flag. The seamen (Evans and Crean) and + Lashly spent the afternoon converting the 12 foot sledges to 10 foot + with the spare runners, while the remainder of us foregathered in + Captain Scott's tent, which Evans fitted with a lining to-day, making + it beautifully warm. We sat in the tents with the door open and the + sun shining in--doing odd jobs. I worked out sights and wrote up this + diary, which was a few days adrift. Temperature -10 degrees. + + "We are now Past Shackleton's position for December 31, and it does + look as if Captain Scott were bound to reach the Pole. Position 86 + degrees 55 minutes 47 minutes S., 175 degrees 40 minutes E. + + "At 7 p.m. Captain Scott cooked tea for all hands. + + "At 8 p.m. the first sledge was finished and the men went straight on + with the second. This was finished by midnight, and, having seen the + New Year in, we had a fine pemmican hoosh and went to bed." + +New Year's Day found us in Latitude 87 degrees 7 minutes S. Height, 9300 +feet above Barrier--a southerly wind, with temperature 14 degrees below +zero. + +On 2nd January I found the variation to be exactly 180 degrees. A skua +gull appeared from the south and hovered round the sledges during the +afternoon, then it settled on the snow once or twice and we tried to +catch it. + +Did 15 miles with ease, but we were now only pulling 130 lb. per man. + +On January 3 Scott came into my tent before we began the day's march and +informed me that he was taking his own team to the Pole. He also asked me +to spare Bowers from mine if I thought I could make the return journey of +750 miles short-handed--this, of course, I consented to do, and so little +Bowers left us to join the Polar party. Captain Scott said he felt that I +was the only person capable of piloting the last supporting party back +without a sledge meter. I felt very sorry for him having to break the +news to us, although I had foreseen it--for Lashly and I knew we could +never hope to be in the Polar party after our long drag out from Cape +Evans itself. + +We could not all go to the Pole--food would not allow this. Briefly then +it was a disappointment, but not too great to bear; it would have been an +unbearable blow to us had we known that almost in sight were Amundsen's +tracks, and that all our dragging and straining at the trace had been in +vain. + +On 4th January we took four days' provision for three men and handed over +the rest of our load to Scott. + +Then we three, Lashly, Crean, and myself, marched south to Latitude 87 +degrees 34 minutes S. with the Polar party, and, seeing that they were +travelling rapidly yet easily, halted, shook hands all round, and said +good-bye, and since no traces of the successful Norwegian had been found +so far, we fondly imagined that our flag would be the first to fly at the +South Pole. We gave three huge cheers for the Southern party, as they +stepped off, and then turned our sledge and commenced our homeward march +of between 750 and 800 statute miles. We frequently looked back until we +saw the last of Captain Scott and his four companions--a tiny black speck +on the horizon, and little did we think that we would be the last to see +them alive, that our three cheers on that bleak and lonely plateau summit +would be the last appreciation they would ever know. + +This day the excitement was intense, for it was obvious that with five +fit men--the Pole being only 140 geographical miles away--the achievement +was merely a matter of 10 or 11 days' good sledging. + +Oates's last remark was cheerful: "I'm afraid, Teddy, you won't have much +of a 'slope' going back, but old Christopher is waiting to be eaten on +the Barrier when you get there." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +RETURN OF THE LAST SUPPORTING PARTY + + +Scott had already made a great geographical journey in spite of adverse +weather conditions, which had severely handicapped him throughout, but he +was nevertheless behindhand in his expectations, and although the +attainment of the Pole was practically within his grasp, the long 900 +mile march homeward from that spot had to be considered. It was +principally on this account that Captain Scott changed his marching +organisation and took Bowers from the last supporting party. After the +first day's homeward march I realised that the nine hours' marching day +was insufficient. We had to make average daily marches of 17 miles in +order to remain on full provisions whilst returning over that featureless +snow-capped plateau. + +Although the first day northward bound was radiantly fine and the +travelling surface all that could be desired, we were compelled to push +on until quite late to ensure covering the prescribed distance--for a +short march on the first day would have augured a gloomy future for us. + +Reluctant as I was to confess it to myself, I soon realised that the +ceding of one man from my party had been too great a sacrifice, but there +was no denying it, and I was eventually compelled to explain the +situation to Lashly and Crean and lay bare the naked truth. No man was +ever better served than I was by these two; they cheerfully accepted the +inevitable, and throughout our home-ward march the three of us literally +stole minutes and seconds from each day in order to add to our marches, +but it was a fight for life: The rarified air made our breathing more +difficult, and we suffered from shortness of breath whenever the +inequalities of the surface became severe, and sudden jerks conveyed +themselves to our tired bodies through the medium of the rope traces. + +Day after day we fought our way northward over the high Polar tableland. +The silence now that we had no other party with us was ghastly, for +beyond the sound of our own voices and the groaning of the sledge runners +when the surface was bad there was no sound whatever to remind us of the +outer world. As mile after mile was covered our thoughts wandered from +the Expedition to those in our homeland, and thought succeeded thought +while the march progressed until the satisfying effect of the last meal +had vanished and life became one vast yearning for food. + +Three days after leaving Captain Scott we encountered a blizzard and were +forced to continue our marches although faced with navigational +difficulties which made it impossible for us to maintain more than a very +rough northward direction. Muffled up tightly in our wind-proof clothing, +-we did all in our power to prevent the dust-fine snow-flakes which +whirled around from penetrating into the tiniest opening in our clothes. +The blizzard blinded and baffled us, forcing us always to turn our faces +from it. The stinging wind cut and slashed our cheeks like the constant +jab of a thousand frozen needle points. + +This first blizzard which fell upon us lasted for three whole days, and +at the end of that time we found ourselves considerably wide of our +course. + +On the 7th January, in spite of a temperature of 22 degrees below zero, a +fresh southerly wind and driving snow, Lashly, Crean, and myself laid 19 +miles behind us. + +On the 8th we again covered this distance, although the weather was so +bad that we entirely lost the track, and on the following day, when the +blizzard was at its worst, we fought our way forward for over 16 miles. +When the blizzard eventually abated we had hazy weather, but got an +occasional glimpse of the sun, with which we corrected our course, and on +the 13th January my party found itself right above the Shackleton +Icefalls, and gazed down upon the more regular surface of the Beardmore +Glacier hundreds of feet below us. + +To reach the glacier we were faced with two alternatives: either to march +right round the icefalls, as we had done coming south, and thus waste +three whole days, or to take our lives in our hands and attempt to get +the sledge slap over the falls. This would mean facing tremendous drops, +which might end in a catastrophe. The discussion was very short-lived, +and with rather a sinking feeling the descent of the great ice falls was +commenced. We packed our ski on the sledge, attached spiked crampons to +our finnesko, and guided the sledge through the maze of hummocks and +crevasses. + +The travelling surface was wind-swept and consequently too easy, for the +sledge would charge down a slippery slope of blue ice and capsize time +after time. In places the way became so steep that our united efforts +were needed to avoid the yawning chasms which beset our path. We were +compelled to remain attached to the sledge by our harness, for otherwise +there was always the danger of our slipping into one of the very +crevasses that we were keeping the sledge clear of, and in this manner, +with the jumping and jolting of that awful descent, frequent cases of +over-running occurred, the sledge fouling our traces and whisking us off +our feet. We encountered fall after fall, bruises, cuts, and abrasions +were sustained, but we vied with one another in bringing all our grit and +patience to bear; scarcely a complaint was heard, although one or other +of us would be driven almost sick with pain as the sledge cannoned into +this or that man's heel with a thud that made the victim clench his teeth +to avoid crying out. + +The whole forenoon we worked down towards the more even surface of the +great glacier itself, but the actual descent of the steep part of the +Shackleton Icefalls was accomplished in half an hour. We came down many +hundred feet in that time. + +None of us can ever forget that exciting descent. The speed of the sledge +at one point must have been 60 miles an hour. We glissaded down a steep +blue ice slope; to brake was impossible, for the sledge had taken charge. +One or other of us may have attempted to check the sledge with his foot, +but to stop it in any way would have meant a broken leg. We held on for +our lives, lying face downwards on the sledge. Suddenly it seemed to +spring into the air, we had left the ice and shot over one yawning +crevasse before we had known of its existence almost--I do not imagine we +were more than a second in the air, but in that brief space of time I +looked at Crean, who raised his eyebrows as if to say, "What next!" Then +we crashed on to the ice ridge beyond this crevasse, the sledge capsized +and rolled over and over, dragging us three with it until it came to a +standstill. + +How we ever escaped entirely uninjured is beyond me to explain. When we +had recovered our breath we examined ourselves and our sledge. One of my +ski-sticks had caught on a piece of ice during our headlong flight and +torn itself from the sledge. It rolled into the great blue-black chasm +over which we had come, and its fate made me feel quite cold when I +thought of what might have happened to us. When my heart had stopped +beating so rapidly from fright, and I had recovered enough to look round, +I realised that we were practically back on the Beardmore again, and that +our bold escapade had saved us three days' solid foot slogging and that +amount of food. So we pitched our little tent, had a good filling meal, +and then, delighted with our progress, we marched on until 8 p.m. That +night in our sleeping-bags we felt like three bruised pears, but being in +pretty hard condition in those days, our bruises and slight cuts in no +way kept us from hours of perfect, contented slumber. + +I see in my diary for January 13, 1912, I have noted that we came down +2000 feet, but I doubt if it really was as much--we then had no means of +measuring. + +January 14 found us up at 5.45 (really only 4.45, because in order not to +make my seamen companions anxious I handicapped my watch after first +day's homeward march, putting the hands on one hour each morning before +rising, and back when I got the chance, so that we marched from 10 to 12 +hours a day). We hauled our sledge for six hours until we reached the +Upper Glacier Depot under Mount Darwin. Here we took 3 1/2 days' stores +as arranged, and after sorting up and repacking the depot had lunch and +away down the Glacier, camping at 7.30 p.m. off Buckley Island, fairly +close to the land. Temperature rose above zero that night. + +Next day we were away at 8 a.m. with our crampons on, we came down +several steep ice slopes, blue ice like glass, Lashly hauling ahead and +Crean and I holding on to the sledge. We bumped a lot, and occasionally +the sledge capsized. But we made good nearly 22 miles. We covered between +18 and 20 miles on January 16, and were in high glee at our progress. We +camped, however, in amongst pressure ridges and huge crevasses, 14 miles +from the Cloudmaker or mid-glacier depot. We hoped next day to reach this +depot. January 16 was a pleasant day, its ending peaceful, with a +sufficiency of excellent sledging rations and the promise of a similar +day to succeed it. On this day hopes had run high; our clothes were dry, +the weather mild and promising, besides which, we were camped in the full +satisfaction of having a good many miles in hand. We cheerfully discussed +our arrival at the next depot, after which we knew that no anxieties need +be felt, given even moderately good luck and weather, that did not +include too great a proportion of blizzard days. The musical roar of the +primus and the welcome smell of the cooking pemmican whetted our +appetites deliciously, and as the three of us sat around the cooker on +our rolled up fur bags, the contented expression on our dirty brown faces +made our bearded ugliness almost handsome. We built wonderful castles in +the air as to what luxuries Lashly, who was a famous cook, should prepare +on our return to winter quarters. There we had still some of the New +Zealand beef and mutton stored in my glacier cave, and one thing I had +set my heart on was a steak and kidney pudding which my friend Lashly +swore to make me. + +After the meal we unrolled our sleeping-bags and luxuriantly got into +them, for the recent fine weather had given us a chance to dry thoroughly +the fur and get the bags clear of that uncomfortable clamminess due to +the moisture from our bodies freezing until the sleeping-bags afforded +but little comfort. The weather looked glorious, there was not a cloud in +the sky, and towards 10 o'clock the sun was still visible to the S.S.W. +We could see it through the thin, green canvas tent wall as we turned in, +still in broad daylight, and the warmth derived from it made sleep come +to us quite easily. + +I woke at five the next morning, and, rousing my companions, we were up +and about in a minute. The primus stove and cooking apparatus were +brought into the tent once more; our sleeping foot-gear was changed for +our marching finneskoe and good steel-spiked crampons fixed to the soft +fur boots to give us grip in places where the ice was blue and slippery. +By 6 a.m. the little green tent was struck, the sledge securely packed, +and the three of us commenced a day's march, the details of which, +although it occurred over nine years ago, are so fresh in my memory that +I have not even to refer to my sledging diary. + +We commenced the day unluckily, for a low Stratus cloud had spread like a +tablecloth over the Beardmore and filled up the glacier with mist. This +added tremendously to our difficulties in steering, for we had no +landmarks by which to set our course, although I knew the approximate +direction of descent and could make this by means of a somewhat +inadequate compass. The refinements in steering were not sufficient to +keep us on the good blue ice surface down which we could have threaded +our way had we commanded a full view of the glacier. Our route led us +over rougher ice than we should normally have chosen, and the outlook was +distinctly displeasing. The air was thick with countless myriads of tiny +floating ice crystals, and the great hummocks of ice stood weirdly shapen +as they loomed through the frozen mist. I appreciated that we were +getting into trouble, but hoped that the fog would disperse as the sun +increased its altitude. We fell about a good deal, and to my +consternation the surface became worse and worse. We were, however, +covering distance in an approximately northward direction, and our team +achieved with stubborn purpose what would have appeared impossible to us +when we first visited this great, white, silent continent. + +It was no good going back, and we could not tell whether the good track +was to the right or the left of our line of advance. As new and more +troublesome obstacles presented themselves, the more valiantly did my +companions set themselves to win through. Crean and Lashly had the hearts +of lions. The uncertain light of the mist worried us all three, and we +were forced to take off our goggles to see to advance at all. + +We continued until midday, when to my great relief the mist showed signs +of dispersing, and the sun, a sickly yellow orb, eventually showed +through. It was surrounded by a halo which was reflected in rainbow +colouring in the minute floating ice crystals. I looked round for a spot +suitable for camping, for we were pretty well exhausted, and it was worth +while waiting for the mist to disperse. No time would be wasted since the +halt would do for our lunch. With the greatest difficulty we found +amongst the hummocky ice a place to set up our tent. A space was found +somehow, and rather gloomily the three of us made a cooker full of tea. +We munched our biscuit in silence, for we were too tired to talk. From +time to time I went outside the tent, and certainly the atmosphere was +clearer. Odd shapes to the east and west showed themselves to be the +fringing mountains which so few eyes had ever rested on. Gradually they +took form and I was able more or less to identify our whereabouts. We +finished our lunch, Crean had a smoke, and then we got under way. + +A little discussion, a lot of support, and a wealth of whole-hearted +good-fellowship from my companions gave me the encouragement which made +leading these two men so easy. + +Warmed by the tea, cheered by the meal, and rested by the halt, we pushed +on once more, although to go forward was uncertain and to work back +impossible since we were too exhausted to do such pulling upward as would +be necessary to reach a place from whence a new start could be made, even +if we succeeded in re-discovering our night camp of yesterday. + +For hours we fought on, sometimes overcoming crevasses by bridging them +with the sledge where its length enabled this to be done. The summer sun +had cleared the snow from this part of the glacier, laying bare the great +blue, black cracks, and they were horrible to behold. If the breadth of a +crevasse was too large to be crossed we worked along the bank until an +ice bridge presented itself along which we could go. As the sun's rays +grew more powerful, the visibility became perfect, and I must confess we +were disappointed to see before us the most disheartening wilderness of +pressure ridges and disturbances. We were in the heart of the Great Ice +Fall which is to be found half-way down the Beardmore Glacier. We +struggled along, for there is no other expression which aptly describes +our case. Had we not been in superb physical training and in really hard +condition all three of us must have collapsed. We literally carried the +sledge, which weighed nearly four hundred pounds. + +When the afternoon march had already extended for hours we found +ourselves travelling mile after mile across the line of our intended +route to circumvent the crevasses. They seemed to grow bigger and bigger. +At about 8 p.m. we were travelling on a ridge between two stupendous open +gulfs, and we found a connecting bridge which stretched obliquely across. +I saw that it was necessary to move round or across a number of these +wide open chasms to reach the undulations which we knew from our ice +experience must terminate this broken up part of the glacier. In vain I +told myself that these undulations could not be so far away. + +To cross by the connecting bridge which I have just spoken about was, to +say the least of it, a precarious proceeding. But it would save us a mile +or two, and in our tired state this was worth considering. After a +minutes rest we placed the sledge on this ice bridge, and, as Crean +described it afterwards, "We went along the crossbar to the H of Hell." +It was not all misnamed either, for Lashly, who went ahead, dared not +walk upright. He actually sat astride the bridge and was paid out at the +end of our Alpine rope. He shuffled his way across, fearful to look down +into the inky blue chasm below, but he fixed his eyes on the opposite +wall of ice and hoped the rope would be long enough to allow him to reach +it and climb up, for he never would have dared to come back. The cord +_was_ sufficient in length, and he contrived finally to make his way on +to the top of the ridge before him. He then turned round and looked +scaredly at Crean and myself. I think all of us felt the tension of the +moment, but we wasted no time in commencing the passage. The method of +procedure was this. The sledge rested on the narrow bridge which was +indeed so shaped that the crest only admitted of the runners resting one +on each side of it; the slope away was like an inverted "V" and while +Lashly sat gingerly on the opposite ridge, hauling carefully but not too +strongly on the rope, Crean and I, facing one another, held on to the +sledge sides, balancing the whole concern. It was one of the most +exciting moments of our lives. We launched the sled across foot by foot +as I shouted "One, Two, Three--Heave." Each time the signal was obeyed we +got nearer to the opposite ice slope. The balance was preserved, of +course, by Crean and myself, and we had to exercise a most careful +judgment. Neither of us spoke, except for the launching signal, but each +looked steadfastly into the other's eyes--nor did we two look down. A +false movement might have precipitated the whole gang and the sledge +itself into the blue-black space of awful depth beneath. The danger was +very real, but this crossing was necessary to our final safety. As in +other cases of peril, the tense quiet of the moment left its mark on the +memories of our party for ever. Little absurd details attracted all our +attention, for instance, I noticed the ruts in the cheeks of my grimy +_vis-à-vis_, for Crean had recently clipped his beard and whiskers. My +gaze was also riveted on a cut, or rather open crack caused in one of his +lips by the combined sun and wind. Thousands of little fleeting thoughts +chased one another through our brains, as we afterwards found by +comparison, and finally we were so close to Lashly that he could touch +the sledge. He reached down, for the bridge was depressed somewhat where +it met the slope on which he sat. + +He held on tight, and somehow Crean and I wriggled off the bridge, +sticking our crampons firmly into the ice and crawling up to where Lashly +was. We all three held on to the Alpine line, and in some extraordinary +fashion got to the top of the ridge, where we anchored ourselves and +prepared to haul up the sledge. As I said before, it weighed about 400 +lb., and to three exhausted men the strain which came upon us when we +hauled the sledge off the bridge tested us to the limit of our strength. +The wretched thing slipped sideways and capsized on the slope, nearly +dragging us down into that icy chasm, but our combined efforts saved us, +and once again the perils of the moment were forgotten as we got into our +sledge harness and started to make the best of our way to the depot. + +By now we were exhausted, rudely shaken, and our eyes were smarting with +the glare and the glint of the sun's reflections from that awful maze of +ice falls. I felt my heart would burst from the sustained effort of +launching that sledge, which now seemed to weigh a ton. There seemed no +way out of this confused mass of pressure ridges and, crevasses. We were +"all out," and come what may I had to change our tactics, accordingly I +ordered a halt. No room could be found to pitch our tent and I could not +see any possibility of saving my party. We could stagger on no farther +with the dreadfully heavy sledge. The prospect was hopeless and our food +was nearly gone. Some rest must be obtained to give us strength for this +absolute battle for life. The great strain of the day's efforts had +thoroughly exhausted us, and it took me back to the last day of the +December blizzard which caused the eventual loss of the Polar Party and +the ruin of Captain Scott's so excellently laid plans. I remembered the +poor ponies after their fourteen hours' march, their flanks heaving, +their black eyes dull, shrivelled and wasted. The poor beasts had stood, +with their legs stuck out in strange attitudes, mere wrecks of the +beautiful little animals that we took away from New Zealand, and I could +not help likening our condition to theirs on that painful day. The three +of us sat on the sledge--hollow-eyed and gaunt looking. We were done, our +throats were dry, and we could scarcely speak. There was no wind, the +atmosphere was perfectly still, and the sun slowly crept towards the +southern meridian, clear cut in the steel blue sky. It gave us all the +sympathy it could, for it shed warm rays upon us as it silently moved on +its way like a great eye from Heaven, looking but unable to help. We +should have gone mad with another day like this, and there were times +when we came perilously close to being insane. Something had to be done. +I got up from the sledge, cast my harness adrift, and said, "I am going +to look for a way out; we can't go on." My companions at first persuaded +me not to go, but I pointed out that we could not continue in our +exhausted condition. If only we could find a camping place, and we could +rest, perhaps we should be able to make a final effort to get clear. + +I moved along a series of ice bridges, and the excitement gave me +strength once more. I was surprised at myself for not being more giddy +when I walked along the narrow ice spines, but the crampons attached to +my finneskoe were like cat's claws, and without the weight of the sledge +I seemed to develop a panther-like tenacity, for I negotiated the +dangerous parts with the utmost ease. After some twenty minutes hunting +round I came to a great ice hollow. + +Down into it I went and up the other side. This hollow was free from +crevasses, and when I got to the top of the ice mound opposite I saw yet +another hollow. Turning round I gazed back towards where I had left our +sledge. Two tiny, disconsolate figures were silhouetted against the +sunlight--my two companions on our great homeward march, one sitting and +one standing, probably looking for my reappearance as I vanished and was +sighted again from time to time. I felt a tremendous love for those two +men that day. They had trusted me so implicitly and believed in my +ability to win through. I turned northward again, stepped down into the +next hollow and stopped. I was in an enormous depression but not a +crevasse to be seen, for the sides of the depression met quite firmly at +the bottom in smooth, blue, solid ice. + +In a flash I called to mind the view of the Ice Fall from the glacier on +our outward journey with Captain Scott, I remembered the huge frozen +waves, and hoped with all my optimistic nature that this might be the end +of the great disturbance. I stood still and surveyed the wonderful valley +of ice, and then fell on my knees and prayed to God that a way out would +be shown me. + +Then I sprang to my feet, and hurried on boldly. Clambering up the +opposite slope of ice, I found a smooth, round crest over which I ran +into a similar valley beyond. Frozen waves here followed in succession, +and hollow followed hollow, each less in magnitude than its forerunner. + +Suddenly I saw before me the smooth, shining bed of the glacier itself, +and away to the north-west was the curious reddish rock under which the +Mid Glacier Depot had been placed. My feelings hardly bear setting down. +I was overcome with emotion, but my prayer was answered and we were +saved. + +I had considerable difficulty in working back to the party amongst the +labyrinth of ice bridges, but I fortunately found a patch of hard snow +whereon my crampons had made their mark. From here I easily traced my +footmarks back, and was soon in company with my friends. They were truly +relieved at my news. On consulting my watch I found that I had been away +one hour. It took us actually three times as long to work our sledge out +into the smooth ice of the glacier, but this reached, we camped and made +some tea before marching on to the depot, which lay but a few miles from +us. + +We ate the last of our biscuits at this camp and finished everything but +tea and sugar, then, new men, we struck our little camp, harnessed up and +swept down over the smooth ice with scarcely an effort needed to move the +sledge along. When we reached the depot we had another meal and slept +through the night and well on into the next day. + +Consulting my old Antarctic diary I see that the last sentence written on +the 17th January says, "I had to keep my goggles off all day as it was a +matter of life or death with us, and snow blindness must be risked after +..." (a gap follows here until 29th January). The next day I had an awful +attack of snow blindness, but the way down the glacier was so easy that +it did not matter. I forgot whether Lashly or Crean led then, but I +marched alongside, keeping in touch with the trace by hitching the +lanyard of my sundial on to it and holding this in my hand. I usually +carried the sundial slung round my neck, so that it was easy to pick it +up and consult it. That day I was in awful pain, and although we had some +dope for putting on our eyes when so smitten, I found that the greatest +relief of all was obtained by bandaging my eyes with a poultice made of +tea leaves after use--quaint places, quaint practices but the tip is +worth considering for future generations of explorers and alpine +climbers. + +Our homeward march continued for day after day with no very exciting +incidents. We met no more crevasses that were more than a foot or so +wide, and we worked our way down on to the Great Ice Barrier with +comparatively easy marches, although the distances we covered were +surprising to us all--seventeen miles a day we averaged. + +On the 30th January Lashly and I had been fourteen weeks out, and we had +exhausted practically every topic of conversation beyond food, distances +made good, temperatures, and the weather. Crean, as already set down, had +started with the Main Southern Party a week after Lashly and I had first +set out as the pioneers with those wretched failures, the motor sledges. +By this time I had made the unpleasant discovery that I was suffering +from scurvy. It came on with a stiffening of the knee joints, then I +could not straighten my legs, and finally they were horrible to behold, +swollen, bruised, and green. As day followed day my condition became +worse: my gums were ulcerated and my teeth loose. Then finally I got +haemorrhage. Crean and Lashly were dreadfully concerned on my behalf, and +how they nursed me and helped me along no words of mine can properly +describe. What men they were. Those awful days--I trudged on with them +for hundreds of miles, and each step hurt me more. I had done too much on +the outward journey, for what with building all the depot cairns ahead of +the pony party, and what with the effects of the spring sledge journey, +too much had been asked of me. I had never been out of harness from the +day I left Hut Point, for even with the motor sledges we practically +pulled them along. Crean had had an easier time, for he had led a pony up +to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier, and Lashly had not done the spring +sledging journey, which took a certain amount out of me with its +temperatures falling to 73 degrees below zero. The disappointment of not +being included in the Polar Party had not helped me much, and I must +admit that my prospects of winning through became duller day by day. I +suffered absolute agonies in forcing my way along, and eventually I could +only push myself by means of a ski-stick, for I could not step out +properly. I somehow waddled on ski until one day I fainted when striving +to start a march. Crean and Lashly picked me up, and Crean thought I was +dead. His hot tears fell on my face, and as I came to I gave a weak kind +of laugh. + +They rigged the camp up once more and put me in my bag, and then those +two gallant fellows held a short council of war. I endeavoured to get +them to leave me when they came in with their suggestions, but it was +useless to argue with them, and I now felt that I had shot my bolt. I +vainly tried to persuade them to leave me in my sleeping-bag with what +food they could spare, but they put me on the sledge, bag and all, and +strapped me as comfortably as they could with their own sleeping-bags +spread under me to make for greater ease. + +How weary their marches must have been--ten miles of foot slogging each +day. I could see them from the sledge by raising my head--how slowly +their legs seemed to move--wearily but nobly they fought on until one day +a blizzard came and completely spoilt the surface. The two men had been +marching nearly 1500 miles, their strength was spent, and great though +their hearts were, they had now to give up. In vain they tried to move +the sledge with my wasted weight upon it--it was hopeless. + +Very seriously and sadly they re-erected our tent and put me once again +inside. I thought I was being put into my grave. Outside I heard them +talking, low notes of sadness, but with a certain thread of determination +running through what they said. They were discussing which should go and +which should stay. Crean had done, if anything, the lighter share of the +work, as already explained, and he therefore set out to march thirty-five +miles with no food but a few biscuits and a little stick of chocolate. + +He hoped to find relief at Hut Point. Failing this, he would go on if +possible to Cape Evans. + +Crean came in to say good-bye to me. I thanked him for what he was doing +in a weak, broken sort of way, and Lashly held open the little round tent +door to let me see the last of him. He strode out nobly and finely--I +wondered if I should ever see him, again. Then Lashly came in to me, shut +the tent door, and made me a little porridge out of some oatmeal we got +from the last depot we had passed. + +After I had eaten it he made me comfortable by laying me on Crean's +sleeping-bag, which made my own seem softer, for I was very, very sore +after being dragged a hundred miles on a jolting, jumping sledge. Then I +slept and awoke to find Lashly's kind face looking down at me. There were +very few wounded men in the Great War nursed as I was by him. + +A couple of days passed, and every now and then Lashly would open up the +tent door, go out and search the horizon for some possible sign of +relief. The end had nearly come, and I was past caring; we had no food, +except a few paraffin saturated biscuits, and Lashly in his weakened +state without food could never have marched in. He took it all very +quietly--a noble, steel true man--but relief did come at the end of that +day when everything looked its blackest. + +We heard the baying of the dogs, first once, then again. Lashly, who was +lying down by my side quietly talking, sprang to his feet, looked out, +and saw! + +They galloped right up to the tent door, and the leader, a beautiful gray +dog named Krisravitsa, seemed to understand the situation, for he came +right into the tent and licked my hands and face. I put my poor weak +hands up and gripped his furry ears. Perhaps to hide my feelings I kissed +his old hairy, Siberian face with the kiss that was meant for Lashly. We +were both dreadfully affected at our rescue. + +Atkinson and the Russian dog-boy, Dimitri, had come out hot-foot to save +us, and of all men in the Expedition none could have been better chosen +than "Little Aitch," our clever naval doctor. After resting his dogs and +feeding me with carefully prepared foodstuffs, he got me on one sledge +and Lashly on the other, the dogs were given their head, and in little +more than three hours we covered the thirty-five miles into Hut Point, +where I was glad to see Crean's face once more and to hear first hand +about his march. It had taken him eighteen hours' plodding through those +awful snows from our camp to Hut Point, where fortunately he met Atkinson +and Dimitri and told them of my condition. + +After the Expedition was over the King gave Lashly and Crean the Albert +Medal for their bravery in helping me win through. + +It is little enough tribute that I have dedicated this book to these two +gallant fellows. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +THE POLE ATTAINED--SCOTT'S LAST MARCHES + + +The details of Scott's final march to the Pole, and the heartrending +account of his homeward journey, of Evans's sad death, of Oates's noble +sacrifice, and of the martyr like end of Wilson, Bowers, and Scott +himself have been published throughout the length and breadth of the +civilised world. In "Scott's Last Expedition"--Vol. I. the great +explorer's journals are practically reproduced in their entirety. Mr. +Leonard Huxley, who arranged them in 1913, had had to do with Scott's +first work, "The Voyage of the 'Discovery'," and, as Mr. Huxley has said, +these two works needed but little editing. Scott's last fine book was +written as he went along, and those of us who have survived the +Expedition and the Great War, and we are few, are more than proud to +count ourselves among the company he chose. + +A synopsis of his march from 87 degrees 35 minutes to the South Pole, and +a recapitulation of the events which marked the homeward march must +certainly find their way into this book, which is after all only the husk +of the real story. + +However much the story is retold--and it has been retold by members of +the Expedition as well as by others--the re-telling will never approach +the story as told by Scott himself: for the kernel one must turn to +Volume I, of "Scott's Last Expedition": However, perhaps I can give +something of interest; here is what little Bowers says in extracts from +his diary, given me by his mother: + + "_January_ 4.--Packed up sledge with four weeks and three days' food + for five men, five sleeping-bags, etc. I had my farewell breakfast + with Teddy Evans, Crean and Lashly. Teddy was frightfully cut up at + not going to the Pole, he had set his heart on it so. + + "I am afraid it was a very great disappointment to him, and I felt + very sorry about it. Poor Teddy, I am sure it was for his wife's sake + he wanted to go. He gave me a little silk flag she had given him to + fly on the Pole. After so little sleep the previous night I rather + dreaded the march. + + "We gave our various notes, messages, and letters to the returning + party and started off. They accompanied us for about a mile before + turning, to see that all was going on well. + + "Our party was on ski with the exception of myself. I first made fast + to the central span, but afterwards connected up to the bow of the + sledge, pulling in the centre between the inner ends of Captain + Scott's and Dr. Wilson's traces. + + "This was found to be the best place, as I had to go my own step. + Teddy and party gave us three cheers and Crean was half in tears. They + had a featherweight sledge to go back with, of course, and ought to + run down their distance easily. + + "We found we could manage our load easily, and did 6.3 miles before + lunch, completing 12.5 by 7.15 p.m. Our marching hours are nine per + day. It is a long slog with a well-loaded sledge, and more tiring for + me than the others as I have no ski. However, as long as I can do my + share all day and keep fit, it does not matter much one way or the + other. + + "We had our first north wind on the Plateau to-day, and a deposit of + snow crystals made the surface like sand latterly on the march. The + sledge dragged like lead. In the evening it fell calm, and although + the temperature was 16 degrees it was positively pleasant to stand + about outside the tent and bask in the sun's rays. It was our first + calm since we reached the summit too. Our socks and other damp + articles which we hang out to dry at night became immediately covered + with long feathery crystals exactly like plumes. + + "Socks, mitts, and finneskoe dry splendidly up here during the night. + We have little trouble with them compared with spring and winter + journeys. I generally spread my bag out in the sun during the 1 1/2 + hours of lunch time, which gives the reindeer hair a chance to get rid + of the damage done by the deposit of breath and any perspiration + during the night...." + +He seemed to have made no entry for some days after this, but he is +interesting to quote later. + +The Polar Party covered the 145 geographical miles that remained in a +fortnight; on the 7th January they reached apparently the summit of the +Plateau, 10,570 ft. in Latitude 88 degrees 18 minutes 70 seconds S. +Longitude 157 degrees 21 minutes E., but their marches fell short of +expectations due to the bad surfaces met with. + +Scott kept copious notes in his diary of everything that mattered. He was +delighted with his final selection, and as usual pithy and to the point +when describing. Here, for example, is something of what he wrote of his +companions: + + (From Scott's Last Expedition, Vol. 1) + + "WILSON.--Quick, careful and dexterous, ever thinking of some fresh + expedient to help the camp life; tough as steel on the traces, never + wavering from start to finish. + + "PETTY OFFICER EVANS.--A giant worker, with a really remarkable + headpiece--he is responsible for every sledge, every sledge-fitting, + tents, sleeping-bags, harness, and when one cannot recall a single + expression of dissatisfaction with any one of these items, it shows + what an invaluable assistant he has been.... + + "BOWERS.--Little Bowers remains a marvel--he is thoroughly enjoying + himself. I leave all the provision arrangements in his hands, and at + all times he knows exactly how we stand ... Nothing comes amiss to + him, and no work is too hard.... + + "OATES.--Each is invaluable. Oates had his invaluable period with the + ponies: now he is a foot slogger and goes hard the whole time, does + his share of camp work and stands the hardships as well as any of us. + I would not like to be without him either. So our five people are + perhaps as happily selected as it is possible to imagine." + +Certainly no living man could have taken Scott's place effectively as +leader of our Expedition--there was none other like him. He was the +Heart, Brain, and Master. + +On January 11 just the slightest descent had been made, the height up +being now 10,540 ft., but it will be noticed that they were then getting +temperatures as low as 26 degrees below zero: my party on that date got +10 degrees higher thermometer readings. Surface troubles continued to +waylay them, and their distances, even with five men, were disappointing, +due undoubtedly to this. + +On 13th both Bowers and Scott write of a surface like sand, and of +tugging and straining when they ought to be moving easily. On 14th some +members began to feel the cold unmistakably, and on the following day the +whole party were quite done on camping. + +The saddest note on the outward march is struck on January 16 when Bowers +sighted a cairn of snow and a black speck, which turned out to be a black +flag tied to a sledge runner, near the remains of a camp--this after such +a hopeful day on the 15th, when a depot of nine days food was made only +27 miles from the Pole--and Scott wrote in his diary: + + "... It ought to be a certain thing now, and the only appalling + possibility the sight of the Norwegian Flag forestalling ours...." + +Still, there it was, dog tracks, many of them, were picked up and +followed to the Polar Area. Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers, and Seaman +Evans reached the South Pole on 17th January, 1912, a horrible day, +temperature 22 degrees below zero. The party fixed the exact spot by +means of one of our little four-inch theodolites, and the result of their +careful observations located the Pole at a point which only differed from +Amundsen's "fix" by half a mile, as shown by his flag. + +This difference actually meant that the British and Norwegian observers +differed by _one scale division on the theodolite_, which was graduated +to half a minute of arc. + +Experts in navigation and surveying will always look on this splendidly +accurate determination as a fine piece of work by our own people as well +as by the Norwegian Expedition. + +Lady Scott has remarked on the magnificent spirit shown by her husband +and his four specially-selected tent-mates when they knew that Queen +Alexandra's little silk Union Jack had been anticipated by the flag of +another nation. Scott and his companions had done their best, and never +from one of them came an uncharitable remark. + +In our Expedition Committee Minute Book it is recorded that the following +were found at the Pole: + +A letter from Captain Amundsen to Captain Scott: + + "Poleheim, + 15th _December_, 1911. + + "DEAR CAPTAIN SCOTT,--As you probably are the first to reach this area + after us, I will ask you kindly to forward this letter to King Haakon + VII. If you can use any of the articles left in the tent please do + not hesitate to do so. The sledge left outside may be of use to you. + With kind regards I wish you a safe return. + + "Yours truly, + ROALD AMUNDSEN." + +Also another note: + + "The Norwegian Home, Poleheim, is situated in 89 degrees 58 minutes S. + Lat. S.E. by E. compass 8 miles. + + (Signed) ROALD AMUNDSEN. "15th _December_, 1911." + +The Norwegian Explorers' names recorded at Poleheim were: Roald Amundsen, +Olaf Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Oskar Wisting, Sverre Hassel. + +Scott left a note in the Norwegian tent with the names of himself and his +companions, and in his diary he agreed that the Norwegian explorers had +made thoroughly sure of their work and fully carried out their programme. + +Scott considered the Pole to be 9500 feet above the Barrier--1000 feet +lower than the Plateau altitude in 88 degrees. + +Bowers took the sights to fix the South Pole. + +On the 19th January the northward march was commenced: the party had +before them then a distance of over 900 miles (statute). Bowers writes on +this date quite nonchalantly: + + " ... A splendid clear morning, with fine S.W'ly wind blowing--during + breakfast time I sewed a flap attachment on to my green hat so as to + prevent the wind from blowing down my neck on the march. We got up + the mast and sail on the sledge and headed North, picking up + Amundsen's cairn and our outgoing tracks shortly afterwards. Along + this we travelled until we struck the other cairn and finally the + Black Flag where we had made our sixth (?) outward camp. We then with + much relief left all traces of the Norwegian behind, and I headed on + my own track till lunch camp, when we had come 8.1 miles. In the + afternoon we passed No. 2 Cairn of the British route, and fairly + slithered along with a fresh breeze. It was heavy travelling for me, + not being on ski, but one does not mind being tired if a good march is + made. We did 16 altogether for the day, and so should pick up our last + depot to-morrow afternoon. The weather became fairly thick soon after + noon, and at the end of the afternoon there was considerable drift + with a mist caused by ice crystals and parhelion. + + "_January_ 20.--Good sailing breeze again this morning; it is a great + pleasure to have one's back to the wind instead of having to face it. + It came on thicker later, but we sighted the last depot soon after 1 + p.m. and reached it at 1-15 p.m. The red flag on the bamboo pole was + blowing out merrily to welcome us back from the Pole, with its supply + of the necessaries of life below. We are absolutely dependent on our + depots to get off the Plateau alive, and so welcome the lovely little + cairns gladly. At this one, called the 'Last Depot,' we picked up four + days' food, a can of oil, some methylated spirit (for lighting + purposes), and some personal gear we had left there. The bamboo was + bent on to the floor-cloth as a yard for our sail instead of a broken + sledge runner of Amundsen's, which we had found at the Pole and made a + temporary yard of. As we had marched extra long in the forenoon in + order to reach the depot, our afternoon march was shorter than usual. + The wind increased to a moderate gale, with heavy gusts and + considerable drift. We would have had a bad time had we been facing + it. After an hour I had to shift my harness aft so as to control the + motions of the sledge. + + "Unfortunately the surface got very sandy latterly, but we finished up + with 16.1 miles to our credit and camped in a stiff breeze, which + rendered itself into a blizzard a few hours later. I was glad we had + our depot safe. + + "_January_ 21.-Wind increased to force 8 during night, with heavy + drift; in the morning it was blizzing like blazes, and marching was + out of the question. The wind would have been of great assistance to + us, but the drift was so thick that steering a course would have been + next to impossible, so we decided to await developments and get under + way as soon as it showed any signs of clearing. Fortunately it was + short lived, and instead of lasting the regulation two days it went + off in the afternoon, and 2.45 found us off with our sail full. It was + good running on ski, but soft plodding for me on foot. I shall be + jolly glad to pick up my dear old ski. They are nearly 200 miles away + yet, however. The breeze fell altogether latterly, and I shifted up + into my old place, a middle number of the five. Our distance completed + was 5.52 miles when camp was made again. Our old cairns are of great + assistance, also the tracks, which are obliterated in places by heavy + drift and hard sastrugi, but can be followed easily. + + "_January_ 22.--We came across Evans's sheep-skin boots this evening. + They were almost covered after their long spell since they fell off + the sledge. The breeze was in from the S.S.W., but got bright and + light. At lunch camp we had completed 8.2 miles. In the afternoon the + breeze fell altogether and the surface acted on by the sun became + perfect sand-dust. The light sledge pulled by five men came along like + a drag without a particle of slide or go in it. We were all glad to + camp soon after 7 p.m. I think we were all pretty tired out. We did + altogether 19.5 miles for the day. We are now only 30 miles from the + 1 1/2 degree depot and should reach it in two marches with any luck. + + "_January_ 23.--Started off with a bit of a breeze which helped us a + little. After the first two hours it increased to force 4 S.S.W., and + filling the sail we sped along merrily, doing 8 3/4 miles before + lunch. In the afternoon it was even stronger. I had to go back in the + sledge and act as guide and brakesman. We had to lower the sail a bit, + but even then she ran like a bird. We are picking up our old cairns + famously. Evans got his nose frost-bitten, not an unusual thing with + him, and as we were all getting pretty cold latterly, we stopped at a + quarter to seven, having done 15 1/2 miles. We camped with + considerable difficulty owing to the force of the wind. + + "_January_ 24.--Evans got his fingers all blistered with frostbites, + otherwise we are all well, but thinning, and in spite of our good + rations getting hungrier daily. + + "I sometimes spend much thought on the march with plans for making a + pig of myself on the first opportunity. As this will be after a + farther walk of 700 miles they will be a bit premature. It was blowing + a gale when we started, and it increased in force. Finally, with the + sail half down, one man detached tracking ahead, and Titus and I + breaking back, we could not always keep the sledge from over-running. + The blizzard got worse and worse, till having done only 7 miles we had + to camp soon after 12 o'clock. We had a most difficult job camping, + and it has been blowing like blazes all the afternoon. I think it is + moderating now--9 p.m. + + "We are only 7 miles from our depot and the delay is exasperating. + + "_January_ 25.--It was no use turning out at our usual time (5.45 + a.m.) as the blizzard was as furious as ever. + + "We therefore decided on a late breakfast and no lunch unless able to + march. We have only three days' food with us and shall be in Queer + Street if we miss the depot. + + "Our bags are getting steadily wetter, so are our clothes. + + "It shows a tendency to clear off now (breakfast time), so, D.V., we + may march after all. I am in tribulation as regards meals now, as we + have run out of salt, one of my favourite commodities. It was owing to + Atkinson's party taking back an extra tin by mistake from the Upper + Glacier Depot. + + "Fortunately we have some depoted there, so I will only have to endure + another two weeks without it. + + "10 p.m.--We have got in a march after all, thank the Lord. + + "Assisted by the wind we made an excellent run down to our 1 1/2 + Depot, where the big red flag was blowing out of driving drift. Here + we picked up 14 cans of oil, and one week's food for five men, + together with some personal gear depoted. + + "We left the bamboo and the flag on the cairn. I was much relieved to + pick up this depot; now we have only one other source of anxiety in + the endless snow summit, viz., the third depot in Latitude 86 degrees + 56 minutes S. In the afternoon we did 5.2 miles. It was a miserable + march, blizzard all the time and our sledge either sticking on + sastrugi or overrunning the traces. We had to lower the sail half + down, and Titus and I hung on to her--it was most strenuous work as + well as much colder than pulling ahead. Most of the time we had to + brake back with all our strength to keep the sledge from overrunning. + Bill got a bad go of sun-glare from following the track without + goggles on. + + "_January_ 26.--This day last year we started the depot journey. I did + not think so short a time would turn me into an old hand at Polar + travelling, neither did I imagine all the time that I would be + returning from the Pole. + + "_January_ 29.--Our record march to-day. With a good breeze and + improving surface we were soon in amongst the double tracks where the + supporting party left us. Then we picked up the memorable camp where + I transferred to the advance party. How glad I was to change over. The + camp was much drifted up, and immense sastrugi . . . etc." + +Day's marches, temperatures, and so on, then his diary commences missing +days out and only contains two line entries in short, sharp notes such +as: + + "_January_ 31.--Picked up depot 11.20 a.m. Picked up my ski 6.15 p.m. + No wind latterly--heavy surface. 13 1/2--Bill's leg--Evans's + fingers--extra biscuits, etc."; and + + "_February_ 11.--Very heavy surface--ice crystals--movement of upper + currents--Evans cook--finer weather--lower temperature--sastrugi. + Run 11.1." + +It was probably the beginning of the end. + +February brought little to the party but bad luck and reverses. Wilson +had strained a tendon in his leg. Evans's fingers were in a bad state +through frostbite, and on the first of the month Scott himself had fallen +and shaken himself badly. Temperatures low, too low for any good surface. +February 4 found the party amongst crevasses, both Scott and Evans +falling into them. Notwithstanding all their troubles they made a fine +pace over the ice-capped plateau and down the Beardmore. Evans's fall on +February 4 crocked him up a good deal, and he suffered from facial +frostbites. His condition all the time now was causing the gravest +anxiety. The summit journey ended on February 7. On the 8th valuable +geological specimens were collected and brought along, and then the +descent of the Great Glacier commenced. The Beardmore temperatures to +begin with were rather high, and Scott seems to have considered this a +disadvantage, for he says it made the party feel slack. Evans was rested +half-way down the Beardmore, Oates looking after him, while the other +made a halt for geological investigation by the Cloudmaker depot. + +But poor Evans had sustained a severe concussion through falling and +hitting his head on the 4th, and the party on his account was so delayed +that the surplus foodstuffs rapidly diminished, and the outlook became +serious. Bad weather was again encountered, and on February 17, near the +foot of the Glacier, Seaman Evans died. Wilson expressed the opinion that +Evans must have injured his brain by the fall. It was a great surprise to +all of us to hear of Evans failing so early, as he was known to be a man +of enormous strength, and a tried sledger. He was also a veteran in +Antarctic experience, having made some wonderful journeys under Scott in +the "Discovery" days. + +After reaching the Lower Glacier Depot on the 17th the bereaved little +band pushed Northward with fine perseverance, although they must have +known by their gradually shortening marches that little hope of reaching +their winter quarters remained. Their best march on the Barrier was only +12 miles, and in the later stages their marches dropped to 4. The depots +were, as stated, some 65 miles apart, but the temperatures fell as they +advanced, instead of rising, as expected, and we find them +recording -46.2 degrees one night. Surfaces were terrible--"like +pulling over desert sand, not the least glide in the world." + +Poor Oates's feet and hands were badly frostbitten--he constantly +appealed to Wilson for advice. What should he do, what could he do? Poor, +gallant soldier, we thought such worlds of him. Wilson could only answer +"slog on, just slog on." On March 17, which was Oates's birthday, he +walked out to his death in a noble endeavour to save his three companions +beset with hardships, and as Captain Scott himself wrote, "It was the act +of a brave man and an English gentleman--we all hope to meet the end with +a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far." + +Scott, Wilson, and Bowers fought on until March 21, only doing about 20 +miles in the four days, and then they were forced to camp 11 miles south +of One Ton Depot. They were kept in camp by a blizzard which was too +violent to permit them to move, and on March 25 Captain Scott wrote his +great message to the public: + + MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC + +The causes of the disaster are not due to faulty organisation, but to +misfortune in all risks which had to be undertaken. + +1.--The loss of pony transport in March, 1911, obliged me to start later +than I had intended, and obliged the limits of stuff transported to be +narrowed. + +2. The weather throughout the outward journey, and especially the long +gale in 83 degrees S., stopped us. + +3. The soft snow in lower reaches of glacier again reduced pace. + +We fought these untoward events with a will and conquered, but it cut +into our provision reserve. + +Every detail of our food supplies, clothing, and depots made on the +interior ice sheet and over that long stretch of 700 miles to the Pole +and back worked out to perfection. The advance party would have returned +to the glacier in fine form and with surplus of food, but for the +astonishing failure of the man whom we had least expected to fail. Edgar +Evans was thought the strongest man of the party. + +The Beardmore Glacier is not difficult in fine weather, but on our return +we did not get a single completely fine day; this with a sick companion +enormously increased our anxieties. + +As I have said elsewhere we got into frightfully rough ice, and Edgar +Evans received a concussion of the brain--he died a natural death, but +left us a shaken party, with the season unduly advanced. + +But all the facts above enumerated were as nothing to the surprise which +awaited us on the Barrier. I maintain that our arrangements for returning +were quite adequate, and that no one in the world would have expected the +temperatures and surfaces which we encountered at this time of the year. +On the summit in Latitude 85 degrees 86 degrees we had -20 degrees -30 +degrees. On the Barrier in Latitude 82 degrees, 10,000 feet lower, we had +-30 degrees in the day, -47 degrees at night pretty regularly, with +continuous head wind during our day marches. It is clear that these +circumstances come on very suddenly, and our wreck is certainly due to +this sudden advent of severe weather, which does not seem to have any +satisfactory cause. I do not think human beings ever came through such a +month as we have come through, and we should have got through in spite of +the weather but for the sickening of a second companion, Captain Oates, +and a shortage of fuel in our depots, for which I cannot account, and +finally, but for the storm which has fallen on us within 11 miles of the +depot at which we hoped to secure our final supplies. Surely misfortune +could scarcely have exceeded this last blow. We arrived within 11 miles +of our old One Ton Camp with fuel for one last meal and food for two +days. For four days we have been unable to leave the tent--the gale +howling about us. We are weak, writing is difficult, but for my own sake +I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure +hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as +ever in the past. We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come +out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to +the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last. But +if we have been willing to give our lives to this enterprise, which is +for the honour of our country, I appeal to our countrymen to see that +those who depend on us are properly cared for. + +Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, +endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the +heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must +tell the tale, but surely, surely a great rich country like ours will see +that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for. + +(Signed) R. SCOTT. + +This chapter would be incomplete without Wilson's own beautiful lines +from the "South Polar Times"; + + THE BARRIER SILENCE + + The Silence was deep with a breath like sleep + As our sledge runner slid on the snow, + And the fateful fall of our fur-clad feet + Struck mute like a silent blow. + On a questioning "hush," as the settling crust + Shrank shivering over the floe; + And the sledge in its track sent a whisper back + Which was lost in a white-fog bow. + And this was the thought that the Silence wrought + As it scorched and froze us through, + Though secrets hidden are all forbidden + Till God means man to know. + We might be the men God meant should know + The heart of the Barrier snow, + In the heat of the sun, and the glow + And the glare from the glistening floe, + As it scorched and froze us through and through + With the bite of the drifting snow. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +THE SECOND WINTER--FINDING OF THE POLAR PARTY + + +The foregoing story of triumph and disaster going hand in hand to Scott +dwarfed the remaining chapters of the Expedition's history into +insignificance. I venture, however, to give a resume of what was +happening elsewhere in this region at the time. + +The Norwegian explorers commenced their trip homeward to Framheim in the +Bay of Whales, a distance of 870 English miles, on December 17, 1911 and +made the amazing marching average of 22 1/2 miles a day for this +distance. + +On January 25, 1912, at 4 a.m., Amundsen's men regained the shelter of +their winter quarters, when poor Scott was still only 30 miles from the +Pole on his return journey. + +This undoubtedly establishes the superiority of dogs in great numbers for +Polar sledge travelling, for Scott delayed his start on account of the +inability of his ponies to face the severity of the Barrier weather +conditions before November 1. Peary in the North had already with dogs +achieved what Amundsen did in the South. Captain Amundsen has always +expressed his wonder at our performance--and in his modest way he told me +he himself could never have manhauled as Scott's men did. + +Concerning the attempts to support the Southern party, Scott's +instructions were quite clear, and they were certainly obeyed. As a +matter of fact there was never any anxiety felt for the Southern party +until after March 10. They themselves never imagined they would reach Hut +Point before that time, and as the last supporting party had won through +short-handed, and after pulling in harness for 1500 miles, it was not +considered likely that the Southern party would fail--unless overtaken by +scurvy. + +What actually happened was this. Stores were landed by those at the base +station on the re-arrival of the "Terra Nova," and Atkinson, who was the +senior member of those not now returning in her to civilisation, took +over the dogs according to Scott's directions. He proceeded to Hut Point +with Dimitri and the two dog teams on 13th February, and was kept in camp +by bad weather until 19th, when Crean reached the Hut and brought in the +news of my breakdown and collapse at Corner Camp. A blizzard precluded a +start for the purpose of relieving me, but this expedition was undertaken +immediately the weather abated. It was only during a temporary clear that +Lashly and I were rescued. + +Considering my condition, Atkinson judged that if help could be obtained +from Cape Evans, his duty was to stay with me and save my life if +possible, and to depute Cherry-Garrard or Wright to take the dog-teams +out to One Ton Camp with Dimitri. + +Scott would have preferred Wright to remain at Cape Evans, because he had +now relieved Simpson as physicist--Simpson being recalled by the Indian +Government. + +So it was decided that Cherry-Garrard should take out the teams, which he +did, with twenty-four days' food for his own unit and two weeks' surplus +stores for the Southern party, with all kinds of special delicacies. + +The real object of this trip was to hasten the Southern party's return +rather than to succour them. + +Cherry-Garrard and Dimitri had a tough time of it. They, however, reached +One Ton Camp on March, and were held there by blizzard weather, which +made travelling impossible. Temperatures of 40 degrees below zero and +lower were experienced, the dogs were suffering acutely, and +Cherry-Garrard had to decide on the better course--to remain at One Ton +Camp, which Scott would surely make, if thus far north, with two +competent navigators in his team, or to scout and risk missing the party, +whilst using up the dogs' remaining strength. He very properly remained +at One Ton Camp and made his depot on 10th March, and after satisfying +himself that over a month's travelling rations were in the depot, +Cherry-Garrard started homeward, but he had by no means a sinecure in +this journey back--his dogs went wild at the start, smashed the +sledge-meter adrift, fought, and would keep no definite direction, thick +weather set in, and they had a fearful time marching northwards. + +The season was rapidly closing, and without the practice in fog +navigation which the naval officers had, the situation of the unit was +alarming. The two men got into severe pressure and found great open +crevasses--this with their dogs ravenous and out of hand. Dimitri +practically collapsed, and being unable to express himself properly in +English, one can picture what Cherry-Garrard had to contend with. Late on +March 16 they won through to Hut Point in exceedingly bad condition. +Atkinson was seriously alarmed, and had two more sick men to nurse back +to strength. + +The dogs were frost-bitten, gaunt, and quite unfit for further work that +season. Meantime during the absence of the dog teams, before there was +anxiety on Scott's account, Pennell, responding to Atkinson's letter for +help, brought the "Terra Nova" up towards Hut Point, and a party under +Rennick conveyed me in pitiful state to the ship in my sleeping-bag. + +I was placed in the Captain's cabin, and given Drake and Day as nurses. I +owe them a great debt too. Atkinson had still to remain at my side, for I +was even then at death's door--and, it is only due to Atkinson's +unremitting care that I am alive to-day. He came up therefore in the ship +and participated in the search for Campbell in the vicinity of Evans's +Coves, but after several unsuccessful attempts the "Terra Nova" +temporarily abandoned her objective and returned to Cape Evans on March +4. Here Keohane was picked up and taken with Atkinson to Hut +Point--Pennell relieved Atkinson of further responsibility on my account +and then landed him with Keohane here. It was impressed on Atkinson that +there was very little chance of relieving Campbell with ice conditions as +they were. They laid up a store of seal meat and blubber against the +return of Scott's company, while the ship made another fruitless attempt +to relieve Campbell. She did not return South after this on account of +the sea freezing and her own coal shortage, but proceeded back to New +Zealand, in accordance with her Commanding Officer's instructions. +Pennell was not justified in keeping the "Terra Nova" any later in the +McMurdo Sound. + +Now let us consider poor Atkinson. He had Dimitri and Cherry-Garrard at +Hut Point in a state of collapse--he had on 16th March the knowledge that +the Polar Party were still on the Barrier with a season closing in and a +certainty of low temperature--there was no communication with Cape Evans, +for the ice had gone out and left open water between the two positions. +After discussing the situation fully, Atkinson and Keohane started out +alone to succour Scott's party. It was on March 26 that Atkinson and +Keohane set out, this being later in the year than we had sledged in +1911, when it will be remembered we gave up depot-laying on account of +the hardship entailed, although we were fresh men and had not undergone +the severe test of a long season's sledge work. Atkinson could only +manage about nine miles daily, he and Keohane got practically no sleep +owing to the cold, and they turned homeward after depositing a week's +food supply at Corner Camp, in case it could be made use of. Atkinson was +morally certain that the Polar Party had perished by this time, and, as +he states in his record of proceedings ("The last year at Cape Evans, +'Scott's Last Expedition,' Vol. II."), Scott's last diary entry was made +before he and Keohane reached Corner Camp. Atkinson arrived back at Hut +Point on April 1, 1912, utterly worn out, and in great concern on +Campbell's account, for the Northern party were known to be somewhere on +the coast. He could do nothing without assistance from Cape Evans, and he +awaited, therefore, the opportunity of reaching the base station as we +all had done when stranded at Hut Point twelve months previously. On +April 10, leaving Cherry-Garrard to tend the dogs, Atkinson, Keohane, and +Dimitri made their way to Cape Evans via the Castle Rock, Glacier Tongue +route, as described in the earlier part of this narrative, but, as it +happens, under almost unparalleled conditions, for they sailed over the +ice, riding on their sledge, such was the excellence of the sea-ice +surface. + +The indefatigable Atkinson called the members together to discuss plans +and decide as to future relief work. The idea of making a farther journey +on to the Ice Barrier to succour Scott was rejected as useless--for there +was no hope whatever for the Southern party, and Atkinson himself knew +what the Barrier travelling was like. There was, however, a chance of +relieving Campbell and his five companions, known to have been set ashore +in the neighbourhood of Terra Nova Bay, and with this end in view, +Atkinson, Wright, Keohane, Williamson, Gran, and Dimitri set off on April +13. + +The last two were left at Hut Point whilst Atkinson and the other three +worked round the Southern end of McMurdo Sound on the sea-ice and up the +coast to Butter Point. It was a dangerous proceeding, but Atkinson was +undaunted by the perils of the sea ice breaking up, and he carried out a +tip-and-run sort of journey with great pluck and endurance, establishing +a depot of a fortnight's foodstuffs at Butter Point. On April. 20 the ice +was seen to break up and drift seawards from Butter Point, thus finally +putting a stop to any further search or relief work. + +A somewhat hazardous return journey landed Atkinson's team at Hut Point, +and his whole party was re-collected at the Cape Evans Base by May 1 with +the dogs. + +Here Lashly was looking after the seven mules presented by the Indian +Government, which the ship had brought down to enable Scott to explore +further the extent of the Victoria Land Coast, S.E. of the Beardmore. +Everything at Cape Evans in the scientific line was carried on as in the +preceding winter, and although the staff was reduced the records and +observations were continued as heretofore. + +The Second Winter Party consisted of: + +_Officers_--Atkinson, Wright, Debenham, Nelson, Cherry-Garrard, Gran. +_Men_--Archer, Williamson, Crean, Lashly, Keohane, Dimitri, Hooper. + +Mr. Archer, our capable chief cook and steward, replaced Clissold, and +Williamson exchanged with Forde. The winter work of the Hut was +reorganised by Atkinson, so that every one was detailed to do that for +which he was best suited. Considering what the party had faced already, +that they were living in the shadow of a great disaster, and that +Campbell's fate was in doubt, one must feel that in a way they had the +hardest time of all in the Expedition. They had to sit down, as it were, +and wait in uncertainty for the winter to pass, then go out in search to +ascertain the fate of their leader, and probably that of Campbell. + +I can only give a brief summary of the second winter, taken from +Atkinson's and Gran's accounts: the weather was probably exceptional from +the persistency of the early winter blizzards. There was a great dearth +of seal-meat, due to the ice blowing out from the North Bay and to the +lack of ice everywhere in May month. + +Debenham gave great joy to the company after examining the geological +specimens brought by Atkinson's supporting party from the Beardmore. +Fossils of plants and small marine animals were found amongst them. + +Ice formed at the end of May, but again blew out in June--close on to +midwinter, when the sea was seen to be phosphorescent, and Atkinson +writes: "We had a wonderful show of phosphorescence--we saw a seal +chasing a school of fish, the fish outlined with phosphorescence, and the +seal with a glowing snout and all his body bright in hot pursuit." + +On midwinter day, after the attendant festivities, Atkinson called the +members together and outlined his plans for the coming season. + +He says, "Two alternatives lay before us. One was to go South and try to +discover the fate of Captain Scott's party. I thought it most likely that +they had been lost in a crevasse on the Beardmore Glacier. Whether their +bodies could be found or not, it was highly desirable to go even as far +as the Upper Glacier Depot, nearly 600 miles from the Base, in the hope +of finding a note left in some depot which could tell whether they had +fulfilled their task or turned back before reaching the Pole. On general +grounds it was of great importance not to leave the record of the +Expedition incomplete, with one of its most striking chapters a blank. + +"The other alternative was to go West and North to relieve Campbell and +his party, always supposing they had survived the winter. If they had +come through the winter every day of advancing summer would improve their +chances of living on in Terra Nova Bay. At the same time there was good +prospect of their ultimately being relieved by the ship, if indeed she +had not taken them off in the autumn. As for ourselves, it seemed most +improbable that we could journey up the coast owing to the abnormal state +of the ice. Instead of being frozen for the winter, the whole Sound to +the north and west of Inaccessible Island was open water during July; the +ice was driven out by the exceptionally strong and frequent winds, and +there was little chance of a firm road forming for the spring. Under +these conditions officers and men unanimously supported the decision to +go South." + +An important fact is noted by Atkinson which is worth including for the +guidance of future expeditions. Six new sledges came down per "Terra +Nova" from Messrs. Hagen of Christiania, with tapered runners--the +breadth of the runner in front being 4 inches, diminishing to 2 1/2 on +the after part of the sledge. Compared with our original 12-foot pattern +the new sledges contrasted to great advantage over the old. The idea +seems to be that the broad iron portion should run over and smooth the +track for the after tapered portion. + +The sun returned after its four months' absence on August 23 and found +the little party in excellent health and cheerful spirits. The mules and +dogs had been carefully exercised to be ready and fit for the new journey +South. A depot was laid 12 miles south of Corner Camp in mid-October, and +another by the dogs soon after. On October 29 Wright, Nelson, Gran, +Lashly, Crean, Williamson, Keohane, and Hooper left with six mules, +sledges, and a considerable provision store to search for Captain Scott +and the Polar Party. Atkinson followed with Cherry-Garrard and Dimitri on +1st November, taking the best available dogs in two teams. Without any +great trouble they reached One Ton Camp on November 10, having joined +forces with the mule party. Atkinson notes that here he found, as we had +done before, an oil shortage from paraffin tins in the depot leaking, +although there was no hole discernible. Some stores had been spoilt in +consequence. On the morning of 12th November the party found what they +sought--Scott's tent, snowed up and presenting a cairn-like appearance. + +From Gran's diary the following is taken: + + "It has happened--horrible, ugly fate, only 11 miles from One Ton + Depot, Scott, Wilson, and Birdie. All ghastly. I will never forget it + as long as I live: a terrible nightmare could not have shown more + horror than this 'Campo Santo.' In a tent, snow covered to above the + door, we found the three bodies. Scott in the middle, half out of his + bag, Birdie on his right, and Uncle Bill on the left, lying head + towards the door. .. Bowers and Wilson seem to have passed away in a + kind of sleep.... Concerning our unlucky Polar Party we learned that + Petty Officer Evans died at the Lower Glacier Depot; he was done, and + had fallen coming down the Glacier: death was the result of a + concussion of the brain. On the Barrier they met with extreme low + temperatures. Down to -50 degrees in the night time for weeks, also + head wind. + + "'Soldier' had got his feet frost-bitten badly and suffered + enormously. He understood that the salvation of the party depended on + his death--but as death would not relieve him he went out of the tent + in a blizzard to meet it. The three others arrived here at this camp + March 21 with food for two days and fuel for one meal. A terrible + blizzard prevented them from getting in, and on March 29 all was + finished. + + "Scott writes in his diary: 'There is no more hope, and so God look + after our people....' All this only a day's march from plenty.... We + buried them this morning, a solemn undertaking. How strange it was to + see men bareheaded whilst the wind blew with the thermometer at -20 + degrees. We are now going to look for 'Soldier' and then return to + look for Campbell. I must say our Expedition is not given much luck + ... the sun is shining beautifully in this place of death: over the + Bluff this morning stood a distinct cross in clouds." + +It continues: "November 12, Lunch time: + +"We have built a cairn--a 12-foot cairn--and put a cross made of a pair +of skis on it...." Gran says later, and it is worth quoting: "When I saw +those three poor souls the other day, I just felt that I envied them. +They died having done something great. How hard death must be for those +who meet it having done nothing." + +Atkinson in his account says: + + "We recovered all their gear and dug out the sledge with their + belongings on it. Amongst these were 35 lb. of very important + geological specimens which had been collected on the moraines of the + Beardmore Glacier: at Doctor Wilson's request they had stuck to these + up to the very end, even when disaster stared them in the face and + they knew that the specimens were so much weight added to what they + had to pull...." + +The following record was left: + + "November 12, 1912, Latitude 79 degrees, 50 minutes, South. This cross + and cairn are erected over the bodies of Captain Scott, C.V.O., R.N., + Doctor E.A. Wilson, M.B., B.C., Cantab., and Lieutenant H.R. Bowers, + Royal Indian Marine--a slight token to perpetuate their successful and + gallant attempt to reach the Pole. This they did on January 17, 1912, + after the Norwegian Expedition had already done so. Inclement weather + with lack of fuel was the cause of their death. Also to commemorate + their two gallant comrades, Captain L.E.G. Oates of the Inniskilling + Dragoons, who walked to his death in a blizzard to save his comrades, + about eighteen miles south of this position; also of Seaman Edgar + Evans, who died at the foot of the Beardmore Glacier. 'The Lord gave + and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'" + +This was signed by all the members of the party. + + "I decided then to march twenty miles south with the whole of the + Expedition and try to find the body of Captain Oates. For half the day + we proceeded south, as far as possible along the line of the previous + season's march. On one of the old pony walls, which was simply marked + by a ridge of the surface of the snow, we found Oates's sleeping-bag, + which they had brought along with them after he had left. + + "The next day we proceeded thirteen miles more south, hoping and + searching to find his body. When we arrived at the place where he had + left them, we saw that there was no chance of doing so. The kindly + snow had covered his body, giving him a fitting burial. Here, again, + as near to the site of the death as we could judge, we built another + cairn to his memory, and placed thereon a small cross and the + following record: 'Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain + L.E.G. Oates of the Inniskilling Dragoons. In March, 1912, returning + from the Pole, he walked willingly to his death in a blizzard, to try + and save his comrades, beset by hardships. This note is left by the + Relief Expedition of 1912.'" + +Atkinson writes also, and it should be inserted most certainly here, +referring to their return after hunting for poor Oates's body: + + "On the second day we came again to the resting place of the three and + bade them there a final farewell. There alone in their greatness they + will lie without change or bodily decay, with the most fitting tomb in + the world above them." + +Atkinson could not have expressed himself more beautifully. My book +should end here, but there is an epilogue to it: it is the illuminating +story of Campbell and his northern party, with a short indication of what +was done elsewhere by the Expedition's men. The homeward journey was made +in sorrow and doubt, for Atkinson's little band of brothers had to +shoulder another responsibility--the determination of Campbell's fate. + +On November 27, 1912, Gran's diary gives as follows: + + "Great news again--great, good news. Campbell here and his party safe + at Cape Evans. They just missed us going out. They lived a winter à la + Eskimo, Igloo and so on, and have been quite comfortable, so they say. + Campbell is looking very well. He is now in command, and intends to do + only small trips--Erebus and so on...." + +Atkinson now handed over to Campbell, and whilst mentioning this it is +just as well to call attention to the splendid services of Dr. Atkinson. +Grit and loyalty were his outstanding qualities. He was later on +specially promoted to Surgeon Commander for his work in the Expedition. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +ADVENTURES OF THE NORTHERN PARTY + + +To set forth concisely the adventurous story of Campbell's Northern Party +in a single chapter is no light task. Raymond Priestley has written it in +book form already, just as Griffith-Taylor has published his particular +narrative of the Western Journey in "The Silver Lining." Both books are +of absorbing interest to those who are fond of Polar literature. + +I have, I hope, made clear the reason of Campbell's landing at Cape +Adare. Mr. Borchgrevink in his "Southern Cross" Antarctic Expedition used +this position as his winter quarters, and found, just as Campbell did, +that it was not a suitable part of the Antarctic continent for making +extensive sledge journeys from. Still, King Edward's Land was denied him. +Amundsen was established before him in the Bay of Whales, and in spite of +diligent search the Cape Adare choice was the only one left to Victor +Campbell and his five companions. Scott's instructions have already been +reproduced in this volume: he mentioned Robertson Bay, and Cape Adare is +at the N.E. extreme of the Promontory bounding the Bay to the Eastward. + +Campbell was by no means satisfied with his landing place, but coal was +short in the "Terra Nova" and the season drawing in. He had vainly +searched for a more profitable wintering place, and it was not until +February 17 that he got his chance of landing here even. + +The party and their stores were put ashore on the beach which the +"Southern Cross" Expedition had chosen, for want of a better spot where +their stuff could be set safely on land. Loose ice and surf hampered +operations, for owing to shallow water, boats had to convey hut, gear, +and equipment from the ship instead of sledges taking it over fast ice, +as was the case at Cape Evans. It was truly a case of bundling Campbell +and Co. out of the ship, and only their great optimism and _bonhomie_ +kept this party from despair. As it turned out they had some of the best +of the Expedition game, since neither disaster nor terrific +disappointment dogged their steps as in Scott's case, for up till the +very last they were in blissful ignorance of our dreadful plight in the +main party. + +The old huts left by Borchgrevink in 1900 were much dilapidated: one +snowed up inside, and the other roofless and full of penguin guano. The +snow was all removed from the snow-choked hut, and this shack used as a +temporary shelter during the building of the Chateau Campbell. The work +of landing stores from the "Terra Nova" was accomplished in two days, and +the ship, after tooting a farewell to the little party on her siren, +steamed away and left them to their own devices. + +The Cape Adare locality is a famous penguin rookery, and Campbell's men +might for all the world have been erecting their hut on Hampstead Heath +during a Bank Holiday, for the penguins gathered in their thousands +around them in a cawing, squawking crowd. + +Penguins are the true inhabitants of Antarctica, and have flourished for +countless ages in these parts. Surgeon Levick, Campbell's doctor, has +written a splendid little book entitled "Antarctic Penguins" (Heinemann), +which tells all about the little beggars in popular language. The members +landed with Lieutenant Victor Campbell were: + + Levick . . . Surgeon and Zoologist. + Priestley . . Geologist. + Abbott . . . Seaman. + Browning . . Seaman. + Dickason . . Seaman. + +The three seamen were chosen by Campbell after careful observation on the +outward voyage. + +The Northern Party Hut was completed and first inhabited by March 5. An +ice house for the storage of fresh meat was constructed, or rather +hollowed out of an iceberg grounded close to. Unfortunately, this had to +be evacuated owing to a surf causing the berg to disintegrate, and V +Campbell puts it, "we had only just time to rescue the forty penguins +with which we had stocked it, and carry the little corpses to a near +ice-house built of empty cases filled with ice." + +To appreciate best the surrounding hereabouts one may as well give a +brief description of the Cape Adare and Robertson Bay environment. The +place on which the hut was built is a small triangular beach cut off from +the mainland by inaccessible cliffs. A fine bay, containing an area of +perhaps nine hundred square miles, lies to the westward, and south and +behind this the Admiralty Range of Mountains rises in snowy splendour to +heights of 10,000 feet or more; other ranges are visible far to the +westward, whilst black basalt rocks overhang the station. + +Several wall-faced glaciers are visible, but according to Campbell none +are possible to climb on to, nor do they lead up to the inland plateau. +On this account the party were unable to accomplish any serious sledging +whilst landed here. Other things were undertaken, and the members did +excellent meteorological, geological, and magnetic work, while Campbell +himself made some good surveys. Priestley has added, greatly to our +geological knowledge, and he, with his previous Antarctic experience, +made himself invaluable to his chief. The Aurora observations show much +more variegated results than we got at Cape Evans, where, as pointed out, +there was a great absence of colour beyond pale yellow in the displays. + +The principal drawback of the beach here was its covering of guano and +manure dust from the myriads of penguins and their predecessors. I had +gone ashore at Cape Adare as a sub-lieutenant on January 8, 1903, to +leave a record, and I remember that we had literally to trample on the +penguins to get across the beach to Borchgrevink's hut--how interesting +it all was, my first landing on this inhospitable continent: my +impressions left a wonderful memory of mouse-coloured, woolly little +young of the Adelie penguin--I even remember taking one away and trying +unsuccessfully to bring it up. It must have taken Campbell's crew a long +time to get accustomed to the pungent odour thereabouts. Levick dressed +the ground with bleaching powder to help dispel that dreadful odour of +guano before Campbell's men put down their hut floor. + +There is little to be set down concerning the Cape Adare winter--the +routine much resembled our own winter routine at Cape Evans; it was much +warmer, however, and being six degrees farther north the sun left the +party nearly a month later and returned the same amount earlier; they had +little more than two months with the sun below the horizon in fact. + +There is a certain amount of quiet humour about Campbell's record; for +instance, he states that they used their "pram" or Norwegian skiff and +tried trawling for biological specimens on March 27--"our total catch was +one sea-louse, one sea-slug, and one spider." + +It is very interesting to note that in March they had Aurora in which "an +arc of yellow stretched from N.W. to N.E., while a green and red curtain +extended from the N.W. horizon to the zenith." + +The "pram" was Campbell's gift to the Expedition. He was always alive in +the matter of small boats and their uses, and he was the first to use +"kayaks" by making canvas boats to fit round the sledges; these were +light enough and might have well been used by us in the Main Party. Had +poor Mackintosh possessed one in Shackleton's last expedition he and his +companions would probably have saved themselves--if they had carried a +canvas cover on a sledge with them however it is always easy to be wise +after the event. + +Levick's medical duties were very light indeed: they included the +stopping of one of Campbell's teeth, and the latter says, "As he had been +flensing a seal a few days before, his fingers tasted strongly of +blubber." + +Priestly took charge of the meteorology for this station in addition to +his own special subjects. Abbott was the carpenter, Browning the +acetylene gas-man, and Dickason the cook and baker. With these ends in +view Mr. Archer had had Dickason in the galley on board during the +outward voyage. + +This hut of theirs was stayed down with wire hawser on account of the +gales recorded by the "Southern Cross" Expedition. + +The company's alarm clock, an invention of Browning's, deserves the +description taken from Campbell's diary: "We have felt the want of an +alarm clock, as in such a small party it seems undesirable that any one +should have to remain awake the whole night to take the 2-4 a.m. +observations, but Browning has come to the rescue with a wonderful +contrivance. It consists of a bamboo spring held back by a piece of +cotton rove through a candle which is marked off in hours. The other end +of the cotton is attached to the trigger of the gramophone, and whoever +takes the midnight observations winds the gramophone, 'sets' the cotton, +lights the candle, and turns the trumpet towards Priestley, who has to +turn out for the 2 a.m. At ten minutes to two the candle burns the thread +and releases the bamboo spring, which being attached to the trigger, +starts the gramophone in the sleeper's ear, and he turns out and stops +the tune; this arrangement works beautifully and can be timed to five +minutes." + +Curiously enough Campbell's men sustained far more frostbites than we at +Cape Evans did: in all my four Antarctic voyages I have never been +frost-bitten beyond a touch here and there on the finger-tips working +instruments, yet I occasionally now get chilblains in an ordinary English +winter. + +A short expedition was made by Campbell, Priestley, and Abbott on July +29, to determine the travelling condition and find out what sort of +surface would be met with for coastwise sledging to come when the season +opened. Speed worked out at little over seven miles a day on the outward +trip to Duke of York Island. The salt-flecked, smooth ice was heavier +going than much rougher stuff where pressure obtained. + +On August 8 a small two-day geological expedition was undertaken, and +prepared to start on a more extensive journey westward; the party were +disappointed to find the ice had all blown out and left them +water-girdled; a blizzard of unusual violence followed the exit of ice, +and the storehouse roof was torn away. + +It must have been a severe blow to the energetic Campbell that he was +denied serious sledging while quartered at Cape Adare. Minor expeditions +were undertaken and some useful information gleaned, but unsafe ice and +unsatisfactory conditions all round prevented any of the really long +journeys Campbell would otherwise have made. + +The "Terra Nova" was sighted on January 4, and in two days Campbell, his +party and belongings were safely on board and proceeding along the coast +eager to try their fortunes farther South, Evans Coves in Latitude 75 +degrees being the next objective. The ship was placed alongside the +Piedmont here on January 8, near a big moraine close north of the Coves. +A depot of provisions was established, and an arrangement was come to +between Pennell and Campbell that the latter should be picked up on +February 18. Reference to the sketch charts will show the part of +Victoria Land in which Campbell was now working. + +It was proposed to sledge round Mount Melbourne to Wood Bay, and examine +the neighbourhood geologically and geographically. The sledge team found +some remarkable ice structures and new and interesting glaciers. They +had, a crop of small adventures, and found sandstone rock containing +fossil wood and many other excellent fossils, garnets, etc., besides +which Campbell did good work surveying. A new glacier was named after +Priestley and another after Campbell. + +More fossils were discovered on February 1, and a quantity of lichens, +shells, worm casts, and sponge spicules were discovered in the locality +of Evans Coves, to which the party returned. On February 17 they began to +look for the "Terra Nova," but as time went on and she did not put in an +appearance Campbell prepared to winter. Pennell as we know had met with +ice conditions that were insuperable, and he never got the ship within 30 +miles of the coast. Pennell, Rennick, and Bruce did all that men could do +to work the "Terra Nova" through, but communication was impossible that +season, and the Northern Party was left to face the rigours of a Polar +winter with nothing more than four weeks' sledging ration and 270 lb. of +biscuits extra. His companions could not have been better chosen to help +Campbell through this ordeal. The leader knew his men absolutely, and +they themselves were lucky in having such a resourceful and determined +officer in charge. + +On March 1 Victor Campbell selected a hard snow slope for the winter +home, and into this he and his men cut and burrowed until they had +constructed an igloo or snow house, 13 feet by 9: They insulated this +with blocks of snow and seaweed. A trench roofed with sealskins and snow +formed the entrance, and at the sides of this passage they had their +store rooms and larder. + +All the time this house was under construction a party was employed +killing penguins and seals, for which they kept a constant lookout. By +March 15 their larder contained 120 penguins and 11 seals. After this +date gale succeeded gale and the winter set in with a long run of bad +weather. Campbell and his companions led a very primitive existence here +for six and a half months. + +They only had their light summer sledging clothes to wear, and these soon +became saturated with blubber: their hair and beards grew, and they were +soon recognisable only by their voices. Some idea of their discomforts +will be gleaned by a description of their diet. Owing to their +prospective journey to Cape Evans, Campbell had first to reduce the +biscuit supply from eight to two biscuits a day, and then to one. + +Generally their diet consisted of one mug of "pemmican and seal hoosh" +and a biscuit for breakfast, _nothing_ for lunch, a mug and a half of +seal, one biscuit and three-quarters of a pint of thin cocoa for supper. +On Sundays weak tea was substituted for cocoa, this they re-boiled for +Mondays' supper, and the dried leaves were used for tobacco on Tuesdays. +Their only luxuries were a piece of chocolate and twelve lumps of sugar, +weekly, and twenty-five raisins apiece were kept for birthdays. One lucky +find was thirty-six fish in the stomach of a seal, which fried in blubber +proved excellent. The biscuit ration had to be stopped entirely from July +to September. The six men cooked their food in sea-water as they had no +salt, and seaweed was used as a vegetable. Priestley is reported to have +disliked it, and no wonder, for it has probably rotted in the sun for +years, and the penguins have trampled it all down, apart from anything +worse. + +Campbell kept a wonderful discipline in his party, and as they were +sometimes confined to the igloo for days, Swedish drill was introduced to +keep them healthy. A glance at their weather record shows how necessary +this was. We find one day snowing hard, next day blowing hard, and the +third day blowing and snowing hard, nearly all through the winter. But +there was never a complaint. + +On Sunday divine service was performed, which consisted of Campbell +reading a chapter of the Bible, followed by hymns. They had no hymn book, +but Priestley remembered several, while Abbott, Browning and Dickason had +all been at some time or other in a choir. + +To add to their discomfort, owing to the state of their clothing and +meagre food supply, they were very susceptible to frostbites, and Jack +Frost made havoc with feet, fingers, and faces. + +We should here give a little thought to the dark dreariness of their +surroundings. This party was not so very far north of Cape Evans, and +their winter was only about three weeks shorter if measured by the sun's +absence below the horizon--the contrast between the "palace" at Cape +Evans and the ice-cave at Campbell's position is ridiculous, and to think +that the little crew remained cheerful and in harmony under such +troglodyte conditions, it makes one wonder more and more at the manner of +the men. They had none of the comfort, entertainment, and good feeling of +their co-explorers at the base, the very dimensions of their habitation +explains for itself the cramped nature of their existence, and yet no +complaints, and nothing but unswerving loyalty to their boss. Weaker +minded men would have broken down mentally under the strain of living +through that winter. + +The sunlight went at the beginning of May, gradually leaving them with +those peculiar drawn-out half lights, which we all grew to know so +well--the whimpering purple clouds, the sad-looking hills, and the +desolate ice slopes and snow drifts--the six men were imprisoned with +sullen hills and unassailable mountains for jailers, until they had +undergone their sentence--the sea their chief jailer, for the sea had set +them there and it was for the sea to decide on the time of their release. + +Boots had long since given out, and they had to guard against ruining +their finneskoe or it would have been good-bye to any sledging round to +Cape Evans when the sea did freeze. Seal blubber was utilised for +cooking, and whenever seals were killed the chunks of this greasy stuff +had to be carried to the igloo on the men's backs--this meant that their +clothes soon smelt very badly, which circumstance added to the misery of +their living conditions. + +On May 6 Campbell's party sustained a severe disappointment, for they saw +what appeared to be four men coming towards them. Immediately they jumped +to the conclusion that the ship had been frozen in and that this was a +search party. The four figures turned out to be Emperor penguins, and +although disappointing in one way they served to replenish the larder, +and so had their use. + +Here are three specimen diary pages extracted from Campbell's journey: + +April 9.--Warmer to-day. We saw a small seal on a floe but were unable to +reach him. The bay remains open still. On the still days a thin film of +ice forms, but blows out as soon as the wind comes up. In these early +days, before we had perfected our cooking and messing arrangements, a +great part of our day was taken up with cooking and preparing the food, +but later on we got used to the ways of a blubber stove, and things went +more smoothly. We had landed all our spare paraffin from the ship, and +this gave us enough oil to use the primus for breakfast, provided we +melted the ice over the blubber fire the day before. The blubber stove +was made of an old oil tin cut down. In this we put some old seal bones +taken from the carcasses we found on the beach. + + "A piece of blubber skewered on to a marline-spike and held over the + flame dripped oil on the bones and fed the fire. In this way we could + cook hoosh nearly as quickly as we could on the primus. Of course the + stove took several weeks of experimenting before it reached this + satisfactory state. With certain winds we were nearly choked with a + black, oily smoke that hurt our eyes and brought on much the same + symptoms as accompany snow-blindness. + +"We take it in turns to be cook and messman, working in pairs: Abbott and +I, Levick and Browning, Priestley and Dickason, and thus each has one day +on in three. The duties of the cooks are to turn out at 7 and cook and +serve out the breakfast, the others remaining in their bags for the meal. +Then we all have a siesta till 10.30, when we turn out for the day's +work: The cook starts the blubber stove and melts blubber for the lamps. +The mess-man takes an ice-axe and chips frozen seal meat in the passage +by the light of a blubber lamp. A cold job this and trying to the temper, +as scraps of meat fly in all directions and have to be care-fully +collected afterwards. The remainder carry up the meat and blubber, or +look for seals. By 5 p.m. all except the cooks are in their bags, and we +have supper. After supper the cooks melt ice for the morning, prepare +breakfast, and clear up." + +"May 7.--A blizzard with heavy drift has been blowing all day, so it was +a good job we got the penguins. We have got the roof on the shaft now, +but in these blizzards the entrance is buried in snow, and we have a job +to keep the shaft clear. Priestley has found his last year's journal, and +reads some to us every evening. + +"From now till the end of the month strong gales again reduced our +outside work to a minimum, and most of our energies were directed to +improving our domestic routine. + +"We have now a much better method for cutting up the meat for the hoosh. +Until now we had to take the frozen joints and hack them in pieces with +an ice-axe. We have now fixed up an empty biscuit tin on a bamboo tripod +over the blubber fire. The small pieces of meat we put in this to thaw: +the larger joints hang from the bamboo. In this way they thaw +sufficiently in the twenty-four hours to cut up with a knife, and we find +this cleaner and more economical. + +"We celebrated two special occasions on this month, my wedding day on the +10th, and the anniversary, to use a paradox, of the commissioning of the +hut on the 17th, and each time the commissariat officer relaxed his hold +to the extent of ten raisons each. + +"Levick is saving his biscuit to see how it feels to go without cereals +for a week. He also wants to have one real good feed at the end of the +week. His idea is that by eating more blubber he will not feel the want +of the biscuit very much." + + "July 4.--Southerly wind, with snow, noise of pressure at sea and the + ice in the Bay breaking up. Evidently there is wind coming, and the + sea ice which has recently formed will go out again like the rest. It + is getting rather a serious question as to whether there will be any + sea ice for us to get down the coast on. I only hope that to the South + of the Drygalski ice tongue, where the south-easterlies are the + prevailing winds, we shall find the ice has held. Otherwise it will + mean that we shall have to go over the plateau, climbing up by Mount + Larsen, and coming down the Ferrar Glacier, and if so we cannot start + until November, and the food will be a problem. + + "We made a terrible discovery in a hoosh tonight: a penguin's flipper. + Abbott and I prepared the hoosh. I can remember using a flipper to + clean the pot with, and in the dark Abbott cannot have seen it when he + filled the pot. However, I assured every one it was a fairly clean + flipper, and certainly the hoosh was a good one." + +In this diary are some remarkable entries. Attempts were made to vary the +flavour of the "Hooshes"--one entry is very queer reading: it related how +after trying one or two other expedients Levick used a mustard plaster in +the pemmican and seal stew. The unanimous decision was that it must have +been a linseed poultice, for mustard could not be tasted at all, yet the +flavour of linseed was most distinct. + +Campbell says that Midwinter Day gave them seasonable weather, pitch +dark, with wind and a smothering drift outside. The men awoke early and +were so eager and impatient for their full ration on this special +occasion that they could not remain in their sleeping-bags, but turned +out to cook a "full hoosh breakfast" for the first time for many +weeks--that evening they repeated the hoosh and augmented it by cocoa +with sugar in it, then four citric acid and two ginger tabloids. The day +concluded with a smoke and a sing-song, a little tobacco having been put +by for the event. + +Soon after Midwinter Day a heavy snowstorm blocked the igloo entrance +completely; in consequence the air became so bad that the primus stove +went out and the lights would not burn. The inmates had to dig their way +out to avoid being suffocated. This impoverishment of air had already +happened through the same cause on other occasions, so the flickering and +going out of the lamps warned immediately of danger, and a watch was set. +Normally the chimney would have served, but this itself was buried under +the snow until built up afresh. + +The winter passed in dismal hardship, and even when the rare spells of +fine weather occurred the party dare not venture far afield in their +meagre, oil-saturated clothing--severe frostbite would have spelt +disaster. + +What the place must have looked like by moonlight I hate to think; by +daylight with sunshine it looked bad enough, but from Levick's +description it looked, when the moon was shining through storm cloud, +like an inferno, with its lugubrious ridges, its inky shadows, and wicked +ice-gleams. The odd figures of the blubber-smeared, grimy men added the +Dante touch. + +The sun came back at last, and with it the party's spirits rose +considerably; they indulged in bets and jokes at one another's expense. +Browning and Dickason were undoubtedly the wittiest, and "the fish supper +bet" is worth inclusion. Short said these two started an argument on the +name of a certain public-house situate on Portsmouth Hard. One said one +name, one argued another, until Dr. Levick was invited to settle the +dispute by arbitration, the loser to stand the winner a fish supper. +Eventually Browning was adjudged to be correct, and Dickason in a fit of +generosity shouted, "All right, old man, and for every fish you eat I'll +stand you a quart of beer." "Right-o, the only fish I cares for is +whitebait," replied Browning. + +Towards the end of the winter, owing to the unusual diet, sickness set in +in the shape of enteritis. Browning suffered dreadfully, but always +remained cheerful. The ravages of the illness weakened the party sadly, +and details are too horrible to write about--suffice it that the party +lost control of their organs, a circumstance that rendered existence in +their wintering place a nightmare of privations. + +Preparations were made for the party's departure in the spring and the +sledges overhauled. A depot of geological specimens was established and +marked by a bamboo. + +A curious ailment developed itself, which was named "Igloo Back," from +constant bending in the low-roofed igloo. It was due to the stretching of +the ligaments around the spine and was a painful thing for the +"cave-dwellers." + +Campbell and his companions started for Cape Evans on September 30. +Progress was slow and the party weak, but thanks to their grit and to +Campbell's splendid leadership, the Northern Party all got through to the +winter quarters alive. Browning had to be carried on the sledge part of +the way, but fortunately they picked up one of Griffith-Taylor's depots, +and the biscuit found here quite altered Browning's condition. + +Poor Campbell was glad to get his party out of the dirt and dark of the +igloo, but they were so weak that they could only march a mile from the +first day, however the sledging ration contained good foodstuff compared +to what they had eaten for weeks previously; and, oh, wise precaution! +Campbell had deposited a small store of spare wind clothing and woollen +underclothes against the journey over the sea to Cape Evans. This he +issued on leaving that awful "igloo," and the luxury of getting into dry, +clean clothing after the greasy rags they discarded was indescribable. +For nine months had they worn those dirty garments without change. + +The second day homeward at most gave five miles, but although tired out +the party were in good spirits "at leaving the dirt and squalor of the +hut behind." They were making their way south along the coast, sledging +over the "Piedmont." Shortly after starting, the company were faced with +an enormous crevasse, but this was safely negotiated by means of a snow +bridge "175 paces across." Pace gradually lengthened and strengthened, +and on 12th October 11 miles was covered, and on camping Erebus and Mount +Melbourne were both in sight. + +I do not propose to write a description of this journey back, it was not +so dangerous as others had been, because seals and Emperor penguins were +met with along the route, and so they ran no risk of starving; but they +ran a great risk of losing Browning, who caused the doctor the gravest +concern. They laboured home, however, and the leader's diary for one Red +Letter, and Two Black Letter days must be included here, for they explain +themselves: + + "October 29.--Turned out at 4.30 a.m. A fine day, but a bank of cloud + to the south and a cold westerly wind. A two hours' march brought us + to Cape Roberts, where I saw through my glasses a bamboo stuck on the + top of the cape. Leaving the sledges, Priestley and I climbed the + cape, when we found a record left by the Western Party last year + before they were picked up, and giving their movements, while near by + was a depot of provisions they had left behind. We gave such a yell + the others ran up the slope at once. It seemed almost too good to be + true. + + "We found two tins of biscuits, one slightly broached, and a small bag + each of raisins, tea, cocoa, butter, and lard. + + "There were also clothes, diaries, and specimens from Granite Harbour. + I decided to camp here and have a day off. + + "Dividing the provisions between the two tents, we soon had hoosh + going and such a feed of biscuit, butter; and lard as we had not had + for nine months, and we followed this up with sweet, thick cocoa. + After this we killed and cut up a seal, as we are getting short of + meat and there is every prospect of a blizzard coming on. + + "Levick and Abbott saw a desperate fight between two bull seals + to-day. They gashed each other right through skin and blubber till + they were bleeding badly. + + "We had another hoosh and more biscuit and lard in the evening; then + we turned into our bags and, quite torpid with food, discussed our + plans on arriving at Cape Evans. We had quite decided we should find + no one there, for we believed the whole party had been blown north in + the ship while trying to reach us. Still discussing plans we fell + asleep. + + "What with news from the main party and food (although both were a + year old), it was the happiest day since we last saw the ship. I awoke + in the night, finished my share of the butter and most of my lard, + then dozed off again." + + "November 6.--Another fine day. We marched till 1 p.m., when our + sledge broke down, the whole runner coming off. As we were only one + mile from Hut Point I camped. Priestley, Dickason, and I walked in to + look for news and get another sledge, as I was sure some would be + there. + + "As we neared the Point we noticed fresh tracks of mule and dogs. I + pointed them out to Priestley, and said, 'I hope there is nothing + wrong with the Pole Party, as I do not like the look of these.' He + said, 'No more do I' We ran up to the hut and found a letter from + Atkinson to the 'Commanding Officer, Terra Nova.' I opened this and + learnt the sad news of the loss of the Polar Party. The names of the + party were not given, and finding Atkinson in charge of the search + party which had started, I was afraid 2 units, or 8 men, were lost. + Finding a sledge only slightly damaged, I took that back to the camp, + getting back there about 5 p.m. + + "We were all rather tired, so instead of starting straight on to Cape + Evans, we had supper and went to sleep. Before turning in we made a + depot of the broken sledge, all rock specimens, clothes and food, so + as to travel light to Cape Evans. I was very anxious to get there as + soon as possible, as I thought there was a chance that there might be + one or two mules or enough dogs to enable me to follow the search + party. It had been a great disappointment for us to have missed them + by a week, as we were all anxious to join in the search." + + "November 7.--4 a.m. A lovely morning. After a hasty breakfast we were + off, arriving at Cape Evans at 5 p.m. We found no one at home, but a + letter on the door of the hut gave us all the news and the names of + the lost party. Very soon Debenham and Archer returned, giving us a + most hearty, welcome, and no one can realise what it meant to us to + see new faces and to be home after our long winter. + + "Our clothes, letters, etc., had been landed from the ship, and we + were able to read our home letters, which we had only time to glance + at in the ship in February. Archer provided a sumptuous dinner that + night, and we sailed into it in a way that made Debenham hold his + breath. A bath and change of clothes completed the transformation." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +NARRATIVE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + + +The second ascent of Mount Erebus was carried out in December, 1912, by a +party under Raymond Priestley, and although it cannot be described in a +little volume like this a really fine scientific journey was made by +Griffith-Taylor, Debenham, Gran, and Petty Officer Forde. They had the +best time of the lot, for they carried out their explorations in blissful +ignorance of the tribulations of Scott, Campbell, Atkinson and myself, +whose stories I have tried to summarise. + +For breezy reading and real bright narrative commend me to +Griffith-Taylor. Volume II. of "Scott's Last Expedition" contains the +story of the "Western journeys" as written by him, and they give quite +truly the Silver Lining to the Cloud which formed about the rest of our +Expedition. + +For lightheartedness and good fellowship our Australian geologists should +be given first prize. It is of little use writing about distances covered +and dangers overcome in this connection, but if one considers that the +Western Geological Party surveyed, examined, charted, photographed, and +to some extent plodded over a mountainous, heavily glaciated land lying +in an area of the entire acreage of Kent, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Devon, +and Cornwall, one gets a fair idea of what "Griff" and Co. were playing +at. + +Taylor was the first professional physiographer to visit the Antarctic +Continent, and besides being an all round man of science he was an +admirable fellow, with the widest outlook on life of any man amongst us. + +I cannot pretend to write on geology; Taylor, Debenham, and Priestley are +still drawing up reports on Antarctic physiography and glacial geology on +our fossils collected, on the Barrier Movement, and the retreating ice of +that Frozen Wonderland. Some day another expedition, more up to date than +ours, will force its way into the Heart of that Frigid Zone. If this +expedition sets out soon, I hope I may command it when I am still fresh +and fit--if that great good fortune comes my way I shall telegraph to +Griff and ask him to be my "Uncle Bill," and to help me as Wilson helped +Scott. + +As this is only a popular version of the last Scott Antarctic Expedition +I have not collected any scientific appendices, and I have tried not to +throw any bouquets at one member more than another--if I have failed I +have done it accidentally, for one has no favourites after nearly ten +years. My especial friends in the Expedition were the lieutenants, +Campbell, Pennell, Rennick, Bowers, and Bruce, and of the scientists I +was most fond of Nelson. + +The concluding part of this narrative is concerned with our little ship, +for which we had such affection. + +To connect the story up one must go back to the time when on March 3, +1912, the "Terra Nova" made her last call for the year at Cape +Evans--here she embarked those members returning home, who for various +causes had not been collected before. Then it will be remembered that +Keohane was taken to Hut Point and landed with Atkinson, and afterwards, +owing to the thickening up of the ice in McMurdo Sound, the ship's head +was turned Northward. The ice conditions off the Bay where Campbell was +landed were terrific, and the little whaler had a tough time forcing her +way out into the Ross Sea once more after failure to relieve him. + +She arrived in New Zealand on April 1, to learn of Amundsen's success, +and I went home a physical wreck with Francis Drake, the secretary, to +carry out Scott's wishes in the matter of finance. It was many months +before I could get about in comfort; but my wife nursed me back to +health. Several scientific and other members dispersed to their +respective duties in civil life. Pennell temporarily paid off the seamen +who had joined in New Zealand, and took the ship away to survey Admiralty +Bay in the Sounds according to arrangements made with the New Zealand +Government. During this operation we had the great misfortune to lose by +drowning Stoker Petty Officer Robert Brissenden. + +Finally the little "Terra Nova" filled up with coal and left for the +South to pick up Scott and his expedition. She was once more under my +command as her original Captain, Pennell very gracefully and unselfishly +standing down to the position of second in command. + +The programme included an extensive sounding cruse, guided to some degree +by what Professor David of Sydney University wished for, to throw further +light on the great earth folds. The voyage was like its predecessors, +except that we purposely kept in Longitude 165 W. to sound over new +portions of the ocean, every opportunity being taken to gain fresh +information and fulfil the requirements of the biological programme too. +We had hardly our share of gales this voyage, and although we expected to +meet with the pack in about 66 S. Latitude, it was not reached until we +had attained the 69th parallel--two degrees farther South than we had +found it in the "Terra Nova"'s first two voyages. + +The only other expedition that had explored the Eastern part of the Ross +Sea so far was that under Ross in the "Erebus" and "Terror." We did not +gain anything by forcing the pack so far East, however, for we +encountered a heavy belt of ice through which we fought our way for 400 +miles. + +The weather mostly served us well, and great credit is due to Rennick, +Lillie, and Pennell for their sounding, biological, and magnetic work +respectively--they were indefatigable, and even though it blew hard on +occasions, thanks to Rennick's expert handling of the Lucas machine we +obtained several soundings in 3000 fathoms when less ardent hydrographers +would have surrendered to the bad weather. + +January 15 found us passing through loose pack--sometimes the ship was in +large open leads--we stopped on one of these and sounded. To our surprise +we found 368 fathoms, volcanic rock--in 72 degrees 0 minutes S., 168 +degrees 17 minutes W. we found the depth 2322 fathoms, so we had struck +the continental shelf right enough in Latitude 73 degrees. By 8 p.m. we +were in even shallower water--in fact we discovered a shoal in only 158 +fathoms--it was a great discovery for us, and Lillie immediately put over +the Agassiz trawl. After dragging it along the bottom for half an hour we +hauled in and found the net full of stuff. Big-mouthed fish, worms, +spiders, anemones, sea-cucumbers, polyzoa, prawns, little fish like +sardines, one spiky fish like nothing on earth, starfish and octopus, +limpets with jointed shells, sponges, ascidians; isopods, and all kinds +of sea lice. Enough to keep Lillie busy for weeks. + +The evening before we finally broke through into open water was +beautifully still, and a low cloud settled down in the form of a thick +fog--it was a change from the fine, clear weather--frost rime settled +everywhere, and for a time we had to stop. There was a weird stillness +over all, and whenever the ship was moved amongst the ice-floes a curious +hiss was heard; this sound is well known to all ice navigators: it is the +sear of the floe against the greenheart sheathing which protects the +little ship, and it is to the ice-master what the strange smell of the +China Seas is to the far Eastern navigator, what the Mediterranean +"cheesy odours" and the Eucalyptus scents of Australia are to the P. and +O. officers, and what the pungent peat smoke of Ireland is to the North +Atlantic seaman. I suppose the memory of the pack ice hissing around a +wooden ship is one of the little voices that call--and they sometimes +call as the memory of "a tall ship and a star to steer her by" calls John +Masefield's seamen "down to the sea again." I sometimes feel a mute fool +at race meetings, society dinner parties, and dances, the lure of the +little voices I know then at its strongest. It is felt by the Polar +explorer in peace times and in the hey-day of prosperity, and it is +surely that which called Scott away, when he had everything that man +wants, and made him write as he lay nobly dying out there in the snowy +wild: + +"How much better has it been than lounging in too great comfort at home." + +But this is yielding dream to my narrative, and I must apologise and +continue with the closing chapter. + +After this fog, which held us up awhile, we got into one more lot of pack +varying in thickness and containing some fine long water lanes, and then +we made for Cape Bird, which we rounded on January 18, to find open water +right up to Cape Evans. + +A tremendous feast was prepared, the table in the wardroom decked with +little flags and silk ribbons. Letters were done up in neat packets for +each member, and even champagne was got up from the store: chocolates, +cigarettes, cigars, and all manner of luxury placed in readiness. + +The ship was specially scrubbed and cleaned, yards were squared, ropes +hauled taut and neatly coiled down, and our best Jacks and Ensigns +hoisted in gala fashion to meet and acclaim our leader and our comrades. +Glasses were levelled on the beach, and soon we discerned little men +running hither and thither in wild excitement; a lump stuck in my throat +at the idea of greeting the Polar Party with the knowledge that Amundsen +had anticipated us, it was something like having to congratulate a dear +friend on winning second prize in a great hard won race--which is exactly +what it was. But it was not even to be that: the ship rapidly closed the +beach, engines were stopped, and a thrill of excitement ran through us. +The shore party gave three cheers, which we on board replied to, and +espying Campbell I was overjoyed, for I feared more on his behalf than on +the others, owing to the small amount of provisions he had left him at +Evans Coves. I shouted out, "Campbell, is every one well," and after a +moment's hesitation he replied, "The Southern Party reached the South +Pole on the 17th January, last year, but were all lost on the return +journey--we have their records." It was a moment of hush and overwhelming +sorrow--a great stillness ran through the ship's little company and +through the party on shore. + +I have been reminded of it particularly on the anniversaries of Armistice +Day. + +The great silence was broken by the order to let the anchor fall: the +splash which followed and the rattle of the chain gave us relief, and +then Campbell and Atkinson came off in a boat to tell us in detail how +misfortune after misfortune had befallen our leader and his four brave +comrades. Slowly and with infinite sadness the flags were lowered from +the mastheads and Scott's little "Terra Nova" stood bareheaded at the +Gate of the Great Ice Barrier. + +From the bridge one heard the occasional clatter of plates and cutlery, +for the steward was busy removing the table dressings and putting away +the things that we had no heart for any longer. The undelivered letters +were taken out of the bunks, which had been spread with white clean linen +for our chief and the Polar team, and Drake sealed them up for return to +the wives and mothers who had given up so much in order that their men +might achieve. + +A great cross was now carved of Australian jarrah, on which was carved by +Davis: + In + Memoriam + CAPT. R.F. Scott, R.N., + DR. E.A. WILSON, Capt. L.E.G. Oates, INS. DRGS. + LT. H.R. BOWERS, R.I.M., + PETTY OFFICER E. Evans, R.N., + Who Died on their + Return from the + Pole-March, + 1912. + + To Strive, To Seek, + To Find, + And Not To Yield. + +This cross was borne on a sledge over the frozen sea to Hut Point, and +thence carried by Atkinson, and those who had taken part in the search +for Captain Scott, to the top of Observation Hill, which is in full view +of Cape Evans, and also of Captain Scott's original winter quarters in +the Discovery Expedition. The cross overlooks also his resting place: The +Great Ice Barrier. + +As there is nothing to cause this wooden cross to rot, it will remain +standing for an indefinite time. + +We left a year's stores for a dozen people at Cape Evans and re-embarked +the remainder of our possessions. + +The collections and specimens were carefully stowed in our holds, and +then we took the ship to Cape Royds and Granite Harbour, where geological +depots had been made by Priestley, Taylor, and Debenham. + +Finally we revisited Evans Coves, and secured the ship to a natural wharf +of very hard sea ice, which stretches out some distance from the +Piedmont. + +Priestley here secured his party's geological dump, and while he was away +the remainder of the expedition in little relays visited the igloo where +Campbell and his party spent the previous winter. Concerning the igloo, +the following are my impressions, taken from my diary: + + "Never in my life have I experienced such sensations as I did on this + occasion. The visit to the igloo explained in itself a story of + hardship that brought home to us what Campbell never would have told. + There was only one corner of it where a short man could stand upright. + In odd corners were discarded clothes, saturated in blubber and + absolutely black with smoke; the weight of these garments was + extraordinary, and how Campbell's party ever lived through what they + did I don't know: + + "Although the igloo was once white inside, blubber stoves had + blackened it throughout. No cell prisoners ever had such discomforts. + (Campbell's simple narrative I read aloud to Bruce from Campbell's + diary. It was a tale of altruism and grit, so simply told, full of + disappointments and privations, all of which they accepted with + fortitude and never a complaint. I had to stop reading it as it + brought tears to my eyes and made my voice thick--ditto old Bruce.) + After spending half an hour at the igloo, and after Pennell had done + some magnetic work, picked up our ice anchors and steamed away." + +On 27th January, 1913, after breakfast, I called the staff together in +the wardroom and read out my plans for the future, officially assumed the +command and control of the Expedition. + +I then appointed Lieuts. Campbell, Pennell, Bruce, Surgeon E.L. Atkinson, +and Mr. Francis Drake as an executive committee, with myself as +president, to assist me in satisfactorily terminating the Expedition. I +asked every member of the staff publicly if he had any questions to put, +and also if he could suggest any better combination for the committee. As +all were unanimous in the fairness of the selection, it stands. The +minutes of the proceedings were taken down and my remarks placed verbatim +among the records of the Expedition. + +We left a depot of provisions at the head of the Bay, its position being +marked by a bamboo and flag. + +This depot contains enough foodstuffs to enable a party of five or six +men to make their way to Butter Point, where, another large depot exists. + +Early on 26th January we left these inhospitable coasts, and those who +were on deck watched the familiar rocky, snow-capped shores fast +disappearing from view. We had been happy there before disaster overtook +our Expedition, but now we were glad to leave, and some of us must have +realised that these ice-girt rocks and mountains were not meant for human +beings to associate their lives with. For centuries, perhaps for all +time, no other human being will set foot upon the Beardmore, and it is +doubtful if ever the great inland plateau will be re-visited, except +perhaps by aeroplane. + +When we left it was a "good-night" scene for most of us. The great white +plateau and peaks were grimly awaiting winter, and they seemed to mock +our departing exploring ship as though glad to be left in their loneland +Silence. + + + + * * * * * + + + +Corrections made to Collins edition: + + p.47 'Mearse' to 'Meares' + p.61 'steamiug' to 'steaming' + p.84 'Pennel' to 'Pennell' + p.85 'when the time for her' to 'when the time came for her' + p.96 'Fedruary' to 'February' + p.96 'Saftey Camp' to 'Safety Camp' + p.108 'athelete' to 'athlete' + p.218 'Cherry-Garrad' to 'Cherry-Garrard' + p.247 'anchored ourselved' to 'anchored ourselves' + p.308 'Cornwell' to 'Cornwall' + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH WITH SCOTT*** + + +******* This file should be named 18129-8.txt or 18129-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/1/2/18129 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/18129-8.zip b/18129-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c75e1a --- /dev/null +++ b/18129-8.zip diff --git a/18129.txt b/18129.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bdb5b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/18129.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8998 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, South with Scott, by Edward R. G. R. Evans + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: South with Scott + + +Author: Edward R. G. R. Evans + + + +Release Date: April 7, 2006 [eBook #18129] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH WITH SCOTT*** + + +E-text prepared by James Tenison + + + +Transcriber's note: + + Our author had a very "informal" approach to grammar and syntax; + so apparently did his editor. I corrected several obvious errors + in the book and listed them at the end of the text. Many more + doubtful spellings and countless abbreviations remain as they + appear in the text. + + I have deleted the symbols for "degree" "minute" and "second" + which appear regularly throughout the text and substituted the + full word. The symbols + and - in relation to temperature are + retained. + + + + + +SOUTH WITH SCOTT + +by + +REAR-ADMIRAL EDWARD R. G. R. EVANS +C.B., D.S.O, R.N. + +Illustrated with Maps and Photographs + + + + + + + +London & Glasgow +Collins' Clear-Type Press + + + + +To +Lashly and Crean + +THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED + + + + +PREFACE + + +The object of this book is to keep alive the interest of English-speaking +people in the story of Scott and his little band of sailor-adventurers, +scientific explorers, and companions. It is written more particularly for +Britain's younger generations. + +I have to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of Miss Zeala +Wakeford Cox of Shanghai and Pay-master Lieutenant-Commander Bernard +Carter of H.M.S. "Carlisle." + +Without their help, I doubt if the book would have found its way into +print. + +Edward R.G.R. Evans. +HONG-KONG +February, 27, 1921. + + + + + +BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1910. + +PERSONNEL + + +_Shore Parties._ + + +ROBERT FALCON SCOTT Captain, C.V.O., R.N. (The "Owner," "The Boss"). +EDWARD R.G.R. EVANS Lieut. R.N. ("Teddy"). +VICTOR L.A. CAMPBELL Lieut. R.N. ("The Wicked Mate") +HENRY R. BOWERS Lieut. Royal Indian Marines ("Birdie"). +LAWRENCE E.G. OATES Captain 6th Inniskilling Dragoons ("Titus," + "Soldier"). +G. MURRAY LEVICK Surgeon R.N. +EDWARD L. ATKINSON Surgeon R.N., Parasitologist ("Atch"). + + +_Scientific Staff._ + + +EDWARD ADRIAN WILSON B.A., M.B. (Cantab.), Chief of the Scientific + Staff, and Zoologist ("Uncle Bill"). +GEORGE C. SIMPSON D.Sc., Meteorologist ("Sunny Jim.") +T. GRIFFITH TAYLOR B.A., B.Sc., B.E., Geologist ("Griff"). +EDWARD W. NELSON Biologist ("Marie"). +FRANK DEBENHAM B.A., B.Sc., Geologist ("Deb.") +CHARLES S. WRIGHT B.A., Physicist. +RAYMOND E. PRIESTLEY Geologist. +HERBERT G. PONTING F.R.G.S., Camera Artist. +CECIL H. MEARES In charge of dogs. +BERNARD C. DAY Motor Engineer. +APSLEY CHERRY-GARRARD B.A., Asst. Zoologist ("Cherry"). +TRYGGVE GRAN Sub.-Lieut. Norwegian N.R., B.A., Ski Expert. + + +_Men._ + + +W. LASHLY C. Stoker, R.N. +W.W. ARCHER Chief Steward, late R.N. +THOMAS CLISSOLD Cook, late R.N. +EDGAR EVANS Petty Officer, R.N. +ROBERT FORDE Petty Officer, R.N. +THOMAS CREAN Petty Officer, R.N. +THOMAS S. WILLIAMSON Petty Officer, R.N. +PATRICK KEOHANE Petty Officer, R.N. +GEORGE P. ABBOTT Petty Officer, R.N. +FRANK V. BROWNING Petty Officer, 2nd Class, R.N. +HARRY DICKASON Able Seaman, R.N. +F.J. HOOPER Steward, late R.N. +ANTON OMELCHENKO Groom. +DIMITRI GEROF Dog Driver. + + +_Ship's Party._ + + +HARRY L. L. PENNELL Lieutenant, R.N. +HENRY E. DE P. RENNICK Lieutenant. R.N. +WILFRED M. BRUCE Lieutenant, R.N.R. +FRANCIS R. H. DRAKE Assistant Paymaster, R.N.(Retired), Secretary and + Meteorologist in ship. +DENNIS G. LILLIE M.A., Biologist in ship. +JAMES R. DENNISTOUN In charge of Mules in ship. +ALFRED B. CHEETHAM R.N.R., Boatswain. +WILLIAM WILLIAMS Chief Engine Room Artificer, R.N., Engineer. +WILLIAM A. HORTON Engine Room Artificer, 3rd Class, R.N., 2nd + Engineer +FRANCIS E. C. DAVIES Leading Shipwright, R.N. +FREDERICK PARSONS Petty Officer, R.N. +WILLIAM L. HEALD Late Petty Officer, R. N. +ARTHUR S. BAILEY Petty Officer, 2nd Class, R.N. +ALBERT BALSON Leading Seaman, R.N. +JOSEPH LEESE Able Seaman, R.N. +JOHN HUGH MATHER Petty Officer, R.N.V.R. +ROBERT OLIPHANT Able Seaman. +THOMAS F. MCLEOD Able Seaman. +MORTIMER MCCARTHY Able Seaman. +WILLIAM KNOWLES Able Seaman. +CHARLES WILLIAMS Able Seaman. +JAMES SKELTON Able Seaman. +WILLIAM MCDONALD Able Seaman. +JAMES PATON Able Seaman. +ROBERT BRISSENDEN Leading Stoker, R.N. +EDWARD A. MCKENZIE Leading Stoker, R.N. +WILLIAM BURTON Leading Stoker, R.N. +BERNARD J. STONE Leading Stoker, R.N. +AGUS MCDONALD Fireman. +THOMAS MCGILLON Fireman. +CHARLES LAMMAS Fireman. +W.H. NEALE Steward. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. SOUTH POLAR EXPEDITION--OUTFIT AND AIMS + +II. VOYAGE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + +III. ASSEMBLING OF UNITS--DEPARTURE FROM NEW ZEALAND + +IV. THROUGH STORMY SEAS + +V. ANTARCTICA--THROUGH THE PACK ICE TO LAND + +VI. SETTLING DOWN TO THE POLAR LIFE + +VII. ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE WINTER + +VIII. THE WINTER CLOSES IN + +IX. PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS + +X. SPRING DEPOT JOURNEY + +XI. PREPARATIONS AND PLANS FOR THE SUMMER SEASON + +XII. SOUTHERN JOURNEY--MOTOR SLEDGES ADVANCE + +XIII. THE BARRIER STAGE + +XIV. ON THE BEARDMORE GLACIER AND BEYOND + +XV. RETURN OF THE LAST SUPPORTING PARTY + +XVI. THE POLE ATTAINED--SCOTT'S LAST MARCHES + +XVII. THE SECOND WINTER--FINDING OF THE POLAR PARTY + +XVIII. ADVENTURES OF THE NORTHERN PARTY + +XIX. NARRATIVE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +SOUTH POLAR EXPEDITION--OUTFIT AND AIMS + + +It is nine years since the last supporting party bid farewell to Captain +Scott and his four brave companions, whose names are still fresh in the +memory of those who were interested in Captain Scott's last Polar +Expedition. The Great War has come and gone and the majority of us wish +to forget it, but the story of Scott undoubtedly appeals still to a great +number of people. It is a good story, and my only hope is that I can +retell it well enough to make my volume worth while reading after so much +has already been published concerning the work of the British Antarctic +Expedition of 1910. + +The main object of our expedition was to reach the South Pole and secure +for the British nation the honour of that achievement, but the attainment +of the Pole was far from being the only object in view, for Scott +intended to extend his former discoveries and bring back a rich harvest +of scientific results. Certainly no expedition ever left our shores with +a more ambitious scientific programme, nor was any enterprise of this +description ever undertaken by a more enthusiastic and determined +personnel. We should never have collected our expeditionary funds merely +from the scientific point of view; in fact, many of our largest +supporters cared not one iota for science, but the idea of the Polar +adventure captured their interest. On the other hand, a number of our +supporters affected a contempt for the Polar dash and only interested +themselves in the question of advanced scientific study in the Antarctic. +As the expedition progressed, however, the most unenthusiastic member of +the company developed the serious taste, and in no case did we ever hear +from the scientific staff complaints that the Naval members failed to +help them in their work with a zeal that was quite unexpected. This +applies more particularly to the seamen and stokers. + +Captain Scott originally intended to make his winter quarters in King +Edward VII. Land, but altered the arrangement after the fullest +discussion with his scientific friends and advisers, and planned that a +small party of six should examine this part of the Antarctic and follow +the coast southward from its junction with the Great Ice Barrier, +penetrating as far south as they were able, surveying geographically and +geologically. This part of the programme was never carried out, owing to +the ice conditions thereabouts preventing a landing either on the Barrier +or in King Edward VII. Land itself. + +The main western party Scott planned to command himself, the base to be +at Cape Crozier or in McMurdo Sound, near the site of the "Discovery's" +old winter quarters at Cape Armitage, the exact position to be governed +by the ice conditions on arrival. + +Dogs, ponies, motor sledges and man-hauling parties on ski were to +perform the Polar journey by a system of relays or supporting parties. +Scott's old comrade, Dr. E.A. Wilson of Cheltenham, was selected as chief +of the scientific staff and to act as artist to the expedition. Three +geologists were chosen and two biologists, to continue the study of +marine fauna and carry out research work in depths up to 500 fathoms. The +expeditionary ship was to be fitted for taking deep-sea soundings and +magnetic observations, and the meteorological programme included the +exploration of the upper air currents and the investigation of the +electrical conditions of the atmosphere. We were fortunate in securing as +meteorologist the eminent physicist, Dr. G. Simpson, who is now head of +the Meteorological Office in London. Dr. Simpson was to have charge of +the self-recording magnetic instruments ashore at the main base. + +Study of ice structure and glaciation was undertaken by Mr. C.S. Wright, +who was also assistant physicist. The magnetic work of the ship was +entrusted to Lieut. Harry Pennell, R.N., an officer of more than ordinary +scientific attainments and a distinguished navigator. Lieut. Henry +Rennick was given control of the hydrographical survey work and deep-sea +sounding. Two surgeons were lent by the Royal Navy for the study of +bacteriology and parasitology in addition to their medical duties, and +Mr. Herbert G. Ponting was chosen as camera artist and cinematographer to +the Expedition. + +To my mind the outfit and preparations were the hardest part of our work, +for we were not assure of funds until the day of our departure. This did +not lighten Scott's burden. The plans of the British Antarctic Expedition +of 1910 were first published on September 13, 1909, but although Scott's +appeal to the nation was heartily endorsed by the Press, it was not until +the spring of 1910 that we had collected the first 10,000 pounds. +Personally, I was despatched to South Wales and the west of England to +raise funds from my Welsh and west country friends. Scott, himself, when +he could be spared from the Admiralty, worked Newcastle, Liverpool, and +the North, whilst both of us did what we could in London to obtain the +money necessary to purchase and equip the ship. It was an anxious time +for Scott and his supporters, but after the first 10,000 pounds had been +raised the Government grant of 20,000 pounds followed and the Expedition +came properly into being. Several individuals subscribed 1000 pounds +each, and Government grants were subsequently made by the Australian +Commonwealth, the Dominion of New Zealand and South Africa. Capt. L.E.G. +Oates and Mr. Apsley Cherry-Garrard were included in the donors of 1000 +pounds, but they gave more than this, for these gallant gentlemen gave +their services and one of them his life. An unexpected and extremely +welcome contribution came from Mr. Samuel Hordern of Sydney in the shape +of 2500 pounds, at a time when we needed it most. Many firms gave in cash +as well as in kind. Indeed, were it not for the generosity of such firms +it is doubtful whether we could have started. The services of Paymaster +Lieut. Drake, R.N., were obtained as secretary to the Expedition. Offices +were taken and furnished in Victoria Street, S.W., and Sir Edgar Speyer +kindly consented to act as Honorary Treasurer--without hesitation I may +say we owe more to Sir Edgar than ever we can repay. + +We were somewhat limited in our choice of a ship, suitable for the work +contemplated. The best vessel of all was of course the "Discovery," which +had been specially constructed for the National Antarctic Expedition in +1900, but she had been acquired by the Hudson Bay Company, and although +the late Lord Strathcona, then High Commissioner for Canada, was +approached, he could not see his way to obtaining her for us in view of +her important employment as supply ship for the Hudson Bay Trading +Stations. There remained the "Aurora," "Morning," "Bjorn," "Terra Nova," +Shackleton's stout little "Nimrod," and one or two other old whaling +craft. The "Bjorn," a beautiful wooden whaler, would have served our +purpose excellently, but, alas! she was too small for the enterprise and +we had to fall back on the "Terra Nova," an older ship but a much larger +craft. The "Terra Nova" had one great defect--she was not economic in the +matter of coal consumption. She was the largest and strongest of the old +Scotch whalers, had proved herself in the Antarctic pack-ice and +acquitted herself magnificently in the Northern ice-fields in whaling and +sealing voyages extending over a period of twenty years. In spite of her +age she had considerable power for a vessel of that type. + +After a preliminary survey in Newfoundland, which satisfied us as to her +seaworthiness in all respects, the "Terra Nova" was purchased for the +Expedition by Messrs. David Bruce & Sons for the sum of 12,500 pounds. It +seems a high price, but this meant nothing more than her being chartered +to us for 2000 pounds a year, since her owners were ready to pay a good +price for the ship if we returned her in reasonably good condition at the +conclusion of the Expedition. + +Captain Scott handed her over to me to fit out, whilst he busied himself +more with the scientific programme and the question of finance. We had +her barque-rigged and altered according to the requirements of the +expedition. A large, well-insulated ice-house was erected on the upper +deck which held 150 cascases of frozen mutton, and, owing to the position +of the cold chamber, free as it was from the vicinity of iron, we mounted +here our standard compass and Lloyd Creek pedestal for magnetic work. Our +range-finder was also mounted on the ice-house. A new stove was put in +the galley, a lamp room and paraffin store built, and store-rooms, +instrument, and chronometer rooms were added. A tremendous alteration was +made in the living spaces both for officers and men. Twenty-four bunks +were fitted around the saloon accommodation, whilst for the seamen and +warrant officers hammock space or bunks were provided. It was proposed to +take six warrant officers, including carpenter, ice-master, boatswain, +and chief steward. Quite good laboratories were constructed on the poop, +while two large magazines and a clothing-store were built up between +decks, and these particular spaces were zinc-lined to keep them +damp-free. The ship required alteration rather than repair, and there +were only one or two places where timber had rotted and these were soon +found and reinforced. + +I shall never forget the day I first visited the "Terra Nova" in the West +India Docks: she looked so small and out of place surrounded by great +liners and cargo-carrying ships, but I loved her from the day I saw her, +because she was my first command. Poor little ship, she looked so dirty +and uncared for and yet her name will be remembered for ever in the story +of the sea, which one can hardly say in the case of the stately liners +which dwarfed her in the docks. I often blushed when admirals came down +to see our ship, she was so very dirty. To begin with, her hold contained +large blubber tanks, the stench of whale oil and seal blubber being +overpowering, and the remarks of those who insisted on going all over the +ship need not be here set down. However, the blubber tanks were +withdrawn, the hold spaces got the thorough cleansing and whitewashing +that they so badly needed. The bilges were washed out, the ship +disinfected fore and aft, and a gang of men employed for some time to +sweeten her up. Then came the fitting out, which was much more pleasant +work. + +Scott originally intended to leave England with most of the members of +the Expedition on August 1, 1910, but he realised that an early start +from New Zealand would mean a better chance for the big depot-laying +journey he had planned to undertake before the first Antarctic winter set +in. Accordingly the sailing date was anticipated, thanks to the united +efforts of all concerned with the fitting out, and we made June 1 our day +of departure, which meant a good deal of overtime everywhere. + +The ship had to be provisioned and stored for her long voyage, having in +view the fact that there were no ship-chandlers in the Polar regions, but +those of us who had "sailed the way before" had a slight inkling that we +might meet more ships, and _others_ who would lend us a helping hand in +the matter of Naval stores. + +Captain Scott allowed me a sum with which to equip the "Terra Nova"; it +seemed little enough to me but it made quite a hole in our funds. There +were boatswain's stores to be purchased, wire hawsers, canvas for +sail-making, fireworks for signalling, whale boats and whaling gear, +flags, logs, paint, tar, carpenter's stores, blacksmith's outfit, +lubricating oils, engineer's stores, and a multitude of necessities to be +thought of, selected, and not paid for if we could help it. The verb "to +wangle" had not then appeared in the English language, so we just +"obtained." + +The expedition had many friends, and it was not unusual to find Petty +Officers and men from the R.N.V.R. working on board and helping us on +Saturday afternoons and occasionally even on Sundays. They gave their +services for nothing, and the only way in which we could repay them was +to select two chief Petty Officers from their number, disrate them, and +take them Poleward as ordinary seamen. + +It was not until the spring of 1910 that we could afford to engage any +officers or men for the ship, so that most of the work of rigging her was +done by dock-side workers under a good old master rigger named Malley. +Landsmen would have stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Malley's men +with their diminutive dolly-winch had they watched our new masts and +yards being got into place. + +Six weeks before sailing day Lieut. Campbell took over the duties of +Chief Officer in the "Terra Nova," Pennell and Rennick also joined, and +Lieut. Bowers came home from the Indian Marine to begin his duties as +Stores Officer by falling down the main hatch on to the pig iron ballast. +I did not witness this accident, and when Campbell reported the matter I +am reported to have said, "What a silly ass!" This may have been true, +for coming all the way from Bombay to join us and then immediately +falling down the hatch did seem a bit careless. However, when Campbell +added that Bowers had not hurt himself my enthusiasm returned and I said, +"What a splendid fellow!" Bowers fell nineteen feet without injuring +himself in the slightest. This was only one of his narrow escapes and he +proved himself to be about the toughest man amongst us. + +Quite a lot could be written of the volunteers for service with Scott in +this his last Antarctic venture. There were nearly 8000 of them to select +from, and many eligible men were turned down simply because they were +frozen out by those who had previous Antarctic experience. We tried to +select fairly, and certainly picked a representative crowd. It was not an +all-British Expedition because we included amongst us a young Norwegian +ski-runner and two Russians; a dog driver and a groom. The Norwegian has +since distinguished himself in the Royal Air Force--he was severely +wounded in the war whilst fighting for the British and their Allies, but +his pluck and Anglophile sentiments cost him his commission in the +Norwegian Flying Corps. + +Dr. Wilson assisted Captain Scott in selecting the scientific staff, +while the choice of the officers and crew was mainly left to myself as +Commander-elect of the "Terra Nova." + +Most Polar expeditions sail under the Burgee of some yacht club or other: +We were ambitious to fly the White Ensign, and to enable this to be done +the Royal Yacht Squadron adopted us. Scott was elected a member, and it +cost him 100 pounds, which the Expedition could ill afford. However, with +the "Terra Nova" registered as a yacht we were able to evade those Board +of Trade officials who declared that she was not a well-found merchant +ship within the meaning of the Act. Having avoided the scrutiny of the +efficient and official, we painted out our Plimsoll mark with tongue in +cheek and eyelid drooped, and, this done, took our stores aboard and +packed them pretty tight. The Crown Preserve Co. sent us a quantity of +patent fuel which stowed beautifully as a flooring to the lower hold, and +all our provision cases were thus kept well up out of the bilge water +which was bound to scend to and fro if we made any quantity of water, as +old wooden ships usually do. The day before sailing the Royal +Geographical Society entertained Scott and his party at luncheon in the +King's Hall, Holborn Restaurant. About 300 Fellows of the Society were +present to do us honour. The President, Major Leonard Darwin, proposed +success to the Expedition, and in the course of his speech wished us +God-speed. He congratulated Captain Scott on having such a well-found +expedition and, apart from dwelling on the scientific and geographical +side of the venture, the President said that Captain Scott was going to +prove once again that the manhood of our nation was not dead and that the +characteristics of our ancestors who won our great Empire still +flourished amongst us. + +After our leader had replied to this speech Sir Clements Markham, father +of modern British exploration, proposed the toast of the officers and +staff in the most touching terms. Poor Sir Clements is no more, but it +was he who first selected Captain Scott for Polar work, and he, indeed, +who was responsible for many others than those present at lunch joining +Antarctic expeditions, myself included. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +VOYAGE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + + +Sailing day came at last, and on June 1, 1910, when I proudly showed +Scott his ship, he very kindly ordered the hands aft and thanked them for +what they had done. + +The yards were square, the hatches on with spick-and-span white hatch +covers, a broad white ribbon brightened the black side, and gold leaf +bedizened the quarter badges besides gilding the rope scroll on the +stern. The ship had been well painted up, a neat harbour furl put on the +sails, and if the steamers and lofty sailing vessels in the basin could +have spoken, their message would surely have been, "Well done, little +'un." + +What a change from the smudgy little lamp-black craft of last +November--so much for paint and polish. All the same it was the "Terra +Nova's" Indian summer. A close search by the technically expert would +have revealed scars of age in the little lady, furrows worn in her sides +by grinding ice floes, patches in the sails, strengthening pieces in the +cross-trees and sad-looking deadeyes and lanyards which plainly told of a +bygone age. + +But the merchant seamen who watched from the dock side were kind and said +nothing. The old admirals who had come down to visit the ship were used +to these things, or perhaps they did not twig it. After all, what did it +matter, it was sailing day, we were all as proud as peacocks of our +little ship, and from that day forward we pulled together and played the +game, or tried to. + +Lady Bridgeman, wife of the first Sea Lord, and Lady Markham hoisted the +White Ensign and the Burgee of the Royal Yacht Squadron an hour or so +before sailing. At 4.45 p.m. the visitors were warned off the ship, and a +quarter of an hour later we slipped from our wharf in the South-West +India Docks and proceeded into the river and thence to Greenhithe, where +we anchored off my old training ship, the "Worcester," and gave the +cadets a chance to look over the ship. On the 3rd June we arrived at +Spithead, where we were boarded by Captain Chetwynd, Superintendent of +Compasses at the Admiralty, who swung the ship and adjusted our +compasses. Captain Scott joined us on the 4th and paid a visit with his +"yacht" to the R.Y.S. at Cows. On the 6th we completed a series of +magnetic observations in the Solent, after which many officers were +entertained by Captain Mark Kerr in the ill-fated "Invincible." We were +royally looked after, but I am ashamed to say we cleared most of his +canvas and boatswain's stores out of the ship. Perhaps a new 3 1/2-inch +hawser found its way to the "Terra Nova"; anyway, if the "Invincible's" +stores came on board the exploring vessel she made good use of them and +saved them their Jutland fate. We left the Solent in high feather on the +following day. + +The "Sea Horse" took us in tow to the Needles, from whence H.M.S. +"Cumberland," Cadets' Training Ship; towed us to Weymouth Bay. This was +poor Scott's last Naval review. He had landed at Portsmouth and busied +himself with the Expedition's affairs and rejoined us at Weymouth in time +to steam through the Home Fleet assembled in Portland Harbour. We steamed +out of the 'hole in the wall' at the western end of Portland Breakwater +and rounded Portland Bill at sunset on our way to Cardiff, where we were +to be received by my own Welsh friends and endowed with all good things. +We were welcomed by the citizens of the great Welsh seaport with +enthusiasm. Free docking, free coal, defects made good for nothing, an +office and staff placed at our disposal, in fact everything was done with +an open-hearted generosity. We took another 300 tons of patent fuel on +board and nearly 100 tons of Insole's best Welsh steaming coal, together +with the bulk of our lubricating oils. When complete with fuel we met +with our first setback, for the little ship settled deeply in the water +and the seams, which had up till now been well above the water-line, +leaked in a way that augured a gloomy future for the crew in the nature +of pumping. With steam up this did not mean anything much, but under sail +alone, unless we could locate the leaky seams, it meant half an hour to +an hour's pumping every watch. We found a very leaky spot in the fore +peak, which was mostly made good by cementing. + +On the 15th June we left the United Kingdom after a rattling good time in +Cardiff. Many shore boats and small craft accompanied us down the Bristol +Channel as far as Breaksea Light Vessel. We hoisted the Cardiff flag at +the fore and the Welsh flag at the mizen--some wag pointed to the flag +and asked why we had not a leek under it, and I felt bound to reply that +we had a leak in the fore peak! It was a wonderful send-off and we +cheered ourselves hoarse. Captain Scott left with our most intimate +friends in the pilot boat and we proceeded a little sadly on our way. + +After passing Lundy Island we experienced a head wind and the gentle +summer swell of the Atlantic. In spite of her deeply-laden condition the +"Terra Nova" breasted each wave in splendid form, lifting her toy +bowsprit proudly in the air till she reminded me, with her deck cargo, of +a little mother with her child upon her back. + +Our first port of call was Madeira, where it was proposed to bunker, and +we made good passage to the island under steam and sail for the most +part. We stayed a couple of days coaling and taking magnetic observations +at Funchal, then ran out to the north-east Trades, let fires out, and +became a sailing ship. + +Whilst lazily gazing at fertile Madeira from our anchorage we little +dreamt that within two months the distinguished Norseman, Roald Amundsen, +would be unfolding his plans to his companions on board the "Fram" in +this very anchorage, plans which changed the whole published object of +his expedition, plans which culminated in the triumph of the Norwegian +flag over our own little Union Jack, and plans which caused our people a +fearful disappointment--for Amundsen's ultimate success meant our failure +to achieve the main object of our Expedition: to plant the British Flag +first at the South Pole. + +Under sail! Quite a number of the scientists and crew had never been to +sea in a sailing ship before, but a fair wind and a collection of keen +and smiling young men moving about the decks were particularly refreshing +to me after the year of fund collecting and preparation. + +We learnt to know a great deal about one another on the outward voyage to +New Zealand, where we were to embark our dogs and ponies. The most +surprising personality was Bowers, considering all things. + +Officers, scientists, and the watch worked side by side trimming coals +and restoring the 'tween decks as cases were shaken and equipment +assembled. The scientific staff were soon efficient at handling, reefing, +and steering. Every one lent a hand at whatever work was going. Victor +Campbell was christened the "Wicked Mate," and he shepherded and fathered +the afterguard delightfully. + +Wilson and I shared the Captain's cabin, and when there was nothing afoot +he made lovely sea sketches and water colour drawings to keep his hand +in. Certainly Uncle Bill (Dr. Wilson's nickname) had copy enough in those +days of sunlit seas and glorious sunrises. He was up always an hour +before the sun and missed very little that was worth recording with his +artistic touch. Wilson took Cherry-Garrard under his wing and brought him +up as it were in the shadow of his own unselfish character. We had no +adventures to record until the last week in July beyond the catching of +flying-fish, singing chanties at the pump, and Lillie getting measles. We +isolated him in the dark room, which, despite its name, was one of the +lightest and freshest rooms in the ship. Atkinson took charge of the +patient and Lillie could not have been in the hands of a better or more +cheery medico. + +Not all of the members of the Expedition had embarked in England, +although the majority came out in the ship to save expense. + +Captain Scott had remained behind to squeeze out more subscriptions and +to complete arrangements with the Central News, which he was making in +order to give the world's newspapers the story of the Expedition for +simultaneous publication as reports came back to civilisation in the +"Terra Nova." He also had finally to settle magazine and cinematograph +contracts which were to help pay for the Expedition, and lastly, our +leader, with Drake and Wyatt, the business manager, were to pay bills we +had incurred by countless items of equipment, large and small, which went +to fill up our lengthy stores lists. Thankless work enough--we in the +ship were much better off with no cares now beyond the handling of our +toy ship and her safe conduct to Lyttelton. Cecil Meares and Lieut. Bruce +were on their way through Siberia collecting dogs and ponies. Ponting was +purchasing the photographic and cinematographic outfit, Griffith Taylor, +Debenham, and Priestley, our three geologists, and Day, the motor +engineer, were to join us in New Zealand, and Captain Scott with Drake at +Capetown. + +In order to get another series of magnetic observations and to give the +staff relief from the monotony of the voyage as well as an opportunity +for doing a little special work, we stopped at the uninhabited island of +South Trinidad for a couple of days, arriving on July 26. + +Trinidad Island looked magnificent with its towering peaks as we +approached it by moonlight. We dropped anchor shortly after dawn, the +ship was handed over to the Wicked Mate and Boatswain, who set up the +rigging and delighted themselves with a seamanlike refit. Campbell had a +party over the side scrubbing the weeds off, and many of the ship's +company attempted to harpoon the small sharks which came close round in +shoals and provided considerable amusement. These fish were too small to +be dangerous. After breakfast all the scientists and most of the officers +landed and were organised by Uncle Bill into small parties to collect +birds' eggs, flowers, specimens, to photograph and to sketch. A good +lunch was taken ashore, and we looked more like a gunroom picnic party +than a scientific expedition when we left the ship in flannels and all +manner of weird costumes. Wilson, Pennell, and Cherry-Garrard shot a +number of birds, mostly terns and gannets, and climbed practically to the +top of the island, where they could see the Martin Vaz islets on the +horizon. Wilson secured some Trinidad petrels, both white breasted and +black breasted, and discovered that the former is the young bird and the +latter the adult of the same species. He found them in the same nests. We +collected many terns' eggs; the tern has no nest but lays its eggs on a +smooth rock. Also one or two frigate birds were caught. Nelson worked +along the beach, finding sea-urchins, anemones, and worms, which he +taught the sailors the names of--polycheats and sepunculids, I think he +called them. He caught various fishes, including sea-perches, garfish, +coralfish, and an eel, a small octopus and a quantity of sponges. +Trigger-fish were so abundant that many of them were speared from the +ship with the greatest of ease, and Rennick harpooned a couple from a +boat with an ordinary dinner fork. Lillie, who had recovered from +measles, was all about, and his party went for flowering plants and +lichens. He climbed to the summit of the island--2000 ft.--and gave it as +his opinion that the dead trees strewn all round the base of the island +had been carried down with the volcanic debris from higher altitudes. It +was also his suggestion that the island had only recently risen, the +trees which originally grew on the top of the island having died from +unsuitable climate in the higher condition. Gran went up with Lillie and +took photographs. "Birdie" Bowers and Wright were employed collecting +insects, and, with those added by the rest of us, the day's collection +included all kinds of ants, cockroaches, grasshoppers, mayflies, a +centipede, fifteen different species of spider, locusts, a cricket, +woodlice, a parasite fly, a beetle, and a moth. We failed to get any of +the dragonflies seen, and, to the great sorrow of the crews who landed +with us, missed capturing a most beautiful chestnut-coloured mouse with a +fur tail. Land crabs, a dirty yellow in colour, were found everywhere, +the farther one went inland the bigger were the crabs. The blue shore +crabs were only to be seen near the sea or along the coast and water +courses. Several of these were brought off to the ship for Dr. Atkinson +to play with, and he found nematodes in them, and parasites in the birds +and fish. + +During the afternoon a swell began to roll in the bay and those on board +the ship hoisted the warning signal and fired a sound rocket to recall +the scattered parties. By 4.30 we had reassembled on the rocks where we +had landed in the forenoon, but the rollers being fifteen feet high, it +was obviously unwise to send off cameras and perishable gear, and since +it was equally inadvisable to leave the whole party ashore without food +and sufficient clothing and the prospect of an inhospitable island home +for days, we all swam off one by one, the boat's crew working a grassline +bent to a lifebuoy. The boat to which we swam was riding to a big anchor +a hundred feet from the shore, just outside the surf. There were a few +sharks round the whaler, but they were shy and left us alone. Rennick +worked round the boat in a small Norwegian pram and scared them away. +Many trigger fish swallowed the thick vegetable oil which the boat's crew +ladled into the sea to keep the surf down, and I think this probably +attracted the sharks, though it was not very nice to swim through. None +of us were any the worse for our romp ashore, but the long day and the +hot sun tired us all out. Nearly all the afterguard slept on the upper +deck that night, and, but for the dismal roar of the swell breaking on +the rocks and the heavy rolling of the "Terra Nova," we spent quite a +comfortable night. Dr. Atkinson and Brewster had been left ashore with +the gear, but they got no sleep because all night the terns flew round +crying and protesting against their intrusion. The wail of these birds +sounds like the deep note of a banjo. The two men mostly feared the land +crabs, but to their surprise they were left in peace. + +Next day about 9 a.m. I went in with Rennick, Bowers, Oates, Gran, and +two seamen to the landing place, taking a whaler and pram equipped with +grass hawser, breeches buoy, rocket line, and everything necessary to +bring off the gear. We had a rough time getting the stuff away undamaged +by the sea, but the pram was a wonderful sea-boat and we took it in turns +to work her through the surf until everything was away. + +At the last, when nearly everything had been salved and got to the +whaler, the collections in tin boxes, wooden cases and baskets, and the +two men, Atkinson and Brewster, were on board, a large wave threw the +pram right up on the rocks, capsizing her and damaging her badly. Her two +occupants jumped out just before a second wave swept the boat over and +over. Then a third huge roller came up and washed the pram out to sea, +where she was recovered by means of a grapnel thrown from the whaler. The +two on the rocks had to face the surf again but were good swimmers, and +with their recovery our little adventure ended. It was a pity we had bad +weather, because I intended to give the crew a run on the island when +Campbell had finished with them. + +We remained another day under the lee of Trinidad Island owing to a hard +blow from the south-east--a dead head wind for us--because I felt it +would be useless to put to sea and punch into it. We were anchored one +mile S. 4 degrees E (magnetic) from the Ninepin Rock, well sheltered from +the prevailing wind. We left Trinidad at noon on the 28th, well prepared +for the bad weather expected on approaching the Cape of Good Hope. + +Whilst clearing the land we had an excellent view of South West Bay and +saw a fine lot of rollers breaking on the beach. I was glad we kept there +that day, as, in my opinion, our anchorage was really the only fair one +off the island. By noon on the 29th we had left South Trinidad out of +sight, the wind had freshened again and we could almost lay our course +under sail for the Cape. This next stage of the voyage was merely a story +of hard winds and heavy rolls. The ship leaked less as she used up the +coal and patent fuel. All the same we spent many hours at the pump, but, +since much of the pumping was done by the afterguard--as were called the +officers and scientists we developed and hardened our muscles finely. In +the daytime the afterguard were never idle; there is always plenty to do +in a sailing ship, and when not attending to their special duties the +scientists were kept working at everything that helped the show along. +Whilst on deck they were strictly disciplined and subordinate and +respectful to the ship's executive officers, while in the wardroom they +fought these same officers in a friendly way for every harsh word and +every job they had had imposed on them. + +Campbell was a fine seaman; he was respected and admired by such people +as Oates and Atkinson, who willingly pocketed their pride and allowed +themselves to be hustled round equally with the youngest seaman on board. +The Wicked Mate generally had all the afterguard under the hose before +breakfast, as washing water was scarce and the allowance meagre on such a +protracted voyage. + +In the hotter weather we nearly all slept on deck, the space on top of +the ice-house and in the boats being favourite billets. There was no +privacy in the ship and only the officers of watches and lookout men were +ever left with their thoughts. One or two of the younger members +confessed to being home-sick, for the voyage was long and it was not at +all certain that we should all win back to "England, home, and beauty." + +Those who were not sailor men soon acquired the habit of the sea, growing +accustomed to meeting fair and foul weather with an equally good face, +rejoicing with us sailor men at a fair wind and full sail and standing by +top-gallant and topsail halyards when the prospects were more leaden +coloured and the barometer falling. We numbered about forty now, which +meant heaps of beef to haul on ropes and plenty of trimmers to shift the +coal from the hold to the bunkers. One or two were always stoking side by +side with the firemen, and in this fashion officers, seamen, and +scientific staff cemented a greater friendship and respect for one +another. + +On August 7, after drinking to absent friends, Oates, Atkinson, and Gran, +"the three midshipmen" were confirmed in their rank and a ship's biscuit +broken on the head of each in accordance with gunroom practice, and after +this day, during good and bad weather, these three kept regular watch +with the seamen, going aloft, steering, and taking all the usual duties +in their turn. + +From the start Pennell, who was to relieve me in command of the ship on +her arrival at the Antarctic base, showed an astounding knowledge of +birds, and Wilson took the keenest interest in teaching him about +bird-life in the Great Southern ocean and giving him a preliminary idea +of the bird types to be met with in Antarctica. + +Reflecting back to these days one sees how well we all knitted into the +places we were to fill, because a long sea-voyage searches out hidden +qualities and defects, not that there were many of the latter, still one +man developed lung trouble and another had a strained heart. One of +these, to our great regret, was forced to leave the expedition before the +ship went south, while the other had to be ruled out of the shore +party--an awful disappointment to them both. + +We reached Simon's Town on August 15, and here the Naval authorities gave +us every assistance, lent us working parties and made good our long +defect list. We were disappointed on arriving to find that Captain Scott +was away in Pretoria, but he succeeded in obtaining a grant of 500 pounds +from the South African Government and raised another 500 pounds by +private subscription. When Captain Scott came amongst us again he wrote +of the "Terra Nova" party that we were all very pleased with the ship and +very pleased with ourselves, describing our state of happiness and +overflowing enthusiasm exactly. + +Those who could be spared were given leave here; some of us went +up-country for a few days and had a chance to enjoy South African +scenery. Oates, Atkinson, and Bowers went to Wynberg and temporarily +forgot the sea. Oates's one idea was a horse, and he spent his holiday as +much on horse-back as he possibly could. In a letter he expressed great +admiration for the plucky manner in which Atkinson rode to hounds one day +at Wynberg. These two were great friends, but it would be hard to imagine +two more naturally silent men, and one wonders how evident pleasure can +be obtained with a speechless companion. + +Scott now changed with Wilson, who went by mail steamer to Australia in +order to organise and finally engage the Australian members of our staff. +Our leader was without doubt delighted to make the longer voyage with us +in the "Terra Nova" and to get away from the hum of commerce and the +small talk of the many people who were pleased to meet him--until the hat +was handed round--that awful fund-collecting. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +ASSEMBLING OF UNITS--DEPARTURE FROM NEW ZEALAND + + +The trip from Simon's Town to Melbourne was disappointing on account of +the absence of fair winds. We had a few gales, but finer weather than we +expected, and took advantage of the ship's steadiness to work out the +details for the sledge journeys and depot plans. The lists of those who +were to form the two shore parties were published, together with a +skeleton list for the ship. The seamen had still to be engaged in New +Zealand to complete this party. + +A programme was drawn up for work on arrival at winter quarters, a +routine made out for McMurdo Sound or Cape Crozier, if it so happened +that we could effect a landing there, weights were calculated for the +four men sledging-units, sledge tables embellished with equipment +weights, weekly allowances of food and fuel, with measures of quantities +of each article in pannikins or spoonfuls, provisional dates were set +down in the general plan, daily ration lists constructed, the first +season's depot party chosen and, in short, a thoroughly comprehensive +hand-book was made out for our guidance which could be referred to by any +member of the Expedition. Even an interior plan of the huts was made to +scale for the carpenter's edification. + +It was an enormous advantage for us to have our leader with us now, his +master mind foresaw every situation so wonderfully as he unravelled plan +after plan and organised our future procedure. + +Meantime, the seamen were employed preparing the sledge gear, sewing up +food bags, making canvas tanks and sledge harness, fitting out Alpine +ropes; repair bags, thongs, lampwick bindings, and travelling equipment +generally. Gran overlooked the ski and assigned them to their future +owners, Petty Officer Evans prepared the sewing outfits for the two shore +parties, the cooks assembled messtraps and cooking utensils, and Levick +and Atkinson, under Dr. Wilson's guidance, assembled the medical +equipment and fixed up little surgical outfits for sledge parties. By the +time we arrived at Melbourne, our next port of call, a great deal had +been accomplished and people had a grasp of what was eventually expected +of them. + +Scott left us again at Melbourne and embarked on yet another begging +campaign, whilst I took the ship on to Lyttelton, where the "Terra Nova" +was dry-docked with a view to stopping the leak in her bows. The decks, +which after her long voyage let water through sadly, were caulked, and +barnacles six inches long were taken from her bottom and sides. Whilst in +New Zealand all the stores were landed, sorted out and restowed. On a +piece of waste ground close to the wharves at Lyttelton the huts were +erected in skeleton in order to make certain that no hitch would occur +when they were put up at our Antarctic base. Davis, the carpenter, with +the seamen told off to assist him, marked each frame and joist, the +tongued and grooved boards were roughly cut to measure and tied into +bundles ready for sledge transport in case it happened that we could not +put the ship close to the winter quarters. Instruments were adjusted, the +ice-house re-insulated and prepared to receive the 150 frozen sheep and +ten bullocks which were presented to us by New Zealand farmers. Stables +were erected under the forecastle and on the upper deck of the "Terra +Nova," ready for the reception of our ponies, and a thousand and one +alterations and improvements made. The ship was restowed, and all fancy +gear, light sails and personal baggage put ashore. We took on board 464 +tons of coal and embarked the three motor sledges, petrol, and paraffin. + +We spent four weeks in Port Lyttelton, four weeks of hard work and +perfect happiness. Our prospects looked very rosy in those days, and as +each new member joined the Expedition here he was cordially welcomed into +the "Terra Nova" family. + +Mr. J. J. Kinsey acted as agent to the Expedition, as he had done for the +National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-4, and, indeed, for every Polar +enterprise that has used New Zealand for a base. + +New Zealanders showed us unbounded hospitality; many of us had visited +their shores before and stronger ties than those of friendship bound us +to this beautiful country. + +When we came to Lyttelton, Meares and Bruce had already arrived with +nineteen Siberian and Manchurian ponies and thirty-four sledge dogs, and +these were now housed at Quail Island in the harbour. All the ponies were +white, animals of this colour being accepted as harder than others for +snow work, and the dogs were as fine a pack as one could select for hard +sledging and rough times. Meares had had adventure in plenty when +selecting the dogs and told us modestly enough of his journeys across +Russia and Siberia in search of suitable animals. Scott was lucky to get +hold of such an experienced traveller as Meares, and the "Terra Nova" +gained by the inclusion of Lady Scott's brother, Wilfred Bruce, in the +Expedition. Wilfred Bruce was christened "Mumbo," and, although a little +older than the rest of the officers, he willingly took a subordinate +place, and Pennell, writing of him after the Expedition was finished, +said that he withheld his advice when it was not asked for and gave it +soundly when it was. + +Lieut. Bruce joined Meares at Vladivostock, and he must have thought he +was joining a travelling circus when he ran into this outfit. Meares +crossed by Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostock, thence made +preparation to travel round the Sea of Okotsk to collect the necessary +dogs. He started off by train to Kharbarovsk, where he got in touch with +the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, General Unterberger, who helped +him immensely, got him a good travelling sledge for the trip down the +Amur River to Nikolievsk, and wrote a letter which he gave Meares to show +at the post-houses and whenever in difficulties. The Governor-General +ordered frozen food to be got ready for Meares's journey. A thousand +versts (roughly 660 miles) had to be traversed, and this only took seven +days; the going was interesting at times, and Meares had good weather on +the sledge journey to Nikolievsk, although the cold was intense and +sometimes the road was very bad. The sledges were horse-drawn between the +post-houses. + +Mr. Rogers, the English manager of the Russo-Chinese Bank of Nikolievsk, +helped Meares considerably in securing the dogs. Most of them were picked +up in the neighbourhood of that place, but were not chosen before they +had been given some hard driving tests. In one of the trial journeys the +dogs pulled down a horse and nearly killed it before they could be beaten +off. Some of them have a good deal of the wolf in their blood. + +A settlement of "fish-skin" Indians was visited in the dog search, and +Meares told us of natives who dressed in cured skins of salmons. These +people were expert hunters who trekked weeks on end with just a pack of +food on their backs, their travelling being done on snowshoes. + +After taking great pains, thirty-four fine dogs were collected, all used +to hard sledge travelling, and these Meares shipped on board steamer +which took him and his menagerie by river to Kharbarovsk. The journey to +Vladivostock was by train. The Russian officials allowed him to hitch on +a couple of cattle trucks containing the dogs to the mail train for that +part of the journey. + +Russian soldiers and Chinamen were detailed by the Governor-General to +assist the procession through the streets of Vladivostock to their +kennels here. A slight upset was caused by a mad dog rushing in amongst +them, but fortunately it was killed before any of our dogs were bitten. +Some of them were flecked by the foam from the mad dog's jaws, but none +were any the worse after a good carbolic bath. After the dogs were +settled and in good shape the ponies were collected and brought from +up-country in batches. On arrival at the Siberian capital they were +examined by the Government vet., after which Meares and an Australian +trainer picked the best, until a score were purchased. Horse boxes were +obtained now and feed tins made for the voyage and, after minor troubles +with shipping firms, Meares, Bruce, and three Russians sailed from +Vladivostock in a Japanese steamer which conveyed them to Kobe. Here they +transhipped into a German vessel that took then via Hong-kong, Manila, +New Guinea, Rockhampton, and Brisbane, to Sydney. There the animals were +inoculated for the N'th time and a good deal of palaver indulged in +before they were again shifted to the Lyttelton steamer. The poor beasts +suffered from the heat, particularly the dogs, although they had been +close-clipped for the long and trying voyage. + +At Wellington, New Zealand, Meares was compelled to trans-ship the +animals to yet another steamer. When the travelling circus was safely +installed in Quail Island our dogs and ponies had undergone shipments, +trans-shipments, inoculations and disinfectings sufficient to make them +glad to leave civilisation, and we had to thank Meares for his patience +in getting them down without any losses. + +We sailed from Lyttelton on November 25 for Port Chalmers, had a +tremendous send-off and a great deal of cheering as the ship moved slowly +away from the piers. Bands played us out of harbour and most of the ships +flew farewell messages, which we did our best to answer. + +Some members went down by train to Dunedin and joined us at Port +Chalmers. We filled up here with what coal we could squeeze into our +already overloaded ship and left finally for the Great Unknown on +November 29, 1910. + +Lady Scott, Mrs. Wilson, and my own wife came out with us to the Heads +and then went on board the "Plucky" tug after saying good-bye. We were +given a rousing send-off by the small craft that accompanied us a few +miles on our way, but they turned homeward at last and at 3.30 p.m. we +were clear with all good-byes said--personally I had a heart like lead, +but, with every one else on board, bent on doing my duty and following +Captain Scott to the end. There was work to be done, however, and the +crew were glad of the orders that sent them from one rope to another and +gave them the chance to hide their feelings, for there is an awful +feeling of loneliness at this point in the lives of those who sign on the +ships of the "South Pole trade"--how glad we were to hide those feelings +and make sail--there were some dreadfully flat jokes made with the best +of good intentions when we watched dear New Zealand fading away as the +spring night gently obscured her from our view. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THROUGH STORMY SEAS + + +After all it was a relief to get going at last and to have the Expedition +on board in its entirety, but what a funny little colony of souls. A +floating farm-yard best describes the appearance of the upper deck, with +the white pony heads peeping out of their stables, dogs chained to +stanchions, rails, and ring-bolts, pet rabbits lolloping around the ready +supply of compressed hay, and forage here, there, and everywhere. If the +"Terra Nova" was deeply laden from Cardiff, imagine what she looked like +leaving New Zealand. We had piled coal in sacks wherever it could be +wedged in between the deck cargo of petrol. Paraffin and oil drums filled +up most of the hatch spaces, for the poop had been rendered uninhabitable +by the great wooden cases containing two of our motor sledges. + +The seamen were excellent, and Captain Scott seemed delighted with the +crowd. He and Wilson were very loyal to the old "Discovery" men we had +with us and Scott was impressed with my man, Cheetham, the Merchant +Service boatswain, and could not quite make out how "Alf," as the sailors +called him, got so much out of the hands--this little squeaky-voiced +man--I think we hit on Utopian conditions for working the ship. There +were no wasters, and our seamen were the pick of the British Navy and +Mercantile Marine. Most of the Naval men were intelligent petty officers +and were as fully alive as the merchantmen to "Alf's" windjammer +knowledge. Cheetham was quite a character, and besides being immensely +popular and loyal he was a tough, humorous little soul who had made more +Antarctic voyages than any man on board. + +The seamen and stokers willingly gave up the best part of the crew space +in order to allow sheltered pony stables to be built in the forecastle; +it would have fared badly with the poor creatures had we kept them out on +deck on the southward voyage. + +A visit to the Campbell Islands was projected, but abandoned on account +of the ship being unable to lay her course due to strong head winds on +December 1. We therefore shaped to cross the Antarctic Circle in 178 +degrees W. and got a good run of nearly 200 miles in, but the wind rose +that afternoon and a gale commenced at a time when we least could afford +to face bad weather in our deeply-laden conditions. By 6 p.m. I had to +heave the ship to under lower topsails and fore topmast staysail. Engines +were kept going at slow speed to keep the ship under control, but when +night fell the prospect was gloomy enough. Captain Scott had consented to +my taking far more on board than the ship was ever meant to carry, and we +could not expect to accomplish our end without running certain risks. To +sacrifice coal meant curtailing the Antarctic cruising programme, but as +the weather grew worse we had to consider throwing coal overboard to +lighten the vessel. Quite apart from this, the huge waves which washed +over the ship swamped everything and increased the deck weights +considerably. Ten tons of coal were thrown over to prevent them from +taking charge and breaking petrol cases adrift. In spite of a liberal use +of oil to keep heavy water from breaking over, the decks were continually +swept by the seas and the rolling was so terrific that the poor dogs were +almost hanging by their chains. Meares and Dimitri, helped by the watch, +tended them unceasingly, but in spite of their combined efforts one dog +was washed overboard after being literally drowned on the upper deck. One +pony died that night, Oates and Atkinson standing by it and trying their +utmost to keep the wretched beast on its feet. A second animal succumbed +later, and poor Oates had a most trying time in caring for his charges +and rendering what help he could to ameliorate their condition. Those of +his ship-mates who saw him in this gale will never forget his strong, +brown face illuminated by a hanging lamp as he stood amongst those +suffering little beasts. He was a fine, powerful man, and on occasions he +seemed to be actually lifting the poor little ponies to their feet as the +ship lurched heavily to leeward and a great sea would wash the legs of +his charges from under them. One felt somehow, glancing into the ponies' +stalls, which Captain Scott and I frequently visited together, that +Oates's very strength itself inspired his animals with confidence. He +himself appeared quite unconscious of any personal suffering, although +his hands and feet must have been absolutely numbed by the cold and wet. + +In the middle watch Williams, the Chief Engineer, reported that his pumps +were choked and that as fast as he cleared them they choked again, the +water coming into the ship so fast that the stoke-hold plates were +submerged and water gaining fast. I ordered the watch to man the +hand-pump, but that was soon choked too. Things now looked really +serious, since it was impossible to get to the pump-well while terrific +seas were washing over the ship and the afterhatch could not be opened. +Consequently we started to bail the water out with buckets and also +rigged the small fire-engine and pumped with this as well. + +The water in the engine room gradually gained until it entered the ashpit +of the centre furnace and commenced to put the fires out. Both Williams +and Lashly were up to their necks in water, clearing and re-clearing the +engine room pump suctions, but eventually the water beat them and I +allowed Williams to let fires out in the boiler. It could not be +otherwise. We stopped engines, and with our cases of petrol being lifted +out of their lashings by the huge waves, with the ponies falling about +and the dogs choking and wallowing in the water and mess, their chains +entangling them and tripping up those who tried to clear them, the +situation looked as black and disheartening as it well could be. + +When dawn broke the greater part of the lee bulwarks had been torn away +and our decks laid open to the sea, which washed in and out as it would +have over a rock. The poor ship laboured dreadfully, and after +consultation with Captain Scott we commenced to cut a hole in the engine +room bulkhead to get at the hand pump-well. + +Meanwhile I told the afterguard off into watches, and, relieving every +two hours, they set to work, formed a chain at the engine room ladder way +and bailed the ship out with buckets. In this way they must have +discharged between 2000 and 3000 gallons of water. The watch manned the +hand pump, which, although choked, discharged a small stream, and for +twenty-four hours this game was kept up, Scott himself working with the +best of them and staying with the toughest. + +It was a sight that one could never forget: everybody saturated, some +waist-deep on the floor of the engine room, oil and coal dust mixing with +the water and making every one filthy, some men clinging to the iron +ladder way and passing full buckets up long after their muscles had +ceased to work naturally, their grit and spirit keeping them going. I did +admire the weaker people, especially those who were unhardened by the +months of physical training of the voyage out from England. + +When each two-hour shift was relieved, the party, coughing and +spluttering, would make their way into the ward-room where Hooper and +Neale, the stewards, mere boys, supplied them with steaming cocoa. How on +earth the cooks kept the galley fires going I could never understand: +they not only did this, but fed us all at frequent intervals. + +By 10 p.m. on the 2nd December the hole in the engine room bulkhead was +cut completely. I climbed through it, followed by Bowers, the carpenter, +and Teddy Nelson, and when we got into the hold there was just enough +room to wriggle along to the pump-well over the coal. We tore down a +couple of planks to get access to the shaft and then I went down to the +bottom to find out how matters stood. Bowers came next with an electric +torch, which he shone downwards whilst I got into the water, hanging on +to the bottom rungs of the ladder leading to the bilge. Sitting on the +keel the water came up to my neck and, except for my head, I was under +water till after midnight passing up coal balls, the cause of all the +trouble. Though, of course, we had washed out the bilges in New Zealand, +the constant stream of water which leaked in from the topsides had +carried much coal-dust into them. This, mixed with the lubricating oil +washed down from the engines, had cemented into buns and balls which +found their way down and choked both hand and engine pump suctions. I +sent up twenty bucketfuls of this filthy stuff, which meant frequently +going head under the unspeakably dirty water, but having cleared the +lower ends of the suction pipe the watch manning the hand pump got the +water down six inches, and it was obvious by 4 o'clock in the morning +that the pump was gaining. We therefore knocked the afterguard off +bailing, and the seamen worked steadily at the pump until 9 a.m. and got +the water right down to nine inches, so we were able to light fires again +and once more raise steam. We made a serviceable wire grating to put +round the hand pump suction to keep the bigger stuff from choking the +pipes in future. It was days before some of us could get our hair clean +from that filthy coal-oil mixture. + +One more pony died during the gale, but when the weather moderated early +on the 3rd, the remaining seventeen animals bucked up and, when not +eating their food, nonchalantly gnawed great gaps in the stout planks +forming the head parts of their stalls. At last the sun came out and +helped to dry the dogs. Campbell and his seamen cleared up the decks and +re-secured the top hamper in the forenoon, we reset sail, and after tea +Scott, Oates, Atkinson, and a few more of us hoisted the two dead ponies +out of the forecastle, through the skylight, and over the side. It was a +dirty job, because the square of the hatch was so small that a powerful +purchase had to be used which stretched out the ponies like dead rabbits. + +We only made good twenty-three miles that day and, although the gale had +abated, it left us a legacy in the shape of a heavy uncomfortable swell. +Most of the bunks were in a sad state, the ship having worked so badly +that the upper deck seams opened everywhere and water had literally +poured into them. + +Looking at the fellows' faces in the ward-room at dinner that night there +was no trace of anxiety, worry, or fatigue to be seen. We drank to +sweet-hearts and wives, it being Saturday evening, and those who had no +watch were glad to turn in early. + +More fresh wind next day but finer weather to follow. Gran declared he +saw an iceberg on the 5th December, but it turned out to be a whale +spouting. Our runs were nothing to boast of, 150 miles being well above +the average, but the lengthening days told us that we were rapidly +changing our latitude and approaching the ice. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +ANTARCTICA--THROUGH THE PACK ICE TO LAND + + +We sighted our first iceberg in latitude 62 degrees on the evening of +Wednesday, December 7. Cheetham's squeaky hail came down from aloft and I +went up to the crow's-nest to look at it, and from this time on we passed +all kinds of icebergs, from the huge tabular variety to the little +weathered water-worn bergs. Some we steamed quite close to and they +seemed for all the world like great masses of sugar floating in the sea. + +From latitudes 60 to 63 degrees we saw a fair number of birds: southern +fulmars, whale birds, molly-mawks, sooty albatrosses, and occasionally +Cape-pigeons still. Then the brown-backed petrels began to appear, sure +precursors of the pack ice--it was in sight right enough the day after +the brown-backs were seen. By breakfast time on December 9, when nearly +in latitude 65 degrees, we were steaming through thin streams of broken +pack with floes from six to twelve feet across. A few penguins and seals +were seen, and by 10 a.m. no less than twenty-seven icebergs in sight. +The newcomers to these regions were clustered in little groups on the +forecastle and poop sketching and painting, hanging over the bows and +gleefully watching this lighter stuff being brushed aside by our strong +stem. + +We were passing through pack all day, but the ice hereabouts was not +close enough nor heavy enough to stop us appreciably. The ship was +usually conned by Pennell and myself from the crow's-nest, and I took the +ship very near one berg for Ponting to cinematograph it. We now began to +see snow petrels with black beaks and pure white bodies, rather +resembling doves. Also we saw great numbers of brown-backed petrels the +first day in the pack, whole flights of them resting on the icebergs. The +sun was just below the horizon at midnight and we had a most glorious +sunset, which was first a blazing copper changing to salmon pink and then +purple. The pools of water between the floes caught the reflection, the +sea was perfectly still and every berg and ice-floe caught something of +the delicate colour. Wilson, of course, was up and about till long after +midnight sketching and painting. The Antarctic pack ice lends itself to +water-colour work far better than to oils. + +When conning the ship from up in the crow's-nest one has a glorious view +of this great changing ice-field. Moving through lanes of clear blue +water, cannoning into this floe and splitting it with iron-bound stem, +overriding that and gnawing off a twenty ton lump, gliding south, east, +west, through leads of open water, then charging an innocent-looking +piece which brings the ship up all-standing, astern and ahead again, +screwing and working the wonderful wooden ship steadily southward until +perhaps two huge floes gradually narrow the lane and hold the little lady +fast in their frozen grip. + +This is the time to wait and have a look round: on one side floes the +size of a football field, all jammed together, with their torn up edges +showing their limits and where the pressure is taken. Then three or four +bergs, carved from the distant Barrier, imprisoned a mile or so away, +with the evening sun's soft rays casting beautiful shadows about them and +kissing their glistening cliff faces. + +Glancing down from the crow's-nest the ship throws deep shadows over the +ice and, while the sun is just below the southern horizon, the still +pools of water show delicate blues and greens that no artist can ever do +justice to. It is a scene from fairyland. + +I loved this part of the voyage, for I was in my element. At odd times +during the night, if one can call it night, the crow's-nest would have +visitors, and hot cocoa would be sent up in covered pots by means of +signal halyards. The pack ice was new to all the ship's officers except +myself, but they soon got into the way of conning and working through +open water leads and, as time went on, distinguished the thinner ice from +the harder and more dangerous stuff. + +On December 10 we stopped the ship and secured her to a heavy floe from +which we took in sufficient ice to make eight tons of fresh water, and +whilst doing this Rennick sounded and obtained bottom in 1964 fathoms, +fora-minifera and decomposed skeleton unicellular organs, also two pieces +of black basic lava. Lillie and Nelson took plankton and water bottle +samples to about 280 fathoms. A few penguins came round and a good many +crab-eater seals were seen. In the afternoon we got under way again and +worked for about eight miles through the pack, which was gradually +becoming denser. About 2:30 p.m. I saw from the crow's-nest four seals on +a floe. I slid down a backstay, and whilst the officer on watch worked +the ship close to them, I got two or three others with all our firearms +and shot the lot from the forecastle head. We had seal liver for dinner +that night; one or two rather turned up their noses at it, but, as Scott +pointed out, the time would come when seal liver would be a delicacy to +dream about. + +Campbell did not do much conning except in the early morning, as his +executive duties kept him well occupied. The Polar sledge journey had its +attractions, but Campbell's party were to have interesting work and were +envied by many on board. For reasons which need not here be entered into +Campbell had to abandon the King Edward VII. Land programme, but in these +days his mob were known as the Eastern Party, to consist of the Wicked +Mate, Levick, and Priestley, with three seamen, Abbott, Browning, and +Dickason. Campbell had the face of an angel and the heart of a hornet. +With the most refined and innocent smile he would come up to me and ask +whether the Eastern Party could have a small amount of this or that +luxury. Of course I would agree, and sure enough Bowers would tell me +that Campbell had already appropriated a far greater share than he was +ever entitled to of the commodity in question. This happened again and +again, but the refined smile was irresistible and I am bound to say the +Wicked Mate generally got away with it, for even Bowers, the +incomparable, was bowled over by that smile. + +We crossed the Antarctic Circle on the morning of the 10th, little +dreaming in those happy days that the finest amongst us would never +recross it again. + +We took a number of deep-sea soundings, several of over 2000 fathoms, on +this first southward voyage. Rennick showed himself very expert with the +deep-sea gear and got his soundings far more easily than we had done in +the "Discovery" and "Morning" days. + +We were rather unfortunate as regards the pack ice met with, and must +have passed through 400 miles of it from north to south. On my two +previous voyages we had had easier conditions altogether, and then it had +not mattered, but all with these dogs and ponies cooped up and losing +condition, with the "Terra Nova" eating coal and sixty hungry men +scoffing enormous meals, we did not seem to be doing much or getting on +with the show. It was, of course, nobody's fault, but our patience was +sorely tried. + +We made frequent stops in the pack ice, even letting fires out and +furling sail, and sometimes the ice would be all jammed up so that not a +water hole was visible--this condition would continue for days. Then, for +no apparent reason, leads would appear and black water-skies would tempt +us to raise steam again. Scott himself showed an admirable patience, for +the rest of us had something to occupy our time with. Pennell and I, for +instance, were constantly taking sights and working them out to find our +position and also to get the set and drift of the current. Then there +were magnetic observations to be taken on board and out on the ice away +from the magnetic influence of the ship, such as it was. Simpson had +heaps to busy himself with, and Ponting was here, there, and everywhere +with his camera and cinematograph machine. Had it not been for our +anxiety to make southward progress, the time would have passed pleasantly +enough, especially in fine weather. Days came when we could get out on +the floe and exercise on ski, and Gran zealously looked to all our +requirements in this direction. + +December 11 witnessed the extraordinary sight of our company standing +bareheaded on deck whilst Captain Scott performed Divine Service. Two +hymns were sung, which broke strangely the great white silence. The +weather was against us this day in that we had snow, thaw, and actually +rain, but we could not complain on the score of weather conditions +generally. Practically all the ship's company exercised on the floes +while we remained fast frozen. Next day there was some slight loosening +of the pack and we tried sailing through it and managed half a degree +southward in the forty-eight hours. We got along a few miles here and +there, but when ice conditions continued favourable for making any +serious advance it was better to light up and push our way onward with +all the power we could command. We got some heavy bumps on the 13th +December and as this hammering was not doing the ship much good, since I +was unable to make southing then at a greater rate than one mile an hour, +we let fires right out and prepared, as Captain Scott said, "To wait till +the clouds roll by." For the next few days there was not much doing nor +did we experience such pleasant weather. + +Constant visits were made to the crow's-nest in search of a way through. +December 16 and 17 were two very gray days with fresh wind, snow, and +some sleet. Affectionate memories of Captain Colbeck and the little +relief ship, "Morning," came back when the wind soughed and whistled +through the rigging: This sound is most uncanny and the ice always seemed +to exaggerate any noise. + +I hated the overcast days in the pack. It was bitterly cold in the +crow's-nest however much one put on then, and water skies often turned +out to be nimbus clouds after we had laboured and cannoned towards them. +The light, too, tired and strained one's eyes far more than on clear +days. + +When two hundred miles into the pack the ice varied surprisingly. We +would be passing through ice a few inches thick and then suddenly great +floes four feet above the water and twelve to fifteen feet deep would be +encountered. December 18 saw us steaming through tremendous leads of open +water. A very funny occurrence was witnessed in the evening when the wash +of the ship turned a floe over under water and on its floating back a +fish was left stranded. It was a funny little creature, nine inches in +length, a species of notathenia. Several snow petrels and a skua-gull +made attempts to secure the fish, but the afterguard kept up such a +chorus of cheers, hoots and howls that the birds were scared away till +one of us secured the fish from the floe. + +Early on the 19th we passed close to a large iceberg which had a shelving +beach like an island. We began to make better progress to the +south-westward and worked into a series of open leads. We came across our +first emperor penguin, a young one, and two sea-leopards, besides +crab-eater seals, many penguins, some giant petrels, and a Wilson petrel. +That afternoon tremendous pieces of ice were passed; they were absolutely +solid and regular floes, being ten to twelve feet above water and, as far +as one could judge, about 50 feet below. The water here was beautifully +clear. + +We had now reached latitude 68 degrees and, as penguins were plentiful, +Archer and Clissold, the cooks, made us penguin stews and "hooshes" to +eke out our fresh provisions. Concerning the penguins, they frequently +came and inspected the ship. One day Wilson and I chased some, but they +continually kept just out of our reach; then Uncle Bill lay down on the +snow, and when one, out of curiosity, came up to him he grabbed it by the +leg and brought it to the ship, protesting violently, for all the world +like a little old man in a dinner jacket. Atkinson and Wilson found a new +kind of tapeworm in this penguin, with a head like a propeller. This worm +has since been named after one of us! + +We were now down to under 300 tons of coal, some of which had perforce to +be landed, in addition to the 30 tons of patent fuel which were under the +forward stores. I had no idea that Captain Scott could be so patient. He +put the best face on everything, although he certainly was disappointed +in the "Terra Nova" and her steaming capacity. He could not well have +been otherwise when comparing her with his beloved "Discovery." Whilst in +the pack our leader spent his time in getting hold of the more detailed +part of our scientific programme and mildly tying the scientists in +knots. + +We had some good views of whales in the pack. Whenever a whale was +sighted Wilson was called to identify it unless it proved to belong to +one of the more common species. We saw Sibbald's whale; Rorquals, and +many killer whales, but no Right whales were properly identified this +trip. + +I very much wanted to show Scott the island we had discovered in the +first Antarctic Relief Expedition and named after him, but when in its +vicinity snow squalls and low visibility prevented this. + +On the 22nd Bowers, Wright, Griffith Taylor and myself chased a lot of +young penguins on the ice and secured nine for our Christmas dinner. We +spent a very pleasant Christmas this year, devoting great attention to +food. We commenced the day with kidneys from our frozen meat store. +Captain Scott conducted the Christmas church service and all hands +attended since we had no steam up and were fast held in the pack. The +ward-room was decorated with our sledge flags and a new blue tablecloth +generally brightened up our Mess. We had fresh mutton for lunch and the +seamen had their Christmas dinner at this time. The afterguard dined at +6.30 on fresh penguin, roast beef, plum pudding, mince pies, and +asparagus, while we had champagne, port, and liqueurs to drink and an +enormous box of Fry's fancy chocolates for dessert. This "mortal gorge" +was followed by a sing-song lasting until midnight, nearly every one, +even the most modest, contributing. Around the Christmas days we made but +insignificant headway, only achieving thirty-one miles in the best part +of the week, but on the 29th the floes became thin and the ice showed +signs of recent formation, though intermingled with heavier floes of old +and rotten ice. There was much diatomacea in the rotten floes. About 2.40 +a.m. the ship broke through into a lead of open water six miles in +length. + +I spent the middle watch in the crow's-nest, Bowers being up there with +me talking over the Expedition, his future and mine. He was a wonderful +watch companion, especially when he got on to his favourite subject, +India. He had some good tales to tell of the Persian Gulf, of days and +weeks spent boat-cruising, of attacks made on gun-running dhows and +kindred adventure. He told me that one dhow was boarded while he was up +the Gulf, when the Arabs, waiting until most of the boat's crew of +bluejackets were on board, suddenly let go the halyards of their great +sail and let it down crash over the lot, the boom breaking many heads and +the sail burying our seamen, while the Arabs got to work and practically +scuppered the crowd. + +Soon after 4 a.m. I went below and turned in, confident that we were +nearing the southern extreme of the pack. Captain Scott awoke when I went +into the cabin, pleased at the prospect, but after so many adverse ice +conditions he shook his head, unwilling to believe that we should get +clear yet awhile. I bet him ten sardine sandwiches that we should be out +of the pack by noon on the 30th, and when I turned out at 8 o'clock I was +delighted to find the ship steaming through thin floes and passing into a +series of great open water leads. By 6 p.m. on the 29th a strong breeze +was blowing, snow was falling, and we were punching along under steam and +sail. Sure enough we got out of the pack early on the 30th and, cracking +on all our canvas, were soon doing eight knots with a following wind. + +Later in the day the wind headed us with driving snow, fine rain, and, +unfortunately, a considerable head swell. This caused the ship to pitch +so badly that the ponies began to give trouble again. Oates asked for the +speed to be reduced, but we got over this by setting fore and aft sail +and keeping the ship's head three or four points off the wind. New Year's +Eve gave us another anxious time, for we encountered a hard blow from the +S.S.E. It was necessary to heave the ship to most of the day under bare +poles with the engines just jogging to keep the swell on her bow. A thin +line of pack ice was sighted in the morning and this turned out to be +quite a blessing in disguise, for I took the ship close to the edge of it +and skirted along to leeward. The ice formed a natural break-water and +damped the swell most effectually. The swell and sea in the open would +have been too much for the ponies as it must be remembered that they had +been in their stalls on board for five weeks. + +We had now reached the Continental Shelf, the depth of water had changed +from 1111 fathoms on the 30th to 180 fathoms this day. The biologists +took advantage of our jogging along in the open water to trawl, but very +few specimens were obtained. At midnight the "youth of the town" made the +devil of a din by striking sixteen bells, blowing whistles on the siren, +hooting with the foghorn, cheering and singing. What children we were, +but what matter! + +1911 came like the opening of a new volume of an exciting book. This was +the year in which Scott hoped to reach the Pole, the ideal date he had +given being December 21. This was the year that Campbell and his party +were looking forward to so eagerly--if only they could be successful in +landing their gear and equipment in King Edward VII. Land--and, for the +less showy but more scientific sledgers, 1911 held a wealth of excitement +in store. Griffith Taylor and Debenham knew pretty well that next New +Year's Day would see them in the midst of their Western journey with the +secrets of those rugged mountains revealed perhaps. I do not know what my +own feelings were, it would be impossible to describe them. I read up +part of Shackleton's diary and something of what his companion Wilde had +written. Just this: + + 12 _miles_, 200 _yards_.--1/1/08. + + "Started usual time. Quan (pony) got through the forenoon fairly well + with assistance, but after lunch the poor chap broke down and we had + to take him out of harness. Shackleton, Adams, and Marshall dragged + his sledge, and I brought the ponies along with the other load. As + soon as we camped I gave Quan the bullet, and Marshall and I cut him + up. He was a tough one. I am cook this week with Marshall as my tent + mate." + +The more one read into Shackleton's story the more wonderful it all +seemed, and with our resources failure appeared impossible--yet that +telegram which Captain Scott had received at Melbourne: + + "Beg leave to inform you proceeding Antarctic. + ----AMUNDSEN." + +We all knew that Amundsen had no previous Antarctic sledging experience, +but no one could deny that to Norwegians ice-work, and particularly +ski-ing, was second nature, and here lay some good food for thought and +discussion. Where would the "Fram" enter the pack? Where would Amundsen +make his base? The answers never once suggested anything like the truth. + +Actually on New Year's Day Amundsen was between 500 and 600 miles north +of us, but of Roald Amundsen more anon. + +How strange to be once more in open water, able to steer whatever course +we chose, with broad daylight all night, and at noon only a couple of +days' run from Cape Crozier. Practically no ice in sight, but a sunlit +summer sea in place of the pack, with blue sky and cumulo stratus clouds, +so different from the gray, hard skies that hung so much over the great +ice field we had just forced. The wind came fair as the day wore on and +by 10 p.m. we were under plain sail, doing a good six knots. High +mountains were visible to the west-ward, part of the Admiralty Range, two +splendid peaks to be seen towering above the remainder, which appeared to +be Mounts Sabine and Herschell. Coulman Island was seen in the distance +during the day. + +What odd thrills the sight of the Antarctic Continent sent through most +of us. Land was first sighted late on New Year's Eve and I think +everybody had come on deck at the cry "Land oh!" To me those peaks always +did and always will represent silent defiance; there were times when they +made me shudder, but it is good to have looked upon them and to remember +them in those post-War days of general discontent, for they remind me of +the four Antarctic voyages which I have made and of the unanimous +goodwill that obtained in each of the little wooden ships which were our +homes for so long. How infinitely distant those towering mountains seemed +and how eternal their loneliness. + +As we neared Cape Crozier Wilson became more and more interested. He was +dreadfully keen on the beach there being selected as a base, and his +enthusiasm was infectious. Certainly Scott was willing enough to try to +effect a landing even apart from the advantage of having a new base. The +Cape Crozier beach would probably mean a shorter journey to the Pole, for +we should be spared the crevasses which radiated from White Island and +necessitated a big detour being made to avoid them. + +As we proceeded the distant land appeared more plainly and we were able +to admire and identify the various peaks of the snow-clad mountain range. +The year could not have opened more pleasantly. We had church in a warm +sun, with a temperature several degrees above freezing point, and most of +us spent our off-time basking in the sunshine, yarning, skylarking, and +being happy in general. + +We tried to get a white-bellied whale on the 2nd January, but our +whale-gun did not seem to have any buck in it and the harpoon dribbled +out a fraction of the distance it was expected to travel. + +The same glorious weather continued on January 2, and Oates took five of +the ponies on to the upper deck and got their stables cleared out. The +poor animals had had no chance of being taken from their stalls for +thirty-eight days, and their boxes were between two and three feet deep +with manure. The four ponies stabled on the upper deck looked fairly well +but were all stiff in their legs. + +Rennick took soundings every forty or fifty miles in the Ross Sea, the +depth varying from 357 fathoms comparatively close up to Cape Crozier to +180 fathoms in latitude 73 degrees. + +Cape Crozier itself was sighted after breakfast on the 3rd, and the Great +Ice Barrier appeared like a thin line on the southern horizon at 11.30 +that morning. We were close to the Cape by lunch time, and by 1.30 we had +furled sail in order to manoeuvre more freely. The "Terra Nova" steamed +close up to the face of the Barrier, then along to the westward until we +arrived in a little bay where the Barrier joins Cape Crozier. Quite a +tide was washing past the cliff faces of the ice; it all looked very +white, like chalk, while the sun was near the northern horizon, but later +in the afternoon blue and green shadows were cast over the ice, giving it +a softer and much more beautiful appearance. Ponting was given a chance +to get some cinema films of the Barrier while we were cruising around, +and then we stopped in the little bay where the Ice Barrier joins Cape +Crozier, lowered a boat, and Captain Scott, Wilson, myself, and several +others went inshore in a whaler. We were, however, unable to land as the +swell was rather too heavy for boat work. We saw an Emperor penguin chick +and a couple of adult Emperors, besides many Adelie penguins and +skua-gulls. We pulled along close under the great cliffs which frown over +the end of the Great Ice Barrier. They contrasted strangely in their +blackness with the low crystal ice cliffs of the Barrier itself. In one +place we were splashed by the spray from quite a large waterfall, and one +realised that the summer sun, beating down on those black foothills, must +be melting enormous quantities of ice and snow. A curious ozone smell, +which must have been the stench of the guano from the penguin rookeries, +was noticed, but land smells of any sort were pleasant enough now for it +brought home to us the fact that we should shortly embark on yet another +stage of the Expedition. + +Pennell conned the ship close under the cliffs and followed the boat +along the coast. The "Terra Nova" was quite dwarfed by the great rocky +bluffs and we realised the height of the cliffs for the first time. + +Whilst we were prospecting Nelson obtained water-bottle samples and +temperatures at 10, 50, 100, and 200 fathoms. The deep water apparently +continued to the foot of the cliff in most places but there were two or +three tiny steep beaches close to the junction of the Barrier and Ross +Island. + +Captain Scott being satisfied that no landing was possible, we in the +boat returned to the ship and proceeded in her to the penguin rookery, a +mile or so farther west. When half a mile from the shore, we found the +bottom rapidly shoaling, the least depth being 9 1/2 fathoms. Several +small bergs were ashore hereabouts, but the swell breaking on the beach +plainly told us that a landing was out of the question. After carefully +searching the shore with glasses while the ship steamed slowly along it +all, ideas of a landing were abandoned and we set course for McMurdo +Sound. As soon as the ship was headed for her new destination we +commenced to make a running survey of the coast to Cape Bird. This took +until ten o'clock at night, and we found a great bight existed in Ross +Island which quite changed its shape on the map. After 10 p.m. we ran +into some fairly heavy pack ice, gave up surveying, and had a meal. + +I went up to the crow's-nest in order to work the ship to the best +advantage, and spent eleven hours on end there, but the excitement of +getting the "Terra Nova" round Cape Bird and into McMurdo Sound made the +time fly. Occasionally the ship crashed heavily as she charged her way +through the ice masses which skirted the shore. Whilst I conned the ship +leadsmen sounded carefully, and I was able to work her close in to the +coast near Cape Bird and avoid some heavy ice which we could never have +forced. At 4.30 a.m. I broke through the Cape Bird ice-field and worked +the ship on as far as Cape Royds, which was passed about 6.30 a.m. +Looking through our binoculars we noticed Shackleton's winter hut looking +quite new and fresh. + +Leaving Cape Royds we made our way up McMurdo's Sound as far as +Inaccessible Island, where we found the Strait frozen over from east to +west. Skirting along the edge of the sea ice I found there was no way in, +although I endeavoured to break into it at several points to reach what +looked like open water spaces a mile or two from the ice edge. +Accordingly, we stopped and I came down to report on the outlook. Captain +Scott, Wilson, and I eventually went aloft to the cross-trees and had a +good look round; we finally decided to land and look at a place where +there appeared to be a very good beach. In "Discovery" days this spot was +known as the skuary, being a favourite nesting place for skua-gulls, a +sort of little cape. I piloted the ship as close I could to this +position, which is situate midway between Cape Bird and Cape Armitage on +Ross Island. An ice anchor was laid out and then Scott, Wilson, and I +landed on the sea ice and walked a mile or so over it to the little cape +in question. + +It appeared to be an ideal winter quarters, and was then and there +selected as our base. Captain Scott named it Cape Evans, after me, for +which I was very grateful. Wilson already had a Cape named after him on +the Victoria Land coast in latitude 82 degrees. + +We now returned on board and immediately commenced landing motor sledges, +ponies, etc. For better working, once the various parties were landed, we +adopted the standard time of meridian 180 degrees, in other words, twelve +hours fast on Greenwich Mean Time. + +We now organised ourselves into three parties and I gave up the command +of the "Terra Nova" to Pennell till the ship returned from New Zealand +next year. The charge of the transport over the one and a half miles of +sea ice which lay between the ship and shore was given to Campbell, +whilst I took charge of the Base Station, erection of huts, and so forth, +Captain Scott himself supervising, planning and improving. + +We continued getting stuff out on the ice until late at night, and by +dinner time, 7 p.m., we had put two motor sledges, all the dogs and +ponies ashore, besides most of the ordinary sledges and tents. + +Next day we turned out all hands at 4.30, breakfasted at 5, started work +at 6, and landed all the petrol, kerosene, and hut timber. Most of the +haulage was done by motors and men, but a few runs were made with ponies. +We erected a big tent on the beach at Cape Evans and in this the +hut-building party and those who were stowing stores and unloading +sledges on the beach got their meals and sleep. We worked continuously +until 10 p.m. with only the shortest of meal intervals, and then, tired +but contented, we "flattened out" in our sleeping-bags, bunks, or +hammocks. + +The following day the same routine was continued and nearly the whole of +the provision cases came ashore and were stacked in neat little piles +under Bowers's direction. This indefatigable little worker now devoted +himself entirely to the western party stores. He knew every case and all +about it. Each one weighed approximately 60 lb. We had purposely arranged +that this should be so when ordering stores in London to save weight and +space. The cases were made of Venesta 3-ply wood. Of course, the +instruments and heavier scientific gear could not stow in these handy +packages, but the sixty-pound-Venesta was adhered to whenever possible. +The ponies were not worked till the afternoon of the 6th, and then only +the best of them with light loads. + +Davis, the carpenter, had with him seaman Ford, Keohane, and Abbot. Their +routine was a little different from ours: they worked at hut building +from 7 a.m. till midnight usually, and their results were little short of +marvellous. Odd people helped them when they could, and of these Pouting +showed himself to be _facile princeps_ as carpenter. I never saw anything +like the speed in which he set up tongued and grooved match boarding. + +Day, Nelson, and Lashly worked with the motor sledges; the newest motor +frequently towed loads of 2500 lb. over the ice at a six mile an hour +speed. The oldest hauled a ton and managed six double trips a day. Day, +the motor engineer, had been down here before--both he and Priestley came +from the Shackleton Expedition. The former had a decidedly comic vein +which made him popular all round. From start to finish Day showed himself +to be the most undefeated sportsman, and it was not his fault that the +motor sledges did badly in the end. + +Perhaps my diary from January 7, 1911, to the 8th gives a good idea of +the progress we were making with the base station and of the general +working day here. It reads as follows: + + "_Saturday, January_ 7, 1911. + + "All hands hard at work landing stores. Meares and Dimitri running dog + teams to and fro for light gear. + + "Captain Scott, Dr. Wilson, Griffith Taylor, Debenham, Cherry-Garrard, + and Browning leading ponies. Campbell, Levick, and Priestley hauling + sledges with colossal energy and enormous loads, the majority of the + ship's party unloading stores; Bowers, two seamen, Atkinson, and I + unloading sledges on the beach and carrying their contents up to their + assigned positions, Simpson and Wright laying the foundations for a + magnetic hut, and so on. Every one happy and keen, working as + incessantly as ants. I took on the job of ice inspector, and three or + four times a day I go out and inspect the ice, building snow bridges + over the tide cracks and thin places. The ice, excepting the floe to + which the ship is fast, is several feet thick. The floe by the 'Terra + Nova' is very thin and rather doubtful. We, ashore, had dinner at 10 + p.m. and turned in about 11." + +But the following day, although included here, was by no means typical. + + "_Sunday, January_ 8. + + "This morning a regrettable accident took place. The third and newest + motor sledge was hoisted out and, while being hauled clear on to the + firm ice, it broke through and sank in deep water. Campbell and Day + came in with the news, which Captain Scott took awfully well. + + "It was nobody's fault, as Simpson and Campbell both tested the floe + first and found it quite thick and apparently good. However, there it + is, in about 100 fathoms of water. + + "We stopped sledging for the day and those on board shifted the ship + by warping, but could not get her into a satisfactory billet, so + raised steam. + + "We spent the day working on the hut and putting chairs and benches + together. Captain Scott put the sledge meters together and I helped + him. These are similar to the distance meters on motor-cars. They + register in nautical miles (6084 feet) and yards, to 25 yards or less + by interpolation. + + "Took a True Bearing and found the approximate variation for Simpson + (149 degrees E.)." + +On the following day those on board the ship shifted her to a new +position alongside the fast ice, just under a mile from our beach. The +transportation of stores continued and we got ashore a great number of +bales of compressed fodder, also some Crown Preserve Patent Fuel. As +there was nothing much to do on the beach my party lent a hand with the +landing of fodder, and I led the ponies Miki, Jehu, and Blossom; the +latter, having suffered greatly on the outward voyage, was in poor +condition. Still, most of the ponies were doing well, and at night were +picketed on a snowdrift behind the hut. They occasionally got adrift, but +I usually heard them and got up to make them fast, my small sleeping-tent +being right alongside their tethering space. + +Nelson continued working with me unless the requirements of his +biological work called him away. In less than a week we had the whole of +our stores and equipment landed, and from the beginning many of us took +up our quarters at Cape Evans itself. We pitched several small tents on +the beach; and it was an agreeable change to roll up and sleep in a fur +bag after the damp, cold berths we had occupied in the ship. Teddy Nelson +became my particular friend in the shore party and shared a sledging tent +with me. The rest of the shore staff paired off and slept in the small +tents, while Captain Scott had one to himself. We called it the "Holy of +Holies," and from the privacy of this tiny dwelling Scott issued his +directions, supervised, planned, and improved whenever improvement could +be made in anything. He had a marvellous brain and a marvellous way of +getting the best possible work out of his subordinates, still he never +spared himself. One did with extraordinary little sleep, and in the sunny +days it became necessary to leave tent doors wide open, otherwise the +close-woven wind-proof tent cloth kept all the fresh air out and one woke +with a terrific head. + +To rightly get hold of our wintering place one must imagine a low spit of +land jutting out into a fiord running, roughly north and south and +bounded on both sides by a steep-to coast line indented with glaciers of +vast size. Here and there gigantic snow-slopes were to be seen which more +gradually lowered into the sea, and all around ice-covered mountains with +black and brown foothills. A few islands rose to heights of 300 or 400 +feet in McMurdo Sound, and these had no snow on them worth speaking of +even in the winter. The visible land was of black or chocolate-brown, +being composed of volcanic tuff, basalts, and granite. There were +occasional patches of ruddy brown and yellow which relieved the general +black and white appearance of this uninhabitable land, and close to the +shore on the north side of Cape Evans were small patches of even gritty +sand. In the neighbourhood of our Cape hard, brittle rocks cropped up +everywhere, rocks that played havoc with one's boots. Sloping up fairly +steeply from Cape Evans itself we had more and more rock masses until a +kind of rampart was reached, on which one could see a number of +extraordinary conical piles of rock, which looked much as if they had +been constructed by human hands for landmarks or surveying beacons--these +were called debris cones. This part above and behind Cape Evans was +christened The Ramp, and from it one merely had to step from boulders and +stones on to the smooth blue ice-slope that extended almost without +interruption to the summit of Erebus itself. From The Ramp one could gaze +in wonder at that magnificent volcano, White Lady of the Antarctic, +beautiful in her glistening gown of sparkling crystal with a stole of +filmy smoke-cloud wrapped about her wonderful shoulders. + +We used to gaze and gaze at that constantly changing smoke or steam which +the White Lady breathes out at all seasons, and has done for thousands of +years. + +Those were such happy days during the first Cape Evans summer. For the +most part we had hot weather and could wash in the thaw pools which +formed from the melting snow, and even draw our drinking water from the +cascades which bubbled over the sun-baked rock, much as they do in +summer-time in Norway. + +The progress made by Davis and his crew of voluntary carpenters was +amazing. One week after our arrival at the Cape, Nelson, Meares, and I +commenced to cut a cave out of the ice cap above our camp for stowing our +fresh mutton in. When knock-off work-time came Bowers, Nelson, and I made +our way over to the ship with a hundred gallons of ice from this cave to +be used for drinking water, it all helped to save coal and nobody made a +journey to or fro empty handed if it could be helped. Once on board we +took the opportunity to bath and shave. In this country it is certainly a +case of "Where I dines I sleeps," so after supper on board we coiled down +in somebody's beds and slept till 5.30 next morning when we returned to +camp and carried on all day, making great progress with the grotto, which +was eventually lit by electric light. We had plenty of variety in the +matter of work; one part of the grotto was intended for Simpson's +magnetic work, and this was the illuminated section. Whenever people +visited the ice caves we got them to do a bit of picking and hewing; even +roping in Captain Scott, who did a healthy half-hour's work when he came +along our way. + +Scott and Wilson got their hands in at dog-driving now, as I did +occasionally myself. Nobody could touch Meares or Dimitri at dog-team +work, although later on Cherry-Garrard and Atkinson became the experts. + +The hut was finished externally on January 12 and fine stables built up +on its northern side. This complete, Bowers arranged an annexe on the +south side from which to do the rationing and provision issues. How we +blessed all this fine weather; it was hardly necessary to wear snow +glasses, in spite of so much sunshine, for the glare was relieved by the +dark rock and sand around us. When all the stores had been discharged +from the ship she lightened up considerably, and Campbell then set to +work to ballast her for Pennell. Meares amused the naval members of our +party by asking, with a childlike innocence, "Had they got all the cargo +out of the steamer?" There was nothing wrong in what he said, but the +"Terra Nova," Royal Yacht Squadron--and "cargo" and "steamer"--how our +naval pride was hurt! + +Incidentally we called the sandy strand (before the winter snow came, and +covered it, and blotted it all out) Hurrah Beach; the bay to the +northward of the winter quarters we christened Happy Bay. Although our +work physically was of the hardest we lived in luxury for a while. Nelson +provided cocoa for Captain Scott and myself at midnight just before we +slept. He used to make it after supper and keep it for us in a great +thermos flask. We only washed once a week and we were soon black with sun +and dirt but in splendid training. In the first three weeks my shore +gang, which included the lusty Canadian physicist, Wright, carried many +hundreds of cases, walked miles daily, dug ice, picked, shovelled, handed +ponies, cooked and danced. Outwardly we were not all prototypes of "the +Sentimental Bloke," but occasionally in the stillness of the summer +nights, we some of us unbent a bit, when the sun stood low in the south +and all was quiet and still, and we did occasionally build castles in the +air and draw home-pictures to one another, pictures of English summers, +of river picnics and country life that framed those distant homes in gold +and made them look to us like little bits of heaven--however, what was +more important, the stores were all out of the "Terra Nova," even to +stationery, instruments, and chronometers, and we could have removed into +the hut at a pinch a week before we did, or gone sledging, for that +matter, had we not purposely delayed to give the ponies a chance to +regain condition. It was certainly better to let the carpenter and his +company straighten up first, and in our slack hours we, who were to live +in the palatial hut, got the house in order, put up knick-knacks, and +settled into our appointed corners with our personal gear and +professional impedimenta only at the last moment, a day or two before the +big depot-laying sledge journey was appointed to start. Simpson and +Ponting had the best allotments in the hut, because the former had to +accommodate anemometers, barometers, thermometers, motors, bells, and a +diversity of scientific instruments, but yet leave room to sleep amongst +them without being electrocuted, while the latter had to arrange a +small-sized dark room, 8 ft. by 6 ft. floor dimension, for all his +developing of films and plates, for stowing photographic gear and +cinematograph, and for everything in connection with his important and +beautiful work as camera artist to the Expedition. Ponting likewise slept +where he worked, so a bed was also included in the dark room. + +Before moving the chronometers ashore Pennell, Rennick, and I myself took +astronomical observations to determine independently the position of the +observation spot on the beach at Cape Evans. The preliminary position +gave us latitude 77 degrees 38 minutes 23 seconds S. longitude 166 +degrees 33 minutes 24 seconds E., a more accurate determination was +arrived at by running meridian distances from New Zealand and taking +occultations during the ensuing winter, for longitude: latitudes were +obtained by the mean results of stars north and south and meridian +altitudes of the sun above and below pole. + +Before getting busy with the preliminaries for the big depot journey, I +took stock of the fresh meat in the grotto. The list of frozen flesh +which I handed over to Clissold, the cook, looked luxurious enough, for +it included nothing less than 700 lb. of beef, 100 sheep carcasses, 2 +pheasants, 3 ox-tails, and 3 tongues, 10 lb. of sweetbread, 1 box of +kidneys, 10 lb. of suet, 82 penguins, and 11 skua-gulls! The cooks' +corner in the hut was very roomy, and, if my memory serves me aright, our +cooking range was of similar pattern to one supplied to the Royal yacht, +"Alexandra." + +On January 19 a snow road was made over to the ice foot on the south side +of Cape Evans in order to save the ponies' legs and hoofs. The Siberian +ponies were not shod, and this rough, volcanic rock would have shaken +them considerably. + +A great deal of the bay ice had broken away and drifted out of the Sound, +so that by the 20th the ship was only a few hundred yards from Hurrah +Beach. This day Rennick, smiling from ear to ear, came across the ice +with the pianola in bits conveyed on a couple of sledges. He fixed it up +with great cleverness at one end of the hut and it was quite wonderful to +see how he stripped it on board, brought it through all sorts of spaces, +transported it undamaged over ice and rocky beach, re-erected it, tuned +it, and then played "Home, Sweet Home." What with the pianola going all +out, the gramophone giving us Melba records, and the ship's company's +gramophone squawking out Harry Lauder's opposition numbers, Ponting +cinematographing everything of interest and worthy of pictorial record, +little Anton rushing round with nosebags for the ponies, Meares and +Dimitri careering with the dog teams over ice, beach, packing cases, and +what not, sailors with coloured tam-o'-shanters bobbing around in +piratical style, the hot sun beating down and brightening up everything, +one might easily have imagined this to be the circus scene, in the great +Antarctic joy-ride film. Everything ran on wheels in these days, and it +was difficult to imagine that in three months there would be no sun, that +this sweltering beach would be encrusted with ice, and that the cold, +dark winter would be upon us. + +The 21st was quite an exciting day. Captain Scott woke me at 4 a.m. to +tell me that the ship was in difficulties. I got up at once, called the +four seamen, and with Uncle Bill we all went out on to the floe. The ice +to which the ship was fast had broken away, and so we helped her re-moor +with her ice-anchors. Petty Officer Evans went adrift on the floe, but we +got him back in the pram. We turned in again at 5.15 and set a watch, but +at 6.30 the "Terra Nova" hoisted an ensign at the main, a pre-arranged +signal, and so all hands again went out and got her ice anchors; she +slipped the ends of the wire hawsers holding them and stood out into the +Sound. The ice was breaking up fast, a swell rolling in causing the big +floes to grind and crunch in rather alarming fashion. Fortunately, +Pennell had raised steam, which was just as well for before he got clear +the ship was only half a cable from Cape Evans, which lay dead to +leeward--she was well out of it. We took the wire hawsers, pram and ice +anchors to our winter quarters and kept them in readiness for the ship's +return, then had a delightful breakfast, with appetites sharpened from +the early morning exercise and chill wind. Afterwards we continued the +preparations for the depot trip and got eight out of eleven sledges +fitted up with the bulk of their gear and a portion of stores. + +At about 3 p.m. the "Terra Nova" came in, and just as she was turning to +come alongside the fast ice she struck a rock with only twelve feet of +water on it. This pinnacle, as it proved to be, lay within twenty feet of +a sounding of eleven fathoms. Pennell immediately sounded all round, +shifted several tons weight aft, and with the engines going full speed +astern, he made his crew run from side to side and roll ship. Scott sent +me out in the whaler with a party to assist the ship; we sounded all +round and quickly made a plan of the relative disposition of the +soundings round the "Terra Nova." However, as we finished, the ship moved +astern and successfully floated, the crew gave three cheers, and we +cheered lustily from the whaler. Pennell, as usual, was quite equal to +the occasion when the ship struck; he was absolutely master of the +situation, cool, decided, and successful. I was thankful to see the ship +floating again, for, unlike the "Discovery" expedition, we had no plans +for a relief ship. + +When I told Captain Scott that the "Terra Nova" had run ashore he took it +splendidly. We ran down to the beach, and when we beheld the ship on a +lee shore heeling over to the wind, a certain amount of sea and swell +coming in from the northward, and with the ultimate fate of the +Expedition looking black and doubtful, Scott was quite cheerful, and he +immediately set about to cope with the situation as coolly as though he +were talking out his plans for a sledge journey. + +After the "Terra Nova" got off this intruding rock she was steamed round +to the edge of the fast ice, near the glacier tongue which juts out +between Cape Evans and Cape Barne. We placed her ice-anchors, and after +that Wilson and I went on board and had a yarn with Pennell, whom we +brought back to tea. Scott was awfully nice to him about the grounding +and told him of his own experience in 1904, when the "Discovery" was +bumping heavily in a gale just after freeing herself from the ice at Hut +Point. + +Nelson, Griffith Taylor, Meares, and Day helped me with the sledge +packing until 11.30 p.m. when we rolled into our bunks tired out and +immediately fell asleep. + +The next day, a Sunday, was entirely devoted to preparing personal gear +for the depot journey: this means fitting lamp wick straps to our fur +boots or finnesko, picking from our kits a proportion of puttees and +socks, sewing more lamp wick on to our fur gloves so that these could +hang from our shoulders when it was necessary to uncover our hands. We +also had to fit draw-strings to our wind-proof blouses and adjust our +headgear according to our individual fancy, and finally, tobacco and +smokers' requisites would be added to the little bundle, which all packed +up neatly in a pillow-slip. This personal bag served also as a pillow. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +SETTLING DOWN TO THE POLAR LIFE + + +The following members were selected for the depot journey which Captain +Scott elected to lead in person: Wilson, Bowers, Atkinson, Oates, +Cherry-Garrard, Gran, Meares, Ford, Crean, Keohane, and myself. It was +decided to take eight pony-sledges and two dog-sledges, together with +about a ton of pony food, sledging rations, dog biscuit, and paraffin to +a position on the Great Ice Barrier as far south as we could get before +the first winter set in. This decision was arrived at by Scott after +consultation with Oates and others, and, as will be seen by reference to +the list of those chosen for the journey, none of the scientific staff +were included except Wilson himself. + +The ponies selected were either those in the best condition or the weaker +beasts which from Oates's viewpoint would hardly survive the rigours of +the winter. Apart from the animals picked for this journey, we had nine +beasts left to be taken care of by the little Russian, Anton, and the +trusty Lashly, whose mechanical knowledge and practical ability were +needed to help get the Base Station going. + +On January 3 I was sent on board with all the sledges, including two for +a western geological reconnaissance and a small spare sledge for use in +case of breakdown or accident to the depot-laying people. By this time no +ice remained in the bay north of Cape Evans and the transport out to the +"Terra Nova" had perforce to be done by boat. + +I was glad to have this chance of working out the errors and rates of our +chronometer watches, and, although I was up at 5 a.m., I could not resist +having a long yarn, which continued far into the night, with those +never-to-be-forgotten friends of mine, Campbell, Pennell, Rennick, and +Bruce, the worthy and delightful lieutenants of the Expedition. Like +little Bowers, Pennell and Rennick have made the supreme sacrifice, and +only Campbell, Bruce and myself remain alive to-day. + +January 24 was a busy day. Captain Scott was fetched from the shore +directly after breakfast, and at 10 a.m. the ship left for Glacier Tongue +to shadow as it were, the string of white Siberian ponies which were +being led round over the fast ice in the bay to the southward of Cape +Evans. + +On arriving at the Tongue, Pennell selected a nice, natural wharf to put +his ship alongside, and, this done, I got a picketing line out on the ice +for the horses and then got the sledges on to the glacier. It is as well +here to describe Glacier Tongue briefly, since frequent reference will be +made to that icy promontory in this narrative. + +Glacier Tongue lies roughly six miles to the S.S.E. of Cape Evans and is +a remarkable spit of ice jutting out, when last surveyed, for four miles +into McMurdo Sound. Soundings showed that it was afloat for a +considerable part of its length, and as Scott found subsequently, a great +portion of it broke adrift in the autumn or winter of 1911 and was +carried by the winds and currents of the Sound to a position forty miles +W.N.W. of Cape Evans, where it grounded, a huge flat iceberg two miles in +length. Glacier Tongue was an old friend of mine, for it was here in the +1902-4 Relief Expedition that the crew of the little "Morning" dumped +twenty tons of coal for the "Discovery" to pick up on her way northward, +when the time came for her to free herself from the besetting ice which +held her prisoner off Hut Point. + +The ponies were marched to their tethering place without further accident +than one falling through into the sea, but he was rescued none the worse. +Oates showed himself to advantage in managing the ponies: he was very +fond of telling us that a horse and a man would go anywhere, and I +believe if we sailor-men had had the bad taste to challenge him he would +have hoisted one of those Chinese ma[1] up to the crow's-nest! +[1: Chinese for horse.] + +We all had tea on board and then, after checking the sledge loads and +ascertaining that nothing had been forgotten, the depot party started out +with full loads and marched away from Glacier Tongue for seven miles, +when our first camp was made on the sea ice. To commence with I went with +Meares and No. 1 dog-sledge; the dogs were so eager and excited that they +started by bolting at a breakneck speed and, in spite of all that we +could do, took us over the glacier edge on to the sea ice. The sledge +capsized and both Meares and I were thrown down somewhat forcibly. We +caught the sledge, however, and got the dogs in hand after their initial +energy had been expended. Scott and Wilson managed their dog sledge +better as Meares gave them a quieter team. + +It was about nine o'clock when we camped, Meares, Wilson, Scott and I +sharing a tent. Uncle Bill was cook, and I must say the first sledging +supper was delightful. + +We went back to Glacier Tongue the next day to relay the fodder and dog +biscuit which was to be depoted. We had brought the provisions for depot +along the eve before. I went in with Meares and Nelson, who had come out +on ski to "speed the parting guest." We had a rare treat all riding in on +the dog sledge at a great pace. Had lunch on board and then Captain Scott +gave us an hour or two to ourselves, for it was the day of farewell +letters, everybody sitting round the ward-room table sucking pens or +pencils, looking very wooden-faced and nonchalant despite the fact that +we were most certainly writing to our nearest and dearest, sending +through our letters an unwritten prayer that we should be spared after +steadfastly performing our alloted tasks with credit to our flag and with +credit to those at whose feet we yearned to lay the laurels we hoped to +win. Even as I wrote my farewell letters Captain Scott, Wilson, Bowers, +and Nelson found time to write to my wife; Scott's letter may well be +included here for it shows his thoughtfulness and consideration: + + "_January_, 25, 1911, + Glacier Tongue, + McMurdo Sound. + + "Dear Mrs. Evans,--I thought you might be glad to have a note to tell + you how fit and well your good man is looking, his cheery optimism has + already helped me in many difficulties and at the present moment he is + bubbling over with joy at the 'delights' of his first sledge trip. + + "He will have told you all the news and the ups and downs of our + history to date, and you will have guessed that he has always met the + misfortunes with a smile and the successes with a cheer, so that very + little remains for me to say--except that I daily grow more grateful + to you for sparing him for this venture. I feel that he is going to be + a great help in every way and that it will go hard if, with so many + good fellows, we should fail in our objects. + + "Before concluding I should really like to impress on you how little + cause you have for anxiety. We have had the greatest luck in finding + and establishing our winter quarters, and if I could go shopping + to-morrow I should not know what to buy to add to our comfort. We are + reaping a full reward for all those months of labour in London, in + which your husband took so large a share--if you picture us after + communication is cut off it must be a very bright picture, almost a + scene of constant revelry, with your husband in the foreground amongst + those who are merry and content--I am sure we are going to be a very + happy family and most certainly we shall be healthy and well cared + for. + + "With all kind regards and hopes that you will not allow yourself to + be worried till your good man comes safely home again. + + "Yours sincerely, + + "R. SCOTT." + +I said my good-byes after an early tea to the fellows of the "Terra Nova" +and also to the Eastern party, the lieutenants saw me over the side, and +I went away with a big lump in my throat, then Nelson and I took out a +10-ft. sledge with 530 lb. of fodder on it--rather too heavy a load, but +it all helped, and the sea ice surface was none too bad. We did not get +to camp till 10.35 p.m.: Meares, with his usual good-heartedness, came +out from the tent and helped us in for the last miles or so. He had +driven the dogs out with another load after tea time. Uncle Bill had a +fine pemmican supper awaiting us. My job kept me in camp next day to +adjust theodolites, but the rest of the party went out to bring the final +relay of depot stores from the "Terra Nova." During the following days we +relayed the depot stuff along to a position near the edge of the Barrier, +and whilst so engaged most of us found time to visit Hut Point. While +Captain Scott was selecting the position for dumping a quantity of +compressed fodder bales the remainder of the party dug the snow out of +the old hut left by the Discovery in 1904. It looked a very deserted +place, and the difference between the two winter quarters, Hut Point and +Cape Evans, was amazing. One could quite understand the first expedition +here selecting Hut Point for its natural harbour, but for comfort and +freedom from unwelcome squalls and unpleasant gusts of wind commend me to +Cape Evans. Never in my life had I seen anything quite so dreary and +desolate as this locality. Practically surrounded by high hills, little +sunshine could get to the hut, which was built in a hollow. Of course, we +saw the place at its worst, for the best summer months had passed. The +hut itself had been erected as a magnetic observatory and it contrasted +shabbily with our 50-ft by 25-ft. palace. We did not finish clearing the +snow away, although with so many willing workers we made considerable +progress. In parts the midsummer sun had melted the snow, which in turn +had re-frozen into blue ice, and this we found troublesome because the +slender woodwork of the hut would not stand any heavy pick work. + +We christened the place on the Barrier edge Fodder Camp, and it was the +general opinion that we could risk leaving the bales of hay here until +the depot stuff had been taken south. Accordingly, all the more important +stores were relayed on January 29 to a position two miles in from the +Barrier edge. Whilst doing this relay work I went in with Meares to Hut +Point to bring out some 250 lb. of dog biscuit, and our dogs, being very +fresh, scented a seal, took charge of the light sledge, and, in spite of +all the brakeing and obstructing Meares and I put up, the dogs went +wildly forward until they reached the seal. The second they came to it +Meares and I found ourselves in the midst of a snapping, snarling, and +biting mixture, with the poor seal floundering underneath. While we were +beating the dogs off the seal bit Meares in the leg; he looked awfully +surprised and showed great forbearance in not giving the seal one for +himself with the iron-shod brake stick. I never saw anybody less vicious +in nature than "Mother" Meares: he never knocked the dogs about unless it +was absolutely necessary. Even Osman, the wild wolf-like king-dog, showed +affection for him. + +Whilst moving the sledging stores to Safety Camp, as we called the depot, +two miles in, we came across two tents left by Shackleton two or three +years before. They contained a few stores and a Primus stove, which +proved to be most useful later on. On January 30 and 31 we completed the +depot at Safety Camp and then reorganised the depot party, owing to +Atkinson's developing a very sore heel, which made it impossible for him +to accompany us. It did not matter very much, because we had heaps of +people to work the depot-laying journey, only it meant a disappointment +for Atkinson, which he took to heart very much. The question of sledging +experience made us wish to have Atkinson on this trip, but he gained it a +few weeks later. Accordingly, I took over Crean's pony, Blossom, whilst +he took charge of our sick man and returned with him to Hut Point. Scott +himself took Atkinson's pony, and on the 2nd February the caravan +proceeded in an E.S.E. direction to make for a point in approximately 78 +degrees S. 169 degrees E. Most of the ponies had 600 lb. leads on their +sledges, Meare's dog team 750, and Wilson's 600. We found the surface +very bad, most of the ponies sinking deep in the snow. After doing +roughly five miles we halted and had a meal. Oates was called into our +tent and consulted with a view to bettering the conditions for the +ponies. As a result it was decided to march by night and rest during the +day when the sun would be higher and the air warmer. There was quite a +drop in the temperature between noon and midnight, and it was natural to +suppose that we should get better and harder surfaces with the sun at its +lower altitude. We still, of course, had the sun above the horizon for +the full twenty-four hours, and should have for three weeks yet; the +choice was altogether a wise one and we therefore turned in during the +afternoon and remained in our sleeping-bags until 10 p.m. when we arose +and cooked our breakfast. + +Camp was broken at midnight and the march resumed. For three hours we +plodded along, a little leg weary perhaps, on account of the unusual time +for marching and working physically. We had lunch about 3 a.m. and rested +the ponies for a couple of hours. The surface was still very bad, the +ponies labouring heavily, and my own animal, Blossom, suffered through +his hoofs being very small, so that he sank into the snow far more than +did the other horses. It was on his account that we only covered nine +miles. I did some surveying work after our 7.30 a.m. supper and turned in +at 10 o'clock until 7 p.m. Captain Scott took over cook in our tent and +made the breakfast. + +For the next few days we continued marching over the Great Ice Barrier, +the distances covered depending on the condition of Blossom and another +pony, Bluecher. Both of these animals caused anxiety from the start, and, +owing to their weakness the depot-laying distances scarcely exceeded ten +miles daily. There is nothing to be gained from a long description of +this autumn journey, it was merely a record of patiently trudging and of +carefully watching over the ponies. Generally speaking, the weather was +not in our favour, the sky being frequently overcast, and we experienced +an unpleasant amount of low drift. + +February 5 and 6 were blizzard days during which no move could be made, +and it was not until nearly 11 p.m. on the 7th that the hard wind took +off and the snow ceased to drift about us. The blizzards were not serious +but were quite sufficient to try the ponies severely--Blossom, Bluecher, +and a third animal, James Pigg, could in no way keep up with the van, +although their loads were lightened considerably. The bluejackets, Forde +and Keohane, showed extraordinary aptitude in handling the ponies, but in +spite of their efforts their animals were quite done up by February 12, +as also was poor old Blossom. It would have been cruel to continue with +them, they were so wasted, and even their eyes were dull and lustreless. +Accordingly, Scott decided to send Bluecher, James Pigg, and Blossom back +with Forde, Keohane, and myself. A reorganisation was made near the 79th +parallel, and whilst the main party proceeded southward, Forde, Keohane, +and I took our feeble ponies northward with the intention of getting them +home to Hut Point before the temperature fell, until the cold would be +too great for them to stand. It was annoying for me to be sent back, +still there was plenty of survey work to be done between the +turning-point and Safety Camp. Bluecher failed from the start and lay down +in the snow directly the depot party left us. Forde lifted him up, but +his legs were limp and would not support him. We rubbed the poor pony's +legs and did what we could for him, poor old Forde being practically in +tears over the little beast. To give one an idea of this wretched +animal's condition, when it was decided to kill him for humanity's sake +and his throat was cut by Keohane with a sailor's knife, there was hardly +any blood to let out. It was a rotten day for all three of us, blowing +too hard to travel until very late, and a second pony, Blossom, was doing +his best to die. We made some little way homeward, Keohane, James Pigg +and myself pulling the sledge with our gear on it, and Forde lifting, +carrying, and pushing Blossom along. I felt I ought to kill this animal +but I knew how angry and disappointed Scott would be at the loss, so kept +him going although he showed so much distress. It was surprising what +spirit the little brute had: if we started to march away Blossom +staggered along after us, looking like a spectre against the white +background of snow. We kept on giving him up and making to kill him, but +he actually struggled on for over thirty miles before falling down and +dying in his tracks. We built a snow-cairn over him and planted what pony +food we had no further use for on the top of the cairn. + +The third pony, James Pigg, was kept fit and snug under a big snow-wall +whenever we were not marching, and he won home to Safety Camp with very +little trouble, frequently covering distances equal to our own marching +capability. Once Safety Camp had been regained we got good weather again +and James Pigg became quite frisky, ate all that we could give him, and, +to our delight, his eyes regained their brightness and he began to put on +flesh. + +We spent a couple of days at Safety Camp before Captain Scott returned +with the dog teams. In order to cut off corners he shaved things rather +fine, and getting rather too close to White Island, the dog teams ran +along the snow-bridge of a crevasse, the bridge subsided, and all the +dogs of Scott's and Meares's sledge, with the exception of Osman, the +leader, and the two rear animals, disappeared into a yawning chasm. Scott +and Meares secured their sledge clear of the snow bridge and with the +assistance of their companions, Wilson and Cherry-Garrard, who had the +other team, they were lowered by means of an Alpine rope into the +crevasse until they could get at the dogs. They, found the poor animals +swinging round, snapping at one another and howling dismally, but in an +awful tangle. The dogs were rescued a pair at a time and, fortunately for +all concerned, they lay down and rested when hauled up to the surface by +Uncle Bill and "Cherry." When all the animals were up and Scott and +Meares themselves had regained safety, a dog fight took place between the +two teams. Apart from this excitement things had gone very well. Scott +was most enthusiastic about the capabilities of Meares's dogs, and he +then expressed an opinion that he would probably run the dogs light on +the Polar journey and do the final plateau march to the Pole itself with +them. What a pity he didn't! Had he done so he might have been alive +to-day. + +We learnt from the dog-drivers that the depot had been established in 79 +degrees 30 minutes S. 169 degrees E., practically one hundred and fifty +miles distant from the base, and here a ton or so of sledging stores +awaited us preparatory for the great sledge journey to the Pole. + +Bowers, Oates, and Gran had been left to build up the depot and lead back +the other five ponies with their empty sledges. We waited for them at +Safety Camp before transporting some of the stuff we had left here out to +Corner Camp, the position thirty-five miles E.S.E. of Safety Camp, where +the crevasses ended. Some of us went into Hut Point to see if the ship +had been there with any message. Little did we dream whilst we sauntered +in over the ice of the news that awaited us. We found that the "Terra +Nova" had been there the day before Atkinson and Crean had got there; she +had also made a second visit on the 9th or 10th February, bringing the +unwelcome news that Amundsen's expedition had been met with in the Bay of +Whales. The "Terra Nova" had entered the bay and found the "Fram" there +with the Norwegians working like ants unloading their stores and +hut-building in rather a dangerous position quite close to the Barrier +edge. Amundsen's people had about 120 dogs and a hard lot of men, mostly +expert ski-runners. They were contemplating an early summer journey to +the Pole and not proposing to attempt serious scientific work of any +sort. Further, to our chagrin, the eastern party had not effected a +landing, for Campbell realised that it would be profitless to set up his +base alongside that of the Norwegians. + +The ice conditions about King Edward VII. Land had been found +insuperable, great masses of land ice barring the way to their objective, +and so poor Campbell and his mates left news that they were reluctantly +seeking a landing elsewhere. We spent a very unhappy night, in spite of +all attempts to be cheerful. Clearly, there was nothing for us but to +abandon science and go for the Pole directly the season for sledging was +advanced enough to make travelling possible after the winter. It now +became a question of dogs versus ponies, for the main bulk of our stuff +must of necessity be pony-drawn unless we could rely on the motor +sledges--nobody believed we could. However, all the arguing in the world +wouldn't push Amundsen and his dogs off the Antarctic continent and we +had to put the best face on our disappointment. Captain Scott took it +very bravely, better than any of us, I think, for he had done already +such wonderful work down here. It was he who initiated and founded +Antarctic sledge travelling, it was he who had blazed the trail, as it +were, and we were very very sorry for him, for such news, such a menace, +could hardly be expected to give him a happy winter. + +Scott did the best thing under the circumstances: he set us all to work +on the 23rd February to get out three weeks' men provisions for eight men +from the stores at Safety Camp, and these collected and packed, he, +Cherry-Garrard, and Crean took a 10-ft. sledge, and Forde, Atkinson, and +myself a 12-ft. one, while Keohane and James Pigg pulled another big +sledge containing oats and paraffin, and we all set out in a bunch for +Corner Camp, thirty odd miles away. All this depot work meant an easy +start next season, since the transport of great loads over sea ice and +the deep, soft snow, which is usually encountered when first getting on +to the Barrier hereabouts, would strain the ponies' legs and break the +hearts of the dogs. Scott thought all this out and certainly overcame +preliminary difficulties by getting so much pony food, provision, and +paraffin out to One Ton Camp and Corner Camp. He felt the benefit next +springtime. This second little run out is not worth describing; we +sighted Bowers's party coming back with the five ponies whilst we were +camped one night, and we noted that they were travelling very quickly, +which proved all was well with these animals. + +On arrival at Corner Camp Scott left us in order to get back and see the +five ponies safely conducted to Hut Point. He instructed me to make easy +marches with our friend James Pigg as there was no further work for him +this season. Cherry-Garrard and Crean accompanied Scott, and the three +pushed on at their utmost for blizzard weather had come again and the +snow fall was considerable. + +We must now follow Captain Scott's and Bowers's party, who, in +conjunction, engaged on the problem of getting five ponies and two dog +teams to Hut Point. There did not seem to be anything in doing this, but +if ever a man's footsteps were dogged by misfortune, they surely were our +leader's. + +Scott sent Cherry-Garrard and Crean with Bowers and four ponies across +the sea ice from the Barrier edge to reach Hut Point on March 1. He +himself had remained with Oates and Gran to tend the pony Weary Willie, a +gutless creature compared to the others, which was showing signs of +failing. Weary Willie died for no apparent reason, unless his loss of +condition was due to the blizzards we encountered on the depot journey. + +Bowers and Co. made a good start, but the ponies they had were +undoubtedly tired and listless after their hard journey, they were also +in bad condition and frequently had to be rested. When they had advanced +some way towards Hut Point over good strong sea ice, cracks became +apparent and a slight swell showed Bowers that the sea ice was actually +on the move. Directly this was appreciated his party turned and hastened +back, but the ice was drifting out to sea. The ponies behaved splendidly, +jumping the ever widening cracks with extraordinary sagacity, whilst +Bowers and his two companions launched the sledges over the water spaces +in order not to risk the ponies' legs. Eventually they reached what +looked like a safe place and, since men and ponies were thoroughly +exhausted, camp was pitched and the weary party soon fell asleep, but at +4.30 the next morning Bowers awoke hearing a strange noise. He opened the +tent and found the party in a dreadful plight--the ice had again +commenced to break up and they were surrounded by water. One of the +ponies had disappeared into the sea. Camp was again struck and for five +hours this plucky little party fought their way over three-quarters of a +mile of drifting ice. They never for an instant thought of abandoning +their charge, realising that Scott's Polar plans would in all probability +be ruined if four more ponies were lost with their sledges and equipment. +Crean, with great gallantry, went for support, clambering with difficulty +over the ice. He jumped from floe to floe and at last climbed up the face +of the Barrier from a piece of ice which swung round in the tideway and +just touched the ice cliff at the right moment. Cherry-Garrard stayed +with Bowers at his request, for this undaunted little seaman would never +give up his charge while a gleam of hope remained. + +For a whole day these two were afloat on a floe about 150 ft. square, all +the ice around was broken up into similar floes, which were rising and +falling at least a foot to the heavy swell. A moderate breeze was blowing +from the eastward, and nothing was visible above the haze and frost smoke +except the tops of two islands named White and Black Islands, and the +hills around Hut Point. Whilst Crean was clambering over bits of ice and +jumping by means of connecting pieces from one big floe to another, his +progress was watched by Bowers through the telescope of a theodolite. One +can gather how delighted Bowers must have been to see Crean eventually +high up on the Barrier in the distance, for it meant that he would +communicate with Captain Scott, whose intelligent, quick grasp, in +emergency would surely result in Gran being despatched on ski over to +Cape Evans, for he alone could do this. Once there, a boat could have +been launched and the floe party rescued. Bowers's satisfaction was +short-lived, however, since Killer whales were noticed cruising amongst +the loose ice, and these soon became numerous, some of them actually +inspecting the floe by poking their noses up and taking an almost +perpendicular position in the water, when their heads would be raised +right above the floe edge. The situation looked dangerous, for the whales +were evidently after the ponies. The wind fell light as the day +progressed and the swell decreased and vanished altogether. This +fortunately resulted in the floes closing near to the Barrier, and the +open water spaces decreased then to such a degree that the party were +able to bridge the cracks by using their sledges until they worked the +whole of their equipment up to the Barrier face, where Bowers and +Cherry-Garrard were rescued by Scott, Oates, Gran, and Crean. After a +further piece of manoeuvring a pony and all the sledges were recovered, +the three other ponies were drowned. Only those who have served in the +Antarctic can realise fully what Bowers's party and also Scott's own +rescue party went through. + +The incident which terminated in the loss of three more of our ponies +cast a temporary gloom over the depot party when we reassembled in the +safety of the old ramshackle magnetic lean-to at Hut Point. I use the +word lean-to because one could hardly describe it as a hut, for the +building was with out insulation, snow filled the space between ceiling +and roof, and whenever a fire was kindled or heat generated, water +dripped down in steady pit-a-pat until there was no dry floor space worth +the name. + +It might be interesting to touch on the experiences of our friend James +Pigg, for this pony can only be described as a quaint but friendly little +rogue. He and Keohane seemed to have their own jokes apart from us. We +were left to ourselves on the 27th February, while Scott, as stated, +pushed forward to Safety Camp, "we," meaning Atkinson, Forde, Keohane, +and myself. We were kept in camp on the 27th by a strong blizzard, and +the next day when the weather abated, during our forenoon march James +Pigg fell into a crevasse, quite a small one, and his girth, through so +much high feeding, jammed him by his stomach and prevented him falling +far down. The whole situation was ridiculous. We parbuckled him out by +means of the Alpine rope, which was quickly detached from the sledge, +James Pigg taking a lively interest in the proceedings, and finally +rolling over on his back and kicking himself to his feet as we four +dragged him up to the surface. This done, Keohane looking very Irish and +smiling, bent over and peered down into the bluey depths of the crevasse +and, to our intense amusement, James Pigg strolled over alongside of him +and hung his head down too. He then turned to Keohane, who patted his +nose and said, "That was a near shave for you, James Pigg!" + +We got to Safety Camp on the evening of March 1 and found two notes from +Captain Scott directing us to make for Hut Point via Castle Rock, and +notifying us that the sea ice was all on the move. We had an interesting +climb next day, but a very difficult one, for we were on the go from 9 +a.m. until after 11 that night. First we found our way over the Barrier +Ice to the foot of the slope leading up to the ice ridge northward of +Castle Rock. Here we tethered James Pigg and spent some hours getting our +gear and sledges up the slope. We had no crampons for this work as they +were all on Scott's own sledge, so that it was necessary at times to pull +up the slopes on hands and knees, assisted by our ski sticks, an unusual +procedure but the only one possible to employ on the steeper blue ice. We +took the sledges up one by one and then went down with an Alpine rope to +help James Pigg. We found the pony very bored at our long absence; he +neighed and whinnied when we came down to him, and, to our great +surprise, went up the long, steep slope with far greater ease than we did +ourselves. + +It was out of the question for us to proceed the four and a half miles +along the ridges which led down to Hut Point, for darkness had set in and +we had no wish to repeat the performance of an earlier expedition when a +man lost his life hereabouts through slipping right over one of these +steep slopes into the sea on the western side of the promontory ridge +which terminates at Hut Point. + +It was snowing when we turned in and still snowing on March 3 when we +turned out of our sleeping-bags. James Pigg, quite snug, clothed in his +own, Blossom's, and Bluecher's rugs, had a little horseshoe shelter built +up round him. We did not know at this time of the pony disaster, but, +thinking Captain Scott might be anxious if he got no word as to our +whereabouts or movements, Atkinson and I started to march along the ice +ridges of Castle Rock and make our way to Hut Point. It was blowing hard +and very cold, but the joy of walking on firm ice without a sledge to +drag was great. When finally we came to the old "Discovery" hut at lunch +time, we found Wilson, Meares, and Gran in very low spirits. They told us +that Bowers and Cherry-Garrard were adrift on an ice floe and the +remainder of the party had gone to the rescue along the Barrier edge. We +were much downcast by this news, and after a meal of biscuit and tea, +started back for our camp. The weather was now clearer, and we could see +some way out over the Barrier; we could also see the sea looking very +blue against the white expanse of ice. + +On the way back we discussed a plan and arranged that we should leave +Keohane with the pony, take a sledge, and make our way along the ice edge +of the Barrier searching for Scott and joining up with him, but just +before descending to the hollow where our tent was we spied a sledge +party on the Barrier and, on reaching our camp, were delighted to see +through my telescope six men. Thank God! This meant that all were safe. +We went out to meet the party, reaching them about 8 p.m. where they had +camped, a couple of miles from Cape Armitage, between two pressure ridges +that formed great frozen waves. Bowers told me that when Scott's party +attempted to save the horses at the Barrier edge, rotten ice and open +water leads were the cause of their downfall, and when the horses slipped +into the sea, that he had been compelled to kill his own pony with a +pickaxe to save him being taken alive by one of the Orcas or Killer +whales. The only horse saved was Captain Scott's, one of the best we had +in that Expedition. + +I think the Irish sailors must have spoilt James Pigg, for, when +eventually we got Scott's sledge loads up to the hill-crest where our +camp was, James Pigg, instead of welcoming the other pony, broke adrift, +and jumping into the new-comer's shelter, leapt on him, kicked him and +bit him in the back. On March 5 we all started for Hut Point, having +previously sent in Atkinson with the good news that no men's lives were +lost. Wilson and party met us near Castle Rock and led the ponies in +while we dropped the laden sledges, full of pony harness, tents, and +sledging gear, with a sufficiency of pony fodder for a fortnight, down +the ski-slope to Hut Point. It was a fine bit of toboganning and Captain +Scott showed himself to be far more expert than any of us in controlling +a sledge on a slippery slope. + +We soon got into the way of climbing around on seemingly impossible +slopes and could negotiate the steepest of hills and the slipperiest of +steep inclines. It was largely a question of good crampons, which we +fortunately possessed. + +The month of March and the first half of April, 1911, proved to be the +most profitless and unsatisfactory part of the Expedition. This was due +to a long compulsory wait at Hut Point, for we could not cross the +fifteen miles that lay between our position there and the Cape Evans +Station until sea ice had formed, which could be counted on not to break +away and take us into the Ross Sea in its northward drift. Time after +time the sea froze over to a depth of a foot or even more and time and +again we made ready to start for Cape Evans to find that on the day of +departure the ice had all broken and drifted out of sight. As it was, we +were safely, if not comfortably, housed at Hut Point, with the two dog +teams and the two remaining ponies, existing in rather primitive fashion +with seal meat for our principal diet. By the end of the first week in +March we had converted the veranda, which ran round three sides of the +old magnetic hut, into dog and pony shelters, two inner compartments were +screened off by bulkheads made of biscuit cases, a cook's table was +somehow fashioned and a reliable stove erected out of petrol tins and +scrap-iron. Our engineers in this work of art were Oates and Meares. For +a short while we burnt wood in the stove, but the day soon came when seal +blubber was substituted, and the heat from the burning grease was +sufficient to cook any kind of dish likely to be available, and also to +heat the hut after a fashion. + +Round the stove we built up benches to sit on for meals, and two sleeping +spaces were chosen and made snug by using felt, of which a quantity had +been left by Scott's or Shackleton's people. The "Soldier" and Meares +unearthed same fire bricks and a stove pipe from the debris heap outside +the hut and then we were spared the great discomfort of being smoked out +whenever a fire was lit. An awning left by the "Discovery" was fixed up +by several of us around the sleeping and cooking space, and although +rather short of luxuries such as sugar and flour, we were never in any +great want of good plain food. + +On March 14 the depot party was joined by Griffith Taylor, Debenham, +Wright, and Petty Officer Evans. + +Taylor's team had been landed by the "Terra Nova" on January 27, after +the start of the depot party, to make a geological reconnaissance. In the +course of their journeying they had traversed the Ferrar Glacier and then +come down a new glacier, which Scott named after Taylor, and descended +into Dry Valley, so called because it was entirely free from snow. +Taylor's way had led him and his party over a deep fresh-water lake, four +miles long, which was only surface frozen--this lake was full of algae. +The gravels below a promising region of limestones rich in garnets were +washed for gold, but only magnetite was found. When Taylor had thoroughly +explored and examined the region of the glaciers to the westward of Cape +Evans, his party retraced their footsteps and proceeded southward to +examine the Koettlitz Glacier. Scott had purposely sent Seaman Evans with +this party of geologists, reasoning with his usual thoughtfulness that +Evans's sledging experience would be invaluable to Taylor and his +companions. + +Taylor and his party made wonderful maps and had a wonderful store of +names, which they bestowed upon peak, pinnacle, and pool to fix in their +memories the relative positions of the things they saw. Griffith Taylor +had a remarkable gift of description, and his Antarctic book, "The Silver +Lining," contains some fine anecdotes and narrative. + +According to Taylor's chart the Koettlitz Glacier at its outflow on to +the Great Ice Barrier is at least ten miles wide. The party proceeded +along the north of the glacier for a considerable distance, sketching, +surveying, photographing, and making copious notes of the geological and +physiographical conditions in the neighbourhood, and one may say +fearlessly that no Antarctic expedition ever sailed yet with geologists +and physicists who made better use of the time at their disposal, +especially whilst doing field work. + +This party hung on with their exploration work until prudence told them +that they must return from the Koettlitz Glacier before the season closed +in. Their return trip led them along the edge of the almost impenetrable +pinnacle of ice which is one of the wonders of the Antarctic. Their +journey led them also through extraordinary and difficult ice-fields that +even surprised the veteran sledger Evans. Their final march took them +along the edge of the Great Ice Barrier and brought them to Hut Point on +March 14. + +We now numbered sixteen at this congested station; the sun was very +little above the horizon and gales were so bad that spray dashed over the +small hut occasionally, whilst all round the low-lying parts of the coast +wonderful spray ridges of ice were formed. We had our proportion of +blizzard days and suffered somewhat from the cold, for it was rarely +calm. Some of us began to long for the greater comforts of the Cape Evans +Hut; there was no day, no hour in fact, when some one did not climb up +the hillock which was surmounted by the little wooden cross put up in +memory of Seaman Vince of the "Discovery" expedition, to see and note the +ice conditions. + +Winter was coming fast and night shadows of cruel dark purple added to +the natural gloom of Hut Point and its environments. Wilson was the one +man amongst us who profited most from our sojourn here. In spite of bad +light and almost frozen fingers he managed to make an astonishing +collection of sketches, portraying the autumn scenes near this corner of +Ross Isle. How sinister and relentless the western mountains looked, how +cold and unforgiving the foothills, and how ashy gray the sullen icefoots +that girt this sad, frozen land. + +There was, of course, no privacy in the crowded hut-space, and when +evening came it was sometimes rather a relief to get away to some +sheltered corner and look out over the Sound. The twilight shades and +colours were beautiful in a sad sort of way, but the stillness was awful. +Whenever the wind fell light new ice would form which seemed to crack and +be churned up with every cat's-paw of wind. The currents and tidal +streams would slowly carry these pancakes of ice up and down the Strait +until the weather was calm enough and cold enough to cement them together +till they formed floes, which in their turn froze fast into great white +icefields strong enough to bear us and any weights we liked to take +along. One often turned in, confident that a passage could be made over +the frozen sea to Glacier Tongue at least, but in the morning everything +would be changed and absolutely no ice would be visible floating in the +sea. When Taylor's party had rested a little at Hut Point they threw in +their lot with the rest of us and made occasional trips out on the silent +Barrier as far as Corner Camp, to add sledge loads of provisions now and +again to the stores already depoted there in readiness for the southern +sledge journey, on which we built our hopes for ultimate triumph. + +Eight of us went out for a week's sledging on March 16, but the +temperatures were now becoming too low to be pleasant and touching 40 +degrees or so below zero. What tried us more than anything else was thick +weather and the fearfully bad light on days when no landmarks were +visible to guide us to the depot. Our sleeping-bags also were frozen and +uncomfortable, thick rime collecting on the insides of our tents which +every puff of wind would shake down in a shower of ice. When sitting +round on our rolled-up sleeping-bags at meal times we could not help our +heads and shoulders brushing off patches of this frost rime, which soon +accumulated in the fur of the sleeping-bags and made life at night a +clammy misery. The surfaces were very heavy, and dragging even light +sledges when returning from the depot proved a laborious business. + +This autumn time gave a series of gales and strong winds with scarcely +ever more than a few hours of calm or gentle breeze, sandwiched in +between. Sometimes we used ski, but there are occasions when ski are +quite useless, owing to snow binding in great clogs underneath them. The +Norwegians use different kinds of paraffin wax and compositions of tar +and other ingredients for overcoming this difficulty. Gran had brought +from Christiania the best of these compositions, nevertheless there were +days when whatever we put on we had difficulty with ski and had to cast +them aside. There were people who preferred foot-slogging to ski at any +time, and there were certainly days when teams on foot would literally +dance round men pulling on ski. In the light of experience, however, the +expert ski-runner has enormous advantage over the "foot-slogger," however +good an athlete. + +What strikes me here is the dreadful similarity in weather condition, +wind, temperature, etc., surface and visibility to that which culminated +in the great disaster of our expedition and resulted in poor Scott's +death exactly a year later. Here is a day taken haphazard from my diary: + + "From Corner Camp to Hut Point: + + "March 18, 1911.--Called the hands at 6.15 and after a fine warming + breakfast started off on ski. The light was simply awful and the + surface very bad, but we did six miles, then lunched. After lunch + carried on with a strong wind blowing, but after very heavy dragging + we were forced to camp when only nine and a half miles had been laid + between us--we really couldn't see ten yards. Just after we camped the + wind increased to about force 6, alternately freshening up and dying + away, and a good deal of snow fell. Temperature 32.5 below zero." + +One year later Scott was facing weather conditions and surfaces almost +identical, but the difference lay in that he had marched more than +sixteen hundred miles, was short of food, and his party were suffering +from the tragic loss of two of their companions and the intense +disappointment of having made this great sledge journey for their +country's honour to find that all their efforts had been in vain, and +that they had been anticipated by men who had borne thither the flag of +another nation. + +When Scott found that we sledgers were getting temperatures as low as +minus forty he decided to discontinue sledging rather than risk anything +in the nature of severe frostbite assailing the party and rendering them +unfit for further work, for it must be remembered that we had already +been away from our base ten weeks, that many of us had never sledged +before, and that the depot journey was partly undertaken to give us +sledging experience and to point out what improvements could be made in +our clothing and equipment. + +The first and second weeks in April brought the ice changes that we had +so long awaited, and after one or two false starts two teams set out from +Hut Point on April 11 to make their way across the fifteen miles of sea +ice to Cape Evans. + +This turned out to be a somewhat hazardous journey, since it had to be +made in the half light with overcast weather and hard wind. Scott took +charge of one tent and had with him Bowers, Griffith Taylor, and Petty +Officer Evans, while I had in my party Wright, Debenham, Gran, and Crean. +The seven who remained at Hut Point in charge of dogs and ponies helped +us out a league or so for the first part of our journey. + +The route led first up the steep ice slope over-hanging Hut Point, and +then to the summit of the ridge, which is best described as the Castle +Rock promontory. Our sojourn at Hut Point had given us plenty of chance +to learn the easier snow roads and the least dangerous, and Scott chose +the way close eastward of Castle Rock to a position four miles beyond it, +which his first expedition had named Hutton Cliffs. From Castle Rock +onward the way took us to the westward of two conical hills which were +well-known landmarks--a hitherto untrodden route--but the going was by no +means bad. Bitingly cold for faces and finger-tips, still, no weights to +impede us. We camped for lunch after covering seven miles, for the light +was bad, but it improved surprisingly whilst we were eating our meal. +Accordingly, we put on our crampons about 3 p.m. and struck camp, +securely packing the two green tents on the sledges, and casting a +careful eye round the loads, tightened a strap here, hitched there, and +then led by Scott we made a careful descent to the precipitous edge of +the ice cap which overlays the promontory. We got well down to a part +that seemed to overhang the sea and, to our delight, found a good +solid-looking ice-sheet below us which certainly extended as far as +Glacier Tongue. The drop here was twenty-five feet or so and Taylor and I +were lowered over the cornice in an Alpine rope, then Wright and then the +sledges, after that the remainder of the party. An ash-pole was driven +into the snow and the last few members sent down in a bowline at one end +of the rope whilst we below eased them down with the other part. The two +parts of the Alpine rope working round the pole cut deeply into the +over-hanging snow and brought a shower of ice crystals pouring over the +heads and shoulders of whoever was sitting in the bowline. It was a good +piece of work getting everything down safely, and I admired Scott's +decision to go over; a more nervous man would have fought shy because, +once down on the sea ice there was little chance of our getting back and +we had got to fight our way forward to Cape Evans somehow. + +When Taylor and I got first down we were greeted with a weird and +wonderful sight: constant drifts of snow had formed a great overhang and +the ice cliff was wreathed in a mass of snowy curtains and folds which +took all manner of fantastic turns and shapes. A fresh wind was blowing +continuously that made it most unpleasant for those above, and it was a +relief to us all when the last man was passed down in safety, it was +Scott himself. + +We quickly harnessed up again and swung out over the sea ice towards +Glacier Tongue, the cliffs of which stood out in a hard, white line to +the northward, a couple of miles away. Arrived at the Tongue, Bowers and +I clambered up a ten-foot cliff face by standing on Wright's and Crean's +shoulders. We then reached down and hauled up the sledges and the others, +harnessed up again, and proceeded to cross the Glacier, which was full of +small crevasses. We reached the northern side of it and went down an easy +snow slope to the sea ice beyond. As far as one could see this ice +continued right up to and around Cape Evans, seven miles away to the N.W. +It was now 6.30 p.m.; Scott halted us and discussed our readiness to make +a night march into the winter quarters. There was not one dissentient +voice, and we gladly started off at 8 o'clock for a night march to our +snug and comfortable hut, picturing to ourselves a supper of all things +luxurious. Our feet seemed suddenly to have taken wings, but, alas, the +supper was not to be, for thick weather set in, and when, by 10 o'clock +the wind was blowing hard and it was pitch dark, Scott suddenly decided +to camp under the shelter of Little Razorback Island, where by that time +we had arrived. We passed a filthy night here, for the snow on the sea +ice was saturated with brine and, in no time, our sleeping-bags became +wet and sticky. + +Next day we were called at six to find a blizzard with a high drift +making it impossible to move, so we remained in our bags until 4 p.m., +when we shifted on to the narrow platform of rock situated on the south +side of Little Razorback. We had one small meal here, but our condition +was not a pleasant one, since little food remained and fuel was short. +There was undoubtedly a chance that the sea ice would break up and drift +away in this high wind. Had that happened we should have been left to +starve on the tiny island. The position was not an enviable one. We got +back into our bags, which were, as stated, wet and beastly, after a +scanty supper and tried to sleep, but our feet were wet too, and cold, so +that few of us could do more than close our eyes. The night passed slowly +enough, and we turned out at 7 a.m. to cook what remained of our food +before attempting to make Cape Evans. We were glad that it had stopped +snowing and, although the light was bad enough, we could just make out +the ice foot showing up bold and white on the south side of the Cape. +After the meal we struck camp, formed marching order, and started half +running for winter quarters. Covering a couple of miles we found, to our +great relief, that the fast ice not only extended up to the Cape but +right round into North Bay. We soon sighted the hut, and shortly after +saw some people working outside. Directly they saw us in they ran to +bring the others out at full speed, and coming to meet us they cheered +and greeted us, then hauled our sledges in. It appeared they were unable +to recognise any of us owing to our dirty and dishevelled state. This was +not to be wondered at, for we had not washed nor had we shaved for eighty +days: We all talked hard and exchanged news. Ponting lined us up to be +photographed--the first nine Bolshevists--we looked such awful +blackguards. + +Now, April 13, 1911, as communication had been established between Hut +Point and Cape Evans, we settled down for the winter. I shall never +forget the breakfast that Clissold prepared for us at 10.30 that morning. +It was delicious--hot rolls, heaps of butter, milk, sugar, jam, a fine +plate of tomato soup, and fried seal cooked superbly. The meal over, we +shaved, bathed, and put on clean clothes, smoked cigarettes, and took a +day's holiday. At 10 o'clock that evening, by prearrangement, Very's +lights were fired to let them know at Hut Point of our safe arrival. Our +own signal was answered by a flare. Gramophone records were dug out and +we lazily listened to Melba singing and to musical comedy tunes, those +who had energy and sufficient inclination got the pianola going, and +finally each man unfolded his little story to another member of the +Expedition who had taken no part in the sledging. + +Captain Scott was delighted at the progress made by those left in our hut +under Dr. Simpson, everything was in order, the scientific programme in +full swing, and nothing in the shape of bad news beyond the loss of an +ill-tempered pony called Hackenschmidt, and one more dog that appeared to +have died from a peculiar disease--a minute thread-worm getting to his +brain, this according to Nelson who had conducted the post-mortem. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE WINTER + + +Less than a fortnight from the day of our return to Cape Evans, on April +23 to be exact, the sun left us to remain below the horizon for four long +weary months. Of course, there was a considerable amount of twilight, and +even on midwinter's day at noon there was some gray light in the north. +Different people took the winter in different fashion, according to their +temperaments. There were some who never could have faced a second winter +with any degree of cheerfulness, but taking it all round, we did well +enough, and when summer came again our concrete keenness and zeal had not +one whit abated. That is especially true in the case of those who were +chosen to make the great journey southward, even though it was obvious +that certain members could only accompany their leader for a mere +fraction of the great white way. + +During the four months' winter darkness each one occupied himself with +his special subject, and Dr. Wilson not only proved himself to be an +efficient chief of our scientific staff, but a sound friend and companion +to the executive members, Bowers, Oates, Meares, and myself. Uncle Bill +was our Solomon and it was to him that we all went for sympathy and +practical advice. It was to him the staff went, that is to say, the +officers and scientists, for the smoothing over of those little +difficulties, roughnesses, and unevennesses that were bound to arrive +from time to time during the course of winter. The sailors came more to +Bowers, Oates, and myself, for, in their conservative naval way, they +could never quite get over the fact that the hut was not a ship and that +there were other members who, although they had never come under any sort +of naval or military discipline, were men of greater age and experience +in fending for themselves than youngsters like Bowers and myself. Still, +things went beautifully, and so they should have, when one considers the +great care our leader had exercised in the selection of his personnel. + +If Scott had had his choice again and if he had been allowed to select +from the whole world, one can say without hesitation he would have chosen +Wilson to captain our splendid scientific team and to be his human book +of reference. Wilson was more nearly Scott's own age than the other +important members of this enterprise, and Wilson, it must be remembered, +had pulled shoulder to shoulder with Scott on his southern sledge journey +in 1902-3. + +Before taking a peep at the individuals forming the rest of our party and +at their delicate scientific work at the base station, I must not forget +to mention that Scott, with his indomitable energy, was away again four +days after his return to Cape Evans with Bowers, Crean, and five fresh +men to Hut Point for the dual purpose of replenishing that station with +fuel, lighting material, etc., and getting those who should be at Cape +Evans for certain work and duty back there. Scott returned by the way we +had come, i.e. the Glacier Tongue-Castle Rock route, and then left the +dog-boy with Meares to take charge of these animals, Lashly and Keohane +to nurse and exercise the two ponies, and Nelson and Forde to get into +the way of winter roughing it, besides which he left Day over at Hut +Point, where his clever fingers found plenty to do to ameliorate the +condition of those living there. Day had learnt much under Shackleton in +these parts, and by some of us he was nicknamed "Handy Andy." Meares was +now appointed "Governor of Hut Point." As a matter of fact he and his +dogs were better off here than at Cape Evans, because the dogs could use +the big sheltered verandas already mentioned, whereas they had no such +shelter at Cape Evans. + +Scott was back in the hut by April 21, having left Meares definite orders +that James Pigg and Punch the ponies were not to leave Hut Point for Cape +Evans until the entire journey could be made over the sea ice under +conditions of absolute safety. This meant a wait of three weeks to a +month before everything suited, and the "Governor of Hut Point" did not +come in until the 13th May, when he arrived in pomp and splendour with +all the dogs and the two ponies fit and well--his party, black with soot +and blubber, their wind-proof clothing smelly and greasy, a dirty but +robust and cheerful gang. + +A glance at the accompanying plan shows whereabout we worked. Starting at +the left hand top corner we find Simpson's laboratory, and we usually +found Simpson in it at work, always at work, except when he was engaged +in scientific argument or when, just after lunch, he stretched himself +out on his bunk at the end of a large cigar! Simpson was no novice to +work in the frigid zones, for he had already wintered within the Arctic +circle in northern Norway. Weather did not worry him much nor apparently +did temperatures, for since his investigations midst the snows of the +Vikings' land, Simpson had worked extensively in India. His enduring good +humour and his smiling manner earned for him the sobriquet of Sunny Jim. + +In the first year the self-registering instruments that found themselves +in Simpson's corner, or in the small hut which contained his magnetic +observatory, gave us an admirable record of temperatures, barometric +pressures, wind force and direction, atmospheric electricity, sunshine +when the sun did shine, and the elements of terrestrial magnetism. Thanks +to Simpson, we also had investigations of the upper air currents, aurora +observations, atmospheric optics, gravity determination and what is more, +some fine practical teaching that enabled the various sledging units +properly to observe and collect data of meteorological importance. +Simpson's place was essentially at the base station; and his consequent +work as physicist and meteorologist prevented him from taking an active +part in our sledge journeys. When he was recalled to Simla in 1912 his +work was ably continued by Wright, our Canadian chemist, who, as I have +said elsewhere, accompanied us south to make a special study of ice +structure and glaciation. + +Wright lived in the bunk above Simpson's, and when not devoting his +energy and magnificent physique to sledging and field work, he gave +himself up to the study of ice physics, a somewhat new scientific line of +research. Wright was originally introduced to the Expedition by Griffith +Taylor, and Scott, advised by Wilson, was so keen on the inclusion of +this young Canadian chemist in our scientific staff that really the study +of ice structure and glaciation was made for Wright and his science +coined for him. He photographed ice flowers formed in the sea, he found +out how long ice took to freeze down our way, cast aspersions on the +bearing capabilities of our beloved sea ice and, generally, brought his +intelligence to bear in a way that commanded the approbation of Wilson +and our chief. Wright was one of the strongest members of our Expedition, +and he had the most powerful flow of language. He made some beautiful +photographs of ice crystals and surprised the simple sailor like myself +with his ability as a navigator and astronomer. + +Moving along from Wright and Simpson we come to Nelson and Day. Teddy +Nelson, our marine biologist, did both winters at Cape Evans, and he not +only carried out biological work but studied the tides. His corner was +pleasant to look upon, with its orderly row of enamelled and china trays +and dishes. During the winter months holes were made in the sea ice +through which were lowered tow-nets, for collecting drifting organisms +and so on. Special thermometers of German make were lowered by Nelson +through the ice holes to get sea temperatures, and likewise reversing +water bottles were employed to obtain samples of sea-water daily. + +Day, the motor engineer, was responsible for the lighting by acetylene. +He was wonderfully clever as a mechanic and also a good carpenter. He +took charge of our petrol, paraffin, and spirit store, and was never idle +for a minute. + +Moving along to the right we come to the last cubicle, where the +"Rubbleyubdugs" lived. These were Tryggve Gran, Griffith Taylor, and +Frank Debenham. (All libel actions in connection with the Ubdugs I am +prepared to settle out of port in the long bar at Shanghai.) Quoting from +the "South Polar Times": "'The Ubdug Burrow' is festooned with kodaks, +candles and curtains; they (the Ubdugs) are united by an intense love of +the science of autobiography, their somewhat ambiguous motto is 'the pen +is mightier than the sword, but the tongue licks them both!'" Griffith +Taylor and Debenham were both Australians: the former was probably the +wittiest man in the Expedition, and, in my opinion, the cleverest +contributor to the "South Polar Times," excepting of course the artistic +side. The "South Polar Times" was our winter magazine, beautifully +illustrated by Wilson's water colours and Ponting's photographs. Taylor's +motto was "Advance, Australia!"--most certainly he helped it to. People +were always welcome in the Ubduggery, where they seemed to have an +unlimited supply of cigarettes and good novels. + +Debenham was certainly nurse to the Ubdugs, that is to say he was the +least untidy, but then of course he was the smallest. In this cubicle the +most voluminous of diaries were kept, and at least two books have been +published therefrom. Gran kept his diary mostly in Norwegian, but there +were many words coined in our Expedition which had no Scandinavian +equivalent, and Gran failed to translate them, in spite of his having +more imagination than any one amongst us. + +Crossing over the hut to the cubicle opposite one arrives at the somewhat +congested space in which Cherry-Garrard was housed, with Bowers above +him. In their corner were store lists, books, and mystery bags which +contained material for the "South Polar Times," toys and frivolous +presents to liven us up at the midwinter and other festivities. Bowers +and Cherry-Garrard were, in a way, worse off than the others, for they +had the darkest part of the hut, yet in this gloomy tenement all kinds of +calculations were made and much other good work done. + +Oates came next, with his bunk more free of debris than anybody else's, +for he was the horse man, pure and simple, and his duties freed him from +that superabundance of books, instruments, stationery, specimens, charts, +and what-not with which we others had surrounded ourselves. Any spare +gear he kept in the saddle room, a specially cleared space in the +stables, where he was assisted by the little Russian groom, Anton, who +soon became devoted to his hard-working and capable master. The two men, +so unlike in appearance and character, etc., and such miles apart in +social standing and nationality, worked shoulder to shoulder in the +stables throughout the long winter night. By the dim candle-light which +illuminated our pony-shelter, one could see Oates grooming his charges, +clearing up their stall, refitting their harness, and fixing up the +little improvements that his quick, watchful eye continually suggested. +At the far end of his stables he had a blubber stove, where he used to +melt ice for the ponies' drinking water and cook bran mashes for his +animals. Here he would often sit and help Meares make dog pemmican out of +seal meat--they made about 8 cwt. of this sustaining preparation. + +Moving along from the Chateau, Oates, Meares's and Atkinson's two bunks +came next, Meares above and Atkinson below. These two sleeping berths +likewise were not conspicuous by any superfluity of scientific oddments, +for Meares's work took him outside of the hut as a rule, unless he was +engaged in making dog harness. Meares and Oates were the greatest +friends, and these two, Atkinson, Cherry-Garrard and Bowers, were, if I +remember rightly, known collectively as the Bunderlohg. Although +numerically superior to their _vis-a-vis_, the Ubdugs, and always ready +to revile them, the Ubdugs kept their end up and usually came out +victorious in discussions or in badinage. + +Finally, the Holy of Holies, where Captain Scott and the library occupied +one end and Uncle Bill and myself the far corner, with the ceaselessly +ticking chronometers and many sledging watches. There was an air of +sanctity about this part: all the plotting was done here, charts made and +astronomical observations worked out. Wilson worked up his sketches at +the "plotting table," interviewed the staff here, and above his bunk kept +a third of the shore party's library. We had two comfortable trestle beds +up our end and our leader also had a bed in preference to the +built-up bunk adopted by most of the afterguard. Ours was the Mayfair +district: Wilson and I lived in Park Lane in those days, whilst Captain +Scott occupied Grosvenor Street! He had his own little table covered with +"toney" green linoleum, and also had a multiplicity of little shelves on +which to keep his pipes, tobacco, cigars, and other household gods. It +was well illuminated in this part, and, although, hung around with fur +mitts, fur boots, socks, hats and woollen clothing, there was something +very chaste about this very respectable corner. For the rest of it we had +our Arctic library, and the spare spaces on the matchboard bulkhead, +which fenced it on three sides, were decorated with photographs. In place +of eiderdown Scott's old uniform overcoat usually covered his bed, while +peeping out from under his sleeping place one could espy an emblem of +civilisation and prosperity in the shape of a very good suit-case. + +The foregoing pages illustrate sufficiently the grouping of the +afterguard, and if one adds an anthracite stove, a 12 ft. by 4 ft. table, +a pianola, gramophone, and a score of chairs, with a small shelf-like +table squeezed in between the dark-room and Simpson's corner, one +completes the picture of the officers' quarters in the Cape Evans Hut. +A bulkhead of biscuit cases and so on divided us from the men's +accommodation. They were very well off, each seaman having a trestle bed +similar to Captain Scott's, unless he preferred to build a bunk for +himself, as one or two did. They had a table 6 ft. by 4 ft., and the cook +had a kitchen table 4 ft. square, and certainly no crew space was ever +provided on a Polar Expedition that gave such comfortable and cosy +housing room. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +THE WINTER CLOSES IN + + +The closing down of the Polar night was very swift now and the few hours +of gray daylight were employed collecting what data was required by +certain members for working on during the forthcoming days of darkness. +Young Gran was handed over to me to help with the survey work and +astronomical observations which had to be taken from time to time. He was +a most entertaining assistant. Without complaint, he stood patiently +shivering in that cutting winter wind whilst I swung around the +theodolite telescope and took angles for him to write down in my +notebook. I don't think anybody has made a triangulated survey under +conditions worse than we endured that epoch: the weather was beastly and +we spent much time dancing when nearly sick with cold, our fingers tucked +under our arms to recover their feelings. When one's extremities did get +frost-bitten it was no joke--frost-bitten finger tips gave us little +peace at night with their sharp burning pain. + +The most interesting part of the survey work was what is known to the +surveyor as coast-lining. This meant walking along the edge of the sea +ice, fixing one's position by sextant angle every five hundred yards or +so, and sketching in a notebook the character and features of the ever +changing coast between the various "fixes." One could keep warm doing +this and one saw more of the land and ice formation than the others, for +it meant following carefully round-cape and glacier edge, penetrating +inlets and delineating every islet, promontory, cliff, and talus. + +In spite of the cold, the gloom, and the sad whistling wind that heralded +the now fast approaching darkness, I felt glad to work with my sextant +and sketch-book under the shadow of those fantastic ice-foots hung round +with fringes of icicle. I loved to go with Gran into the deep bays and +walk for miles under the overhanging of the vast ice cliffs all purple in +the reflection of the early winter noon, and to come out sometimes as we +did on to the sea ice clear of a jutting glacier, to face suddenly +northward over the frozen sea where nothing but a great waste of ice +stretched away to meet the horizon and the rosy, copper glow of the +departed sun's rays. Some of the cloud effects at the end of April were +too wonderful for mere pen or brush to describe. To appreciate them one +must go there and see them, those wonderful half-light tints. + +Then there were the ice caves and grottos which were formed in the +grounded icebergs that had overturned before we came, and the still more +wonderful caves in the ice-sheet where it over-rode Ross Island and +formed a cliff-face between Cape Evans and Glacier Tongue, +extraordinarily like the white chalk cliffs of Studland Bay I found them, +with here and there outstanding pinnacles which a little imagination +would liken to Old Harry Rocks when the gray light was on them. + +At the most we could only take sextant and theodolite angles for two +hours on either side of noon, so Gran and I went without our lunch, +taking a few biscuits and some chocolate out with us on our survey days, +and as we worked farther and farther from our base we found it necessary +to start out in the darkness in order to take full advantage of what +light was vouchsafed us. It was good healthy work and we developed +glorious appetites, so that our mouths ran with water when perhaps we met +a couple of fellows leading the little white ponies on the sea ice for +exercise, and they told us what they had had for lunch and what was being +kept for us. We found it all most interesting and, although I detested +that sunless winter, I loved the changing scenery, which never seemed +monotonous when there was any daylight or moonlight. To mark our +"stations" we used red and black bunting flags, and they showed up very +well. We gave them all sorts of weird names, such as Sardine, Shark, and +so forth, and we knew almost to a yard their distances from one another, +as also their bearings, which helped us when we were overtaken by bad +weather. Eventually it became too dark for any survey work, but there was +always plenty to do indoors for the majority of us. Apart from our +specialist duties some one was always to be found who could give +employment to the willing--there were no idlers or unwilling folk amongst +us. Simpson, for example, would employ as many volunteers as he could get +to follow the balloons which he frequently sent up to record temperature +and pressure. To each of these balloons a fine silk thread was attached, +or rather the thread was attached to the little instrument it carried. +When any strain was put on the thread it broke the thread connecting the +small temperature and pressure instrument to the balloon, the former +dropped on to the ice and was recovered by one of the volunteers, who +followed the silk thread up until he came to the instrument where it had +fallen. One required good eyesight for this work as for everything else +down here, and I have never ceased to marvel at the way Cherry-Garrard +got about and worked so well when one considers that he was very +short-sighted indeed. + +Everybody exercised generously, whether by himself on ski, leading a +pony, digging ice for the cook or ice to melt for the ponies' drinking +water, or even with a whole crowd playing rather dangerous football on +the sea ice north of Cape Evans. + +When the real winter came I used to walk, after winding the chronometers, +until breakfast time to begin with. This gave me half an hour, then again +before lunch I would put on ski and go for a run with anybody who had not +a pony to exercise. The visibility was frequently limited, particularly +on overcast days; one would glide along over the sea ice, which was in +places wind-swept and in others covered with snow. Nothing in sight but +the gray-white shadow underfoot and the blue-black sky above, a streak or +band just a mere smudge of daylight in the north, but this would be +sufficient to give one direction to go out on. Then slowly, dim, +spectre-like shapes would appear which would gradually sort themselves +out into two lots, black and white--these were Titus's ponies--the white +shapes, the black were the men leading them. On they came, seemingly at a +great pace, and one heard a crunching noise as the hoofs of the ponies +trod down the snow crust, but one could not hear the footfalls of the +men. One exchanged a "Hallo" with the leading man and passed on until a +much bigger white shape loomed up in the obscurity of the noon-twilight, +the going underfoot changed and skis fetched up against a great lump of +ice which was scarcely discernible in the confusing darkness, and one +realised that what little light there was to the northward had been +blotted out by one of the big grounded icebergs. Directly one realised +which berg it was a new course would be shaped, say to the end of the +Barne Glacier; the cliffs of this reached, one proceeded homeward a +league to the hut. This could not be missed on the darkest day if the +coast-line was followed, and, at last, when stomach cried out like a +striking clock, one realised that it was 2 p.m. or so, and a little glow +indicated the whereabouts of the hut. Approaching it, one saw the tall +chimney silhouetted against the sky, then the black shapes which oddly +proclaimed themselves to be motor-sledges, store heaps or fodder dumps, +and finally the hut itself. One stumbled over the tide-crack and up on to +the much trodden snow which covered the Cape Evans's beach. Six or seven +pairs of skis stuck in the snow near the hut door indicated that most +people had come in to lunch, so there was need to haste. Off came one's +own skis, and with a lusty stab in they went heel downwards into the snow +alongside the other ones, so that when a new fall came they would stand +up vertically and be easily found again. + +The sticks one took into the hut, because even in our well-appointed +family there were pirates who borrowed them and forgot to replace them. +Entering the hut after kicking much snow from boots one passed first +through the acetylene smelling porch--Handy Andy's pride--as we called +Day's gas plant, then in to the seamen's quarters, where the smell of +cooking delighted and the sight of those great, hefty sailors scoffing +the midday meal hustled one still more. + +In the officers' half of the hut most people were already busy with their +knives and forks, two or three perhaps just sitting down, the night +watch-man probably sitting up on the edge of his bunk putting on his +slippers, and cheerfully accepting the friendly insults from his pals at +table who told him the date and year--down went ski-sticks on the bed, +room would be made at the table, and half a dozen dishes pushed your way, +and although the mess-traps were enamelled, the food you shuffled down +from the tin plate and the cocoa you lapped from the blue and white mug +had not its equal at the Carlton, the Ritz, or the Berkeley. + +Concerning the night watchman and his duties, although we had so many +self-recording instruments, there were certain things which called for +attention during the silent hours. Aurora observations had to be made +which no instrument would record, movement of clouds had to be noted in +the meteorological log, the snow cleared from the anemometer and so +forth, then of course rounds had to be made in case of fire, ponies and +dogs visited, the galley fire lit or kept going according to +requirements, and so on. Night watch-keeping duty was only undertaken by +certain members chosen from the afterguard. Scott himself always took a +share in this, as he did in everything else that mattered. One came to +welcome the night on, for the attendant work was not very strenuous and +the eight hours' quietude gave the watchman a chance to write up a +neglected diary, to wash clothes, work out observations, and perhaps make +contributions to the "South Polar Times" undisturbed by casual +well-wishers who were not meant to see the article in question until the +day of publication. We were allowed to choose from the stores more or +less what we liked for consumption in the stillness of the night watch. I +always contributed special China or Ceylon tea for the benefit of the +lonely watchman--I had two big canisters of the beverage, a present from +one of our New Zealand well-wishers, Mrs. Arthur Rhodes of Christchurch, +and these lasted the afterguard watch-keepers through the Expedition. +The auroras were a little disappointing this first winter as seen from +Cape Evans, they were certainly better seen from the Barrier. We only got +golden bands and curtains splaying in the heavens, except for one or two +rare occasions when there were distinct green rays low down amongst the +shafts of weird light farthest from the zenith. + +In view of the possibility of a second winter one kept a few letters +going which contained a little narrative of our work to date. We had most +imposing note-paper which was used for these occasions: the crest +consisted of a penguin standing on the South Pole with the southern +hemisphere underfoot, a garter surrounding this little picture inscribed +with "British Antarctic Expedition--'Terra Nova' R.Y.S." Alas, some of +the letters were never delivered, for death not only laid his hand upon +certain members of the Expedition, but also upon some of our older +friends, supporters, and subscribers. + +One passed out of the hut hourly at least and, on moonlight nights +especially, one found something beautiful in the scenery about Cape +Evans. At full moon time everything turned silver, from towering Erebus +with gleaming sides to the smooth ice slopes of Ross Island in the +north-east, while away to the southward the high black Dellbridge Islands +thrust up from a sea of flat silver ice. Even the conical hills and the +majestic Castle Rock, fifteen miles away, stood out quite clearly on +occasions. The weirdest thing of all was to hear the dogs howling in the +middle of the night, they made one think of wolves and of Siberia. + +All things considered, the winter passed quickly enough: we had three +lectures a week, and our professional occupations, our recreations and +different interests soon sped away the four months' winter darkness. The +lectures embraced the technical and the practical side of the Expedition; +thus, besides each of the scientific staff lecturing on his individual +subject, Oates gave us two lectures on the care and management of horses; +Scott outlined his plans for the great southern journey, giving probable +dates and explaining the system of supporting parties which he proposed +to employ; Ponting told us about Japan, and illustrated his subject with +beautiful slides made from photographs that he himself had taken; Bowers +lectured on Burma, until we longed to be there; and Meares gave us a +light but intensely interesting lecture on his adventures in the Lolo +country, a practically unknown land in Central Asia. + +In connection with the work of Simpson at the base station, I must not +forget the telephones. Certain telephones and equipment sufficient for +our needs were presented to us in 1910 by the staff of the National +Telephone Co., and they were very largely used in scientific work at the +base station as well as for connecting Cape Evans to Hut Point, fifteen +miles away. Simpson made the Cape Evans-Hut Point connection in +September, 1911, by laying the bare aluminium wire along the surface of +the snow-covered sea ice, and for a long time there was no difficulty in +ringing up by means of magnetos. However, when the sun came back and its +rays became reasonably powerful, difficulty in ringing and speaking was +experienced. + +We used the telephones almost daily for taking time, and Simpson used to +stand inside the hut at the sidereal clock whilst I took astronomical +observations outside in the cold. We also telephoned time to the ice cave +in which the pendulums were being swung when determining the force of +gravity. Telephones were quite efficient in temperatures of 40 degrees +and more below zero. + +Midwinter Day arrived on June 22, and here one must pay an affectionate +and grateful tribute to Bowers, Wilson, Cherry-Garrard, and Clissold the +cook. + +To start with, we had to discuss whether we would hold the midwinter +festival on the 22nd or 23rd of June, because in reality the sun reached +its farthest northern Declination at 2.30 a.m. on the 23rd by the +standard time which we were keeping. We decided to hold it on the evening +of the 22nd, this being the dinner time nearest the actual culmination. A +Buszard's cake extravagantly iced was placed on the tea-table by +Cherry-Garrard, his gift to us, and this was the first of the dainties +with which we proceeded to stuff ourselves on this memorable day. +Although in England it was mid-summer we could not help thinking of those +at home in Christmas vein. The day here was to all intents and purposes +Christmas Day; but it meant a great deal more than that, it meant that +the sun was to come speeding back slowly to begin with, and then faster +and faster until in another four months or so we should find ourselves +setting out to achieve our various purposes. It meant that before another +year had passed some of us, perhaps all of us, would be back in +civilisation taking up again the reins of our ordinary careers which, of +necessity, would lead us to different corners of the earth. The +probability was that we should never all sit down together in a peopled +land, for Simpson was bound to be racing back to India with Bowers and +probably Oates, whose regiment was at Mhow; Gran would away to Norway, +and the other Ubdugs to Australia. One or two of us had been tempted to +settle in New Zealand, and the old Antarctics amongst us knew how useless +it had been to arrange those Antarctic dinners which never came off as +intended. + +But to return to the menu for Midwinter Day. When we sat down in the +evening we were confronted with a beautiful water-colour drawing of our +winter quarters, with Erebus's gray shadow looming large in the +background, from the summit of which a rose-tinted smoke-cloud delicately +trended northward, and, standing out from the whole picture a neatly +printed tablet which proclaimed the nature of this much-looked-forward-to +meal: + + Consomme Seal. + Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. + Horseradish Sauce. + Potatoes a la mode and Brussels Sprouts. + Plum Pudding. Mince Pies. + Caviare Antarctic. + Crystallised fruits. Chocolate Bonbons. + Butter Bonbons. Walnut Toffee. + Almonds and Raisins. + + _Wines._ + + Sherry, Champagne, Brandy Punch, Liqueur. + Cigars, Cigarettes, and Tobacco. + Snapdragon. + Pineapple Custard. Raspberry jellies. + +and what was left of the Buszard's cake! + +The menu was, needless to say, Wilson's work, the exquisite dishes +Clissold produced, the maitre d'hotel was Birdie, and Cherry-Garrard the +producer of surprises in the shape of toys which adorned the Christmas +Tree that followed on the dinner. Everybody got something from the tree, +which was in reality no tree at all, for it was a cleverly constructed +dummy, with sticks for branches and coloured paper leaves. Still, it +carried little fairy candles and served its purpose well. + +Then I must not forget the greatest treat of all: an exhibition of slides +showing the life about our winter quarters and the general work of the +Expedition from the starting away in New Zealand to this actual day +almost in the hut. The slides were wonderful and they showed every stage +of the ice through which we had come and in which we lived. There were +penguin pictures, whales and seals, bird life in the pack, flash light +photographs of people and ponies, pictures of Erebus and other splendid +and familiar landmarks, and, in short, a magnificent pictorial record of +events, for Ponting had been everywhere with his camera, and it is only +to be regretted that the Expedition did not take him to the Pole. This +was, of course, impossible, when everything had to give way to food. +Following the photographic display and the Christmas Tree came the only +Antarctic dance we enjoyed. Few of us remember much about it for we were +very merry, thanks to the wine, and there was considerable horseplay. I +remember dancing with the cook whilst Oates danced with Anton. Everybody +took a turn, and associated with this dance I might mention that Clissold +so far forgot himself as to call Scott "Good old Truegg." Truegg was the +composition used by us for cooking in various ways omelets, buttered +eggs, puddings, and cakes of all kinds, and, although it was a great boon +to the Expedition, we had by this time tired of it. Still, we used it as +a term of endearment, but nobody in his sober senses would have dreamt of +calling our much respected Commander "Good old Truegg"; the brandy punch +must have been responsible for Clissold's mixing up of names! We had now +arrived at the stage when it was time to shut up, the officers became +interested in an aurora display and gradually rolled off to bed. It was +left to me to see the seamen turned in; they were good-humoured but +obstreperous, and not until 2 a.m. did silence and order once more reign +in the hut. + +Very wisely our leader decided on June 23 being kept as a day of rest; +our digestions were upset and we took this time off to make and mend +clothes, and returned to our winter routine, a little subdued perhaps, on +June 24. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS + + +So much for the winter life up to date; no great excitements, nothing +untoward, but a remarkable bonhomie obtaining in our little company +despite the tedium of so many days of winter gloom. On June 27 Dr. Wilson +with Bowers and Cherry-Garrard started on a remarkable journey to Cape +Crozier, nearly seventy miles distant from Cape Evans, via Hut Point and +the Barrier. The object of these intrepid souls was to observe the +incubation of the Emperor Penguins at their rookery, which was known to +exist near the junction point of the Barrier Edge with the rocky cliff +south of Cape Crozier. It must be borne in mind that this was the first +Antarctic midwinter journey, and that the three men must of necessity +face abnormally low temperature's and unheard of hardships whilst making +the sledge journey over the icy Barrier. We had gathered enough knowledge +on the autumn sledge journeys and in the days of the Discovery expedition +to tell us this, so that it was not without considerable misgivings that +Captain Scott permitted Wilson to carry the winter expedition to Cape +Crozier into being. The scope of my little volume only permits me to tell +this story in brief. No very detailed account has yet been published, +although Cherry-Garrard, the only survivor of the three, wrote the far +too modest memoir of the journey which has been published in Volume II of +"Scott's Last Expedition." + +Apart from the zoological knowledge Wilson hoped to gain from the Cape +Crozier visit in mid-winter, there was a wealth of other information to +be collected concerning the Barrier conditions, particularly the +meteorological conditions, but above all we knew that with such quick and +reliable observers as Wilson and his companions we must derive additional +experience in the matter of sledging rations, for the party had agreed to +make experiments in order to arrive at the standard ration to be adopted +for the colder weather we must face during the second half of the +forthcoming Polar journey. + +Wilson took two small 9 ft. sledges, and after being photographed was +helped out to Glacier Tongue by a small hurrah party. In the bad light he +was handicapped from the very first, and it took the party two days to +get on to the Ice Barrier. Their progress was dreadfully slow, which was +not to be wondered at, for they were pulling loads of 250 lb. per man, +the surfaces were beyond anything they had faced hitherto, and the +temperatures seldom above 60 degrees. Relay work had to be resorted to, +and in consequence the party took eighteen days to reach Cape Crozier. +They met with good weather, that is, calm weather, to begin with, but the +bad surfaces handicapped them severely. After rounding Cape Mackay they +reached a wind-swept area and met with a series of blizzards. Their best +light was moonlight, and they were denied this practically by overcast +skies. Picture their hardships: frozen bags to sleep in, frozen finnesko +to put their feet in every time they struck camp, finger-tips always +getting frost-bitten and sometimes toes and heels; no comfort was to be +derived within camp, for, at the best, they could only sit and shiver +when preparing the food, and once the bags were unrolled to sleep in more +trouble came. It is on record that Cherry-Garrard took as long as +three-quarters of an hour to break his way into his sleeping-bag, and +once inside it he merely shook and froze. The party used a double tent +for this journey, that is to say, a light lining was fitted on the inner +side of the five bamboo tent poles, so that when the ordinary wind-proof +tent cloth was spread over the poles an air space was provided. There +was, I may say, a sharp difference of opinion as to the value of the +tent; Wilson's party swore by it and Scott was always loud in its praise. +The sailors hated it and despised it; they always argued, when consulted +on the subject of the double tent, that it collected snow and rime and +added much to the weights we had to drag along. Perhaps they were right, +and I remember one occasion when two members of the Expedition dumped the +inner lining after carrying it many hundred miles with the remark, +"Good-bye, you blighter, you've had a damn good ride!" + +The scene inside the little green tent baffles description: the three +men's breath and the steam from the cooker settles in no time on the +sides of the tent in a thick, white rime; the least movement shakes this +down in a shower which brings clammy discomfort to all; the dimmest of +light is given by the sledging lantern with its edible candle (for +Messrs. Price and Co. had made our candles eatable and not poisonous), +everything is frozen stiff, fur boots, bags and fur mitts break if +roughly handled, for they are as hard as boards. The cold has carved deep +ruts in the faces of the little company who, despite their sufferings and +discomforts, smile and keep cheerful without apparent effort. This +cheerfulness and the fragrant smell of the cooking pemmican are the two +redeeming features of a dreadful existence, but the discomforts are only +a foretaste of what is to come--one night the temperature fell to 77 +degrees below zero, that is 109 degrees of frost. There is practically no +record of such low temperature, although Captain Scott found that Roald +Amundsen in one of his northern journeys encountered something nearly as +bad. One cannot wonder that Wilson's party scarcely slept at all, but +their outward experiences were nothing to what they put up with at Cape +Crozier, which was reached on July 15. To get on to the slopes of Mount +Terror near Crozier the party climbed over great pressure ridges and up a +steep slope to a position between the end of a moraine terrace and the +conspicuous hillock known as The Knoll. In the gap here the last camp was +made in a windswept snow hollow, a stone hut was constructed behind a +land ridge above this hollow, the party using a quantity of loose rocks +and hard snow to build with. Cherry-Garrard did most of the building, +while the others provided the material, for, in his methodical way, +Cherry had built a model hut before leaving Cape Evans. The hut was 800 +ft. above sea-level, roofed with canvas, with one of the sledges as a +rafter to support the canvas roof. + +On the 19th July the party descended by the snow slopes to the Emperor +penguin rookery. They had great trouble in making this descent, on +account of crevasses in the ice slopes which overhung the level way under +the rock cliffs. As a matter of fact, the attempt on the 19th proved +abortive, although the little band got close to the rookery. They reached +it successfully on the 20th when the light was almost failing, and were +mortified to find only about one hundred Emperor penguins in place of the +two or three thousand birds which the rookery had been found to contain +in the "Discovery" days. Possibly the early date accounted for the +absence of Emperors; however, half a dozen eggs were collected, and three +of these found their way home to England. Wilson picked up rounded pieces +of ice at the rookery which the stupid Emperors had been cherishing, +fondly imagining they were eggs; evidently the maternal instinct of the +Emperor penguin is very strong. + +The party killed and skinned three birds and then returned to the shelter +of the stone hut, not without difficulty, it is true. It is worthy of +note that the three birds killed by the party were very thickly +blubbered, and the oil obtained from them burned well. + +The Ross Sea was found to be frozen over as far as the horizon. When the +party got back to their shelter two eggs had burst and saturated +Cherry-Garrard's mitts. This optimistic young man found good even in +this, for he said that on the way home to Cape Evans his mitts thawed out +far more easily than Bowers's did, and attributed the little triumph to +the grease in the broken egg! That night they slept for the first time in +the stone hut; perhaps it was fortunate that they did so for it was +blowing hard and the wind developed into a terrific storm. + +One of the hurricane gusts of wind swept the roof of the hut away, and +for two days the unfortunate party lay in their bags half smothered by +fine drifting snow. The second day was Dr. Wilson's birthday; he told me +afterwards that had the gale not abated when it did all three men must +have perished. They had not dared to stir out of the meagre shelter +afforded by their sleeping-bags. Wilson prayed hard that they might be +spared. His prayer was answered, it is true, but before another year had +passed two of this courageous little band lost their lives in their eager +thirst for scientific knowledge. + +When the three men crept out of their bags into the dull winter gloom +they groped about and searched for their tent, which had blown away from +its pitch near the stone hut. By an extraordinary piece of good fortune +it was recovered, scarcely damaged, a quarter of a mile away. +Cherry-Garrard describes the roar of the wind as it whistled in their +shelter to have been just like the rush of an express train through a +tunnel. + +Wilson, Bowers, and Cherry-Garrard started home after this, but were +caught by another blizzard, which imprisoned them in their tent for +another forty-eight hours. They were now running short of oil for warming +and cooking purposes, but the little party won through after a very rough +march full of horrible hardships and discomforts, and reached Cape Evans +on the 1st August, when they had faced the dreadful winter weather +conditions on the cruel Ice Barrier for five weeks. What forlorn objects +they did look: it was pathetic to see them as they staggered into the +hut. Wilson, when he could give a collected account of what he and his +party had faced, was loud in the praise of Birdy and Cherry. + +The party were examined by Atkinson, who gave some direction and advice +concerning their immediate diet--they seemed to want bread, butter, and +jam most, and the little loaves provided by Clissold disappeared with +extraordinary speed. They were suffering from want of sleep, but were all +right in a few days. One of the remarkable features of this journey was +the increase of weights due to ice collecting in their sleeping-bags, +gear and equipment. Their three bags, which weighed forty-seven pounds on +leaving Cape Evans, had increased their weight to one hundred and +eighteen at the conclusion of the trip. Other weights increased in the +same proportion, and the sledge had dragged very heavily in consequence. + +The three men when they arrived were almost encased with ice, and I well +remember undressing poor Wilson in the cubicle which he and I shared. His +clothes had almost to be cut off him. + +From this journey, as stated, we evolved the final sledging ration for +the Summit, it was to consist of: + + 16 ozs. biscuit. + 12 " pemmican. + 3 " sugar. + 2 " butter. + 0.7 " tea. + 0.6 " cocoa. + daily 34.3 ozs. + +It may seem little enough for a hungry sledger, but, no one could +possibly eat that amount in a temperate climate; it was a fine filling +ration even for the Antarctic. The pemmican consisted of the finest beef +extract, with 60 per cent. pure fat, and it cooked up into a thick tasty +soup. It was specially made for us by Messrs. Beauvais of Copenhagen. + +No casualties occurred during the winter, but Dr. Atkinson sustained a +severely frost-bitten hand on July 4 when we had one of our winter +blizzards. Certain thermometers had been placed in positions on the sea +ice and up on the Ramp by Simpson, and these we were in the habit of +visiting during the course of our exercise; the thermometer reading was +done by volunteers who signified their intention to Simpson in order to +avoid duplication of observation. On blizzard days we left them alone, +but Atkinson, seeing that the wind had modified in the afternoon, +zealously started out over the ice and was absent from dinner. Search +parties were sent in various directions, each taking a sledge with +sleeping-bags, brandy flask, thermos full of cocoa, and first-aid +equipment. Flares were lit and kept going on Wind Vale Hill, Simpson's +meteorological station overlooking the hut. Search was made in all +directions by us, and difficulty was experienced due to light snowfall. +Atkinson fetched up at Tent Island, apparently, which he walked round for +hours, and, in trying to make the Cape again, became hopelessly lost, +and, losing one of his mitts for a time, fell into a tide crack and did +not get home till close upon midnight. Search parties came in one by one +and were glad to hear the good news of Atkinson's return. My own party, +working to the south of Cape Evans, did not notice how time was passing, +and we--Nelson, Forde, Hooper, and myself--fetched up at 2 a.m. to be met +by Captain Scott and comforted with cocoa. + +Atkinson's hand was dreadful to behold; he had blisters like great +puffed-out slugs on the last three fingers of his right hand, while on +the forefinger were three more bulbous-looking blisters, one of them an +inch in diameter. For days and days the hand had constantly to be +bandaged, P. O. Evans doing nurse and doing it exceedingly well. +Considering all things, we were fairly free of frostbite in the Scott +expedition, and there is no doubt that Atkinson's accident served as an +example to all of us to "ca' canny." + +Although we had our proportion of blizzard days I do not think our +meteorological record showed any undue frequency of high wind and +blizzards; but, as Simpson in his meteorological discussion points out, +we suffered far more in this respect than Amundsen, who camped on the Ice +Barrier far from the land. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but in the +light of after events one is compelled to state that had we stuck to our +original plan and made our landing four hundred miles or so to the +eastward of Ross Island, we should have escaped, in all probability, the +greater part of the bad weather experienced by us. Comparison with +Framheim, Amundsen's observation station, shows that we at Cape Evans had +ten times as much high wind as the Norwegians experienced. Our wind +velocities reached greater speeds than 60 miles an hour, whereas there +does not appear to be any record of wind higher than 45 miles an hour at +Amundsen's base at the Bay of Whales. Some of our anemometer records were +very interesting. In the month of July, when Wilson's party was absent, +we recorded 258 hours of blizzards, that is, of southerly winds of more +than 25 miles an hour speed. This was the record for the winter months, +but while we were depot-laying and waiting for the sea to freeze over at +Hut Point, no less than 404 hours of blizzard were recorded in one +month--March. Think of it, well over half the month was blizzard, with +its consequent discomfort and danger. The blizzard which nearly caused +the loss of the Cape Crozier party measured a wind force up to 84 miles +an hour; no wonder the canvas roof of the stone hut there was swept away! + +Our minimum temperature at the hut meteorological station was 50 degrees +below zero in July, 1911, and the maximum temperature during the winter +occurred in June when the thermometer stood as high as +19 degrees. + +Our ten ponies stood the winter very well, all things being considered. +One nearly died with cramp, but he pulled round in extraordinary fashion +after keeping Oates and myself up all night nursing him. In spite of the +names we assigned to the animals, largely on account of their being +presented to us by certain schools, institutions, and individuals, the +ponies were called by names conferred on them by the sailors and those +who led them out for exercise. The ten animals that now survived were +James Pigg, Christopher, Victor, Nobby, Jehu, Michael, Snatcher, Bones, +Snippets, and a Manchurian animal called Chinaman, who behaved very badly +in that he was always squealing, biting, and kicking the other ponies. A +visitor to the stables, if he lent a hand to stir up the blubber which +was usually cooking there, found himself generally welcome and certain to +be entertained. Oates and Meares, his constant companions, had both +served through the South African War, and had many delightful stories to +tell of their experiences in this campaign; their anecdotes are not all +printable, but no matter. Of Oates it is correct to say that he was more +popular with the seamen than any other officer. He understood these men +perfectly and could get any amount of work out of them, this was a great +advantage, because he only had his Russian groom permanently to assist +him, and he generally used volunteer labour after working hours to carry +out his operations. In the two lectures he gave us on "The Care and +Management of Horses," to which reference has been made, Oates showed how +much time and thought he had devoted to his charges, and to the +forthcoming pony-sledge work over the Great Ice Barrier. + +During the latter half of the winter Oates and I saw a good deal of one +another, as we daily exercised our ponies on the sea ice when Wilson's +party was away and afterwards also till the weather was light enough for +me to continue surveying. Oates led two ponies out generally-- +Christopher, the troublesome, and Jehu, the indolent while the care of +the rogue pony, Chinaman, devolved on myself. When the ponies went well, +which was usually the case, when they did not suffer from the weather, we +used to have long yarns about our respective services and mutual friends. +Oates would often discuss the forthcoming southern journey, and his +ambition was to reach the top of the Beardmore Glacier; he did not expect +to be selected for the southern party, which was planned to contain four +men only--two of these must have special knowledge of navigation, to +check one another's observations--the third would be a doctor, and it was +expected that a seaman would be chosen for the fourth. So Oates was +convinced that he had no chance, never for a moment appreciating his own +sterling qualities. + +By the spring the ponies were all ready to start their serious training +for the southern journey, and the proper leaders now took charge to daily +exercise their animals in harness. The older sledges were used with dummy +loads, varying in weight according to the condition and strength of the +pony. So well in fact and so carefully did Oates tend his charges, that +by the time they were required for the southern journey only Jehu caused +him any anxiety, even so this beast managed to haul a reasonable load for +a distance of nearly 280 miles. + +As to the dogs, the list was as follows: + + Poodle--killed during gale outward in ship. + Mannike Rabchick (Little Grouse)--died from fall into crevasse. + Vashka--died suddenly, cause unknown. + Sera Uki (Gray Ears)--died after cramp and paralysis of hind legs. + Seri do. do. + Deek do. do. + Stareek (Old Man)--sent back with first supporting party. + Deek the Wild One. + Brodiaga (Robber). + Biele Glas (White Eye). + Wolk (Wolf). + Mannike Noogis (Little Leader). + Kesoi (One Eye). + Julik (Scamp). + Tresor (Treasure). + Vida. + Kumugai. + Biela Noogis (White Leader). + Hohol (Little Russian). + Krisraviza (Beauty). + Lappe Uki (Lap Ears). + Petichka (Little Bird). + Cigane (Gipsy). + Giliak (Indian). + Osman. + Seri (Gray). + Sukoi (Lean). + Borup. + Rabchick (Grouse). + Ostre Nos (Long Nose). + Makaka (Monkey). + Chorne Stareek (Black Old Man). + Peary. + +_Note._--Borup and Peary were from the American North Polar Expedition +puppies. Borup was used in Dimitri's dog team which got right on to the +Beardmore Glacier, but Peary was never any use except for the other dogs +to sharpen their teeth on. He was a regular pariah. + +Apart from the sledge dogs, we had a bitch called Lassie for breeding +purposes, but she was a rotten dog and killed her puppies, so we might as +well have left her in New Zealand, where we got her. + +The dogs came through the winter very well, and during blizzards they +merely coiled themselves up into round balls of fur and let the snow +drift over them. Meares and Dimitri kept a very watchful eye over the dog +teams, and protected them against the prevailing winds with substantial +snow-shelters, always taking the weaker or sick animals into the annexe +where Birdie kept his stores, or else into the small dog hospital, which +was made by Dimitri and perfected by Meares. + +The sun returned to us on the 22nd August. We were denied a sight of it +owing to bad weather, for on the 22nd and 23rd August we had a blizzard +with very heavy snowfall, and the drift was so great that, when it became +necessary to leave the hut for any purpose, the densely packed flakes +almost stifled us. We hoped to see the sun at noon on the 23rd when it +was denied us on the previous day, but no such luck, the sun's return was +heralded by one of our worst blizzards, which continued with very +occasional lulls until August 26, when we actually saw the sun, just a +bit of it. I saw the upper limb from out on the sea ice, and Sunny Jim at +the same time got a sight of it from his observatory hill. How glad we +were. We drank champagne to honour the sun, people made poetry concerning +it, some of which--Birdie Bowers's lines--found their way eventually into +the "South Polar Times." The animals went half dotty over it, frisking, +kicking, and breaking away even from their leaders; they seemed to +understand so well, these little ponies, that the worst part of the +winter was gone--poor ponies! Long before the sun again disappeared below +the northern horizon the ponies were no more. + +There is not so very much in the statement that the sun had now returned, +but the fact, of little enough significance to those without the +Antarctic Circle, left something in our minds, an impression never to be +effaced--the snowed-up hut surrounded by a great expanse of white, the +rather surprised look an the dogs' faces, the sniffing at one's knees and +the wagging of tails as one approached to pat their heads, the twitching +of the ponies' ears and nostrils, and the rather impish attitude the +fitter animals adopted, the occasional kick out, probably meant quite +playfully, and above all the grins on the faces of the Russian grooms. +Yes, we were all smiling when the sun came back, even the horizon smiled +kindly at us from the north. The Barne Glacier's snout lost its +inexorable hard gray look and took on softer hues, and Erebus's slopes +were now bathed in every shade of orange, pink, and purple. To begin +with, we had very little of this lovely colouring, but soon the +gladdening tints stretched out over morning and afternoon. We were never +idle in the hut, but the sun's return seemed to make fingers lighter as +well as hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +SPRING DEPOT JOURNEY + + +However well equipped an expedition may be, there are always special +arrangements and adaptions necessary to further the labour-saving +contrivances and extend the radius of action. + +For this reason the short autumn journeys had been undertaken to test the +equipment as well as to give us sledging experience and carry weights of +stores out on to the Barrier. And now that Wilson had added yet more +knowledge to what we were up against, we set Evans and his seamen +companions on to the most strenuous preparations for going South with +sledges. Thus, while one lot of men were skilfully fitting sledges with +convenient straps to secure the loads against the inevitable bumping, +jolting, and capsizing, and lashing tank-like contrivances of waterproof +canvas on, to contain the component units of food, another set of people +would be fastening light wicker or venesta boxes athwart the sledge ends +for carrying instruments and such perishable things as the primus stoves +and methylated spirit bottles. These sledges were under the particular +charge of Petty Officer Evans, and he took delightful pride in his +office. What little gray dawn there was enabled him gleefully to inspect +the completed sledges as they stood ready in their special groups outside +our hut. + +The more general type would be the 12 ft. sledge, constructed of light +elm with hickory runners. On it were secured venesta wood trays for the +tins of paraffin, usually in front, the aforesaid capacious canvas tank, +and behind everything the oblong instrument box surmounted by light +wooden chocks for holding the aluminium cooker. + +All sledges had small manilla rope spans, secured in most seamanlike +fashion, to take the towing strain and throw it fairly through the +structure of these light but wonderfully strong sledges. + +While the sledging equipment advanced, Bowers, aided by Cherry-Garrard, +sorted out the rations, which he weighed and packed in the most +business-like manner. Bowers was always well served, for he had the happy +knack of enlisting volunteers for whatever his particular purpose called. + +By September 1 Scott must have felt that no portion of his preparations +was incomplete, for the travelling equipment had been taken in hand with +a thoroughness that was the outcome of zeal and thoughtful attention to +detail. + +Previous to the departure of the large caravan for the Polar journey, a +spring journey was proposed for the purpose of laying a small depot at +Corner Camp and generally reconnoitring. On account of the low spring +temperatures no animals were used for this trip, which was carried out by +Gran, Forde, and myself. + +We started on ski, pulling a heavy load of over six hundred pounds. We +marched from eight o'clock in the morning until nine at night, with a +short interval for lunch, and that first day out we covered twenty miles +and arrived on the Great Ice Barrier at the close of our march. The +Barrier in its bleak loneliness is probably the most desolate portion of +the earth's surface, with the possible exception of the high plateau +which forms the ice cap of the great Antarctic mountain ranges. Although +only twenty miles from our winter quarters at Cape Evans, the temperature +was 21 degrees lower, as we afterwards found by comparison. + +We were all three anxious to acquit ourselves well, and although the +temperature on camping was 42 degrees below zero we had not experienced +any great discomfort until we encountered a sharp, cold breeze off Cape +Armitage, which resulted in Forde having his nose badly frost-bitten. +Directly this was noticed we quickly unpacked our sledge, erected our +tent, and whilst Gran cooked the supper I applied what warmth I could to +Forde's nose to bring the frozen part of it back to life. + +Needless to say, the sharp air had keened our appetites, and we were all +eager for the fragrant smelling pemmican. We sat round on our rolled-up +fur sleeping-bags, warming our hands over the primus stove, and literally +yearning for the moment to arrive when the pemmican would boil and we +could absorb the delicious beverage and derive some badly needed warmth +therefrom. Following the pemmican and biscuit came a fine brew of cocoa. +This finished, the bags were unstrapped and laid out, when the three of +us soon curled up and, huddling together for warmth, endeavoured to get +to sleep. The thermometer, however, fell to 60 degrees below zero, and +the cold seemed to grip us particularly about the feet and loins. All +night we shivered and fidgeted, feeling the want of extra beat in the +small of our backs more than elsewhere. We got little or no sleep that +night, and my companions were as glad as I was myself when daylight came +and we got busy with our breakfast. + +We arrived at the old pony-food depot, Safety Camp, during the forenoon +of September 9, and dug out the stores and bales of compressed hay, which +we carefully tallied and marked by setting up a large black flag. Then we +continued towards Corner Camp. We covered only eight or nine miles this +second day on account of spending much time in digging out the depot at +Safety Camp. The temperature seemed to fall as we advanced into the +Barrier, and this night the thermometer fell to 62 degrees below zero, +which meant more shivering and even more discomfort, because now the +moisture from our bodies and our breath formed ice in the fur of our +sleeping-bags, especially at the head, hips, and feet. One can never +forget the horrible ice-clammy feeling of one's face against the frozen +fur. How I yearned for a whiff of mild New Zealand air and an hour of its +glorious sunshine to thaw my frozen form. + +In spite of the low temperature we did sleep this second night, for we +were tired men, and Nature nursed us somehow into a sort of mild +unconsciousness. + +On the third day of our march a considerable effort was necessary to +bring the sledge out of its settled position in the hard snow, but we +soon got going, like willing horses swaying at our load. The day was very +cold and our breath came out grayly steaming in the clear, crisp air. + +At first our faces, feet, and fingers were quite painful from the cold, +which bit right through, but as the march progressed the temperature rose +kindly, until towards noon it was only about 30 degrees below zero, warm +enough after what we had experienced earlier. + +As we trudged along we watched the mist which clothed the distant hills +uncurl from their summits and roll back into rising sheets of vapour +which finally dispersed and left a cloudless sky. The awful absence of +life struck strong notes within us. Even our feet made no noise at all, +clad in their soft fur boots, for we could no longer pull on ski owing to +the increasing weight of ice collecting in our sleeping-bags and on the +sledging equipment. + +We were disappointed as the day progressed, for the sky became overcast +and the wind blew stronger and stronger from the W.S.W: with low drifts, +and at 8.30 p.m., it being too dark to see properly, we camped. By the +time our tent was pitched a fair blizzard was upon us, and by 10 o'clock +the camp was well snowed up. In spite of the howling wind we made all +snug inside, and the temperature rose to such an extent that we got quite +a good night's rest. + +The blizzard continued throughout the night, but on the following day the +wind took off somewhat, and by the afternoon it was fine enough for us to +make a start again, which we did in a biting cold wind. We marched on +until nightfall, covering about seven and a half miles. + +On the 13th September, having shivered in my bag all night, at five +o'clock I told my companions to get up, both of them being awake. The +cold had been so dreadful that none of us had slept a wink, and we were +not at all surprised on looking at the thermometer when we found the +temperature was 73.3 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. + +We cooked a meal and then prepared to scout for Corner Camp. I got a +glimpse of Observation Hill, a well-known landmark, and took a bearing of +that and another hill. + +This gave me our whereabouts, and then we struck southward for a short +distance until we saw just the top of the flagstaff of Corner Camp, which +had been entirely buried up by the winter's snow-drifts. When we reached +the Camp we pitched our tent and dug out all the forenoon, until +eventually we had got all the stores repacked in an accessible fashion at +the top of a great snow cairn constructed by the three of us. It was +about the coldest day's work I ever remember doing. + +The job finished, we made ourselves some tea and then started to march +back to Hut Point, nearly thirty-five miles away. We proposed to do this +distance without camping, except for a little food, for we had no wish to +remain another minute at Corner Camp, where it was blowing a strong +breeze with a temperature of 32 degrees below zero all the time we were +digging, in fact about as much as we could stick. When four miles on our +homeward journey the wind dropped to a calm, and at 10.30 we had some +pemmican and tea, having covered nine and a half miles according to our +sledge meter. We started again at midnight, and, steering by stars, kept +our course correct. The hot tea seemed to run through my veins; its +effect was magical, and the ice-bitten feeling of tired men gave way once +more to vigour and alertness. + +As we started out again we witnessed a magnificent Auroral display, and +as we dragged the now light sledge onward we watched the gold white +streamers waving and playing in the heavens. The atmosphere, was +extraordinarily clear, and we seemed to be marching in fairyland, but for +the cold which made our breath come in gasps. We were cased lightly in +ice about the shoulders, loins, and feet, and we were also covered with +the unpleasant rime which our backs had brushed off the tent walls when +we had camped. On we went, however, confident but silent. No other sound +now but the swish, swish of our ski as we sped through the soft new snow. +In the light of the Aurora objects stood out with the razor-edge +sharpness of an after-blizzard atmosphere, and the temperature seemed to +fall even lower than at midnight. Our fingers seemed to be cut with the +frost burn, and frost bites played all round our faces, making us wince +with pain. + +We were marching, as, it were, under the shadow of Erebus, the great +Antarctic volcano, and on this never-to-be-forgotten night the Southern +Lights played for hours. If for nothing else, it was worth making such a +sledge journey to witness the display. First, vertical shafts ascended in +a fan of electric flame, and then the shafts all merged into a filmy, +pale chrome sheet. This faded and intensified alternately, and then in an +instant disappeared, but more flaming lights burst into view in other +parts of the heavens, and a phantom curtain of glittering electric violet +trembled between the lights and the stars. + +No wonder Wilson and Bowers stated that the Aurora effects were much +better and more variegated in colour this southern side of Mount Erebus. +The awful splendour of this majestic vision gave us all a most eerie +feeling, and we forgot our fatigue and the cold whilst we watched. + +The Southern Lights continued for some hours, only vanishing with the +faint appearance of dawn. With daylight the well-known hills which +surrounded our winter quarters thrust themselves into view, and gladdened +by this sight we redoubled our efforts. + +At 5 a.m. we had alight breakfast of tea and biscuits. We were off again +before six, and we continued marching until we came to the edge of the +Great Ice Barrier shortly before 1 p.m. We did not stop for lunch, but +marched straight to Hut Point, arriving at three o'clock at the Hut. + +We cooked ourselves a tremendous meal, which we ate steadily from 4 to +5.30, and then we discussed marching on to our winter quarters at Cape +Evans, fifteen miles farther. + +Had we started we might have got in by 3 a.m., but not before. We had +marched all through one night, and besides digging out Corner Camp, we +had covered nearly thirty-five miles, which on top of a day's work we +considered good enough. We therefore prepared the hut for the night; two +of us turned in about seven and soon fell asleep. Gran remained sitting +at the stove, as his bag was in such a shockingly iced-up condition that +he could not yet get into it. He awoke us about 10 p.m. with more food, +cocoa and porridge, both of which were excellent. I full well remember +that he put about four ounces of butter into each bowl of porridge, which +we mightily enjoyed. We then slept again till morning--a long, warm, +dreamless sleep. + +We had an easy march back to Cape Evans on the sea ice, and arrived in +the evening at the Main Hut, which appeared to us like a palace after our +cold spring journey. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +PREPARATIONS AND PLANS FOR THE SUMMER SEASON + + +Whilst the spring depot-laying party was absent, Scott, on September 15, +took a small sledge party counting Bowers, Seaman Evans, and Simpson away +westward. They covered over 150 geographical miles, and commenced by +taking over to Butter Point a quantity of stores for Griffith Taylor's +forthcoming western summer journey. + +The provisions deposited, Scott marched up the Ferrar Glacier to +Cathedral Rocks and did some scientific work and surveying. He found that +the Ferrar Glacier moved 32 feet in seven months. He then came back down +the Glacier and continued his march on sea ice, following the coast into +the five mile deep bay known as New Harbour, thence outward and North +Eastward to Cape Bernacchi and on past Marble Point, where the broken-off +portion of Glacier Tongue was found aground as stated already. + +After an examination of this ice mass the party pressed on past Spike +Point to Dunlop Island, sledging coastwise parallel to the Piedmont +Glacier, named by Griffith Taylor after Dr. Wilson. A thorough +examination was made of Dunlop Island, revealing many facts of +extraordinary scientific interest. + +On 24th September the sledge team retraced their steps from Dunlop Island +to a camp near Marble Point, and, after spending a night close to the +remnant of Glacier Tongue, they shaped course direct for Cape Evans, +which was reached about 1 a.m. on 29th September. + +Travelling mostly on sea ice, and well away from the frigidity of the Ice +Barrier, Scott was not troubled with any particularly low temperatures, +but he experienced a nasty blizzard on the two days preceding his return +to headquarters. + +Apart from the value of this journey in observations of a technical +nature, Scott gleaned much information, which he was able to impart to +Griffith Taylor concerning the very important journey to be undertaken by +the latter. + +Once back in the Hut, Scott set to work to put the final touches to his +elaborate plans, drew up instructions, got his correspondence in order +lest he should miss the "Terra Nova" through a late return from the Pole, +and even wrote a special letter urging that special promotion to +Commander's rank should be given to Pennell and myself. + +About this time he called on us severally to relieve him if we could of +the responsibility of paying us for the second season. Most of us signed +the document, but not all could afford to do so. + +The general outline plan for the Polar journey was now understood by all +concerned in it to be as follows: + +_The Motor Party._--Day, Lashly, Hooper, and myself to leave winter +quarters about October 22, the two motors dragging fuel and forage. + +_The Pony Party,_ consisting of Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers, +Cherry-Garrard, Atkinson, Wright, Petty Officer Evans, Crean, and +Keohane, to be independent of the success of the motors, to work light +loads and easy distances out to Corner Camp, full loads and easy +distances to One Ton Camp, and full distances beyond this point. + +_The Dog Teams,_ starting later, to rejoin Scott at One Ton Camp. + +The first object was to get twelve men with 43 weekly food units +provision (four men per weekly unit) to the foot of Beardmore Glacier. +Thence, with 3 units of four men and 21 units of provision, it was hoped +to extend the advance unit (Polar party of four men) the required +distance. The route intended was the actual one taken, as shown on the +accompanying map. + +All our instructions were clear, and we knew what was expected of us long +before the start for the Southern journey was made. + +The plans and instructions complete, we had a full month for our own +individual work. + +I had plenty to do in conjunction largely with Debenham, and accordingly +he, I, and Gran set out on September 23 with sledge, tent, and a week's +food supply to complete and extend our surveys, and in Debenham's case to +"geologise." + +We had an interesting but somewhat chilly time. Theodolite and plane +table work are not suited to very cold climates. We all three worked long +hours, usually turning out between 5 and 6 a.m. and not wasting time over +meals. + +Whilst away surveying we mostly worked on the sea ice, and pitched our +tent there. On October 2 at, midnight a terrific squall struck our tent. +We knew what Wilson's experience had been and consequently we were out of +our bags in a moment. Being close to land we got Gran to collect rocks on +the valance, while Debenham and I held on for our lives to it, otherwise +the tent would have blown away via McMurdo Sound into the Ross Sea. + +Eventually all was serene, the tent securely anchored by rocks piled +close around, and we three were snoring in our bags. + +We lay still until the following afternoon, by which time the blizzard +had abated, and one could see a mile or two; accordingly we were up and +about, so that when the visibility suited, Debenham and I were once more +at work and Gran was away to Cape Evans for the purpose of replenishing +our food bag. + +It is worthy of mention that Gran could easily carry sixty pounds weight +in a "rygsaek," (Norwegian knapsack for ski running and towing) and hung +about him whilst keeping up a speed on ski that made the best of us +sweat. + +Debenham whilst in the neighbourhood of the Turk's Head found much of +interest to geologists, and was pleased at what we collected in the way +of information. "Deb" was one of the best cooks in the expedition, so we +fared well whilst he was with Gran and myself. + +Gran kept us alive with his reminiscences, which were always amusing, and +he certainly possessed the liveliest imagination in the Expedition. He +ought to have been a brigand chief. Sometimes his imaginative foresight +led him to commit slight breaches of discipline, as the following +anecdote will show. On midwinter night when our table was gay and festive +Gran noticed an unopened pint bottle of champagne towards the end of the +feast, when "bubbley" was being superseded by port and liqueurs. Cleverly +he coaxed the champagne bottle on to his lap, under his jersey, and +finally into his bunk, where it remained hidden until such opportunity +should arise for its consumption. + +Gran was too generous to finish it himself, and too wise to divide it +with many--a pint was for two and no more. + +It so happened that whilst we two were working around Glacier Tongue this +spring doing survey work we had to come in to Cape Evans for some +purpose. We had a hard run out on ski to our camp, and my short legs +found great effort necessary to keep pace with the swarthy ski-runner. +Once arrived at the survey camp I puffed and blew and sank nearly +exhausted on my sleeping-bag in the tent. I told Gran we must have some +tea before re-commencing work, and reached out to get the cooker ready. +Gran asked me what I fancied most in the world, and my reply was--a pint +of champagne. + +He laughed and asked me what I would give him for that same, to which I +articulated, "FIVE POUNDS," and sank my tired head between my knees. +Noiselessly the Norwegian glided from the tent to reappear with the +stolen champagne bottle. I smiled delightedly, and soon we were hard at +work cooking the champagne into its liquid state once more, for it was of +course hard frozen in the low temperature. + +When we got the stuff melted it had lost its "fizz," but it tasted +nectar-like even from our aluminium sledge mugs, and such was the +stimulus from it that we worked until darkness had set in. I have never +paid the five pounds, for the reason that Gran chose a dinner party at +the Grand Hotel, Christiania instead: from a financial point of view I +should have gained by paying--but that is another story and has no +connection with the Frozen South. + +On October 13 we finished the coast survey in McMurdo Sound: generally +the weather was wretched, but this notwithstanding we got along fairly +well with our work. Once back in the Hut there was plenty to be done +preparing for the Southern Journey. + +My particular work consisted of rating chronometers, sewing, packing, +stowing, making sundials, calibrating instruments, and preparing little +charts which could be rolled up on a bamboo stick and carried in the +instrument boxes of the sledges. + +Poor Clissold, our cook, fell off an iceberg while posing for Ponting, +and was on account of his severe shaking unable to accompany the Motor +party for which Scott had detailed him. + +After dinner on October 17 Day started his motors, and amidst a perfect +furore of excitement he got one motor sledge down on to the sea ice. At +the ice foot, alas, one of the rear axle cases fractured badly and the +car was out of action 30 yards from the garage. The other car wouldn't +start. + +From the 18th until the 24th October, Day and Lashly were at work +repairing the disabled car, and they made an excellent job of it, so that +there was no delay in the starting date for the pioneer party with the +motors. + +We got all news by telephone from Hut Point with reference to the state +of the surface on the Great Ice Barrier, as Meares and Dimitri returned +on October 15 from a flying journey to Corner Camp and back with depot +stores. Meares's dogs on this trip covered the seventy statute miles, out +and home, in thirty-six hours, including their resting time. + +Scott handed me my instructions on October 20, which read as follows: + + _Instructions for Motor Party._ + + Proceed at convenient speed to Corner Camp, thence to One Ton Camp, + and thence due South to Latitude 80 1/2 degrees South. If motors + successful + + (i) Carry forward from Corner Camp 9 bags forage, 1 bag of oilcake; + _but_ see that provision for ponies is intact, _viz._: 3 sacks oats, + 1 bag oilcake, 4 bags of forage. If motors pulling very well you can + also take 9 cases emergency biscuit. + + (ii) In addition carry forward from One Ton Camp all man food and fuel + in depot, _viz._: 7 units bagged provisions, 4 boxes biscuit, 8 + gallons paraffin, but see that provision for ponies is intact, _viz._: + 5 sacks oats; and deposit second bag of oil-cake brought from Corner + Camp. If motors pulling very well you can also take 2 or 3 bales of + compressed fodder. + + It being important that I should have latest news of your success I am + arranging for dog teams to follow your tracks for some distance. + + If motors break down temporarily you will have time for repairs. + + If motors break down irretrievably, take 5 weeks' provision and 3 + gallons extra summit oil on 10 foot sledge and continue South easy + marches. Arrange as best you can for ponies to overtake you three or + four marches due South One Ton Camp. Advance as much weight (man food) + as you can conveniently carry from One Ton Camp, but I do not wish you + to tire any of party. The object is to relieve the ponies as much as + possible on leaving One Ton Camp, but you must not risk chance of your + tracks being obliterated and pony party missing you. + + (Signed) R. F. SCOTT. + +On October 23 I wrote my final letters to my wife and friends lest I +should get back to Cape Evans after the departure of the "Terra Nova": we +had by now decided that another winter was imperious, and as far as +possible those who were likely to remain a second winter wrote to this +effect, and left their letters in Simpson's charge. Before my departure +with the motors I also spent some time with my leader, and he gave me all +his instructions to the various parties to read. + +They are so explicit and comprehensive that I may well append certain of +them here, for they clearly show how Scott's organisation covered the +work of the ship, the base, the western party, the dog teams, and +even the arrangements for Campbell's party. + +I.--INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMMANDING OFFICER, "Terra Nova." + + _October_, 1911. + +The expedition suffered a considerable loss of ponies in March, but +enough remain to carry out the Southern Plan, under favourable +circumstances. + +This loss and experience with the remaining animals have decided me to +start the Southern journey at a later date than originally intended. + +As at present arranged the Southern Party leaves at the end of this month +(October), and it is estimated that if all goes well the earliest date at +which the most advanced party can return to McMurdo Sound is March 15. + +As it is probable the ship will be obliged to leave the Sound before this +party has returned, arrangements have been made to pass a second winter +at Cape Evans, and as is clearly desirable, the Scientific Staff will +remain to continue their work. + +If fresh transport is brought by the ship, other members of the +Expedition will remain to work it, and it is probable that an attempt +will be made to cross the Barrier in a S.S.E.ly direction in 1912-13. + +The ship must be prepared to return to the Sound in 1912-13 to relieve +those that remain for the second winter. + +Details concerning past events can be learned from the bearers of these +instructions. + +In all that follows I want you to understand clearly that you should +proceed in accordance with your judgment rather than the letter of these +instructions, where the further information you possess may cause it to +appear more expedient. + +Subject to this condition I wish you to carry out the following +programme:-- + +I assume that you arrive at the rendezvous, Granite Harbour, on or about +January 15, and pick up the Western Geological Party as arranged. + +The party will consist of Griffith-Taylor, Debenham, Gran, and Forde. + +The first copy of this document may be found by you at the depot made by +this party on the Bluff at the entrance of the Harbour, but I hope that +Taylor himself will hand it to you. + +In case the party should be absent it is well to quote Taylor's plan in +brief: + + To November 10--Exploring along coast North of Granite Harbour. + November 14 to 28--Exploring coast and inland South of Granite Harbour. + December 8 to January 8-Exploring inland of Granite Harbour region. + +Taylor will make every effort to return to Granite Harbour in time to +meet you, and should the party be absent you may assume that it has +probably been delayed inland. On the chance that it may have been cut off +you may proceed to search the coast in a Southerly direction if ice +conditions permit. + +The time occupied in the search must be left to your judgment, observing +that the party will reach Granite Harbour with sufficient provision to +last till April, 1912, and should be able to work its way back to this +depot. + +All things considered, I do not think you need be anxious about the +party, even if you find a search impracticable, having regard to your +future movements, and you will remember that the search will be more +easily prosecuted as the season advances. + +Should the party be recovered at once, as is most probable, I wish you to +take it to Evans Coves, and land it without delay. The provisions carried +by the party should be sufficient to support it for about two months, to +provide for the possibility of the failure of the ship to return. + +I imagine this landing will be effected about January 18 or 19, and the +party should be instructed to be prepared to be re-embarked on February +15. It will, of course, be under your orders, and you should be careful +that the place for relief is thoroughly understood by all concerned. + +After landing this party you will proceed to Cape Evans, and should you +reach it on or about January 23 you will have three weeks in McMurdo +Sound before proceeding to finally relieve the Geological Party. + +There will be a great deal of work to be done and very little assistance: +the order in which it is performed must depend on the state of the ice, +etc., but of course the practical work of relieving the station must take +precedence in point of importance. + +Simpson will remain in charge of the station, and is provided with +complete lists of the stores remaining, together with the requirements +for the future. Bowers will have left a letter for you concerning these +matters. It is probable that a good many of the stores you bring will not +be required on shore, and in any case you will easily determine what is +wanted. If 10 tons of patent fuel remain, we shall not require more than +15 tons of additional fuel. + +In addition to stores I hope you will be landing some fresh transport +animals. Oates has drawn a plan for extending the stable accommodation, +which will be left with Simpson. The carpenter should be landed for this +work and for the few small alterations in the hut accommodation which may +be necessary. + +The Discovery Hut at Cape Armitage has now been put into fairly good +order, and anticipating that returning parties may have to remain there +for some time, as we did last year, I am arranging to transport a +quantity of stores to Hut Point. In case the ponies are unable to finish +this work, I should like you to complete it at some convenient season. +According to circumstances you will probably wait till the ice has broken +well back. + +Mails and letters for members of the Southern Party should be taken to +Hut Point and left in clearly marked boxes. + +Simpson will inform you of the plan on which the Southern Journey is +being worked. The first returning parties from the South should reach Hut +Point towards the end of January. At as early a date as convenient I +should like you to proceed to the Western side of the Sound + +(i) To find a snug berth in which the ship can take shelter during +gales. + +(ii) To erect the meteorological hut if you have brought it with you. + +From a recent sledge trip to the West I am inclined to think that +excellent shelter could be found for the ship alongside the fast ice in +the Ferrar Glacier Inlet or in New Harbour, and it might be well to make +headquarters in such a place in time of disturbance. But it would be wise +to keep an eye to the possibility of ice pressure across the Sound. + +It might be possible to moor the ship under the shelter of Butter Point +by a hawser secured to balks of timber buried deep in the snow; she +should he easy at a long scope. In regards to the hut my idea is to place +it in as sheltered a spot as possible, at or near a spot which commands a +view of the Strait, the main object being to make it a station from which +the phenomena of blizzards, etc., can be observed. Simpson, who was with +me in the West, will give you some idea of our impressions. + +You will understand that neither of the above objects are of vital +importance. + +On the proper date you will return to Evans Coves to pick up the +Geological Party. + +I must assume that Campbell has been landed in the region of Robertson +Bay in a place that is fairly accessible at this season. If this is so I +think it is desirable that you should visit his station after leaving +Evans Coves to communicate fresh instructions to him. + +Campbell was directed to be prepared to embark on February 25, and it is +probable that he will have returned a few days before that date. + +In view of the return of the ship in 1912-13 I propose to give Campbell's +Party the choice of remaining another winter in their station under +certain conditions or of returning to New Zealand. Should they decide to +stay, the necessary stores for them can now be landed. Should they decide +to return, inform Priestley that he is at liberty to remain at Cape Evans +for a second winter if he wishes to do so. + +Should the party be absent from the station you must leave the +instructions and return to McMurdo Sound. I do not think you should delay +beyond February 24 on this service. + +You should be back in McMurdo Sound at the end of February or March, and +after collecting fresh news, I hope you will be able to moor the ship and +await developments for at least ten days. + +The term of this stay must be left entirely to your judgment, observing +that whilst it is highly undesirable for you to miss the latest possible +news, it would be more undesirable for you to be caught in the ice and +forced to winter. + +Concerning this matter I can only give you information as to what had +happened in previous years: + + Last year the Bays froze permanently on March 24. + Last year the Sound froze permanently on May 7 or 8. + +By the Bays I mean the water south of Hut Point, inside Turtle Back +Island, south of Glacier Tongue, inside the islands north of Glacier +Tongue, and, I think, the western shores of the Sound. + +The following gives the ice movements in the Sound in more detail: + + March 24.-25. Ice forming and opening with leads. + " 26. Sea clear. + " 27. Strait apparently freezing. + " 28 (early). Ice over whole Sound. + " 29. All Ice gone. + " 30. Freezing over. + April 1. Ice out, etc. + +This sort of thing continued till May, with lengthening intervals, but +never more than three days of frozen sea. + +The dates of freezing over in 1902 were approximately the same, except +that the Sound continued to open beyond the Glacier Tongue throughout the +winter. + +In 1903 the Bays did not break out, but the Sound was freezing and +opening in March and April as in the other years. I think it is certain +that the old ice lately broken as well as all the broken young ice drifts +to the west, and that a ship on the western side of the Sound would be +pretty certainly entangled at this season of the year. + +I think it more than probable that you will find all the old ice broken +out when you return from the north, and the Bay south of Cape Armitage +completely open. + +If so, this seems to me to be a good place for you to wait, moored to the +edge of the Barrier, if possible. Young ice will constantly form about +you, but I do not think you need fear its detaining you until after the +third week in March. I am afraid it may be very cold and unpleasant +waiting in such a situation, and possibly better and safer conditions for +the ship can be found farther to the west and nearer to the decayed +Glacier ice south of Black Island. + +Moored here the ship would have a clear sea to leeward, whereas in the +Bay beyond Cape Armitage she might have a lee shore. You will know best +how to make a good permanent ice anchor. + +There are shoals off Cape Armitage which may extend for one or even two +miles, and careful navigation is needed in this immediate vicinity. The +shoals off Hut Point and the west side of the Peninsula do not extend +more than a ship's length from the shore. Otherwise, except inside the +Islands, I believe the Sound to be free from such dangers. + +In case you choose to wait in a spot somewhat remote from Hut Point I am +arranging to attract your attention in the following manner:--Very's +lights will be discharged and as large a flare as possible will be burnt +at Hut Point at midnight or noon (you will remember we are keeping time +for 180th meridian). + +As large a flag as possible will be displayed on the skyline of the +heights near by, and attempts to heliograph with a looking-glass will be +made. + +With a keen lookout for such signals you need not frequently approach the +Hut. + +In the above I have referred to the young ice in the Sound only; there is +no means of knowing what is happening farther north, but I am of opinion +that as long as the "Terra Nova" is free to move in the Southern Bays, +she will have no great difficulty in leaving the Ross Sea. + +You will understand that the foregoing remarks are intended as helpful +suggestions and that I do not wish them to interfere with your judgment +of the situation as it stands; above all, I would not have them to prompt +you to take a risk in detaining the ship beyond the time which you think +proper for her departure. I fully realise that at this critical time, +when gales are very frequent, your position will be beset with +difficulties, and I much regret that it is necessary to ask you to +undertake such an uncomfortable service. + +Apart from, but concurrently with, the services which have been +discussed, I know that you will be anxious to help forward the scientific +objects of the Expedition. Having regard to your interests in such +matters, they also are left mainly to your judgment, and I wish only to +specify some lines on which any soundings taken would be especially +important. + +These seem to be: + + 1. In the space occupied by the old Glacier Tongue (some two miles of + the Tongue was broken off last summer). + 2. Across the Sound in one or two places to give a section of the + bottom elevations. + 3. Across any fiords on the coast such as the Ferrar Glacier Inlet. + 4. Off the end of ice tongues or the edge of ice walls. + 5. Off the old pinnacled ice north of Black Island. + 6. From a boat near the Barne Glacier. + 7. From a boat around grounded bergs. + +I have now to mention various matters of lesser importance to which I +should like attention given if time and circumstances permit. + +1. The Hut Galley is not in a very satisfactory condition. I should like +Williams to overhaul it and try to make it more serviceable for a second +season. + +2. The coast of Victoria Land has been redrawn over the "Discovery" +track. I should be glad to have definite evidence on this point. Any +replotting of coast will of course be valuable. + +3. Boot-leather, stout boot-nails, and useful paper are requirements +which I hope you will be able to supply sufficiently for a second season. + +4. The only want for the second season which I can foresee is reindeer +pelts for repairing sleeping-bags. I very much fear you will not have +brought any: anything you can provide to make good the want would be +acceptable. + +5. If convenient Williams might look at the blubber cooking stove in the +Discovery Hut and provide some sheet metal, etc., to keep it in good +repair. + +6. One of the old blubber stoves adapted as in stables and some chimney +pipe should be placed in the Meteorological Hut if it is erected to the +west. + +7. To provide for possible difficulty in keeping up supply of blubber for +Discovery Hut stove in March and April it might be useful to have a few +bags of coal there, if you can spare them and land them conveniently. +Last year we managed very well without coal. + +8. If when erecting the stables, etc., the carpenter has not time to see +to smaller matters, such as the repairing of the porch entrance, etc., +will you please leave sufficient wood for the purpose. A drift screen +would be an advantage outside door of porch. + +9. If you erect the Meteorological Hut, and can conveniently do so, it +would help for you to leave a few cases of provisions in it. Bowers +leaves a note with Simpson on this point. + +10. If at any time during the season it is convenient to you without +undue expenditure of coal to land at Cape Crozier, I should like you to +leave a small depot of provisions there. The object of this depot is to +support a sledge party to visit the region early next season. Bowers +leaves a note with Simpson concerning the stores required. They should be +placed near the Discovery record post. + +11. To assist the signalling to you from Hut Point you might land rockets +or port-fires. + +In regard to the constitution of the wintering party for the second +winter, much must remain in doubt. The following members will return in +any case: + + 1. Taylor, whose leave of absence transpires. + 2. Ponting, who will have completed his work. + 3. Anton, who has had enough of it. + +_Anton_ took the dark season very badly; it preyed on his superstitions, +but he has worked like a Trojan and is an excellent little man. Please +recommend him highly if he wants to get work in New Zealand. + +_Meares_ may possibly return; it depends on letters from home. + +The following are certain to stay: Bowers, Simpson, Debenham, Wright, +Nelson, Atkinson, Clissold, Hooper, Dimitri. + +The movements of the following depend (i) on the date of the return from +the South; (ii) on the fresh transport which you have brought: Myself, +Wilson, Evans, Oates, Cherry-Garrard, Gran, Day, and the seamen. + +If you have brought fresh transport the probability is that all these +will remain. If you have not brought fresh transport the majority, if not +all, who are able to catch the ship will return. The decision is in every +case voluntary and subject to alteration on receipt of home news or from +other causes. + +It is impossible for me to speak too highly of any member of the +Expedition who has remained in this party, and you must do your best to +see that the reasons of returning members are generally understood. + +In regard to my agreement with the Central News I am leaving with Simpson +under separate cover a telegraphic despatch concerning the doings of this +party, containing about 3000 words. I hope you will duly receive letters +from me through returning sections of the Southern Party. I must leave it +to you to complete the despatch with this material, with news from +Campbell, and with an account of your own doings. + +You will remember that the agreement is for a minimum of 6000 words, and +we must not fail in the performance of our part, Drake must take special +care to have the "Hereward" message correct. + +As a matter of form, it will be well for you to remind every one +returning in the ship of the terms of the ship's articles. + +Ponting will be in charge of all the photographic material returning, and +will see to the observance of the various agreements concerning it. + +His own work is of the greatest importance, and it is probable that he +will wish to be in the ship during your trip to recover the Geological +Party and communicate with Campbell. + +I should like you to give him every facility you can for his work, but of +course you will remember that he is an enthusiast, and in certain +circumstances might undervalue his own safety or that of the ship. I +don't want you to run risks to get pictures. + +I have hitherto made no mention of Amundsen, as we have no news of him +beyond that which you brought. The circumstances do not appear to me to +make it incumbent on you to attempt to visit his station. But should the +"Fram" not have been heard of, or public opinion seem to point to the +advisability, you are of course at liberty to go along the Barrier and to +rearrange this programme as necessary for the purpose. + +Finally, I wish you every sort of good fortune in the work that is to do, +and better weather than you encountered last year. I am sure that you +will do all that is possible under the circumstances. + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + +II.--INSTRUCTIONS TO DR. G. C. SIMPSON. + +MY DEAR SIMPSON,--In leaving you in charge of the Cape Evans Station I +have little to do beyond expressing the hearty wish that all may be well +with yourself and the other members of the Expedition remaining with you. + +I leave in your charge a box containing instructions for the Commanding +Officer of the "Terra Nova" and other documents which I wish you to +deliver to the proper persons. + +I think you are fully aware of my plans and wishes, beyond their +expression in the various statements you have seen, and that it is +needless to go further with written explanations. + +As you know, it is arranged for Ponting, Hooper, and Anton to make a +journey to the S.W. in December. Ponting will leave with you a written +statement giving an outline of his intended movements. Later in the +season he will probably visit Cape Royds and other interesting +localities: please give him what assistance you can in his important +work. + +From time to time Meares may be visiting the station, and I hope that by +this means, or through the telephone, you may receive information as to +the progress of the Southern Party. + +The thawing of the drifts in summer will have to be carefully watched and +such measures as are necessary taken to avoid injury to the Hut and the +stores. Cases should not be exposed to wet or tins to rust. + +The breaking of the sea ice should be carefully watched, noted, and +reported to Hut Point when possible. + +Bowers will leave notes with you concerning store requirements and +desirable expenditure. I anticipate the ship may have some difficulty in +reprovisioning the station. You will of course render all the assistance +you can. + +Details as to the improvement of the Hut for a second winter will become +more evident as the season advances. In addition to the probable +renovation of the stables I can only suggest the following points at +present: + + 1. An extension or rebuilding of the entrance porch so that the outer + door faces north. Regard must be had to the possibility of bringing + sledges into hut. + 2. A shelter extension to latrine. + 3. The construction of an air-tight embankment or other device at the + base of the hut walls to keep the floor warmer. + 4. The betterment of insulation in your corner, and the provision of a + definite air inlet there. + 5. The caulking of small holes and slits in the inner roof. + 6. The whale boat should be looked to and probably filled with water + under advice from ship. + +After departure of Southern Party all mattresses and bedding should be +rolled up, and as opportunity occurs they should be thoroughly dried in +the sun. + +You will remember that as the summer advances certain places in the solid +floe become dangerously weak. It should be well to keep watch on such +places, especially should they occur on the road to Hut Point, over which +parties may be travelling at any time. It is probable there will be a +rearrangement of the currents in the region of Tent Island since the +breaking of the Glacier Tongue. + +(Signed) R.F. Scott. + + +III.--INSTRUCTIONS LEADER OF WESTERN PARTY. + +1911. +The objects of your journey have been discussed, and need not here be +particularised. In general they comprise the Geological exploration of +the coast of Victoria Land. + +Your party will consist of Debenham, Gran, and Forde, and you will cross +the Sound to Butter Point on or about October. + +You will depart from Butter Point with provision as under: + + 11 weeks' pemmican. + 10 gallons oil. + 18 weeks' remainder. + 25 lb. cooking fat. + +and make along the coast to Granite Harbour. You will leave at Butter +Point two weeks' provision for your party, for use in case you are forced +to retreat along the coast late in the season, and for the same +eventuality you will depot a week's provision at Cape Bernacchi. + +On arrival in Granite Harbour you will choose a suitable place to depot +the main bulk of your provision. + +As the Commanding Officer of the "Terra Nova" has been referred to the +bluff Headland, shown in the photograph on page 154 "Voyage of the +'Discovery'," as the place near which you are likely to be found, it is +obviously desirable that your depot should be in this vicinity. + +I approve your plan to employ your time thereafter approximately as +follows: + +During what remains of the first fortnight of November in exploring north +of Granite Harbour. + +During the last fortnight in November in exploring south of Granite +Harbour. + +The only importance attached to the observance of this programme, apart +from a consideration of the work to be done, lies in the fact that in +case of an early break up of the sea ice and your inability to reach the +rendezvous, the ship is directed to search the coast south of Granite +Harbour. + +You should act accordingly in modifying your plans. + +It will certainly be wise for you to confine your movements to the +regions of Granite Harbour during the second week in January. + +You will carry a copy of my instructions to the Commanding Officer of the +"Terra Nova," which you are at liberty to peruse. + +This should be left at your depot and the depot marked, so that the ship +has a good chance of finding it in case of your absence. + +You will, of course, make every effort to be at the rendezvous at the +proper time, January 15, and you need not be surprised if the ship does +not appear on the exact date. The Commanding Officer has been instructed +in the following words: + + "I wish the ship to be at Granite Harbour on or about January 15.... + No anxiety need be felt if she is unable to reach this point within a + week or so of the date named." + +You are now in possession of all the information I can give you on this +point, and it must be left to your discretion to act in accordance with +unforeseen circumstances. + +Should the ship fail to find you it is probable she will not make a +protracted search before going to Cape Evans to gather further +particulars and land stores; it is to be remembered also that an extent +of fast ice or pack may prevent a search of the coast at this early +season. + +Should the ship fail to appear within a fortnight of the date named you +should prepare to retreat on Hut Point, but I am of opinion that the +retreat should not be commenced until the Bays have refrozen, probably +towards the end of March. An attempt to retreat over land might involve +you in difficulties, whereas you could build a stone hut, provision it +with seal meat, and remain in safety in any convenient station on the +coast. In no case is an early retreat along the coast to be attempted +without the full concurrence of the members of your party. + +Should the ship embark you on or about the proper date, you will take on +board your depot stores, except one week's provision. These stores should +serve your travelling needs for the remainder of the season. + +Whilst expressing my wishes to the Commanding Officer of the "Terra +Nova," I have given him full discretion to act according to +circumstances, in carrying out the further programme of the season. + +You will, of course, be under his orders and receive his instructions +concerning your further movements. + +In your capacity as leader of a party I cannot too strongly impress on +you the necessity for caution in your movements. Although you will +probably travel under good weather conditions, you must remember that +violent storms occasionally sweep up the coast and that the changes of +weather are quite sudden, even in summer. I urge this the more especially +because I think your experiences of last year are likely to be +misleading. + +I am confident that it is not safe for a party in these regions to be at +a great distance from its camp, and that, for instance, it would be +dangerous to be without shelter in such storms as that encountered by the +"Discovery" off Coulman Island early in January, 1902. + +With camp equipment a party is always safe, though it is not easy to +pitch tent in a high wind. + +I can forsee no object before you which can justify the risk of accident +to yourself or to the other members of your party. + +I wish you to show these instructions to Debenham, who will take charge +of the party in case you should be incapacitated. + +I sincerely hope you will be able to accomplish your work without +difficulty, and I am sure that Pennell will do his best to help you. +Yours, + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + +IV.--INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOG TEAMS. + +_October_ 20. +DEAR MEARES,--In order that there may be no mistake concerning the +important help which it is hoped the dog teams will give to the Southern +Party, I have thought it best to set down my wishes as under: + +Assuming that you carry two bags of oilcake to Hut Point, I want you to +take these with five bags of forage to Corner Camp before the end of the +month. This will leave two bags of forage at Hut Point. + +If the motors pass Hut Point en route for the Barrier, I should be glad +to get all possible information of their progress. About a day after they +have passed if you are at Hut Point I should like you to run along their +tracks for half a day with this object. The motors will pick up the two +bags of forage at Hut Point--they should be placed in a convenient +position for this purpose. + +The general scheme of your work in your first journey over the +Barrier has been thoroughly discussed, and the details are +contained in Table VIII of my plan of which you should have a +copy. I leave you to fix the date of your departure from Hut Point, +observing that I should like you to join me at One Ton Camp, or very +shortly after. + +We cannot afford to wait. Look for a note from me at Corner Camp. The +date of your return must be arranged according to circumstances. Under +favourable conditions you should be back at Hut Point by December 19 at +latest. + +After sufficient rest I should like you to transport to Hut Point such +emergency stores as have not yet been sent from Cape Evans. At this time +you should see that the Discovery Hut is provisioned to support the +Southern Party and yourself in the autumn in case the ship does not +arrive. + +At some time during this month or early in January you should make your +second journey to One Ton Camp and leave there: + + 5 units X.S. ration. + 3 cases of biscuit. + 5 gallons of oil. + As much dog food as you can conveniently carry (for third journey). + +This depot should be laid not later than January 19, in case of rapid +return of first unit of Southern Party. + +Supposing that you have returned to Hut Point by January 13, there will +be nothing for you to do on the Southern road for at least three weeks. +In this case, and supposing the ice conditions to be favourable, I should +like you to go to Cape Evans and await the arrival of the ship. + +The ship will be short-handed and may have difficulty in landing stores. +I should like you to give such assistance as you can without tiring the +dogs. + +About the first week of February I should like you to start your third +journey to the South, the object being to hasten the return of the third +Southern unit and give it a chance to catch the ship. The date of your +departure must depend on news received from returning units, the extent +of the depot of dog food you have been able to leave at One Ton Camp, the +state of the dogs, etc. + +Assuming that the ship will have to leave the Sound soon after the middle +of March, it looks at present as though you should aim at meeting the +returning party about March 1 in Latitude 82 or 82.30. If you are then in +a position to advance a few short marches or "mark time" for five or six +days on food brought, or ponies killed, you should have a good chance of +affecting your object. + +You will carry with you beyond One Ton Camp one X.S. ration, including +biscuit and one gallon of paraffin, and of course you will not wait +beyond the time when you can safely return on back depots. + +You will of course understand that whilst the object of your third +journey is important, that of the second is vital. At all hazards three +X.S. units of provision must be got to One Ton Camp by the date named, +and if the dogs are unable to perform this service, a man party must be +organised. + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + +V.--INSTRUCTIONS TO LIEUT. VICTOR CAMPBELL. + +Cape Evans, _October_, 1911. +MY DEAR CAMPBELL,--This letter assumes that you are landed somewhere to +the north of this station and that Pennell is able to place it in your +hands in the third week of February before he returns to McMurdo Sound. + +From Pennell's instructions, which I have asked him to show you, you will +see that there is a probability of some change in the future plans +whereby some members of the Expedition remain for a second winter at Cape +Evans. + +You will learn the details of the situation and the history of this +station from Pennell and others, and I need not go into these matters. + +If things should turn out as expected, arrangements will have to be made +for the "Terra Nova" to return to the Ross Sea in the open season +1912-13. Under these circumstances an opportunity offers for the +continuance of useful work in all directions. I have therefore to offer +you the choice of remaining in your present station for a second year or +of returning in the "Terra Nova." + +I shall not expect you to stay unless: + + (1) All your party are willing or can be replaced by volunteers. + (2) The work in view justifies the step. + (3) Your food supplies are adequate. + (4) Your party is in a position to be relieved with certainty on and + after February 25, 1913. + (5) Levick and Priestley are willing to forgo all legal title to + expeditionary salary for the second year. + +I should explain that this last condition is made only because I am in +ignorance of the state of the expeditionary finances. + +Should you decide to stay I hope that Pennell may be able to supply all +your requirements. Should you decide to return please inform Priestley +that he is at liberty to stay at Cape Evans for the second winter. + +The same invitation is extended to yourself should you wish to see more +of this part of the continent. + +We could not afford to receive more of your party. + +Should you not have returned from your sledge trip in time to meet the +"Terra Nova" when she bears this letter, you will understand that the +choice of staying or returning is equally open to you when she returns in +March. + +In this case it would of course be impossible for any of your party to +stay at Cape Evans. + +Should you see Pennell in February and decide to return, you could remain +at your station till the ship sails north in March if you think it +advisable. + +Being so much in the dark concerning all your movements and so doubtful +as to my ability to catch the ship, I am unable to give more definite +instructions, but I know that both you and Pennell will make the best of +the circumstances, and always deserve my approval of your actions. + +In this connection I conclude by thanking you for the work described in +your report of February last. I heartily approve your decision not to +winter in King Edward's Land, your courteous conduct towards Amundsen, +and your forethought in returning the two ponies to this station. + +I hope that all has been well with you and that you have been able to do +good work. I am sure that you have done everything that circumstances +permitted and shall be very eager to see your report. +With best wishes, etc., + +(Signed) R.F. SCOTT. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +SOUTHERN JOURNEY--MOTOR SLEDGES ADVANCE + + +On October 24, 1911, the advance guard of the Southern Party, consisting +of Day, Lashly, Hooper, and myself, left Cape Evans with two motor +sledges as planned. We had with us three tons of stores, pony food, and +petrol, carried on five 12 ft. sledges, and our own tent, etc., on a +smaller sledge. The object of sending forward such a weight of stores was +to save the ponies' legs over the variable sea ice, which was in some +places hummocky and in others too slippery to stand on. Also the first +thirty miles of Barrier was known to be bad travelling and likely to tire +the ponies unnecessarily unless they marched light, so here again it was +desirable to employ the motors for a heavy drag. + +We had fine weather when at 10.30 a.m. we started off, with the usual +concourse of well-wishers, and after one or two stops and sniffs we +really got under way, and worked our loads clear of the Cape on to the +smoother stretch of sea ice, which improved steadily as we proceeded. +Hooper accompanied Lashly's car and I worked with Day. + +A long shaft protruded 3 ft. clear each end of the motors. To the +foremost end we attached the steering rope, just a set of man-harness +with a long trace, and to the after end of the shaft we made fast the +towing lanyard or span according to whether we hauled sledges abreast or +in single line. Many doubts were expressed as to the use of the despised +motors--but we heeded not the gibes of our friends who came out to speed +us on our way. They knew we were doing our best to make the motors +successful, and their expressed sneers covered their sincere wishes that +we should manage to get our loads well on to the Barrier. + +We made a mile an hour speed to begin with and stopped at Razorback +Island after 3 1/2 miles. + +We had lunch at Razorback, and after that we "lumped," man-hauled, and +persuaded the two motors and three tons of food and stores another mile +onward. The trouble was not on account of the motors failing, but because +of a smooth, blue ice surface. We camped at 10 p.m. and all slept the +sleep of tired men. October 25 was ushered in with a hard wind, and it +appeared in the morning as if our cars were not going to start. We had +breakfast at 8 a.m. and got started on both motors at 10.45, but soon +found that we were unable to move the full loads owing to the blue ice +surface, so took to relaying. We advanced under three miles after ten +hours' distracting work--mostly pulling the sledges ourselves, jerking, +heaving, straining, and cursing--it was tug-of-war work and should have +broken our hearts, but in spite of our adversity we all ended up smiling +and camped close on 9 p.m. + +The day turned out beautifully fine and calm, but the hard ice was +absolutely spoiling the rollers of both cars. + +Whilst we were preparing for bed, Simpson and Gran passed our tent and +called on us. They were bound for Hut Point. I told Simpson our troubles +about the surface, and he promised to telephone from Hut Point to Captain +Scott. + +Next day we got going with certain difficulties, and met Gran and Simpson +four miles from Hut Point. They told us that a large man-hauling party +was on its way out from Cape Evans to assist us. The weather was superb +and we all got very sunburnt. Captain Scott and seven others came up with +us at 2 p.m., but both motors were then forging ahead, so they went on to +Hut Point without waiting. + +Meantime we lunched, and afterwards struck a bad patch of surface which +caused us frequent stops. We reached Hut Point at 8 p.m. after stopping +the motors near Cape Armitage, and spent the night in the Hut there, +camping with Scott's party, Meares and Dimitri. + +The motor engines were certainly good in moderate temperatures, but our +slow advance was due to the chains slipping on hard ice. Scott was +concerned, but he made it quite clear that if we got our loads clear of +the Strait between White Island and Ross Isle, he would be more than +satisfied. + +Meares and Bowers cooked a fine seal fry for us all, and we spent a happy +evening at Hut Point. The Hut, thanks to Meares and Dimitri, was now, for +these latitudes, a regular Mayfair dwelling. The blubber stove was now a +bricked-in furnace, with substantial chimney, and hot plates, with +cooking space sufficient for our needs, however many, were being +accommodated. + +On October 27 I woke the cooks at 6.30 a.m., and we breakfasted about 8 +o'clock, then went up to the motors off Cape Armitage. Lashly's car got +away and did about three miles with practically no stop. Our carburettor +continually got cold, and we stopped a good deal. Eventually about 1 p.m. +we passed Lashly's car and made our way up a gentle slope on to the +Barrier, waved to the party, and went on about three-quarters of a mile. + +Here we waited for Lashly and Hooper, who came up at 2.30, having had +much trouble with their engine, due to overheating, we thought. When +Day's car glided from the sea ice, over the tide crack and on to the +Great Ice Barrier itself, Scott and his party cheered wildly, and Day +acknowledged their applause with a boyish smile of triumph. As soon as +Lashly got on to the Barrier, Scott took his party away and they returned +to Cape Evans. It would have been a disappointment to them if they had +known that we shortly afterwards heard an ominous rattle, which turned +out to be the big end brass of one of the connecting rods churning +up--due to a bad casting. + +Luckily we had a spare, which Day and Lashly fitted, while Hooper and I +went on with the 10 ft. sledge to Safety Camp. + +Here we dug out our provisions according to instructions and brought them +back to our camp to avoid further delay in repacking sledges. We then +made Day and Lashly some tea to warm them up. They worked nobly and had +the car ready by 11 p.m. We pushed on till midnight in our anxiety to +acquit ourselves and our motors creditably. The thermometer showed -19.8 +degrees on camping, and temperature fell to -25 degrees during the night. + +October 28 was my birthday; all hands wished me many happy returns of the +day, and I was given letters from my wife and from Forde and Keohane, who +somehow remembered the date from last year--these two, with Browning and +Dickason, I had brought into the Expedition from H.M.S. "Talbot," one of +my old ships. But to continue: we were all ready to start at 11 a.m. in a +stiff, cold breeze, when I discovered that my personal bag had been taken +off by the man-hauling party that came to assist us, so I put on ski and +went to Hut Point, six miles back. I found Meares there, and he gave me a +surprised but hearty welcome and wished me "Happy returns, Teddy." I +explained what had happened; it had been done of course the night before +when my namesake had taken my personal bag in to Hut Point from Cape +Armitage to save me the trouble of carrying it after a hard day's work +with the motors. As I had had no need of it, I never noticed its presence +at Hut Point, so there it was. Meares made me laugh by an in the most +friendly way, as if I was calling on him in his English home, "Stay and +have lunch, won't you, Teddy?" Of course I did, but as I was wanted by +the Motor Party it was a somewhat hurried meal, fried seal liver and +bacon. We were not allowed to eat bacon on account of scurvy precaution, +but still, it was my birthday, and nobody let me forget it. Feeling much +better and less angry after this unlooked for ski-run, I swung out to the +Barrier edge, over the sea ice, up the Barrier slope, and on to the +Barrier itself, where I picked up the tracks of the motors and followed +them for seven miles. I remember that ski run well: I felt so very lonely +all by myself on the silent Barrier, surrounded as I was by lofty white +mountains, which lifted their summits to the blue peaceful heavens. I +thought over the future of the Southern Party and wondered how things +would be one year hence; this was indeed facing the unknown. I enjoyed +the keen air, and the crisp surface was so easy to negotiate after my +former Barrier visits with a heavy sledge dragging one back, but the very +easiness I was enjoying made me think of Amundsen and his dogs. + +If the Norwegians could glide along like this, it would be "good-bye" to +our hopes of planting Queen Alexandra's flag first at the South Pole. As +a matter of fact, while I was then making my way along to overtake the +motors, Amundsen and his Polar party were beyond the 80th parallel, +forcing their way Southward and hourly increasing their distance from us +and from Captain Scott, who had not even started. Yes, Amundsen was over +150 miles farther South, and his sledge runners were slithering over the +snow, casting its powdered particles aside in beautiful little clouds +while I was rapidly overhauling the motors with their labouring, sorely +taxed custodians, Day, Lashly, and Hooper. It seems very cruel to say +this, but there's no good in shutting one's eyes to Truth, however +unpleasantly clad she may be. I caught the motors late in the afternoon +after running nine miles; they had only done three miles whilst I had +been doing fifteen. We continued crawling along with our loads, stopping +to cool the engines every few minutes, it seemed, but at 11 p.m. they +overheated to such an extent that we stopped for the night. I was fairly +done, but not too tired to enjoy the supper which Hooper cooked, with its +many luxuries produced by him. Hooper had informed Bowers of my birthday, +and obtained all kinds of good things, which we despatched huddled +together in our tents; for it was about 20 degrees below zero when we +turned in well after midnight. + +We intentionally lay in our bags until 8.30 next morning, but didn't get +those dreadful motors to start until 10.45 a.m. Even then they only gave +a few sniffs before breaking down and stopping, so that we could not +advance perceptibly until 11.30. We had troubles all day, and were forced +to camp on account of Day's sledge giving out at 5 p.m.--we daren't stop +for lunch earlier, for once stopped one never could say when a re-start +could be made. + +We depoted here four big tins of petrol and two drums of filtrate to +lighten load of Day's sledge. Started off at six and soon found that the +big end brass on No. 2 cylinder of this sledge had given out, so dropped +two more tins of petrol and a case of filtrate oils. We thereupon +continued at a snail's pace, until at 9.15 the connecting rod broke +through the piston. We decided to abandon this sledge, and made a depot +of the spare clothing, seal meat, Xmas fare, ski belonging to Atkinson +and Wright, and four heavy cases of dog biscuit. I left a note in a +conspicuous position on the depot, which we finished constructing at +midnight. We wasted no time in turning in. + +The clouds were radiating from the S.E., a precursor of blizzard, we +feared, and sure enough we got it next day, when it burst upon us whilst +we were putting on our footgear after breakfast. There was nothing for it +but to get back into our sleeping-bags, wherein we spent the day. + +On the 31st we were out of our bags and about, soon after six, to find it +still drifting but showing signs of clearing. After breakfast we dug out +sledges, and Lashly and Day got the snow out of the motor, a long and +rotten job. The weather cleared about 11 a.m. and we got under way at +noon. It turned out very fine and we advanced our weights 7 miles 600 +yards, camping at 10.40. P.M. + +As will be seen, these were long days, and although he did not say it, +Day must have felt the crushing disappointment of the failure of the +motors--it was not his fault, it was a question of trial and experience. +Nowadays we have far more knowledge of air-cooled engines and such +crawling juggernauts as tanks, for it may well be argued that Scott's +motor sledges were the forerunners of the tanks. + +On November 1 we advanced six miles and the motor then gave out. Day and +Lashly give it their undivided attention for hours, and the next day we +coaxed the wretched thing to Corner Camp and ourselves dragged the loads +there. + +Arrived at this important depot we deposited the dog pemmican and took on +three sacks of oats, but after proceeding under motor power for 1 1/2 +miles, the big end brass of No. 1 cylinder went, so we discarded the car +and slogged on foot with a six weeks' food supply for one 4-man unit. Our +actual weights were 185 lb. per man. We got the whole 740 lb. on to the +10 ft. sledge, but with a head wind it was rather a heavy load. We kept +going at a mile an hour pace until 8 p.m. + +I had left a note at the Corner Camp depot which told Scott of our trying +experiences: how the engines overheated so that we had to stop, how by +the time they were reasonably cooled the carburettor would refuse duty +and must be warmed up with a blow lamp, what trouble Day and Lashly had +had in starting the motors, and in short how we all four would heave with +all our might on the spans of the towing sledges to ease the starting +strain, and how the engines would give a few sniffs and then stop--but we +must not omit the great point in their favour: the motors advanced the +necessaries for the Southern journey 51 miles over rough, slippery, and +crevassed ice and gave the ponies the chance to march light as far as +Corner Camp--this is all that Oates asked for. + +It was easier work now to pull our loads straight-forwardly South than to +play about and expend our uttermost effort daily on those "qualified" +motors. + +Even Day confessed that his relief went hand in hand with his +disappointment. He and Hooper stood both over six feet, neither of them +had an ounce of spare flesh on them. + +Lashly and I were more solid and squat, and we fixed our party up in +harness so that the tall men pulled in front while the short, heavy pair +dragged as "wheelers." Scott described our sledging here as "exceedingly +good going," we were only just starting, that is Lashly and myself, for +we two were in harness for more than three months on end. + +I was very proud of the Motor Party, and determined that they should not +be overtaken by the ponies to become a drag on the main body. As it +happened, there was never a chance of this occurrence, for Scott +purposely kept down his marches to give the weaker animals a chance. + +As will be seen, we were actually out-distancing the animal transport by +our average marches, for in spite of our full load we covered the +distances of 15 1/2 to 17 miles daily, until we were sure that we could +not be overtaken, before arriving at the appointed rendezvous in latitude +80 degrees 30 minutes. + +Now was the time for marching though, fine weather, good surfaces, and +not too cold. The best idea, of our routine can be gleaned by a type +specimen diary page of this stage of the journey: + + "_November_ 4, 1911.--Called tent at 4.50 a.m. and after building a + cairn started out at 7.25. Marched up to 'Blossom' cairn (Lat. 78 + degrees 2 minutes 33 seconds S. Long. 169 degrees 3 minutes 25 + seconds E.) where we tied a piece of black bunting to pull Crean's + leg--mourning for his pony. We lunched here and then marched on till + 6.55 p.m., when we camped, our day's march being 15 miles 839 yards. + I built a snow cairn while supper was being prepared. Surface was very + good and we could have easily marched 20 miles, but, we were not + record breaking, but going easy till the ponies came up. All the same + we shall have to march pretty hard to keep ahead of them. Minimum + temperature: -12.7 degrees, temperature on camping +5 degrees." + +We were very happy in our party, and when cooking we all sang and yarned, +nobody ever seemed tired once we got quit of the motors. We built cairns +at certain points to guide the returning parties. We had a light snowfall +on November 6 and occasional overcast, misty weather, but in general the +visibility was good, and although far out on the Barrier we got some view +of the Victoria Land mountain ranges. Very beautiful they looked, too, +but their very presence gave an awful feeling of loneliness. + +I must admit it all had a dreadful fascination for me, and after the +others had got into their sleeping-bags I used to build up a large snow +cairn, and whilst resting, now and again I gazed wonderingly at that +awful country. + +The Bluff stood up better than the rest, as of course it was so much +nearer to us, and the green tent looked pitifully small and inadequate by +itself on the Barrier, nothing else human about us. Just the sledge trail +and the thrown-up snow on the tent valance, a confused whirl of sastrugi +leading in no direction particularly, a glistening sparkle here, there, +and everywhere when the sun was shining, and the far distant land sitting +Sphinx-like on the Western horizon, with its shaded white slopes, and its +bare outcrops of black basalt. Wilson in our "South Polar Times" wrote +some lines entitled, "The Barrier Silence"--sometimes the silence was +broken by howling blizzard, then and only then, except by the puny +handful of men who have passed this way. Only in Scott's first and +Shackleton's "Nimrod" Expedition had men ever come thus far. + +We reached One Top Depot on November 9, and took on four cases of +biscuits and one pair of ski, which brought our loads up to 205 lb. per +man. Even this extra weight permitted us to keep our marches over 12 +miles, but we had the virtue of being very early risers, a sledging habit +to which I owe my life. + +We snatched many an hour outward and home, ward due to this. + +In Latitude 80 degrees we found an extraordinary change in the surface: +so soft in fact that we found ourselves sinking in from 8 to 10 +inches--this gave us a very hard day on 13th November when, with load +averaging over 190 lb. per man, we hauled through it for 12 miles. Fears +were expressed for the ponies at this stretch, for here they would be +pulling full loads. The 14th offered no better conditions of surface, but +we stuck it out for 10 hours' solid foot slogging, when we camped after +hauling 12 miles. + +Apart from the surface we enjoyed the weather, a wonderful calm and +beautiful blue sky. On November 15, after building a guiding snow cairn, +we continued southward to Lat. 80 degrees 31 minutes 40 seconds S. Long. +169 degrees 23 minutes E., where we camped to await Scott, his party, and +the ponies. I proposed to build an enormous cairn here to mark the 80 1/2 +degree depot, so after lunch we inspected ourselves and found nothing +worse than sunburnt faces and a slight thinning down all round. + +We commenced the cairn after a short rest. + +November 16 passed quietly with no signs of the ponies, and on November +17 we remained in camp all day wondering rather why the ponies had not +come up with us. We thought they must be doing very poor marching. To +employ our time we worked hours at the cairn, which soon assumed gigantic +proportions. We called it Mount Hooper after our youngest member. Day +amused us very distinctly at Mount Hooper Camp. + +Day, gaunt and gay, but what a lovable nature if one can apply such an +adjective to him. He entertained the rest of us for a week out of +"Pickwick Papers." The proper number of hours in the forenoon were spent +in building the giant depot cairn, then lunch, and then the cosy +sleeping-bags and Day's reading. It was unforgettable, and I think we all +watched his face, which took somehow the expression of the character he +was reading about. + +We put in a good deal of sleep in those days and went walks, such as they +were, in a direct line away from the tent and directly back to the tent. +We must surely have been the first in the world to spend a week +holiday-making on that frozen Sahara, the Great Ice Barrier. + +There is little enough to record during this wait at Mount Hooper. We +could have eaten more than our ration, and to save fuel we occasionally +had dry hoosh for supper, which means that we broke all our biscuits up +and melted the pemmican over the primus, half fried the biscuit in the +fat pemmican, and made a filling dish. The temperature varied between +twenty below zero and a couple of degrees above. + +November 20 found us growing impatient, for I find in my diary that day: + + "Once again we find no signs of the ponies: we all say D---- and look + forward to the next meal: Day reads more Pickwick to us and keeps us + out of mischief. I got sights for error and rate of chronometer + watches, but these are not satisfactory with so short an epoch as our + stay at Mount Hooper, when change in altitude is so slow. Beyond + working out the sights I did really nothing. Temperature at 8 p.m. +7 + degrees, Wind South-West 3-4. Cirrus clouds radiating from S.W. + Minimum temperature -14 degrees." + +But at last relief from our inactivity came to us. On 21st November, just +before 5 a.m., Lashly woke me and said the ponies had arrived. Out we all +popped to find Atkinson with poor, old "Jehu," Wright with "Chinaman," +and Keohane with my old friend "James Pigg." + +They looked tired, the ponies' leaders, and we looked as though we had +come out of a bull fight in a barn, with our hair grown long and full of +the loose reindeer hairs from the sleeping-bags, all mixed with our +beards and jerseys. After hallos and handshakes, smiles and grunts, we +asked for news, and were gratified to find that all was well with men and +beasts alike. What delay there was was due to blizzards and to the +marches being purposely kept down to give the weaker animals a chance: +Day facetiously remarked, "We haven't seen anything of Amundsen"--seeing +that the valiant Norseman was in Latitude 85 degrees 30 minutes S. nearly +eleven thousand feet up above the altitude of the Barrier at this date +one is not surprised. + +For all our peace of mind it was well we did not know it. + +We yarned away about ourselves and our experiences, then got our cooker +under way to have breakfast and to await the arrival of Captain Scott and +the seven lustier ponies. They arrived before our breakfast was ready; +more greetings and much joy in the motor party. Scott expressed his +satisfaction at our share in the advance, hurriedly gave us further +instructions, and then proceeded, leaving us to join at their camp 3 1/2 +miles farther south: Accordingly we deposited a unit of provisions at the +cairn, put up a bamboo with a large black flag on it, left two of the +boxes of biscuit from One Ton Depot and three tins of paraffin, and then +set out. + +We came up to the Main Camp at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, pitched our +tent, had a conference with Captain Scott, cadged some biscuits, and then +cooked lunch and got into our sleeping-bags to await the hour of 6 p.m. +before commencing our southward march as pioneers and trail breakers. + +Scott had with him the following, leading ponies: Wilson, Oates, Bowers, +Cherry-Garrard, Edgar Evans, and Crean, besides the aforesaid three with +the "crocks." + +Meares and Dimitri drove dog teams and every one was in good health and +sparkling spirits. Our leader ordered the motor party, or man-hauling +party, as we were now termed, to go forward and advance 15 miles daily, +and to erect cairns at certain prearranged distances, surveying, +navigating, and selecting the camping site. The ponies were to march by +night and rest when the sun was high and the air warmer. Meares's dogs +were to bring up the rear--and start some hours after the ponies since +their speed was so much greater. + +So we started away at 8.15 p.m., marched 7 miles and a bittock to lunch, +putting up a "top-hat" cairn at 4 miles, two cairns at the lunch camp, +one cairn three miles beyond, and so on according to plan. + +Atkinson's tent gave us some biscuit, cheese, and seal liver, so that day +we lived high. After lunch we continued until the prescribed distance had +been fully covered. + +We noticed that there were ice crystals like spikes, with no glide about +them, and the surface continued thus until 3 a.m. when there was a sudden +change for the better. Quite substantial pony walls were built by the +horsemen when they camped--all these marks ensuring a homeward marching +route like a buoyed channel. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +THE BARRIER STAGE + + +Depots were made every 65 miles: they were marked by big black flags +flying from bamboos, and we saw one of them, Mount Hooper, nine miles +away. Each depot contained one week's rations for every returning unit. + +That outward Barrier march will long be remembered, it was so full of +life, health, and hope--our only sad days came when the ponies were +killed, one by one. But hunger soon defeated sentiment, and we grew to +relish our pony-meat cooked in the pemmican "hoosh." + +On November 24 Oates slew poor old "Jehu" by a pistol shot in Latitude 81 +degrees 15 minutes--this being the first pony to go. The dogs had a fine +feed from the poor animal's carcass, and Meares was very glad, likewise +Dimitri. + +Incidentally, the dogs were not the only ones who feasted on "Jehu's" +flesh. Pony-meat cooks very well, and it was a rare delicacy to us, the +man-haulers. + +As will be gathered, Scott proposed to kill pony after pony as a +readjustment to full load became possible with the food and fodder +consumption. The travelling now was a vastly different matter to the work +of the autumn. The weather was fine and the going easy. Every day made +sledging more pleasant, for the ponies had got into their swing, and the +sun's rays shed appreciable warmth. Although we spoke of day and night +still, it must be remembered that there was really no longer night, for +the sun merely travelled round our heavens throughout the twenty-four +hours. Its altitude at midnight would be about 12 or 13 degrees, whilst +at noon it would have risen to 28 or 29. + +Some of the days of travel were without incident almost, the men leading +their ponies in monotonous file across the great white waste. The ponies +gave little trouble; Meares's dogs, with more dash, contained their +drivers' attention always. + +Day and Hooper turned back in Latitude 81 degrees 15 minutes at "Jehu's" +grave, and Atkinson, his erstwhile leader, joined the man-haulers. The +two who now made their way homeward found considerable difficulty in +hauling the sledge, so they bisected it and packed all their gear on a +half sledge. They were accompanied by two invalid dogs, Cigane and +Stareek, and their adventures homeward bound were more amusing than +dangerous--the dogs were rogues and did their best to rob the sledge +during the sleeping hours. In due course Day and Hooper reached Cape +Evans none the worse for their Barrier trudge. + +Wright's pony, Chinaman, was shot on November 28, and the Canadian joined +the man-haulers. We were glad of his company and his extra weight. + +On November 29 we passed Scott's farthest South, (82 degrees 17 minutes), +and near this date had light snow and thick weather. + +On November 30 we had a very hard pull, the Barrier surface being covered +with prismatic crystals--without any glide we felt we might as well be +hauling the sledges over ground glass, but diversion in the shape of +Land-oh: I think I sighted Mount Hope refracted up, and pointed it out to +Captain Scott. + +On December 1 we began to converge the coast rapidly, and we were only +thirty miles from the nearest land. The view magnificent, though lonely +and awful in its silence. One would very soon go mad without company down +here. + +December 1 saw the end of "Christopher," but as the soldier fired his +pistol at him the pony threw up his head and the bullet failed to kill, +although passing through the beast's forehead. Christopher ran to the +lines bleeding profusely, but Keohane and I kept him from the other +ponies, and Oates shortly after put another bullet into the wretched +animal, which dropped him. Christopher was no loss, as he gave endless +trouble on the Barrier march. However, he was tender enough, as we found +when Meares cut him up for the dogs and brought our tent a fine piece of +undercut. + +On December 2 we had a trying time, starting off in a perfectly poisonous +light, which strained our eyes and made them very painful. It snowed +almost incessantly throughout the day. Nevertheless we had a dim, sickly +sun visible which helped the steering. As the pony food was running short +the pony "Victor" was shot on camping. + +I visited Meares and Dimitri in the dog-tent, and they gave me some +"overs" in the shape of cocoa and biscuit, for which I was truly +grateful, as I had been hungry for a month. + +A blizzard started on December 4, which delayed us for some hours. Our +party found it had a surplus of 27 whole biscuits--no one could account +for this; we told Bowers, however, and he did not seem surprised, so I +think he shoved in a few biscuits here and there. He told me that some +tins carried 2 lb. more than was marked on them. We covered about 13 +miles despite the bad weather beginning the day. + +On December 4 we arrived within 12 miles of Shackleton's gap or Southern +Gateway: we could see the outflow of the Beardmore Glacier stretching +away to our left like a series of huge tumbling waves. As we advanced +southwards hopes ran high, for we still had the dogs and five ponies to +help us. Scott expected to camp on the Beardmore itself after the next +march, but bad luck, alas, was against us. The land visible extended from +S.S.W. through S. to N.W. More wonderful peaks or wedge-shaped spines of +snow-capped rock. The first and least exciting stage of our journey was +practically complete. A fifth pony was sacrificed to the hungry +dogs--"Michael," of whom Cherry Garrard had only good words to say--but +then the altruistic Cherry only spoke good words. We did over 17 miles on +December 4, heading for the little tributary glacier which Shackleton +named the Gap; it bore S. 9 degrees E. fifteen miles distant when we put +up our tent. + +Whilst marching well ahead of the pony party we unconsciously dropped +into a hollow of an undulation, and foolishly did not spot it when we +paused to build a cairn. Continuing our march we looked back to find no +cairn. This first indicated to us the existence of undulations in the +neighbourhood, and we frequently lost the ponies to view. + +We appreciated that we were outdistancing them, however, and camped at 8 +p.m. + +It being my cooking week, and, as we fondly imagined, our penultimate day +on the Great Ice Barrier, combined with a very good march and a very +bright outlook, we had an extra fine hoosh; it contained the full +allowance of pemmican, a pannikin full of pony flesh cut in little +slices, about 1 1/2 pints of crushed biscuit from our surplus, and some +four ounces of cornflour with pepper and salt. + +I also had the pleasure of issuing four biscuits each, or twice the +ration, Meares and Dimitri having given us eight whole biscuits which +they spared from their supply. + +The dog drivers were not so ravenous as the man-hauling party, which was +natural, but still it was uncommonly generous of them to give us part of +their ration for nothing. + +I made an extra strong whack of cocoa, as we still had some of my private +tea left, so could save cocoa. I brought tea in lieu of tobacco in my +personal bag. At least that night the man-hauling party turned in on full +stomachs. + +We were all tired out and asleep in no time, confident and expectant, but +before enjoying the comfort and warmth of our sleeping-bags had an +admiring look at the land stretched out before us, and particular +application of the eye to the Gap or Southern Gateway, which seemed to +say "Come on." + +So far on the journey I have not mentioned the word "blizzard" seriously, +for we had not hitherto been hampered severely. The 5th December was in +truth a Black Day for all. Once more the demon of bad luck held the trump +cards against us. Another blizzard started, which tore our chances of any +great success to ribbons--it was the biggest knock-down blow that Scott +sustained in the whole history of his expedition to date. Here he was, a +day's march from the Beardmore Glacier, with fourteen men, in health and +high fettle, with dogs, ponies, food, and everything requisite for a +great advance, but it was not to be, our progress was barred for four +whole days, and during that period we had essentially to be kept on full +ration, for it would have availed us nothing to lose strength in view of +what we must yet face in the way of physical effort and hardship--we were +but one day's march from Mount Hope, our ponies had to be fed, the dogs +had to be fed, but they could do no work for their food. There was +nothing for it but cheerful resignation. Our tent breakfasted at the +aristocratic hour of 10.15 a.m., and Atkinson and I went out to fill the +cooker afterwards--the drift was terrible and the snow not fine as usual, +but in big flakes driving in a hard wind from S.S.E. It was not very +cold, perhaps it would have helped things later if it had been. Our tents +quickly snowed up for nearly three feet to leeward. In the camp we could +only sleep and eat, the tent space became more and more congested, and +those lying closest to the walls of the tents were cramped by the weight +of snow which bore down on the canvas. The blizzard on the second day +pursued its course with unabated violence, the temperature increased, +however, and we experienced driving sleet. The tent floor cloths had +pools of water on them, and water dripped on our faces as we lay in our +sleeping-bags. Outside the scene was miserable enough, the poor ponies +cowering behind their snow walls the picture of misery. Their more +fortunate companions, the dogs, lay curled in snug balls covered in snow +and apparently oblivious to the inclemency of the weather. Our lunch at +5.30 broke the monotony of the day. + +We had supper somewhere near 9 p.m. and then slept again. + +December 6 found still greater discomfort, for we had sleet and actually +rain alternating. The wind continued and ploughed and furrowed the +surface into a mash. Our tents became so drifted up that we had hardly +room to lie down in our bags. I fancied the man-haulers were better off +than the other tents through having made a better spread, but no doubt +each tent company was sorrier for the others than for itself. We +occasionally got out of our bags to clear up as far as we were able, but +we couldn't sit around and look foolish, so when not cooking and eating +we spent our time in the now saturated bags. The temperature rose above +freezing point, and the Barrier surface was 18 inches deep in slush. +Water percolated everywhere, trickling down the tent poles and dripping +constantly at the tent door. + +We caught this water in the aluminium tray of our cooker. + +The ponies arrived at the state of having to be dug out every now and +again. They were wretchedness itself, standing heads down, feet together, +knees bent, the picture of despair. Hard and cruel as it may seem, it was +planned that we should keep them alive, ekeing out their fodder until +December 9, when it was proposed that we should use them to drag our +loads for 12 miles and shoot them, the last pound of work extracted from +the wretched little creatures. + +I am ashamed to say I was guilty of an unuttered complaint after visiting +the ponies, for I wrote in my diary for December 6 concerning the five +remaining Siberian ponies: + + "I think it would be fairer to shoot them now, far what is a possible + 12 miles' help? We could now, pulling 200 lb. per man, start off with + the proper man-hauling parties and our total weights, so why keep + these wretched animals starving and shivering in the blizzard on a + mere chance of their being able to give us a little drag? Why, our + party have never been out of harness for nearly 400 miles, so why + should not the other eight men buckle to and do some dragging instead + of saving work in halfpenny numbers?" + +Still, it is worthy of mention that on the day the ponies did their last +march every man amongst their leaders gave half his biscuit ration to his +little animal. + +This dreadful blizzard was a terrific blow to Oates. He of all men set +himself to better the ponies' state during the bad weather. The animals +lost condition with a rapidity that was horrible to observe. The cutting +wind whirling the sleet round the ponies gave them a very sorry time, but +whenever one peeped out of the tent door there was Oates, wet to the +skin, trying to keep life in his charges. I think the poor soldier +suffered as much as the ponies. He had felt that every time he re-entered +his tent (which was also Captain Scott's) that he took in more wet snow +and helped to increase the general discomfort. This being the case when +he went out to the ponies, he stopped out, and kept his vigil crouching +behind a drifted up pony-wall. We others could not help laughing at him, +after the blizzard, when he wrung the icy water out of his clothing. His +personal bag was in a fearful state, his sodden tobacco had discoloured +everything, and as he squeezed his spare socks and gloves a stream of +nicotine-stained water flowed out. I am unable to reproduce his +observations on the subject--they were dry, picturesque, and to the +point, and even our bluejackets, who were none too particular about +language, looked at Oates with undisguised astonishment at the length and +variety of his emergency vocabulary. + +December 7 showed no change: the blizzard was continuous, food our only +comfort. Personally I read Atkinson's copy of "Little Dorrit," for it +sufficed nothing to despair; we could not move, and one had to be +patient. + +Next day we had less wind, but it snowed most of the day. We did, all the +same, get glimpses of the sun and one of the land. Dug out all sledges +and hauled them clear, then tried the surface, and to Scott's and our own +surprise my party hauling on ski dragged the sledge with four big men +sitting on it over the surface as much as we chose. + +I had thought it beyond our power, it is true. We then returned to camp. +Without ski one sank more than knee deep in the snow. The horses were +quite unable to progress, sinking to their bellies, so no start was made. +We shifted our tent and re-spread it on new snow well trampled down. This +brief respite from our sleeping-bags freed our cramped limbs. Weather +improved and we did not find it necessary after all to get back into our +bags, for it was still warm and quite pleasant sitting in the tent. + +What a sight the camp had presented before we started digging out. The +ponies like drowned rats, their manes and tails dank and dripping, a +saturated blotting-paper look about their green horse cloths, eyes half +closed, mouths flabby and wet, each animal half buried in this Antarctic +morass, the old snow walls like sand dunes after a storm. + +The green tents just peeping through the snow, mottled and beaten in, as +it were, all sledges well under, except for here and there a red paraffin +oil tin and the corner of an instrument box peeping out. Our ski-sticks +and ski alone stood up above it all, and those sleeping-bags, +ugh--rightly the place was christened "Shambles Camp." + +On December 9 the blizzard was really over; we completed the digging out +of sledges and stores and wallowed sometimes thigh-deep whilst getting +the ponies out of their snow-drifted shelters. Then we faced probably the +hardest physical test we had had since the bailing out in the great gale +a year ago. We had breakfast and got away somewhere about 8 a.m. My party +helped the pony sledges to get away for a mile or two; the poor brutes +had a fearful struggle, and so did we in the man-hauling team. We panted +and sweated alongside the sledges, and when at last Captain Scott sent us +back to bring up our own sledge and tent we were quite done. Arrived at +the Shambles Camp we cooked a little tea, and then wearily hauled our +sledge for hour after hour until we came up with the Boss, dead +cooked--we had struggled and wallowed for nearly 15 hours. The others had +certainly an easier time but a far sadder time, for, they had to coax the +exhausted ponies along and watch their sufferings, knowing that they must +kill the little creatures on halting. + +Oh, Lord--what a day we had of it. Fortunately we man-haulers missed the +"slaughter of the innocents," as some one termed the pony killing. When +we got to the stopping place all five ponies had been shot and cut up for +dog and man food. + +This concluded our Barrier march: the last was tragic enough in its +disappointment, but one felt proud to be included in such a party, and +none, of us survivors can forget the splendid efforts of the last five +ponies. + +Meantime Roald Amundsen had a gale in Lat. 87-88 degrees on December 5, +with falling and drifting snow, yet not too bad to stop his party +travelling: he was 11,000 feet above our level at this time and covering +25 miles a day. He also experienced thick weather but light wind on the +7th December and on the day of our sorrowful march he was scuttling along +beyond Shackleton's farthest South, indeed close upon the 89th Parallel. +It is just as well we did not know it too. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +ON THE BEARDMORE GLACIER AND BEYOND + + +Probably no part of the Southern journey was enjoyed more thoroughly than +that stage which embraced the ascent of the Beardmore Glacier. Those who +survive it can only have refreshing reminiscences of this bright chapter +in our great sledge excursion. Scientifically it was by far the most +interesting portion travelled over, and to the non-scientific it +presented something interesting every day, if only in the shape, colour, +and size of the fringing rocks and mountains--a vast relief from the +monotony of the Barrier travel. + +First we had Mount Hope at the lower end of the Glacier. Mount Hope is a +nunatak of granite, about 2800 feet in height, of which the summit is +strewn with erratics, giving evidence of former glaciation of far greater +extent. + +This was the first land we had passed close to since leaving Hut Point +six weeks previously, and now we had roughly 150 miles of travelling, +with something to look at, some relief for the eyes to rest on in place +of that dazzling white expanse of Barrier ice, with its glitter and +sparkle, so tiring to the eyes. We knew that we must expect crevasses +now, hidden and bare, and we also knew that we must every day rise our +camps until we reached the plateau summit in 10,000 feet. The Beardmore +itself is about 120 miles in length and from 10 to 30 miles wide. We had +no geologist with us, but specimens have been collected by Shackleton's +people, and our own members, particularly Scott's Polar sledge party, +which are sufficient to give a history of this part of Antarctica. + +December 10 showed our party on to the Glacier, but we were not "out of +the wood" by this date. For we had some hard graft marching up the steep +incline called by Shackleton the Southern Gateway. We had made a depot of +three ten-foot sledges in good condition to be used for the homeward +journey over the Barrier by each returning unit--realising that the +descent of the Glacier would knock our sledges about and most likely +break them up to some extent. + +We were now organised into three teams of four, pulling 170 lb. per man, +and in this formation we made the advance up the Glacier. + +The teams were as follows: + + 1.--Scott. 2.--Evans (Lieut.) 3.--Bowers. + Wilson. Atkinson. Cherry-Garrard + Oates. Wright. Crean. + Evans (Seaman). Lashly. Keohane. + +With us we kept the dog teams pulling 600 lb. of our own weights and the +200 lb. gross for placing in the Lower Glacier Depot. + +Soft snow made the dragging very heavy, and in the afternoon, working on +ski, I am sorry to say my party dropped astern and got into camp an hour +late--it could not be helped, we had borne the brunt of the hard work; +Lashly and I had man-hauled daily for five weeks, and Atkinson and Wright +for some time also. I had a long talk next morning after breakfast with +Captain Scott. He was disappointed with our inability to keep up with the +speed of the main party, but I pointed out that we could not expect to do +the same as fresh men--the other eight had only put on the sledge harness +for the first time on December 10: Scott agreed, but seemed worried and +fretful. However that may be, we got into the lunch camp first of the +three sledges, to have our short-lived triumph turned to disaster by a +very poor show after the meal--Scott was much disappointed and +dissatisfied: he appeared to think Atkinson was done; Wilson said Wright +was played out and Lashly tired. They both seemed to think I was all +right, but all the same I felt that my unit had been called on to do more +than its share and was suffering as a natural consequence. The depot was +built in a conspicuous position, and this done, Meares's work ended. He +and Dimitri came along with us for a while and then turned back for a +long, lonely run over the inhospitable Barrier. + +To help us Meares and the Russian dog-boy had travelled farther South +than their return rations allowed for, and for the 450 mile Northward +march to Cape Evans the two of them went short one meal a day rather than +deplete the depots. It is a dreadful thing on an Antarctic sledge journey +to forfeit a whole meal daily, and Meares's generosity should not be +forgotten. + +The advance of Scott's men up the Beardmore was retarded considerably by +the deep, wet snow which had accumulated in the lower reaches of the +Glacier. + +Panting and sweating we could only make 4 mile marches until the 13th +December, and even then the soft snow was 18 inches deep. On the 14th we +made a good 9 miles, but only by dint of our utmost efforts--we worked on +ski, and I tremble to think what we should have done here without them. +The aneroids gave us a rise of about 500 feet a day. Things were +improving now, and on December 15 we passed the 84 degree parallel--about +this time we succeeded in covering 9 to 10 miles daily, and to do this we +marched that same number of hours. A good deal of snow covering the +mountain ranges, but some remarkable outcrops of rock to vary the +scenery. The temperature was very high, and we were punished severely on +this account, for the snow was like beef dripping, and we flopped about +in it and hove our sledges along with no glide whatever to help us move +forward. Such panting, puffing, and sweating, but all in good humour and +bent on doing our best. Snowing hard in the latter part of the afternoon +just as the surface was improving--we were forced to camp before the +proper time on this account. On camping we calculated that we were 2500 +feet above the Barrier, the surface promising better things, for there +was hard blue ice six inches from the surface, and the snow itself was +fairly close-packed and good for ski. + +On December 16 we were out of our sleeping bags at 5 and we were under +way by 7 a.m., marching till noon, when we lunched and took sights and +angles. The surface remained fairly good until 2 p.m., when it took an +unaccountable turn for the worse. We covered 12 miles. + +Several of us dropped a leg down crevasses here and there, nothing +alarming. We reached 3000 feet altitude, and the day ended in the most +perfect weather. For the first time since leaving Corner Camp we felt +that our ration was sufficient; we had now commenced the "Summit ration," +which contained considerable extra fats. Snow-blindness caused trouble +here and there, due principally to our removing our goggles when they +clouded up--due to sweating so much in the high temperature. The goggles, +which Wilson was responsible for, served excellently. Yellow and orange +glasses were popular, but some preferred green. As we progressed and our +eyes had to be used for long periods without glasses for clearing +crevasses, etc., we found that a double glass acted best, and used this +whenever the going was easy and goggles could be used. + +The contrast between the goggled and the ungoggled state was +extraordinary--when one lifted one's orange-tinted snow glasses it was to +find a blaze of light that could scarcely be endured. Snow-blindness gave +one much the same sensations as those experienced by standing over a +smoking bonfire keeping eyes open. + +Sunday, December 17, differed from the preceding days, for we got into +huge pressure ridges--we hauled our sledges up these and tobogganed down +the other sides, progressing half the forenoon thus. We wore our +excellent crampons and made lighter work of our loads than we had done +since facing the Beardmore, and now that the summer season was well +advanced the surface snow on the Glacier had mostly disappeared through +the effects of the all day sun added to the early summer winds. The +clouding of our goggles made the crevasses more difficult to spot, and +one or other of the party got legs or feet down pretty often. + +This and the following day were precursors to good marches and easy +times. We made the Mid-Glacier Depot in Latitude 84 degrees 33 minutes 6 +seconds S., Longitude 169 degrees 22 minutes 2 seconds E., and set +therein one half-week's provision. We marked the depot cairn with bamboo +and red flag to show up against the ice as well as to contrast with the +land. Hitherto only black flags had been employed to mark depots. + +The weather and surface were both in our favour at last. It was sunny, +warm, and clear now, and there was nothing to impede us. Wilson did a +large amount of sketching on the Beardmore--his sketches, besides being +wonderful works of art, helped us very much in our surveys. + +Fringing the great glittering river of ice were dark granite and dolerite +hills, some were snow-clad and some quite bare, for their steepness +resisted the white cloak of this freezing clime. The new hills were +surveyed, headlands plotted, and names bestowed where Shackleton had not +already done so. Of course we had Shackleton's charts, diaries, and +experience to help us. We often discussed Shackleton's journey, and were +amazed at his fine performance. We always had full rations, which +Shackleton's party never enjoyed at this stage. After December 17 our +marches worked up from 13 to 23 miles a day. + +Shackleton bestowed the name of Queen Alexandra Range on the huge +mountains to the westward of the Beardmore. + +The most conspicuous is the "Cloudmaker," which he gives as 9.971--I like +the 1 foot when heights are so hard to determine hereabouts! To the three +secondary ranges, on the S.W. extreme of the Beardmore, nearly in 85 +degrees, he gave the names Adams, Marshall, and Wild, after his three +companions on the farthest South march. To get into one's head what we +had to look at on the upper half of the Beardmore, imagine a moderate +straight slope: this is the Glacier like a giant road, white except where +the sun has melted the snow and bared the blue ice. Looking up the +Glacier an overhang of ice-falls and disturbances, with three nunataks or +mountains sticking through the ice-sheet like islands--the disturbance is +mostly to the left (Eastwards) of these, and the road here looks cruelly +steep even where it is not broken up. Down the Glacier the great white +way is broken here and there where tributary glaciers join it, and above +the Cloudmaker the glacier is cut up badly in several places, how badly +we were not to know until the middle of January, 1912--but of that more +anon. To the left (S.E.) a great broad river of ice, the Mill Glacier, +and so on. + +The land is extraordinary--gigantic snow drifts like huge waves breaking +against a stone pier beset the lower cliff faces and steeper slopes, then +dark red-brown rock carved by glaciers long since vanished, and above +this rocky bands of limestone, sandstone; and dolerite. Some rocky talus +showing through the big snow drifts, and in some cases talus alone. + +From my letter to be taken by the next homeward party in case I missed +the ship: + + "The Wild range is extraordinary in its curious stratification, and + one feels when gazing at it some-thing of a wish to scramble along the + crests, if only to feel land underfoot instead of ice, ice, ice. + + "The prevailing colours here are blacks, grays, reds, like the cliffs + at Teignmouth and Exmouth, and another more chocolate red. Then the + whites in all kind of shade--fancy different shades of white, but + there are here any amount of them, and a certain sparkle of blue ice + down the Glacier where the sun is shining on it that reminds one of a + tropical sea. Except when marching we don't spend much time out of our + tents, but I take a breather now and again when surveying, and then I + sit on a sledge-box and wonder what is in store for us and where all + this will lead us. Amundsen has certainty not come this way, although + dogs could work here easily enough." + +On December 20 Scott came into our tent after supper and told us that the +first return party would be Atkinson (in charge), Wright, Cherry-Garrard, +and Keohane, and that they would turn back after the next day's march. +We were all very sad, but each one thus detailed loyally abided by the +decision of our chief. I worked till nearly midnight getting out copy of +route and bearings for Wright to navigate back on. + +Here is a specimen page of my diary: + + "_December_ 21. + + "Out at 5.45 a.m. and away at 8. Had a very heavy pull up steep slope + close to S.E. point of Buckley Island. Passed over many crevasses and + dropped into some. Once I fell right down in a bottomless chasm to + the length of my harness. I was pulled out by the others, Bowers and + Cherry helping with their Alpine rope. Not hurt but amused. All of us + dropped often to our waists and Atkinson completely disappeared once, + but we got him out. We got into a very bad place at noon, and a fog + coming on had to stop and lunch as one could not see far. This has + been our worst day for crevasses up to now, some of them are 100 feet + across, but well bridged. + + "It was very cold, with a sharp southerly wind when we started, but + later on got quite warm. We rose 1130 feet in the forenoon and made 5 + miles 1565 yards up to lunch. We started again at 3 o'clock, and the + fog lifting, we made a good march for the day: 11 miles 200 yards + geographical (Stat. 12 miles 1388 yards). In the afternoon we had a + very heavy drag and did not camp till 7.30 p.m., about 4 miles S. 30 + degrees W. of Mount Darwin (summit), Latitude 85 degrees 7 minutes S., + Longitude 163 degrees 4 minutes E. + + "Our height above the Barrier is 7750 feet by aneroid. + + "Had a fine hoosh with a full pannikin of pony meat added to celebrate + our 'De-tenting,' which takes place to-morrow morning. We make a depot + here with half a week's provision for two parties." + +We repacked the sledges after breakfast. This place was called the Upper +Glacier Depot--and it marked the commencement of the third and final +stage of the Poleward Journey. We said good-bye to Atkinson's party, and +they started down the Glacier after depositing the foodstuffs they had +sledged up the Beardmore for the Polar Party and the last supporting +party. Atkinson and his tent-mates now had to face a homeward march of +584 miles. They spent Christmas Day collecting geological specimens, and +reached Cape Evans on January 28. They had some sickness in the shape of +enteritis and slight scurvy, but Dr. Atkinson's care and medical +knowledge brought them through safely. Captain Scott with his two sledge +teams now pushed forward, keeping an average speed of 15 miles per day, +with full loads of 190 lb. a man. + +When we started off we were: + + Scott. Self. + Wilson. Bowers. + Oates. Crean. + Seaman Evans Lashly. + +We steered S.W. to begin with to avoid the great pressure ridges and ice +falls which barred our way to the South. We began to rise very +perceptibly, and, looking back after our march, realised what enormous +frozen falls stretch across the top of the Beardmore. I noted that these, +with Scott's consent should be called "The Shackleton Ice Falls," +according to _his_ track he went _up_ them. When we looked back on +starting our march we could see the depot cairn with a black flag tied to +a pair of 10 foot sledge runners for quite three miles--it promised well +for picking up. Next day we were away early, marching 8 1/2 miles to +lunch camp, and getting amongst crevasses as big as Regent Street, all +snow bridged. + +We rushed these and had no serious falls; the dangerous part is at the +edge of the snow bridge, and we frequently fell through up to our armpits +just stepping on to or leaving the bridge. We began now to experience the +same tingling wind that Shackleton speaks of, and men's noses were +frequently frost-bitten. On Christmas Eve we were 8000 feet above the +Barrier, and we imagined we were clear of crevasses and pressure ridges. +We now felt the cold far more when marching than we had done on the +Beardmore. + +The wind all the time turned our breath into cakes of ice on our beards. +Taking sights when we stopped was a bitterly cold job: fingers had to be +bared to work the little theodolite screws, and in the biting wind one's +finger-tips soon went. Over 16 miles were laid behind us on Christmas Eve +when we reached Latitude 85 degrees 35 minutes S., Longitude 159 degrees +8 minutes E. I obtained the variation of the compass here--179 degrees 35 +minutes E., so that we were between the Magnetic and Geographical Poles. + +The temperature down to 10 degrees below zero made observing unpleasant, +when one had cooled down and lost vitality at the end of the day's march. + +Christmas Day, 1911, found our two tiny green tents pitched on the King +Edward VII. Plateau--the only objects that broke the monotony of the +great white glittering waste that stretches from the Beardmore Glacier +Head to the South Pole. A light wind was blowing from the South, and +little whirls of fine snow, as fine as dust, would occasionally sweep +round the tents and along the sides of the sledge runners, streaming away +almost like smoke to the Northward. Inside the tents breathing heavily +were our eight sleeping figures--in these little canvas shelters soon +after 4 a.m. the sleepers became restless and occasionally one would +wake, glance at one's watch, and doze again. Exactly at 5 a.m. our leader +shouted "Evans," and both of us of that name replied, "Right-o, sir." + +Immediately all was bustle, we scrambled out of our sleeping-bags, only +the cook remaining in each tent. The others with frantic haste filled the +aluminium cookers with the gritty snow that here lay hard and windswept. +The cookers filled and passed in, we, gathered socks, finnesko, and +putties off the clothes lines which we had rigged between the ski which +struck upright in the snow to save them from being drifted over in the +night. The indefatigable Bowers swung his thermometer in the shade until +it refused to register any lower, glanced at the clouds, made a note or +two in his miniature meteorological log book, and then blew on his +tingling fingers, noted the direction of the wind, and ran to our tent. +Inside all had lashed up their bags and converted them into seats, the +primus stove burnt with a curious low roar, and peculiar smell of +paraffin permeated the tent. By the time we had changed our footgear the +savoury smell of the pemmican proclaimed that breakfast was ready. The +meal was eaten with the same haste that had already made itself apparent. + +A very short smoke sufficed, and Captain Scott gave the signal to strike +camp. Out went everything through the little round door, down came both +tents, all was packed in a jiffy on the two 12-foot sledges, each team +endeavouring to be first, and in an incredibly short space of time both +teams swung Southward, keeping step, and with every appearance of perfect +health. But a close observer, a man trained to watch over men's health, +over athletes training, perhaps, would have seem something amiss. + +The two teams, in spite of the Christmas spirit, and the "Happy +Christmas" greetings, they exchanged to begin with, soon lost their +springy step, the sledges dragged more slowly, and we gazed ahead almost +wistfully. + +Yes, the strain was beginning to tell, though none of us would have +confessed it. Lashly and I had already pulled a sledge of varying +weight--but mostly a loaded one--over 600 miles, and all had marched this +distance. + +During the forenoon something was seen ahead like the tide race over a +rocky ledge--it was another ice fall stretching from East to West, and it +had to be crossed, there could be no more deviation, for since Atkinson's +party turned we had been five points West of our course at times. Alas, +more wear for the runners of the sledge, which meant more labour to the +eight of us, so keen to succeed in our enterprise--soon we are in the +thick of it; first one slips and is thrown violently down, then a sledge +runs over the slope of a great ice wave. + +The man trying to hold it back is relentlessly thrown, and the bow of the +sledge crashes on to the heel of the hindermost of those hauling ahead +with a thud that means "pain." But the victim utters no sound, just +smiles in answer to the anxious questioning gaze of his comrades. + +Something happened in the last half of that Christmas forenoon. Lashly, +whose 44th birthday it was, celebrated the occasion by falling into a +crevasse 8 feet wide. + +Our sledge just bridged the chasm with very little to spare each end, and +poor Lashly was suspended below, spinning round at the full length of his +harness, with 80 feet of clear space beneath him. We had great difficulty +in hauling him upon account of his being directly under the sledge. We +got him to the surface by using the Alpine rope. Lashly was none the +worse for his fall, and one of my party wished him a "Happy Christmas," +and another "Many Happy Returns of the Day," when he had regained safety. +Lashly's reply was unprintable. + +Soon after this accident we topped the ice fall or ridge, and halted for +lunch--we had risen over 250 feet, according to aneroid; it seemed funny +enough to find the barometer standing at 21 inches instead of 30. + +Lunch camp, what a change. The primus stove fiercely roaring, the men +light up their pipes and talk Christmas--dear, cheery souls, how proud +Scott must have been of them; no reference to the discomforts of the +forenoon march, just brightness and the nicest thoughts for one another, +and for "those," as poor Wilson unconsciously describes them, by humming: +"Keep our loved ones, now far absent, 'neath Thy care." After a mug of +warming tea and two biscuits we strike camp, and are soon slogging on. +But the crevasses and icefalls have been overcome, the travelling is +better, and with nothing but the hard, white horizon before us, thoughts +wander away to the homeland--sweet little houses with well-kept gardens, +glowing fires on bright hearths, clean, snowy tablecloths and polished +silver, and then the dimpled, smiling faces of those we are winning our +spurs for. Next Christmas may we hope for it? Yes, it must be. + +But with the exception of Lashly and Crean that daydream never came true, +for alas, those whose dearest lived for that Christmas _never_ came home, +and the one other spared lost his wife, besides his five companions. + +The two teams struggled on until after 8 p.m., when at last Scott +signalled to camp. How tired we were--almost cross. But no sooner were +the tents up than eyes looked out gladly from our dirty, bearded faces. +Once again the cooker boiled, and for that night we had a really good +square meal--more than enough of everything--pemmican with pieces of pony +meat in it, a chocolate biscuit, "ragout" raisins, caramels, ginger, +cocoa, butter, and a double ration of biscuits. How we watched Bowers +cook that extra thick pemmican. Had he put too much pepper in? Would he +upset it? How many pieces of pony meat would we get each? But the careful +little Bowers neither burnt nor upset the hoosh: it was up to our wildest +expectations. No one could have eaten more. + +After the meal we gasped, we felt so comfortable. + +But we had such yarns of home, such plans were made for next Christmas, +and after all we got down our fur sleeping-bags, and for a change we were +quite warm owing to the full amount of food which we so sorely needed. + +After the others in my tent were asleep, little Birdie Bowers, bidding me +"Good-night," said, "Teddy, if all is well next Christmas we will get +hold of all the poor children we can and just stuff them full of nice +things, won't we?" + +It was unthinkable then that five out of the eight of us would soon be +lying frozen on the Great Ice Barrier, their lives forfeited by a series +of crushing defeats brought about by Nature, who alone metes out success +or failure to win back for those who venture into the heart of that +ice-bound continent. + +Our Latitude was now 85 degrees 50 minutes S., we were 8000 feet above +the Barrier. Temperature -8 degrees, with a fresh southerly wind, but we +didn't care that night how hard it blew or whether it was Christmas or +Easter. We had done 17 miles distance and success lay within our grasp +apparently. + +On the following day we were up at six and marched a good 15 miles south +with no opposition from crevasses or pressure ridges. The march over the +Plateau continued without incident--excepting that on December 28 my team +had a great struggle to keep up with Captain Scott's. + +The surface was awfully soft, and though we discarded our outer garments +we sweated tremendously. At about 11 a.m. Scott and I changed places. I +found his sledge simply glided along whereas he found no such thing. The +difference was considerable. After lunch we changed sledges and left +Scott's team behind with ease. We stopped at the appointed time, and +after supper Captain Scott came into our tent and told us that we had +distorted our sledge by bad strapping or bad loading. This was, I think, +correct, because Oates had dropped his sleeping-bag off a few days back +through erring in the other direction and not strapping securely--we +meant to have no recurrence and probably racked our sledge by heaving too +hard on the straps. + +The 29th was another day of very hard pulling. We were more than 9000 +feet up--very nearly at the "summit of the summit." Quoting my diary I +find set down for December 30 and 31 as follows. + + "Saturday, _December_ 30. + + "Away at 8 a.m. Had a hell of a day's hauling. We worked independently + of the other sledge, camping for lunch at 1 p.m. about half a mile + astern of them. Then off again, and hauled till 7.15 p.m., when we + reached Captain Scott's camp, he being then stopped 3/4-hour. The + surface was frightful and they had a heavy drag. Our distance to-day + was 12 miles 1200 yards statute. We all turned in after our welcome + hoosh, too tired to write up diaries even. + + "Bill came in and had a yarn while we drank our cocoa. + + "We are now about 9200 feet above the Barrier, temperature falls to + about -15 degrees now. Position 86 degrees 49 minutes 9 seconds S., + 162 degrees 50 minutes E." + + "_December_ 31. + + "Out at 5.45, and then after a yarn with Captain Scott and our welcome + pemmican, tea and biscuit. We in our tent depoted our ski, Alpine + rope, and ski shoes, saving a considerable weight. We then started off + a few minutes ahead of Captain Scott, and his team never got near us, + in fact they actually lost ground. We marched for 5 1/2 hours solid, + and had a good heavy drag, but not enough to distress us. We stopped + at 1.30 p.m., having done 8 miles 116 yards statute. After our lunch + we made a depot and put two weekly units in the snow cairn, which we + built and marked with a black flag. The seamen (Evans and Crean) and + Lashly spent the afternoon converting the 12 foot sledges to 10 foot + with the spare runners, while the remainder of us foregathered in + Captain Scott's tent, which Evans fitted with a lining to-day, making + it beautifully warm. We sat in the tents with the door open and the + sun shining in--doing odd jobs. I worked out sights and wrote up this + diary, which was a few days adrift. Temperature -10 degrees. + + "We are now Past Shackleton's position for December 31, and it does + look as if Captain Scott were bound to reach the Pole. Position 86 + degrees 55 minutes 47 minutes S., 175 degrees 40 minutes E. + + "At 7 p.m. Captain Scott cooked tea for all hands. + + "At 8 p.m. the first sledge was finished and the men went straight on + with the second. This was finished by midnight, and, having seen the + New Year in, we had a fine pemmican hoosh and went to bed." + +New Year's Day found us in Latitude 87 degrees 7 minutes S. Height, 9300 +feet above Barrier--a southerly wind, with temperature 14 degrees below +zero. + +On 2nd January I found the variation to be exactly 180 degrees. A skua +gull appeared from the south and hovered round the sledges during the +afternoon, then it settled on the snow once or twice and we tried to +catch it. + +Did 15 miles with ease, but we were now only pulling 130 lb. per man. + +On January 3 Scott came into my tent before we began the day's march and +informed me that he was taking his own team to the Pole. He also asked me +to spare Bowers from mine if I thought I could make the return journey of +750 miles short-handed--this, of course, I consented to do, and so little +Bowers left us to join the Polar party. Captain Scott said he felt that I +was the only person capable of piloting the last supporting party back +without a sledge meter. I felt very sorry for him having to break the +news to us, although I had foreseen it--for Lashly and I knew we could +never hope to be in the Polar party after our long drag out from Cape +Evans itself. + +We could not all go to the Pole--food would not allow this. Briefly then +it was a disappointment, but not too great to bear; it would have been an +unbearable blow to us had we known that almost in sight were Amundsen's +tracks, and that all our dragging and straining at the trace had been in +vain. + +On 4th January we took four days' provision for three men and handed over +the rest of our load to Scott. + +Then we three, Lashly, Crean, and myself, marched south to Latitude 87 +degrees 34 minutes S. with the Polar party, and, seeing that they were +travelling rapidly yet easily, halted, shook hands all round, and said +good-bye, and since no traces of the successful Norwegian had been found +so far, we fondly imagined that our flag would be the first to fly at the +South Pole. We gave three huge cheers for the Southern party, as they +stepped off, and then turned our sledge and commenced our homeward march +of between 750 and 800 statute miles. We frequently looked back until we +saw the last of Captain Scott and his four companions--a tiny black speck +on the horizon, and little did we think that we would be the last to see +them alive, that our three cheers on that bleak and lonely plateau summit +would be the last appreciation they would ever know. + +This day the excitement was intense, for it was obvious that with five +fit men--the Pole being only 140 geographical miles away--the achievement +was merely a matter of 10 or 11 days' good sledging. + +Oates's last remark was cheerful: "I'm afraid, Teddy, you won't have much +of a 'slope' going back, but old Christopher is waiting to be eaten on +the Barrier when you get there." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +RETURN OF THE LAST SUPPORTING PARTY + + +Scott had already made a great geographical journey in spite of adverse +weather conditions, which had severely handicapped him throughout, but he +was nevertheless behindhand in his expectations, and although the +attainment of the Pole was practically within his grasp, the long 900 +mile march homeward from that spot had to be considered. It was +principally on this account that Captain Scott changed his marching +organisation and took Bowers from the last supporting party. After the +first day's homeward march I realised that the nine hours' marching day +was insufficient. We had to make average daily marches of 17 miles in +order to remain on full provisions whilst returning over that featureless +snow-capped plateau. + +Although the first day northward bound was radiantly fine and the +travelling surface all that could be desired, we were compelled to push +on until quite late to ensure covering the prescribed distance--for a +short march on the first day would have augured a gloomy future for us. + +Reluctant as I was to confess it to myself, I soon realised that the +ceding of one man from my party had been too great a sacrifice, but there +was no denying it, and I was eventually compelled to explain the +situation to Lashly and Crean and lay bare the naked truth. No man was +ever better served than I was by these two; they cheerfully accepted the +inevitable, and throughout our home-ward march the three of us literally +stole minutes and seconds from each day in order to add to our marches, +but it was a fight for life: The rarified air made our breathing more +difficult, and we suffered from shortness of breath whenever the +inequalities of the surface became severe, and sudden jerks conveyed +themselves to our tired bodies through the medium of the rope traces. + +Day after day we fought our way northward over the high Polar tableland. +The silence now that we had no other party with us was ghastly, for +beyond the sound of our own voices and the groaning of the sledge runners +when the surface was bad there was no sound whatever to remind us of the +outer world. As mile after mile was covered our thoughts wandered from +the Expedition to those in our homeland, and thought succeeded thought +while the march progressed until the satisfying effect of the last meal +had vanished and life became one vast yearning for food. + +Three days after leaving Captain Scott we encountered a blizzard and were +forced to continue our marches although faced with navigational +difficulties which made it impossible for us to maintain more than a very +rough northward direction. Muffled up tightly in our wind-proof clothing, +-we did all in our power to prevent the dust-fine snow-flakes which +whirled around from penetrating into the tiniest opening in our clothes. +The blizzard blinded and baffled us, forcing us always to turn our faces +from it. The stinging wind cut and slashed our cheeks like the constant +jab of a thousand frozen needle points. + +This first blizzard which fell upon us lasted for three whole days, and +at the end of that time we found ourselves considerably wide of our +course. + +On the 7th January, in spite of a temperature of 22 degrees below zero, a +fresh southerly wind and driving snow, Lashly, Crean, and myself laid 19 +miles behind us. + +On the 8th we again covered this distance, although the weather was so +bad that we entirely lost the track, and on the following day, when the +blizzard was at its worst, we fought our way forward for over 16 miles. +When the blizzard eventually abated we had hazy weather, but got an +occasional glimpse of the sun, with which we corrected our course, and on +the 13th January my party found itself right above the Shackleton +Icefalls, and gazed down upon the more regular surface of the Beardmore +Glacier hundreds of feet below us. + +To reach the glacier we were faced with two alternatives: either to march +right round the icefalls, as we had done coming south, and thus waste +three whole days, or to take our lives in our hands and attempt to get +the sledge slap over the falls. This would mean facing tremendous drops, +which might end in a catastrophe. The discussion was very short-lived, +and with rather a sinking feeling the descent of the great ice falls was +commenced. We packed our ski on the sledge, attached spiked crampons to +our finnesko, and guided the sledge through the maze of hummocks and +crevasses. + +The travelling surface was wind-swept and consequently too easy, for the +sledge would charge down a slippery slope of blue ice and capsize time +after time. In places the way became so steep that our united efforts +were needed to avoid the yawning chasms which beset our path. We were +compelled to remain attached to the sledge by our harness, for otherwise +there was always the danger of our slipping into one of the very +crevasses that we were keeping the sledge clear of, and in this manner, +with the jumping and jolting of that awful descent, frequent cases of +over-running occurred, the sledge fouling our traces and whisking us off +our feet. We encountered fall after fall, bruises, cuts, and abrasions +were sustained, but we vied with one another in bringing all our grit and +patience to bear; scarcely a complaint was heard, although one or other +of us would be driven almost sick with pain as the sledge cannoned into +this or that man's heel with a thud that made the victim clench his teeth +to avoid crying out. + +The whole forenoon we worked down towards the more even surface of the +great glacier itself, but the actual descent of the steep part of the +Shackleton Icefalls was accomplished in half an hour. We came down many +hundred feet in that time. + +None of us can ever forget that exciting descent. The speed of the sledge +at one point must have been 60 miles an hour. We glissaded down a steep +blue ice slope; to brake was impossible, for the sledge had taken charge. +One or other of us may have attempted to check the sledge with his foot, +but to stop it in any way would have meant a broken leg. We held on for +our lives, lying face downwards on the sledge. Suddenly it seemed to +spring into the air, we had left the ice and shot over one yawning +crevasse before we had known of its existence almost--I do not imagine we +were more than a second in the air, but in that brief space of time I +looked at Crean, who raised his eyebrows as if to say, "What next!" Then +we crashed on to the ice ridge beyond this crevasse, the sledge capsized +and rolled over and over, dragging us three with it until it came to a +standstill. + +How we ever escaped entirely uninjured is beyond me to explain. When we +had recovered our breath we examined ourselves and our sledge. One of my +ski-sticks had caught on a piece of ice during our headlong flight and +torn itself from the sledge. It rolled into the great blue-black chasm +over which we had come, and its fate made me feel quite cold when I +thought of what might have happened to us. When my heart had stopped +beating so rapidly from fright, and I had recovered enough to look round, +I realised that we were practically back on the Beardmore again, and that +our bold escapade had saved us three days' solid foot slogging and that +amount of food. So we pitched our little tent, had a good filling meal, +and then, delighted with our progress, we marched on until 8 p.m. That +night in our sleeping-bags we felt like three bruised pears, but being in +pretty hard condition in those days, our bruises and slight cuts in no +way kept us from hours of perfect, contented slumber. + +I see in my diary for January 13, 1912, I have noted that we came down +2000 feet, but I doubt if it really was as much--we then had no means of +measuring. + +January 14 found us up at 5.45 (really only 4.45, because in order not to +make my seamen companions anxious I handicapped my watch after first +day's homeward march, putting the hands on one hour each morning before +rising, and back when I got the chance, so that we marched from 10 to 12 +hours a day). We hauled our sledge for six hours until we reached the +Upper Glacier Depot under Mount Darwin. Here we took 3 1/2 days' stores +as arranged, and after sorting up and repacking the depot had lunch and +away down the Glacier, camping at 7.30 p.m. off Buckley Island, fairly +close to the land. Temperature rose above zero that night. + +Next day we were away at 8 a.m. with our crampons on, we came down +several steep ice slopes, blue ice like glass, Lashly hauling ahead and +Crean and I holding on to the sledge. We bumped a lot, and occasionally +the sledge capsized. But we made good nearly 22 miles. We covered between +18 and 20 miles on January 16, and were in high glee at our progress. We +camped, however, in amongst pressure ridges and huge crevasses, 14 miles +from the Cloudmaker or mid-glacier depot. We hoped next day to reach this +depot. January 16 was a pleasant day, its ending peaceful, with a +sufficiency of excellent sledging rations and the promise of a similar +day to succeed it. On this day hopes had run high; our clothes were dry, +the weather mild and promising, besides which, we were camped in the full +satisfaction of having a good many miles in hand. We cheerfully discussed +our arrival at the next depot, after which we knew that no anxieties need +be felt, given even moderately good luck and weather, that did not +include too great a proportion of blizzard days. The musical roar of the +primus and the welcome smell of the cooking pemmican whetted our +appetites deliciously, and as the three of us sat around the cooker on +our rolled up fur bags, the contented expression on our dirty brown faces +made our bearded ugliness almost handsome. We built wonderful castles in +the air as to what luxuries Lashly, who was a famous cook, should prepare +on our return to winter quarters. There we had still some of the New +Zealand beef and mutton stored in my glacier cave, and one thing I had +set my heart on was a steak and kidney pudding which my friend Lashly +swore to make me. + +After the meal we unrolled our sleeping-bags and luxuriantly got into +them, for the recent fine weather had given us a chance to dry thoroughly +the fur and get the bags clear of that uncomfortable clamminess due to +the moisture from our bodies freezing until the sleeping-bags afforded +but little comfort. The weather looked glorious, there was not a cloud in +the sky, and towards 10 o'clock the sun was still visible to the S.S.W. +We could see it through the thin, green canvas tent wall as we turned in, +still in broad daylight, and the warmth derived from it made sleep come +to us quite easily. + +I woke at five the next morning, and, rousing my companions, we were up +and about in a minute. The primus stove and cooking apparatus were +brought into the tent once more; our sleeping foot-gear was changed for +our marching finneskoe and good steel-spiked crampons fixed to the soft +fur boots to give us grip in places where the ice was blue and slippery. +By 6 a.m. the little green tent was struck, the sledge securely packed, +and the three of us commenced a day's march, the details of which, +although it occurred over nine years ago, are so fresh in my memory that +I have not even to refer to my sledging diary. + +We commenced the day unluckily, for a low Stratus cloud had spread like a +tablecloth over the Beardmore and filled up the glacier with mist. This +added tremendously to our difficulties in steering, for we had no +landmarks by which to set our course, although I knew the approximate +direction of descent and could make this by means of a somewhat +inadequate compass. The refinements in steering were not sufficient to +keep us on the good blue ice surface down which we could have threaded +our way had we commanded a full view of the glacier. Our route led us +over rougher ice than we should normally have chosen, and the outlook was +distinctly displeasing. The air was thick with countless myriads of tiny +floating ice crystals, and the great hummocks of ice stood weirdly shapen +as they loomed through the frozen mist. I appreciated that we were +getting into trouble, but hoped that the fog would disperse as the sun +increased its altitude. We fell about a good deal, and to my +consternation the surface became worse and worse. We were, however, +covering distance in an approximately northward direction, and our team +achieved with stubborn purpose what would have appeared impossible to us +when we first visited this great, white, silent continent. + +It was no good going back, and we could not tell whether the good track +was to the right or the left of our line of advance. As new and more +troublesome obstacles presented themselves, the more valiantly did my +companions set themselves to win through. Crean and Lashly had the hearts +of lions. The uncertain light of the mist worried us all three, and we +were forced to take off our goggles to see to advance at all. + +We continued until midday, when to my great relief the mist showed signs +of dispersing, and the sun, a sickly yellow orb, eventually showed +through. It was surrounded by a halo which was reflected in rainbow +colouring in the minute floating ice crystals. I looked round for a spot +suitable for camping, for we were pretty well exhausted, and it was worth +while waiting for the mist to disperse. No time would be wasted since the +halt would do for our lunch. With the greatest difficulty we found +amongst the hummocky ice a place to set up our tent. A space was found +somehow, and rather gloomily the three of us made a cooker full of tea. +We munched our biscuit in silence, for we were too tired to talk. From +time to time I went outside the tent, and certainly the atmosphere was +clearer. Odd shapes to the east and west showed themselves to be the +fringing mountains which so few eyes had ever rested on. Gradually they +took form and I was able more or less to identify our whereabouts. We +finished our lunch, Crean had a smoke, and then we got under way. + +A little discussion, a lot of support, and a wealth of whole-hearted +good-fellowship from my companions gave me the encouragement which made +leading these two men so easy. + +Warmed by the tea, cheered by the meal, and rested by the halt, we pushed +on once more, although to go forward was uncertain and to work back +impossible since we were too exhausted to do such pulling upward as would +be necessary to reach a place from whence a new start could be made, even +if we succeeded in re-discovering our night camp of yesterday. + +For hours we fought on, sometimes overcoming crevasses by bridging them +with the sledge where its length enabled this to be done. The summer sun +had cleared the snow from this part of the glacier, laying bare the great +blue, black cracks, and they were horrible to behold. If the breadth of a +crevasse was too large to be crossed we worked along the bank until an +ice bridge presented itself along which we could go. As the sun's rays +grew more powerful, the visibility became perfect, and I must confess we +were disappointed to see before us the most disheartening wilderness of +pressure ridges and disturbances. We were in the heart of the Great Ice +Fall which is to be found half-way down the Beardmore Glacier. We +struggled along, for there is no other expression which aptly describes +our case. Had we not been in superb physical training and in really hard +condition all three of us must have collapsed. We literally carried the +sledge, which weighed nearly four hundred pounds. + +When the afternoon march had already extended for hours we found +ourselves travelling mile after mile across the line of our intended +route to circumvent the crevasses. They seemed to grow bigger and bigger. +At about 8 p.m. we were travelling on a ridge between two stupendous open +gulfs, and we found a connecting bridge which stretched obliquely across. +I saw that it was necessary to move round or across a number of these +wide open chasms to reach the undulations which we knew from our ice +experience must terminate this broken up part of the glacier. In vain I +told myself that these undulations could not be so far away. + +To cross by the connecting bridge which I have just spoken about was, to +say the least of it, a precarious proceeding. But it would save us a mile +or two, and in our tired state this was worth considering. After a +minutes rest we placed the sledge on this ice bridge, and, as Crean +described it afterwards, "We went along the crossbar to the H of Hell." +It was not all misnamed either, for Lashly, who went ahead, dared not +walk upright. He actually sat astride the bridge and was paid out at the +end of our Alpine rope. He shuffled his way across, fearful to look down +into the inky blue chasm below, but he fixed his eyes on the opposite +wall of ice and hoped the rope would be long enough to allow him to reach +it and climb up, for he never would have dared to come back. The cord +_was_ sufficient in length, and he contrived finally to make his way on +to the top of the ridge before him. He then turned round and looked +scaredly at Crean and myself. I think all of us felt the tension of the +moment, but we wasted no time in commencing the passage. The method of +procedure was this. The sledge rested on the narrow bridge which was +indeed so shaped that the crest only admitted of the runners resting one +on each side of it; the slope away was like an inverted "V" and while +Lashly sat gingerly on the opposite ridge, hauling carefully but not too +strongly on the rope, Crean and I, facing one another, held on to the +sledge sides, balancing the whole concern. It was one of the most +exciting moments of our lives. We launched the sled across foot by foot +as I shouted "One, Two, Three--Heave." Each time the signal was obeyed we +got nearer to the opposite ice slope. The balance was preserved, of +course, by Crean and myself, and we had to exercise a most careful +judgment. Neither of us spoke, except for the launching signal, but each +looked steadfastly into the other's eyes--nor did we two look down. A +false movement might have precipitated the whole gang and the sledge +itself into the blue-black space of awful depth beneath. The danger was +very real, but this crossing was necessary to our final safety. As in +other cases of peril, the tense quiet of the moment left its mark on the +memories of our party for ever. Little absurd details attracted all our +attention, for instance, I noticed the ruts in the cheeks of my grimy +_vis-a-vis_, for Crean had recently clipped his beard and whiskers. My +gaze was also riveted on a cut, or rather open crack caused in one of his +lips by the combined sun and wind. Thousands of little fleeting thoughts +chased one another through our brains, as we afterwards found by +comparison, and finally we were so close to Lashly that he could touch +the sledge. He reached down, for the bridge was depressed somewhat where +it met the slope on which he sat. + +He held on tight, and somehow Crean and I wriggled off the bridge, +sticking our crampons firmly into the ice and crawling up to where Lashly +was. We all three held on to the Alpine line, and in some extraordinary +fashion got to the top of the ridge, where we anchored ourselves and +prepared to haul up the sledge. As I said before, it weighed about 400 +lb., and to three exhausted men the strain which came upon us when we +hauled the sledge off the bridge tested us to the limit of our strength. +The wretched thing slipped sideways and capsized on the slope, nearly +dragging us down into that icy chasm, but our combined efforts saved us, +and once again the perils of the moment were forgotten as we got into our +sledge harness and started to make the best of our way to the depot. + +By now we were exhausted, rudely shaken, and our eyes were smarting with +the glare and the glint of the sun's reflections from that awful maze of +ice falls. I felt my heart would burst from the sustained effort of +launching that sledge, which now seemed to weigh a ton. There seemed no +way out of this confused mass of pressure ridges and, crevasses. We were +"all out," and come what may I had to change our tactics, accordingly I +ordered a halt. No room could be found to pitch our tent and I could not +see any possibility of saving my party. We could stagger on no farther +with the dreadfully heavy sledge. The prospect was hopeless and our food +was nearly gone. Some rest must be obtained to give us strength for this +absolute battle for life. The great strain of the day's efforts had +thoroughly exhausted us, and it took me back to the last day of the +December blizzard which caused the eventual loss of the Polar Party and +the ruin of Captain Scott's so excellently laid plans. I remembered the +poor ponies after their fourteen hours' march, their flanks heaving, +their black eyes dull, shrivelled and wasted. The poor beasts had stood, +with their legs stuck out in strange attitudes, mere wrecks of the +beautiful little animals that we took away from New Zealand, and I could +not help likening our condition to theirs on that painful day. The three +of us sat on the sledge--hollow-eyed and gaunt looking. We were done, our +throats were dry, and we could scarcely speak. There was no wind, the +atmosphere was perfectly still, and the sun slowly crept towards the +southern meridian, clear cut in the steel blue sky. It gave us all the +sympathy it could, for it shed warm rays upon us as it silently moved on +its way like a great eye from Heaven, looking but unable to help. We +should have gone mad with another day like this, and there were times +when we came perilously close to being insane. Something had to be done. +I got up from the sledge, cast my harness adrift, and said, "I am going +to look for a way out; we can't go on." My companions at first persuaded +me not to go, but I pointed out that we could not continue in our +exhausted condition. If only we could find a camping place, and we could +rest, perhaps we should be able to make a final effort to get clear. + +I moved along a series of ice bridges, and the excitement gave me +strength once more. I was surprised at myself for not being more giddy +when I walked along the narrow ice spines, but the crampons attached to +my finneskoe were like cat's claws, and without the weight of the sledge +I seemed to develop a panther-like tenacity, for I negotiated the +dangerous parts with the utmost ease. After some twenty minutes hunting +round I came to a great ice hollow. + +Down into it I went and up the other side. This hollow was free from +crevasses, and when I got to the top of the ice mound opposite I saw yet +another hollow. Turning round I gazed back towards where I had left our +sledge. Two tiny, disconsolate figures were silhouetted against the +sunlight--my two companions on our great homeward march, one sitting and +one standing, probably looking for my reappearance as I vanished and was +sighted again from time to time. I felt a tremendous love for those two +men that day. They had trusted me so implicitly and believed in my +ability to win through. I turned northward again, stepped down into the +next hollow and stopped. I was in an enormous depression but not a +crevasse to be seen, for the sides of the depression met quite firmly at +the bottom in smooth, blue, solid ice. + +In a flash I called to mind the view of the Ice Fall from the glacier on +our outward journey with Captain Scott, I remembered the huge frozen +waves, and hoped with all my optimistic nature that this might be the end +of the great disturbance. I stood still and surveyed the wonderful valley +of ice, and then fell on my knees and prayed to God that a way out would +be shown me. + +Then I sprang to my feet, and hurried on boldly. Clambering up the +opposite slope of ice, I found a smooth, round crest over which I ran +into a similar valley beyond. Frozen waves here followed in succession, +and hollow followed hollow, each less in magnitude than its forerunner. + +Suddenly I saw before me the smooth, shining bed of the glacier itself, +and away to the north-west was the curious reddish rock under which the +Mid Glacier Depot had been placed. My feelings hardly bear setting down. +I was overcome with emotion, but my prayer was answered and we were +saved. + +I had considerable difficulty in working back to the party amongst the +labyrinth of ice bridges, but I fortunately found a patch of hard snow +whereon my crampons had made their mark. From here I easily traced my +footmarks back, and was soon in company with my friends. They were truly +relieved at my news. On consulting my watch I found that I had been away +one hour. It took us actually three times as long to work our sledge out +into the smooth ice of the glacier, but this reached, we camped and made +some tea before marching on to the depot, which lay but a few miles from +us. + +We ate the last of our biscuits at this camp and finished everything but +tea and sugar, then, new men, we struck our little camp, harnessed up and +swept down over the smooth ice with scarcely an effort needed to move the +sledge along. When we reached the depot we had another meal and slept +through the night and well on into the next day. + +Consulting my old Antarctic diary I see that the last sentence written on +the 17th January says, "I had to keep my goggles off all day as it was a +matter of life or death with us, and snow blindness must be risked after +..." (a gap follows here until 29th January). The next day I had an awful +attack of snow blindness, but the way down the glacier was so easy that +it did not matter. I forgot whether Lashly or Crean led then, but I +marched alongside, keeping in touch with the trace by hitching the +lanyard of my sundial on to it and holding this in my hand. I usually +carried the sundial slung round my neck, so that it was easy to pick it +up and consult it. That day I was in awful pain, and although we had some +dope for putting on our eyes when so smitten, I found that the greatest +relief of all was obtained by bandaging my eyes with a poultice made of +tea leaves after use--quaint places, quaint practices but the tip is +worth considering for future generations of explorers and alpine +climbers. + +Our homeward march continued for day after day with no very exciting +incidents. We met no more crevasses that were more than a foot or so +wide, and we worked our way down on to the Great Ice Barrier with +comparatively easy marches, although the distances we covered were +surprising to us all--seventeen miles a day we averaged. + +On the 30th January Lashly and I had been fourteen weeks out, and we had +exhausted practically every topic of conversation beyond food, distances +made good, temperatures, and the weather. Crean, as already set down, had +started with the Main Southern Party a week after Lashly and I had first +set out as the pioneers with those wretched failures, the motor sledges. +By this time I had made the unpleasant discovery that I was suffering +from scurvy. It came on with a stiffening of the knee joints, then I +could not straighten my legs, and finally they were horrible to behold, +swollen, bruised, and green. As day followed day my condition became +worse: my gums were ulcerated and my teeth loose. Then finally I got +haemorrhage. Crean and Lashly were dreadfully concerned on my behalf, and +how they nursed me and helped me along no words of mine can properly +describe. What men they were. Those awful days--I trudged on with them +for hundreds of miles, and each step hurt me more. I had done too much on +the outward journey, for what with building all the depot cairns ahead of +the pony party, and what with the effects of the spring sledge journey, +too much had been asked of me. I had never been out of harness from the +day I left Hut Point, for even with the motor sledges we practically +pulled them along. Crean had had an easier time, for he had led a pony up +to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier, and Lashly had not done the spring +sledging journey, which took a certain amount out of me with its +temperatures falling to 73 degrees below zero. The disappointment of not +being included in the Polar Party had not helped me much, and I must +admit that my prospects of winning through became duller day by day. I +suffered absolute agonies in forcing my way along, and eventually I could +only push myself by means of a ski-stick, for I could not step out +properly. I somehow waddled on ski until one day I fainted when striving +to start a march. Crean and Lashly picked me up, and Crean thought I was +dead. His hot tears fell on my face, and as I came to I gave a weak kind +of laugh. + +They rigged the camp up once more and put me in my bag, and then those +two gallant fellows held a short council of war. I endeavoured to get +them to leave me when they came in with their suggestions, but it was +useless to argue with them, and I now felt that I had shot my bolt. I +vainly tried to persuade them to leave me in my sleeping-bag with what +food they could spare, but they put me on the sledge, bag and all, and +strapped me as comfortably as they could with their own sleeping-bags +spread under me to make for greater ease. + +How weary their marches must have been--ten miles of foot slogging each +day. I could see them from the sledge by raising my head--how slowly +their legs seemed to move--wearily but nobly they fought on until one day +a blizzard came and completely spoilt the surface. The two men had been +marching nearly 1500 miles, their strength was spent, and great though +their hearts were, they had now to give up. In vain they tried to move +the sledge with my wasted weight upon it--it was hopeless. + +Very seriously and sadly they re-erected our tent and put me once again +inside. I thought I was being put into my grave. Outside I heard them +talking, low notes of sadness, but with a certain thread of determination +running through what they said. They were discussing which should go and +which should stay. Crean had done, if anything, the lighter share of the +work, as already explained, and he therefore set out to march thirty-five +miles with no food but a few biscuits and a little stick of chocolate. + +He hoped to find relief at Hut Point. Failing this, he would go on if +possible to Cape Evans. + +Crean came in to say good-bye to me. I thanked him for what he was doing +in a weak, broken sort of way, and Lashly held open the little round tent +door to let me see the last of him. He strode out nobly and finely--I +wondered if I should ever see him, again. Then Lashly came in to me, shut +the tent door, and made me a little porridge out of some oatmeal we got +from the last depot we had passed. + +After I had eaten it he made me comfortable by laying me on Crean's +sleeping-bag, which made my own seem softer, for I was very, very sore +after being dragged a hundred miles on a jolting, jumping sledge. Then I +slept and awoke to find Lashly's kind face looking down at me. There were +very few wounded men in the Great War nursed as I was by him. + +A couple of days passed, and every now and then Lashly would open up the +tent door, go out and search the horizon for some possible sign of +relief. The end had nearly come, and I was past caring; we had no food, +except a few paraffin saturated biscuits, and Lashly in his weakened +state without food could never have marched in. He took it all very +quietly--a noble, steel true man--but relief did come at the end of that +day when everything looked its blackest. + +We heard the baying of the dogs, first once, then again. Lashly, who was +lying down by my side quietly talking, sprang to his feet, looked out, +and saw! + +They galloped right up to the tent door, and the leader, a beautiful gray +dog named Krisravitsa, seemed to understand the situation, for he came +right into the tent and licked my hands and face. I put my poor weak +hands up and gripped his furry ears. Perhaps to hide my feelings I kissed +his old hairy, Siberian face with the kiss that was meant for Lashly. We +were both dreadfully affected at our rescue. + +Atkinson and the Russian dog-boy, Dimitri, had come out hot-foot to save +us, and of all men in the Expedition none could have been better chosen +than "Little Aitch," our clever naval doctor. After resting his dogs and +feeding me with carefully prepared foodstuffs, he got me on one sledge +and Lashly on the other, the dogs were given their head, and in little +more than three hours we covered the thirty-five miles into Hut Point, +where I was glad to see Crean's face once more and to hear first hand +about his march. It had taken him eighteen hours' plodding through those +awful snows from our camp to Hut Point, where fortunately he met Atkinson +and Dimitri and told them of my condition. + +After the Expedition was over the King gave Lashly and Crean the Albert +Medal for their bravery in helping me win through. + +It is little enough tribute that I have dedicated this book to these two +gallant fellows. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +THE POLE ATTAINED--SCOTT'S LAST MARCHES + + +The details of Scott's final march to the Pole, and the heartrending +account of his homeward journey, of Evans's sad death, of Oates's noble +sacrifice, and of the martyr like end of Wilson, Bowers, and Scott +himself have been published throughout the length and breadth of the +civilised world. In "Scott's Last Expedition"--Vol. I. the great +explorer's journals are practically reproduced in their entirety. Mr. +Leonard Huxley, who arranged them in 1913, had had to do with Scott's +first work, "The Voyage of the 'Discovery'," and, as Mr. Huxley has said, +these two works needed but little editing. Scott's last fine book was +written as he went along, and those of us who have survived the +Expedition and the Great War, and we are few, are more than proud to +count ourselves among the company he chose. + +A synopsis of his march from 87 degrees 35 minutes to the South Pole, and +a recapitulation of the events which marked the homeward march must +certainly find their way into this book, which is after all only the husk +of the real story. + +However much the story is retold--and it has been retold by members of +the Expedition as well as by others--the re-telling will never approach +the story as told by Scott himself: for the kernel one must turn to +Volume I, of "Scott's Last Expedition": However, perhaps I can give +something of interest; here is what little Bowers says in extracts from +his diary, given me by his mother: + + "_January_ 4.--Packed up sledge with four weeks and three days' food + for five men, five sleeping-bags, etc. I had my farewell breakfast + with Teddy Evans, Crean and Lashly. Teddy was frightfully cut up at + not going to the Pole, he had set his heart on it so. + + "I am afraid it was a very great disappointment to him, and I felt + very sorry about it. Poor Teddy, I am sure it was for his wife's sake + he wanted to go. He gave me a little silk flag she had given him to + fly on the Pole. After so little sleep the previous night I rather + dreaded the march. + + "We gave our various notes, messages, and letters to the returning + party and started off. They accompanied us for about a mile before + turning, to see that all was going on well. + + "Our party was on ski with the exception of myself. I first made fast + to the central span, but afterwards connected up to the bow of the + sledge, pulling in the centre between the inner ends of Captain + Scott's and Dr. Wilson's traces. + + "This was found to be the best place, as I had to go my own step. + Teddy and party gave us three cheers and Crean was half in tears. They + had a featherweight sledge to go back with, of course, and ought to + run down their distance easily. + + "We found we could manage our load easily, and did 6.3 miles before + lunch, completing 12.5 by 7.15 p.m. Our marching hours are nine per + day. It is a long slog with a well-loaded sledge, and more tiring for + me than the others as I have no ski. However, as long as I can do my + share all day and keep fit, it does not matter much one way or the + other. + + "We had our first north wind on the Plateau to-day, and a deposit of + snow crystals made the surface like sand latterly on the march. The + sledge dragged like lead. In the evening it fell calm, and although + the temperature was 16 degrees it was positively pleasant to stand + about outside the tent and bask in the sun's rays. It was our first + calm since we reached the summit too. Our socks and other damp + articles which we hang out to dry at night became immediately covered + with long feathery crystals exactly like plumes. + + "Socks, mitts, and finneskoe dry splendidly up here during the night. + We have little trouble with them compared with spring and winter + journeys. I generally spread my bag out in the sun during the 1 1/2 + hours of lunch time, which gives the reindeer hair a chance to get rid + of the damage done by the deposit of breath and any perspiration + during the night...." + +He seemed to have made no entry for some days after this, but he is +interesting to quote later. + +The Polar Party covered the 145 geographical miles that remained in a +fortnight; on the 7th January they reached apparently the summit of the +Plateau, 10,570 ft. in Latitude 88 degrees 18 minutes 70 seconds S. +Longitude 157 degrees 21 minutes E., but their marches fell short of +expectations due to the bad surfaces met with. + +Scott kept copious notes in his diary of everything that mattered. He was +delighted with his final selection, and as usual pithy and to the point +when describing. Here, for example, is something of what he wrote of his +companions: + + (From Scott's Last Expedition, Vol. 1) + + "WILSON.--Quick, careful and dexterous, ever thinking of some fresh + expedient to help the camp life; tough as steel on the traces, never + wavering from start to finish. + + "PETTY OFFICER EVANS.--A giant worker, with a really remarkable + headpiece--he is responsible for every sledge, every sledge-fitting, + tents, sleeping-bags, harness, and when one cannot recall a single + expression of dissatisfaction with any one of these items, it shows + what an invaluable assistant he has been.... + + "BOWERS.--Little Bowers remains a marvel--he is thoroughly enjoying + himself. I leave all the provision arrangements in his hands, and at + all times he knows exactly how we stand ... Nothing comes amiss to + him, and no work is too hard.... + + "OATES.--Each is invaluable. Oates had his invaluable period with the + ponies: now he is a foot slogger and goes hard the whole time, does + his share of camp work and stands the hardships as well as any of us. + I would not like to be without him either. So our five people are + perhaps as happily selected as it is possible to imagine." + +Certainly no living man could have taken Scott's place effectively as +leader of our Expedition--there was none other like him. He was the +Heart, Brain, and Master. + +On January 11 just the slightest descent had been made, the height up +being now 10,540 ft., but it will be noticed that they were then getting +temperatures as low as 26 degrees below zero: my party on that date got +10 degrees higher thermometer readings. Surface troubles continued to +waylay them, and their distances, even with five men, were disappointing, +due undoubtedly to this. + +On 13th both Bowers and Scott write of a surface like sand, and of +tugging and straining when they ought to be moving easily. On 14th some +members began to feel the cold unmistakably, and on the following day the +whole party were quite done on camping. + +The saddest note on the outward march is struck on January 16 when Bowers +sighted a cairn of snow and a black speck, which turned out to be a black +flag tied to a sledge runner, near the remains of a camp--this after such +a hopeful day on the 15th, when a depot of nine days food was made only +27 miles from the Pole--and Scott wrote in his diary: + + "... It ought to be a certain thing now, and the only appalling + possibility the sight of the Norwegian Flag forestalling ours...." + +Still, there it was, dog tracks, many of them, were picked up and +followed to the Polar Area. Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers, and Seaman +Evans reached the South Pole on 17th January, 1912, a horrible day, +temperature 22 degrees below zero. The party fixed the exact spot by +means of one of our little four-inch theodolites, and the result of their +careful observations located the Pole at a point which only differed from +Amundsen's "fix" by half a mile, as shown by his flag. + +This difference actually meant that the British and Norwegian observers +differed by _one scale division on the theodolite_, which was graduated +to half a minute of arc. + +Experts in navigation and surveying will always look on this splendidly +accurate determination as a fine piece of work by our own people as well +as by the Norwegian Expedition. + +Lady Scott has remarked on the magnificent spirit shown by her husband +and his four specially-selected tent-mates when they knew that Queen +Alexandra's little silk Union Jack had been anticipated by the flag of +another nation. Scott and his companions had done their best, and never +from one of them came an uncharitable remark. + +In our Expedition Committee Minute Book it is recorded that the following +were found at the Pole: + +A letter from Captain Amundsen to Captain Scott: + + "Poleheim, + 15th _December_, 1911. + + "DEAR CAPTAIN SCOTT,--As you probably are the first to reach this area + after us, I will ask you kindly to forward this letter to King Haakon + VII. If you can use any of the articles left in the tent please do + not hesitate to do so. The sledge left outside may be of use to you. + With kind regards I wish you a safe return. + + "Yours truly, + ROALD AMUNDSEN." + +Also another note: + + "The Norwegian Home, Poleheim, is situated in 89 degrees 58 minutes S. + Lat. S.E. by E. compass 8 miles. + + (Signed) ROALD AMUNDSEN. "15th _December_, 1911." + +The Norwegian Explorers' names recorded at Poleheim were: Roald Amundsen, +Olaf Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Oskar Wisting, Sverre Hassel. + +Scott left a note in the Norwegian tent with the names of himself and his +companions, and in his diary he agreed that the Norwegian explorers had +made thoroughly sure of their work and fully carried out their programme. + +Scott considered the Pole to be 9500 feet above the Barrier--1000 feet +lower than the Plateau altitude in 88 degrees. + +Bowers took the sights to fix the South Pole. + +On the 19th January the northward march was commenced: the party had +before them then a distance of over 900 miles (statute). Bowers writes on +this date quite nonchalantly: + + " ... A splendid clear morning, with fine S.W'ly wind blowing--during + breakfast time I sewed a flap attachment on to my green hat so as to + prevent the wind from blowing down my neck on the march. We got up + the mast and sail on the sledge and headed North, picking up + Amundsen's cairn and our outgoing tracks shortly afterwards. Along + this we travelled until we struck the other cairn and finally the + Black Flag where we had made our sixth (?) outward camp. We then with + much relief left all traces of the Norwegian behind, and I headed on + my own track till lunch camp, when we had come 8.1 miles. In the + afternoon we passed No. 2 Cairn of the British route, and fairly + slithered along with a fresh breeze. It was heavy travelling for me, + not being on ski, but one does not mind being tired if a good march is + made. We did 16 altogether for the day, and so should pick up our last + depot to-morrow afternoon. The weather became fairly thick soon after + noon, and at the end of the afternoon there was considerable drift + with a mist caused by ice crystals and parhelion. + + "_January_ 20.--Good sailing breeze again this morning; it is a great + pleasure to have one's back to the wind instead of having to face it. + It came on thicker later, but we sighted the last depot soon after 1 + p.m. and reached it at 1-15 p.m. The red flag on the bamboo pole was + blowing out merrily to welcome us back from the Pole, with its supply + of the necessaries of life below. We are absolutely dependent on our + depots to get off the Plateau alive, and so welcome the lovely little + cairns gladly. At this one, called the 'Last Depot,' we picked up four + days' food, a can of oil, some methylated spirit (for lighting + purposes), and some personal gear we had left there. The bamboo was + bent on to the floor-cloth as a yard for our sail instead of a broken + sledge runner of Amundsen's, which we had found at the Pole and made a + temporary yard of. As we had marched extra long in the forenoon in + order to reach the depot, our afternoon march was shorter than usual. + The wind increased to a moderate gale, with heavy gusts and + considerable drift. We would have had a bad time had we been facing + it. After an hour I had to shift my harness aft so as to control the + motions of the sledge. + + "Unfortunately the surface got very sandy latterly, but we finished up + with 16.1 miles to our credit and camped in a stiff breeze, which + rendered itself into a blizzard a few hours later. I was glad we had + our depot safe. + + "_January_ 21.-Wind increased to force 8 during night, with heavy + drift; in the morning it was blizzing like blazes, and marching was + out of the question. The wind would have been of great assistance to + us, but the drift was so thick that steering a course would have been + next to impossible, so we decided to await developments and get under + way as soon as it showed any signs of clearing. Fortunately it was + short lived, and instead of lasting the regulation two days it went + off in the afternoon, and 2.45 found us off with our sail full. It was + good running on ski, but soft plodding for me on foot. I shall be + jolly glad to pick up my dear old ski. They are nearly 200 miles away + yet, however. The breeze fell altogether latterly, and I shifted up + into my old place, a middle number of the five. Our distance completed + was 5.52 miles when camp was made again. Our old cairns are of great + assistance, also the tracks, which are obliterated in places by heavy + drift and hard sastrugi, but can be followed easily. + + "_January_ 22.--We came across Evans's sheep-skin boots this evening. + They were almost covered after their long spell since they fell off + the sledge. The breeze was in from the S.S.W., but got bright and + light. At lunch camp we had completed 8.2 miles. In the afternoon the + breeze fell altogether and the surface acted on by the sun became + perfect sand-dust. The light sledge pulled by five men came along like + a drag without a particle of slide or go in it. We were all glad to + camp soon after 7 p.m. I think we were all pretty tired out. We did + altogether 19.5 miles for the day. We are now only 30 miles from the + 1 1/2 degree depot and should reach it in two marches with any luck. + + "_January_ 23.--Started off with a bit of a breeze which helped us a + little. After the first two hours it increased to force 4 S.S.W., and + filling the sail we sped along merrily, doing 8 3/4 miles before + lunch. In the afternoon it was even stronger. I had to go back in the + sledge and act as guide and brakesman. We had to lower the sail a bit, + but even then she ran like a bird. We are picking up our old cairns + famously. Evans got his nose frost-bitten, not an unusual thing with + him, and as we were all getting pretty cold latterly, we stopped at a + quarter to seven, having done 15 1/2 miles. We camped with + considerable difficulty owing to the force of the wind. + + "_January_ 24.--Evans got his fingers all blistered with frostbites, + otherwise we are all well, but thinning, and in spite of our good + rations getting hungrier daily. + + "I sometimes spend much thought on the march with plans for making a + pig of myself on the first opportunity. As this will be after a + farther walk of 700 miles they will be a bit premature. It was blowing + a gale when we started, and it increased in force. Finally, with the + sail half down, one man detached tracking ahead, and Titus and I + breaking back, we could not always keep the sledge from over-running. + The blizzard got worse and worse, till having done only 7 miles we had + to camp soon after 12 o'clock. We had a most difficult job camping, + and it has been blowing like blazes all the afternoon. I think it is + moderating now--9 p.m. + + "We are only 7 miles from our depot and the delay is exasperating. + + "_January_ 25.--It was no use turning out at our usual time (5.45 + a.m.) as the blizzard was as furious as ever. + + "We therefore decided on a late breakfast and no lunch unless able to + march. We have only three days' food with us and shall be in Queer + Street if we miss the depot. + + "Our bags are getting steadily wetter, so are our clothes. + + "It shows a tendency to clear off now (breakfast time), so, D.V., we + may march after all. I am in tribulation as regards meals now, as we + have run out of salt, one of my favourite commodities. It was owing to + Atkinson's party taking back an extra tin by mistake from the Upper + Glacier Depot. + + "Fortunately we have some depoted there, so I will only have to endure + another two weeks without it. + + "10 p.m.--We have got in a march after all, thank the Lord. + + "Assisted by the wind we made an excellent run down to our 1 1/2 + Depot, where the big red flag was blowing out of driving drift. Here + we picked up 14 cans of oil, and one week's food for five men, + together with some personal gear depoted. + + "We left the bamboo and the flag on the cairn. I was much relieved to + pick up this depot; now we have only one other source of anxiety in + the endless snow summit, viz., the third depot in Latitude 86 degrees + 56 minutes S. In the afternoon we did 5.2 miles. It was a miserable + march, blizzard all the time and our sledge either sticking on + sastrugi or overrunning the traces. We had to lower the sail half + down, and Titus and I hung on to her--it was most strenuous work as + well as much colder than pulling ahead. Most of the time we had to + brake back with all our strength to keep the sledge from overrunning. + Bill got a bad go of sun-glare from following the track without + goggles on. + + "_January_ 26.--This day last year we started the depot journey. I did + not think so short a time would turn me into an old hand at Polar + travelling, neither did I imagine all the time that I would be + returning from the Pole. + + "_January_ 29.--Our record march to-day. With a good breeze and + improving surface we were soon in amongst the double tracks where the + supporting party left us. Then we picked up the memorable camp where + I transferred to the advance party. How glad I was to change over. The + camp was much drifted up, and immense sastrugi . . . etc." + +Day's marches, temperatures, and so on, then his diary commences missing +days out and only contains two line entries in short, sharp notes such +as: + + "_January_ 31.--Picked up depot 11.20 a.m. Picked up my ski 6.15 p.m. + No wind latterly--heavy surface. 13 1/2--Bill's leg--Evans's + fingers--extra biscuits, etc."; and + + "_February_ 11.--Very heavy surface--ice crystals--movement of upper + currents--Evans cook--finer weather--lower temperature--sastrugi. + Run 11.1." + +It was probably the beginning of the end. + +February brought little to the party but bad luck and reverses. Wilson +had strained a tendon in his leg. Evans's fingers were in a bad state +through frostbite, and on the first of the month Scott himself had fallen +and shaken himself badly. Temperatures low, too low for any good surface. +February 4 found the party amongst crevasses, both Scott and Evans +falling into them. Notwithstanding all their troubles they made a fine +pace over the ice-capped plateau and down the Beardmore. Evans's fall on +February 4 crocked him up a good deal, and he suffered from facial +frostbites. His condition all the time now was causing the gravest +anxiety. The summit journey ended on February 7. On the 8th valuable +geological specimens were collected and brought along, and then the +descent of the Great Glacier commenced. The Beardmore temperatures to +begin with were rather high, and Scott seems to have considered this a +disadvantage, for he says it made the party feel slack. Evans was rested +half-way down the Beardmore, Oates looking after him, while the other +made a halt for geological investigation by the Cloudmaker depot. + +But poor Evans had sustained a severe concussion through falling and +hitting his head on the 4th, and the party on his account was so delayed +that the surplus foodstuffs rapidly diminished, and the outlook became +serious. Bad weather was again encountered, and on February 17, near the +foot of the Glacier, Seaman Evans died. Wilson expressed the opinion that +Evans must have injured his brain by the fall. It was a great surprise to +all of us to hear of Evans failing so early, as he was known to be a man +of enormous strength, and a tried sledger. He was also a veteran in +Antarctic experience, having made some wonderful journeys under Scott in +the "Discovery" days. + +After reaching the Lower Glacier Depot on the 17th the bereaved little +band pushed Northward with fine perseverance, although they must have +known by their gradually shortening marches that little hope of reaching +their winter quarters remained. Their best march on the Barrier was only +12 miles, and in the later stages their marches dropped to 4. The depots +were, as stated, some 65 miles apart, but the temperatures fell as they +advanced, instead of rising, as expected, and we find them +recording -46.2 degrees one night. Surfaces were terrible--"like +pulling over desert sand, not the least glide in the world." + +Poor Oates's feet and hands were badly frostbitten--he constantly +appealed to Wilson for advice. What should he do, what could he do? Poor, +gallant soldier, we thought such worlds of him. Wilson could only answer +"slog on, just slog on." On March 17, which was Oates's birthday, he +walked out to his death in a noble endeavour to save his three companions +beset with hardships, and as Captain Scott himself wrote, "It was the act +of a brave man and an English gentleman--we all hope to meet the end with +a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far." + +Scott, Wilson, and Bowers fought on until March 21, only doing about 20 +miles in the four days, and then they were forced to camp 11 miles south +of One Ton Depot. They were kept in camp by a blizzard which was too +violent to permit them to move, and on March 25 Captain Scott wrote his +great message to the public: + + MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC + +The causes of the disaster are not due to faulty organisation, but to +misfortune in all risks which had to be undertaken. + +1.--The loss of pony transport in March, 1911, obliged me to start later +than I had intended, and obliged the limits of stuff transported to be +narrowed. + +2. The weather throughout the outward journey, and especially the long +gale in 83 degrees S., stopped us. + +3. The soft snow in lower reaches of glacier again reduced pace. + +We fought these untoward events with a will and conquered, but it cut +into our provision reserve. + +Every detail of our food supplies, clothing, and depots made on the +interior ice sheet and over that long stretch of 700 miles to the Pole +and back worked out to perfection. The advance party would have returned +to the glacier in fine form and with surplus of food, but for the +astonishing failure of the man whom we had least expected to fail. Edgar +Evans was thought the strongest man of the party. + +The Beardmore Glacier is not difficult in fine weather, but on our return +we did not get a single completely fine day; this with a sick companion +enormously increased our anxieties. + +As I have said elsewhere we got into frightfully rough ice, and Edgar +Evans received a concussion of the brain--he died a natural death, but +left us a shaken party, with the season unduly advanced. + +But all the facts above enumerated were as nothing to the surprise which +awaited us on the Barrier. I maintain that our arrangements for returning +were quite adequate, and that no one in the world would have expected the +temperatures and surfaces which we encountered at this time of the year. +On the summit in Latitude 85 degrees 86 degrees we had -20 degrees -30 +degrees. On the Barrier in Latitude 82 degrees, 10,000 feet lower, we had +-30 degrees in the day, -47 degrees at night pretty regularly, with +continuous head wind during our day marches. It is clear that these +circumstances come on very suddenly, and our wreck is certainly due to +this sudden advent of severe weather, which does not seem to have any +satisfactory cause. I do not think human beings ever came through such a +month as we have come through, and we should have got through in spite of +the weather but for the sickening of a second companion, Captain Oates, +and a shortage of fuel in our depots, for which I cannot account, and +finally, but for the storm which has fallen on us within 11 miles of the +depot at which we hoped to secure our final supplies. Surely misfortune +could scarcely have exceeded this last blow. We arrived within 11 miles +of our old One Ton Camp with fuel for one last meal and food for two +days. For four days we have been unable to leave the tent--the gale +howling about us. We are weak, writing is difficult, but for my own sake +I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure +hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as +ever in the past. We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come +out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to +the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last. But +if we have been willing to give our lives to this enterprise, which is +for the honour of our country, I appeal to our countrymen to see that +those who depend on us are properly cared for. + +Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, +endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the +heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must +tell the tale, but surely, surely a great rich country like ours will see +that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for. + +(Signed) R. SCOTT. + +This chapter would be incomplete without Wilson's own beautiful lines +from the "South Polar Times"; + + THE BARRIER SILENCE + + The Silence was deep with a breath like sleep + As our sledge runner slid on the snow, + And the fateful fall of our fur-clad feet + Struck mute like a silent blow. + On a questioning "hush," as the settling crust + Shrank shivering over the floe; + And the sledge in its track sent a whisper back + Which was lost in a white-fog bow. + And this was the thought that the Silence wrought + As it scorched and froze us through, + Though secrets hidden are all forbidden + Till God means man to know. + We might be the men God meant should know + The heart of the Barrier snow, + In the heat of the sun, and the glow + And the glare from the glistening floe, + As it scorched and froze us through and through + With the bite of the drifting snow. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +THE SECOND WINTER--FINDING OF THE POLAR PARTY + + +The foregoing story of triumph and disaster going hand in hand to Scott +dwarfed the remaining chapters of the Expedition's history into +insignificance. I venture, however, to give a resume of what was +happening elsewhere in this region at the time. + +The Norwegian explorers commenced their trip homeward to Framheim in the +Bay of Whales, a distance of 870 English miles, on December 17, 1911 and +made the amazing marching average of 22 1/2 miles a day for this +distance. + +On January 25, 1912, at 4 a.m., Amundsen's men regained the shelter of +their winter quarters, when poor Scott was still only 30 miles from the +Pole on his return journey. + +This undoubtedly establishes the superiority of dogs in great numbers for +Polar sledge travelling, for Scott delayed his start on account of the +inability of his ponies to face the severity of the Barrier weather +conditions before November 1. Peary in the North had already with dogs +achieved what Amundsen did in the South. Captain Amundsen has always +expressed his wonder at our performance--and in his modest way he told me +he himself could never have manhauled as Scott's men did. + +Concerning the attempts to support the Southern party, Scott's +instructions were quite clear, and they were certainly obeyed. As a +matter of fact there was never any anxiety felt for the Southern party +until after March 10. They themselves never imagined they would reach Hut +Point before that time, and as the last supporting party had won through +short-handed, and after pulling in harness for 1500 miles, it was not +considered likely that the Southern party would fail--unless overtaken by +scurvy. + +What actually happened was this. Stores were landed by those at the base +station on the re-arrival of the "Terra Nova," and Atkinson, who was the +senior member of those not now returning in her to civilisation, took +over the dogs according to Scott's directions. He proceeded to Hut Point +with Dimitri and the two dog teams on 13th February, and was kept in camp +by bad weather until 19th, when Crean reached the Hut and brought in the +news of my breakdown and collapse at Corner Camp. A blizzard precluded a +start for the purpose of relieving me, but this expedition was undertaken +immediately the weather abated. It was only during a temporary clear that +Lashly and I were rescued. + +Considering my condition, Atkinson judged that if help could be obtained +from Cape Evans, his duty was to stay with me and save my life if +possible, and to depute Cherry-Garrard or Wright to take the dog-teams +out to One Ton Camp with Dimitri. + +Scott would have preferred Wright to remain at Cape Evans, because he had +now relieved Simpson as physicist--Simpson being recalled by the Indian +Government. + +So it was decided that Cherry-Garrard should take out the teams, which he +did, with twenty-four days' food for his own unit and two weeks' surplus +stores for the Southern party, with all kinds of special delicacies. + +The real object of this trip was to hasten the Southern party's return +rather than to succour them. + +Cherry-Garrard and Dimitri had a tough time of it. They, however, reached +One Ton Camp on March, and were held there by blizzard weather, which +made travelling impossible. Temperatures of 40 degrees below zero and +lower were experienced, the dogs were suffering acutely, and +Cherry-Garrard had to decide on the better course--to remain at One Ton +Camp, which Scott would surely make, if thus far north, with two +competent navigators in his team, or to scout and risk missing the party, +whilst using up the dogs' remaining strength. He very properly remained +at One Ton Camp and made his depot on 10th March, and after satisfying +himself that over a month's travelling rations were in the depot, +Cherry-Garrard started homeward, but he had by no means a sinecure in +this journey back--his dogs went wild at the start, smashed the +sledge-meter adrift, fought, and would keep no definite direction, thick +weather set in, and they had a fearful time marching northwards. + +The season was rapidly closing, and without the practice in fog +navigation which the naval officers had, the situation of the unit was +alarming. The two men got into severe pressure and found great open +crevasses--this with their dogs ravenous and out of hand. Dimitri +practically collapsed, and being unable to express himself properly in +English, one can picture what Cherry-Garrard had to contend with. Late on +March 16 they won through to Hut Point in exceedingly bad condition. +Atkinson was seriously alarmed, and had two more sick men to nurse back +to strength. + +The dogs were frost-bitten, gaunt, and quite unfit for further work that +season. Meantime during the absence of the dog teams, before there was +anxiety on Scott's account, Pennell, responding to Atkinson's letter for +help, brought the "Terra Nova" up towards Hut Point, and a party under +Rennick conveyed me in pitiful state to the ship in my sleeping-bag. + +I was placed in the Captain's cabin, and given Drake and Day as nurses. I +owe them a great debt too. Atkinson had still to remain at my side, for I +was even then at death's door--and, it is only due to Atkinson's +unremitting care that I am alive to-day. He came up therefore in the ship +and participated in the search for Campbell in the vicinity of Evans's +Coves, but after several unsuccessful attempts the "Terra Nova" +temporarily abandoned her objective and returned to Cape Evans on March +4. Here Keohane was picked up and taken with Atkinson to Hut +Point--Pennell relieved Atkinson of further responsibility on my account +and then landed him with Keohane here. It was impressed on Atkinson that +there was very little chance of relieving Campbell with ice conditions as +they were. They laid up a store of seal meat and blubber against the +return of Scott's company, while the ship made another fruitless attempt +to relieve Campbell. She did not return South after this on account of +the sea freezing and her own coal shortage, but proceeded back to New +Zealand, in accordance with her Commanding Officer's instructions. +Pennell was not justified in keeping the "Terra Nova" any later in the +McMurdo Sound. + +Now let us consider poor Atkinson. He had Dimitri and Cherry-Garrard at +Hut Point in a state of collapse--he had on 16th March the knowledge that +the Polar Party were still on the Barrier with a season closing in and a +certainty of low temperature--there was no communication with Cape Evans, +for the ice had gone out and left open water between the two positions. +After discussing the situation fully, Atkinson and Keohane started out +alone to succour Scott's party. It was on March 26 that Atkinson and +Keohane set out, this being later in the year than we had sledged in +1911, when it will be remembered we gave up depot-laying on account of +the hardship entailed, although we were fresh men and had not undergone +the severe test of a long season's sledge work. Atkinson could only +manage about nine miles daily, he and Keohane got practically no sleep +owing to the cold, and they turned homeward after depositing a week's +food supply at Corner Camp, in case it could be made use of. Atkinson was +morally certain that the Polar Party had perished by this time, and, as +he states in his record of proceedings ("The last year at Cape Evans, +'Scott's Last Expedition,' Vol. II."), Scott's last diary entry was made +before he and Keohane reached Corner Camp. Atkinson arrived back at Hut +Point on April 1, 1912, utterly worn out, and in great concern on +Campbell's account, for the Northern party were known to be somewhere on +the coast. He could do nothing without assistance from Cape Evans, and he +awaited, therefore, the opportunity of reaching the base station as we +all had done when stranded at Hut Point twelve months previously. On +April 10, leaving Cherry-Garrard to tend the dogs, Atkinson, Keohane, and +Dimitri made their way to Cape Evans via the Castle Rock, Glacier Tongue +route, as described in the earlier part of this narrative, but, as it +happens, under almost unparalleled conditions, for they sailed over the +ice, riding on their sledge, such was the excellence of the sea-ice +surface. + +The indefatigable Atkinson called the members together to discuss plans +and decide as to future relief work. The idea of making a farther journey +on to the Ice Barrier to succour Scott was rejected as useless--for there +was no hope whatever for the Southern party, and Atkinson himself knew +what the Barrier travelling was like. There was, however, a chance of +relieving Campbell and his five companions, known to have been set ashore +in the neighbourhood of Terra Nova Bay, and with this end in view, +Atkinson, Wright, Keohane, Williamson, Gran, and Dimitri set off on April +13. + +The last two were left at Hut Point whilst Atkinson and the other three +worked round the Southern end of McMurdo Sound on the sea-ice and up the +coast to Butter Point. It was a dangerous proceeding, but Atkinson was +undaunted by the perils of the sea ice breaking up, and he carried out a +tip-and-run sort of journey with great pluck and endurance, establishing +a depot of a fortnight's foodstuffs at Butter Point. On April. 20 the ice +was seen to break up and drift seawards from Butter Point, thus finally +putting a stop to any further search or relief work. + +A somewhat hazardous return journey landed Atkinson's team at Hut Point, +and his whole party was re-collected at the Cape Evans Base by May 1 with +the dogs. + +Here Lashly was looking after the seven mules presented by the Indian +Government, which the ship had brought down to enable Scott to explore +further the extent of the Victoria Land Coast, S.E. of the Beardmore. +Everything at Cape Evans in the scientific line was carried on as in the +preceding winter, and although the staff was reduced the records and +observations were continued as heretofore. + +The Second Winter Party consisted of: + +_Officers_--Atkinson, Wright, Debenham, Nelson, Cherry-Garrard, Gran. +_Men_--Archer, Williamson, Crean, Lashly, Keohane, Dimitri, Hooper. + +Mr. Archer, our capable chief cook and steward, replaced Clissold, and +Williamson exchanged with Forde. The winter work of the Hut was +reorganised by Atkinson, so that every one was detailed to do that for +which he was best suited. Considering what the party had faced already, +that they were living in the shadow of a great disaster, and that +Campbell's fate was in doubt, one must feel that in a way they had the +hardest time of all in the Expedition. They had to sit down, as it were, +and wait in uncertainty for the winter to pass, then go out in search to +ascertain the fate of their leader, and probably that of Campbell. + +I can only give a brief summary of the second winter, taken from +Atkinson's and Gran's accounts: the weather was probably exceptional from +the persistency of the early winter blizzards. There was a great dearth +of seal-meat, due to the ice blowing out from the North Bay and to the +lack of ice everywhere in May month. + +Debenham gave great joy to the company after examining the geological +specimens brought by Atkinson's supporting party from the Beardmore. +Fossils of plants and small marine animals were found amongst them. + +Ice formed at the end of May, but again blew out in June--close on to +midwinter, when the sea was seen to be phosphorescent, and Atkinson +writes: "We had a wonderful show of phosphorescence--we saw a seal +chasing a school of fish, the fish outlined with phosphorescence, and the +seal with a glowing snout and all his body bright in hot pursuit." + +On midwinter day, after the attendant festivities, Atkinson called the +members together and outlined his plans for the coming season. + +He says, "Two alternatives lay before us. One was to go South and try to +discover the fate of Captain Scott's party. I thought it most likely that +they had been lost in a crevasse on the Beardmore Glacier. Whether their +bodies could be found or not, it was highly desirable to go even as far +as the Upper Glacier Depot, nearly 600 miles from the Base, in the hope +of finding a note left in some depot which could tell whether they had +fulfilled their task or turned back before reaching the Pole. On general +grounds it was of great importance not to leave the record of the +Expedition incomplete, with one of its most striking chapters a blank. + +"The other alternative was to go West and North to relieve Campbell and +his party, always supposing they had survived the winter. If they had +come through the winter every day of advancing summer would improve their +chances of living on in Terra Nova Bay. At the same time there was good +prospect of their ultimately being relieved by the ship, if indeed she +had not taken them off in the autumn. As for ourselves, it seemed most +improbable that we could journey up the coast owing to the abnormal state +of the ice. Instead of being frozen for the winter, the whole Sound to +the north and west of Inaccessible Island was open water during July; the +ice was driven out by the exceptionally strong and frequent winds, and +there was little chance of a firm road forming for the spring. Under +these conditions officers and men unanimously supported the decision to +go South." + +An important fact is noted by Atkinson which is worth including for the +guidance of future expeditions. Six new sledges came down per "Terra +Nova" from Messrs. Hagen of Christiania, with tapered runners--the +breadth of the runner in front being 4 inches, diminishing to 2 1/2 on +the after part of the sledge. Compared with our original 12-foot pattern +the new sledges contrasted to great advantage over the old. The idea +seems to be that the broad iron portion should run over and smooth the +track for the after tapered portion. + +The sun returned after its four months' absence on August 23 and found +the little party in excellent health and cheerful spirits. The mules and +dogs had been carefully exercised to be ready and fit for the new journey +South. A depot was laid 12 miles south of Corner Camp in mid-October, and +another by the dogs soon after. On October 29 Wright, Nelson, Gran, +Lashly, Crean, Williamson, Keohane, and Hooper left with six mules, +sledges, and a considerable provision store to search for Captain Scott +and the Polar Party. Atkinson followed with Cherry-Garrard and Dimitri on +1st November, taking the best available dogs in two teams. Without any +great trouble they reached One Ton Camp on November 10, having joined +forces with the mule party. Atkinson notes that here he found, as we had +done before, an oil shortage from paraffin tins in the depot leaking, +although there was no hole discernible. Some stores had been spoilt in +consequence. On the morning of 12th November the party found what they +sought--Scott's tent, snowed up and presenting a cairn-like appearance. + +From Gran's diary the following is taken: + + "It has happened--horrible, ugly fate, only 11 miles from One Ton + Depot, Scott, Wilson, and Birdie. All ghastly. I will never forget it + as long as I live: a terrible nightmare could not have shown more + horror than this 'Campo Santo.' In a tent, snow covered to above the + door, we found the three bodies. Scott in the middle, half out of his + bag, Birdie on his right, and Uncle Bill on the left, lying head + towards the door. .. Bowers and Wilson seem to have passed away in a + kind of sleep.... Concerning our unlucky Polar Party we learned that + Petty Officer Evans died at the Lower Glacier Depot; he was done, and + had fallen coming down the Glacier: death was the result of a + concussion of the brain. On the Barrier they met with extreme low + temperatures. Down to -50 degrees in the night time for weeks, also + head wind. + + "'Soldier' had got his feet frost-bitten badly and suffered + enormously. He understood that the salvation of the party depended on + his death--but as death would not relieve him he went out of the tent + in a blizzard to meet it. The three others arrived here at this camp + March 21 with food for two days and fuel for one meal. A terrible + blizzard prevented them from getting in, and on March 29 all was + finished. + + "Scott writes in his diary: 'There is no more hope, and so God look + after our people....' All this only a day's march from plenty.... We + buried them this morning, a solemn undertaking. How strange it was to + see men bareheaded whilst the wind blew with the thermometer at -20 + degrees. We are now going to look for 'Soldier' and then return to + look for Campbell. I must say our Expedition is not given much luck + ... the sun is shining beautifully in this place of death: over the + Bluff this morning stood a distinct cross in clouds." + +It continues: "November 12, Lunch time: + +"We have built a cairn--a 12-foot cairn--and put a cross made of a pair +of skis on it...." Gran says later, and it is worth quoting: "When I saw +those three poor souls the other day, I just felt that I envied them. +They died having done something great. How hard death must be for those +who meet it having done nothing." + +Atkinson in his account says: + + "We recovered all their gear and dug out the sledge with their + belongings on it. Amongst these were 35 lb. of very important + geological specimens which had been collected on the moraines of the + Beardmore Glacier: at Doctor Wilson's request they had stuck to these + up to the very end, even when disaster stared them in the face and + they knew that the specimens were so much weight added to what they + had to pull...." + +The following record was left: + + "November 12, 1912, Latitude 79 degrees, 50 minutes, South. This cross + and cairn are erected over the bodies of Captain Scott, C.V.O., R.N., + Doctor E.A. Wilson, M.B., B.C., Cantab., and Lieutenant H.R. Bowers, + Royal Indian Marine--a slight token to perpetuate their successful and + gallant attempt to reach the Pole. This they did on January 17, 1912, + after the Norwegian Expedition had already done so. Inclement weather + with lack of fuel was the cause of their death. Also to commemorate + their two gallant comrades, Captain L.E.G. Oates of the Inniskilling + Dragoons, who walked to his death in a blizzard to save his comrades, + about eighteen miles south of this position; also of Seaman Edgar + Evans, who died at the foot of the Beardmore Glacier. 'The Lord gave + and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'" + +This was signed by all the members of the party. + + "I decided then to march twenty miles south with the whole of the + Expedition and try to find the body of Captain Oates. For half the day + we proceeded south, as far as possible along the line of the previous + season's march. On one of the old pony walls, which was simply marked + by a ridge of the surface of the snow, we found Oates's sleeping-bag, + which they had brought along with them after he had left. + + "The next day we proceeded thirteen miles more south, hoping and + searching to find his body. When we arrived at the place where he had + left them, we saw that there was no chance of doing so. The kindly + snow had covered his body, giving him a fitting burial. Here, again, + as near to the site of the death as we could judge, we built another + cairn to his memory, and placed thereon a small cross and the + following record: 'Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain + L.E.G. Oates of the Inniskilling Dragoons. In March, 1912, returning + from the Pole, he walked willingly to his death in a blizzard, to try + and save his comrades, beset by hardships. This note is left by the + Relief Expedition of 1912.'" + +Atkinson writes also, and it should be inserted most certainly here, +referring to their return after hunting for poor Oates's body: + + "On the second day we came again to the resting place of the three and + bade them there a final farewell. There alone in their greatness they + will lie without change or bodily decay, with the most fitting tomb in + the world above them." + +Atkinson could not have expressed himself more beautifully. My book +should end here, but there is an epilogue to it: it is the illuminating +story of Campbell and his northern party, with a short indication of what +was done elsewhere by the Expedition's men. The homeward journey was made +in sorrow and doubt, for Atkinson's little band of brothers had to +shoulder another responsibility--the determination of Campbell's fate. + +On November 27, 1912, Gran's diary gives as follows: + + "Great news again--great, good news. Campbell here and his party safe + at Cape Evans. They just missed us going out. They lived a winter a la + Eskimo, Igloo and so on, and have been quite comfortable, so they say. + Campbell is looking very well. He is now in command, and intends to do + only small trips--Erebus and so on...." + +Atkinson now handed over to Campbell, and whilst mentioning this it is +just as well to call attention to the splendid services of Dr. Atkinson. +Grit and loyalty were his outstanding qualities. He was later on +specially promoted to Surgeon Commander for his work in the Expedition. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +ADVENTURES OF THE NORTHERN PARTY + + +To set forth concisely the adventurous story of Campbell's Northern Party +in a single chapter is no light task. Raymond Priestley has written it in +book form already, just as Griffith-Taylor has published his particular +narrative of the Western Journey in "The Silver Lining." Both books are +of absorbing interest to those who are fond of Polar literature. + +I have, I hope, made clear the reason of Campbell's landing at Cape +Adare. Mr. Borchgrevink in his "Southern Cross" Antarctic Expedition used +this position as his winter quarters, and found, just as Campbell did, +that it was not a suitable part of the Antarctic continent for making +extensive sledge journeys from. Still, King Edward's Land was denied him. +Amundsen was established before him in the Bay of Whales, and in spite of +diligent search the Cape Adare choice was the only one left to Victor +Campbell and his five companions. Scott's instructions have already been +reproduced in this volume: he mentioned Robertson Bay, and Cape Adare is +at the N.E. extreme of the Promontory bounding the Bay to the Eastward. + +Campbell was by no means satisfied with his landing place, but coal was +short in the "Terra Nova" and the season drawing in. He had vainly +searched for a more profitable wintering place, and it was not until +February 17 that he got his chance of landing here even. + +The party and their stores were put ashore on the beach which the +"Southern Cross" Expedition had chosen, for want of a better spot where +their stuff could be set safely on land. Loose ice and surf hampered +operations, for owing to shallow water, boats had to convey hut, gear, +and equipment from the ship instead of sledges taking it over fast ice, +as was the case at Cape Evans. It was truly a case of bundling Campbell +and Co. out of the ship, and only their great optimism and _bonhomie_ +kept this party from despair. As it turned out they had some of the best +of the Expedition game, since neither disaster nor terrific +disappointment dogged their steps as in Scott's case, for up till the +very last they were in blissful ignorance of our dreadful plight in the +main party. + +The old huts left by Borchgrevink in 1900 were much dilapidated: one +snowed up inside, and the other roofless and full of penguin guano. The +snow was all removed from the snow-choked hut, and this shack used as a +temporary shelter during the building of the Chateau Campbell. The work +of landing stores from the "Terra Nova" was accomplished in two days, and +the ship, after tooting a farewell to the little party on her siren, +steamed away and left them to their own devices. + +The Cape Adare locality is a famous penguin rookery, and Campbell's men +might for all the world have been erecting their hut on Hampstead Heath +during a Bank Holiday, for the penguins gathered in their thousands +around them in a cawing, squawking crowd. + +Penguins are the true inhabitants of Antarctica, and have flourished for +countless ages in these parts. Surgeon Levick, Campbell's doctor, has +written a splendid little book entitled "Antarctic Penguins" (Heinemann), +which tells all about the little beggars in popular language. The members +landed with Lieutenant Victor Campbell were: + + Levick . . . Surgeon and Zoologist. + Priestley . . Geologist. + Abbott . . . Seaman. + Browning . . Seaman. + Dickason . . Seaman. + +The three seamen were chosen by Campbell after careful observation on the +outward voyage. + +The Northern Party Hut was completed and first inhabited by March 5. An +ice house for the storage of fresh meat was constructed, or rather +hollowed out of an iceberg grounded close to. Unfortunately, this had to +be evacuated owing to a surf causing the berg to disintegrate, and V +Campbell puts it, "we had only just time to rescue the forty penguins +with which we had stocked it, and carry the little corpses to a near +ice-house built of empty cases filled with ice." + +To appreciate best the surrounding hereabouts one may as well give a +brief description of the Cape Adare and Robertson Bay environment. The +place on which the hut was built is a small triangular beach cut off from +the mainland by inaccessible cliffs. A fine bay, containing an area of +perhaps nine hundred square miles, lies to the westward, and south and +behind this the Admiralty Range of Mountains rises in snowy splendour to +heights of 10,000 feet or more; other ranges are visible far to the +westward, whilst black basalt rocks overhang the station. + +Several wall-faced glaciers are visible, but according to Campbell none +are possible to climb on to, nor do they lead up to the inland plateau. +On this account the party were unable to accomplish any serious sledging +whilst landed here. Other things were undertaken, and the members did +excellent meteorological, geological, and magnetic work, while Campbell +himself made some good surveys. Priestley has added, greatly to our +geological knowledge, and he, with his previous Antarctic experience, +made himself invaluable to his chief. The Aurora observations show much +more variegated results than we got at Cape Evans, where, as pointed out, +there was a great absence of colour beyond pale yellow in the displays. + +The principal drawback of the beach here was its covering of guano and +manure dust from the myriads of penguins and their predecessors. I had +gone ashore at Cape Adare as a sub-lieutenant on January 8, 1903, to +leave a record, and I remember that we had literally to trample on the +penguins to get across the beach to Borchgrevink's hut--how interesting +it all was, my first landing on this inhospitable continent: my +impressions left a wonderful memory of mouse-coloured, woolly little +young of the Adelie penguin--I even remember taking one away and trying +unsuccessfully to bring it up. It must have taken Campbell's crew a long +time to get accustomed to the pungent odour thereabouts. Levick dressed +the ground with bleaching powder to help dispel that dreadful odour of +guano before Campbell's men put down their hut floor. + +There is little to be set down concerning the Cape Adare winter--the +routine much resembled our own winter routine at Cape Evans; it was much +warmer, however, and being six degrees farther north the sun left the +party nearly a month later and returned the same amount earlier; they had +little more than two months with the sun below the horizon in fact. + +There is a certain amount of quiet humour about Campbell's record; for +instance, he states that they used their "pram" or Norwegian skiff and +tried trawling for biological specimens on March 27--"our total catch was +one sea-louse, one sea-slug, and one spider." + +It is very interesting to note that in March they had Aurora in which "an +arc of yellow stretched from N.W. to N.E., while a green and red curtain +extended from the N.W. horizon to the zenith." + +The "pram" was Campbell's gift to the Expedition. He was always alive in +the matter of small boats and their uses, and he was the first to use +"kayaks" by making canvas boats to fit round the sledges; these were +light enough and might have well been used by us in the Main Party. Had +poor Mackintosh possessed one in Shackleton's last expedition he and his +companions would probably have saved themselves--if they had carried a +canvas cover on a sledge with them however it is always easy to be wise +after the event. + +Levick's medical duties were very light indeed: they included the +stopping of one of Campbell's teeth, and the latter says, "As he had been +flensing a seal a few days before, his fingers tasted strongly of +blubber." + +Priestly took charge of the meteorology for this station in addition to +his own special subjects. Abbott was the carpenter, Browning the +acetylene gas-man, and Dickason the cook and baker. With these ends in +view Mr. Archer had had Dickason in the galley on board during the +outward voyage. + +This hut of theirs was stayed down with wire hawser on account of the +gales recorded by the "Southern Cross" Expedition. + +The company's alarm clock, an invention of Browning's, deserves the +description taken from Campbell's diary: "We have felt the want of an +alarm clock, as in such a small party it seems undesirable that any one +should have to remain awake the whole night to take the 2-4 a.m. +observations, but Browning has come to the rescue with a wonderful +contrivance. It consists of a bamboo spring held back by a piece of +cotton rove through a candle which is marked off in hours. The other end +of the cotton is attached to the trigger of the gramophone, and whoever +takes the midnight observations winds the gramophone, 'sets' the cotton, +lights the candle, and turns the trumpet towards Priestley, who has to +turn out for the 2 a.m. At ten minutes to two the candle burns the thread +and releases the bamboo spring, which being attached to the trigger, +starts the gramophone in the sleeper's ear, and he turns out and stops +the tune; this arrangement works beautifully and can be timed to five +minutes." + +Curiously enough Campbell's men sustained far more frostbites than we at +Cape Evans did: in all my four Antarctic voyages I have never been +frost-bitten beyond a touch here and there on the finger-tips working +instruments, yet I occasionally now get chilblains in an ordinary English +winter. + +A short expedition was made by Campbell, Priestley, and Abbott on July +29, to determine the travelling condition and find out what sort of +surface would be met with for coastwise sledging to come when the season +opened. Speed worked out at little over seven miles a day on the outward +trip to Duke of York Island. The salt-flecked, smooth ice was heavier +going than much rougher stuff where pressure obtained. + +On August 8 a small two-day geological expedition was undertaken, and +prepared to start on a more extensive journey westward; the party were +disappointed to find the ice had all blown out and left them +water-girdled; a blizzard of unusual violence followed the exit of ice, +and the storehouse roof was torn away. + +It must have been a severe blow to the energetic Campbell that he was +denied serious sledging while quartered at Cape Adare. Minor expeditions +were undertaken and some useful information gleaned, but unsafe ice and +unsatisfactory conditions all round prevented any of the really long +journeys Campbell would otherwise have made. + +The "Terra Nova" was sighted on January 4, and in two days Campbell, his +party and belongings were safely on board and proceeding along the coast +eager to try their fortunes farther South, Evans Coves in Latitude 75 +degrees being the next objective. The ship was placed alongside the +Piedmont here on January 8, near a big moraine close north of the Coves. +A depot of provisions was established, and an arrangement was come to +between Pennell and Campbell that the latter should be picked up on +February 18. Reference to the sketch charts will show the part of +Victoria Land in which Campbell was now working. + +It was proposed to sledge round Mount Melbourne to Wood Bay, and examine +the neighbourhood geologically and geographically. The sledge team found +some remarkable ice structures and new and interesting glaciers. They +had, a crop of small adventures, and found sandstone rock containing +fossil wood and many other excellent fossils, garnets, etc., besides +which Campbell did good work surveying. A new glacier was named after +Priestley and another after Campbell. + +More fossils were discovered on February 1, and a quantity of lichens, +shells, worm casts, and sponge spicules were discovered in the locality +of Evans Coves, to which the party returned. On February 17 they began to +look for the "Terra Nova," but as time went on and she did not put in an +appearance Campbell prepared to winter. Pennell as we know had met with +ice conditions that were insuperable, and he never got the ship within 30 +miles of the coast. Pennell, Rennick, and Bruce did all that men could do +to work the "Terra Nova" through, but communication was impossible that +season, and the Northern Party was left to face the rigours of a Polar +winter with nothing more than four weeks' sledging ration and 270 lb. of +biscuits extra. His companions could not have been better chosen to help +Campbell through this ordeal. The leader knew his men absolutely, and +they themselves were lucky in having such a resourceful and determined +officer in charge. + +On March 1 Victor Campbell selected a hard snow slope for the winter +home, and into this he and his men cut and burrowed until they had +constructed an igloo or snow house, 13 feet by 9: They insulated this +with blocks of snow and seaweed. A trench roofed with sealskins and snow +formed the entrance, and at the sides of this passage they had their +store rooms and larder. + +All the time this house was under construction a party was employed +killing penguins and seals, for which they kept a constant lookout. By +March 15 their larder contained 120 penguins and 11 seals. After this +date gale succeeded gale and the winter set in with a long run of bad +weather. Campbell and his companions led a very primitive existence here +for six and a half months. + +They only had their light summer sledging clothes to wear, and these soon +became saturated with blubber: their hair and beards grew, and they were +soon recognisable only by their voices. Some idea of their discomforts +will be gleaned by a description of their diet. Owing to their +prospective journey to Cape Evans, Campbell had first to reduce the +biscuit supply from eight to two biscuits a day, and then to one. + +Generally their diet consisted of one mug of "pemmican and seal hoosh" +and a biscuit for breakfast, _nothing_ for lunch, a mug and a half of +seal, one biscuit and three-quarters of a pint of thin cocoa for supper. +On Sundays weak tea was substituted for cocoa, this they re-boiled for +Mondays' supper, and the dried leaves were used for tobacco on Tuesdays. +Their only luxuries were a piece of chocolate and twelve lumps of sugar, +weekly, and twenty-five raisins apiece were kept for birthdays. One lucky +find was thirty-six fish in the stomach of a seal, which fried in blubber +proved excellent. The biscuit ration had to be stopped entirely from July +to September. The six men cooked their food in sea-water as they had no +salt, and seaweed was used as a vegetable. Priestley is reported to have +disliked it, and no wonder, for it has probably rotted in the sun for +years, and the penguins have trampled it all down, apart from anything +worse. + +Campbell kept a wonderful discipline in his party, and as they were +sometimes confined to the igloo for days, Swedish drill was introduced to +keep them healthy. A glance at their weather record shows how necessary +this was. We find one day snowing hard, next day blowing hard, and the +third day blowing and snowing hard, nearly all through the winter. But +there was never a complaint. + +On Sunday divine service was performed, which consisted of Campbell +reading a chapter of the Bible, followed by hymns. They had no hymn book, +but Priestley remembered several, while Abbott, Browning and Dickason had +all been at some time or other in a choir. + +To add to their discomfort, owing to the state of their clothing and +meagre food supply, they were very susceptible to frostbites, and Jack +Frost made havoc with feet, fingers, and faces. + +We should here give a little thought to the dark dreariness of their +surroundings. This party was not so very far north of Cape Evans, and +their winter was only about three weeks shorter if measured by the sun's +absence below the horizon--the contrast between the "palace" at Cape +Evans and the ice-cave at Campbell's position is ridiculous, and to think +that the little crew remained cheerful and in harmony under such +troglodyte conditions, it makes one wonder more and more at the manner of +the men. They had none of the comfort, entertainment, and good feeling of +their co-explorers at the base, the very dimensions of their habitation +explains for itself the cramped nature of their existence, and yet no +complaints, and nothing but unswerving loyalty to their boss. Weaker +minded men would have broken down mentally under the strain of living +through that winter. + +The sunlight went at the beginning of May, gradually leaving them with +those peculiar drawn-out half lights, which we all grew to know so +well--the whimpering purple clouds, the sad-looking hills, and the +desolate ice slopes and snow drifts--the six men were imprisoned with +sullen hills and unassailable mountains for jailers, until they had +undergone their sentence--the sea their chief jailer, for the sea had set +them there and it was for the sea to decide on the time of their release. + +Boots had long since given out, and they had to guard against ruining +their finneskoe or it would have been good-bye to any sledging round to +Cape Evans when the sea did freeze. Seal blubber was utilised for +cooking, and whenever seals were killed the chunks of this greasy stuff +had to be carried to the igloo on the men's backs--this meant that their +clothes soon smelt very badly, which circumstance added to the misery of +their living conditions. + +On May 6 Campbell's party sustained a severe disappointment, for they saw +what appeared to be four men coming towards them. Immediately they jumped +to the conclusion that the ship had been frozen in and that this was a +search party. The four figures turned out to be Emperor penguins, and +although disappointing in one way they served to replenish the larder, +and so had their use. + +Here are three specimen diary pages extracted from Campbell's journey: + +April 9.--Warmer to-day. We saw a small seal on a floe but were unable to +reach him. The bay remains open still. On the still days a thin film of +ice forms, but blows out as soon as the wind comes up. In these early +days, before we had perfected our cooking and messing arrangements, a +great part of our day was taken up with cooking and preparing the food, +but later on we got used to the ways of a blubber stove, and things went +more smoothly. We had landed all our spare paraffin from the ship, and +this gave us enough oil to use the primus for breakfast, provided we +melted the ice over the blubber fire the day before. The blubber stove +was made of an old oil tin cut down. In this we put some old seal bones +taken from the carcasses we found on the beach. + + "A piece of blubber skewered on to a marline-spike and held over the + flame dripped oil on the bones and fed the fire. In this way we could + cook hoosh nearly as quickly as we could on the primus. Of course the + stove took several weeks of experimenting before it reached this + satisfactory state. With certain winds we were nearly choked with a + black, oily smoke that hurt our eyes and brought on much the same + symptoms as accompany snow-blindness. + +"We take it in turns to be cook and messman, working in pairs: Abbott and +I, Levick and Browning, Priestley and Dickason, and thus each has one day +on in three. The duties of the cooks are to turn out at 7 and cook and +serve out the breakfast, the others remaining in their bags for the meal. +Then we all have a siesta till 10.30, when we turn out for the day's +work: The cook starts the blubber stove and melts blubber for the lamps. +The mess-man takes an ice-axe and chips frozen seal meat in the passage +by the light of a blubber lamp. A cold job this and trying to the temper, +as scraps of meat fly in all directions and have to be care-fully +collected afterwards. The remainder carry up the meat and blubber, or +look for seals. By 5 p.m. all except the cooks are in their bags, and we +have supper. After supper the cooks melt ice for the morning, prepare +breakfast, and clear up." + +"May 7.--A blizzard with heavy drift has been blowing all day, so it was +a good job we got the penguins. We have got the roof on the shaft now, +but in these blizzards the entrance is buried in snow, and we have a job +to keep the shaft clear. Priestley has found his last year's journal, and +reads some to us every evening. + +"From now till the end of the month strong gales again reduced our +outside work to a minimum, and most of our energies were directed to +improving our domestic routine. + +"We have now a much better method for cutting up the meat for the hoosh. +Until now we had to take the frozen joints and hack them in pieces with +an ice-axe. We have now fixed up an empty biscuit tin on a bamboo tripod +over the blubber fire. The small pieces of meat we put in this to thaw: +the larger joints hang from the bamboo. In this way they thaw +sufficiently in the twenty-four hours to cut up with a knife, and we find +this cleaner and more economical. + +"We celebrated two special occasions on this month, my wedding day on the +10th, and the anniversary, to use a paradox, of the commissioning of the +hut on the 17th, and each time the commissariat officer relaxed his hold +to the extent of ten raisons each. + +"Levick is saving his biscuit to see how it feels to go without cereals +for a week. He also wants to have one real good feed at the end of the +week. His idea is that by eating more blubber he will not feel the want +of the biscuit very much." + + "July 4.--Southerly wind, with snow, noise of pressure at sea and the + ice in the Bay breaking up. Evidently there is wind coming, and the + sea ice which has recently formed will go out again like the rest. It + is getting rather a serious question as to whether there will be any + sea ice for us to get down the coast on. I only hope that to the South + of the Drygalski ice tongue, where the south-easterlies are the + prevailing winds, we shall find the ice has held. Otherwise it will + mean that we shall have to go over the plateau, climbing up by Mount + Larsen, and coming down the Ferrar Glacier, and if so we cannot start + until November, and the food will be a problem. + + "We made a terrible discovery in a hoosh tonight: a penguin's flipper. + Abbott and I prepared the hoosh. I can remember using a flipper to + clean the pot with, and in the dark Abbott cannot have seen it when he + filled the pot. However, I assured every one it was a fairly clean + flipper, and certainly the hoosh was a good one." + +In this diary are some remarkable entries. Attempts were made to vary the +flavour of the "Hooshes"--one entry is very queer reading: it related how +after trying one or two other expedients Levick used a mustard plaster in +the pemmican and seal stew. The unanimous decision was that it must have +been a linseed poultice, for mustard could not be tasted at all, yet the +flavour of linseed was most distinct. + +Campbell says that Midwinter Day gave them seasonable weather, pitch +dark, with wind and a smothering drift outside. The men awoke early and +were so eager and impatient for their full ration on this special +occasion that they could not remain in their sleeping-bags, but turned +out to cook a "full hoosh breakfast" for the first time for many +weeks--that evening they repeated the hoosh and augmented it by cocoa +with sugar in it, then four citric acid and two ginger tabloids. The day +concluded with a smoke and a sing-song, a little tobacco having been put +by for the event. + +Soon after Midwinter Day a heavy snowstorm blocked the igloo entrance +completely; in consequence the air became so bad that the primus stove +went out and the lights would not burn. The inmates had to dig their way +out to avoid being suffocated. This impoverishment of air had already +happened through the same cause on other occasions, so the flickering and +going out of the lamps warned immediately of danger, and a watch was set. +Normally the chimney would have served, but this itself was buried under +the snow until built up afresh. + +The winter passed in dismal hardship, and even when the rare spells of +fine weather occurred the party dare not venture far afield in their +meagre, oil-saturated clothing--severe frostbite would have spelt +disaster. + +What the place must have looked like by moonlight I hate to think; by +daylight with sunshine it looked bad enough, but from Levick's +description it looked, when the moon was shining through storm cloud, +like an inferno, with its lugubrious ridges, its inky shadows, and wicked +ice-gleams. The odd figures of the blubber-smeared, grimy men added the +Dante touch. + +The sun came back at last, and with it the party's spirits rose +considerably; they indulged in bets and jokes at one another's expense. +Browning and Dickason were undoubtedly the wittiest, and "the fish supper +bet" is worth inclusion. Short said these two started an argument on the +name of a certain public-house situate on Portsmouth Hard. One said one +name, one argued another, until Dr. Levick was invited to settle the +dispute by arbitration, the loser to stand the winner a fish supper. +Eventually Browning was adjudged to be correct, and Dickason in a fit of +generosity shouted, "All right, old man, and for every fish you eat I'll +stand you a quart of beer." "Right-o, the only fish I cares for is +whitebait," replied Browning. + +Towards the end of the winter, owing to the unusual diet, sickness set in +in the shape of enteritis. Browning suffered dreadfully, but always +remained cheerful. The ravages of the illness weakened the party sadly, +and details are too horrible to write about--suffice it that the party +lost control of their organs, a circumstance that rendered existence in +their wintering place a nightmare of privations. + +Preparations were made for the party's departure in the spring and the +sledges overhauled. A depot of geological specimens was established and +marked by a bamboo. + +A curious ailment developed itself, which was named "Igloo Back," from +constant bending in the low-roofed igloo. It was due to the stretching of +the ligaments around the spine and was a painful thing for the +"cave-dwellers." + +Campbell and his companions started for Cape Evans on September 30. +Progress was slow and the party weak, but thanks to their grit and to +Campbell's splendid leadership, the Northern Party all got through to the +winter quarters alive. Browning had to be carried on the sledge part of +the way, but fortunately they picked up one of Griffith-Taylor's depots, +and the biscuit found here quite altered Browning's condition. + +Poor Campbell was glad to get his party out of the dirt and dark of the +igloo, but they were so weak that they could only march a mile from the +first day, however the sledging ration contained good foodstuff compared +to what they had eaten for weeks previously; and, oh, wise precaution! +Campbell had deposited a small store of spare wind clothing and woollen +underclothes against the journey over the sea to Cape Evans. This he +issued on leaving that awful "igloo," and the luxury of getting into dry, +clean clothing after the greasy rags they discarded was indescribable. +For nine months had they worn those dirty garments without change. + +The second day homeward at most gave five miles, but although tired out +the party were in good spirits "at leaving the dirt and squalor of the +hut behind." They were making their way south along the coast, sledging +over the "Piedmont." Shortly after starting, the company were faced with +an enormous crevasse, but this was safely negotiated by means of a snow +bridge "175 paces across." Pace gradually lengthened and strengthened, +and on 12th October 11 miles was covered, and on camping Erebus and Mount +Melbourne were both in sight. + +I do not propose to write a description of this journey back, it was not +so dangerous as others had been, because seals and Emperor penguins were +met with along the route, and so they ran no risk of starving; but they +ran a great risk of losing Browning, who caused the doctor the gravest +concern. They laboured home, however, and the leader's diary for one Red +Letter, and Two Black Letter days must be included here, for they explain +themselves: + + "October 29.--Turned out at 4.30 a.m. A fine day, but a bank of cloud + to the south and a cold westerly wind. A two hours' march brought us + to Cape Roberts, where I saw through my glasses a bamboo stuck on the + top of the cape. Leaving the sledges, Priestley and I climbed the + cape, when we found a record left by the Western Party last year + before they were picked up, and giving their movements, while near by + was a depot of provisions they had left behind. We gave such a yell + the others ran up the slope at once. It seemed almost too good to be + true. + + "We found two tins of biscuits, one slightly broached, and a small bag + each of raisins, tea, cocoa, butter, and lard. + + "There were also clothes, diaries, and specimens from Granite Harbour. + I decided to camp here and have a day off. + + "Dividing the provisions between the two tents, we soon had hoosh + going and such a feed of biscuit, butter; and lard as we had not had + for nine months, and we followed this up with sweet, thick cocoa. + After this we killed and cut up a seal, as we are getting short of + meat and there is every prospect of a blizzard coming on. + + "Levick and Abbott saw a desperate fight between two bull seals + to-day. They gashed each other right through skin and blubber till + they were bleeding badly. + + "We had another hoosh and more biscuit and lard in the evening; then + we turned into our bags and, quite torpid with food, discussed our + plans on arriving at Cape Evans. We had quite decided we should find + no one there, for we believed the whole party had been blown north in + the ship while trying to reach us. Still discussing plans we fell + asleep. + + "What with news from the main party and food (although both were a + year old), it was the happiest day since we last saw the ship. I awoke + in the night, finished my share of the butter and most of my lard, + then dozed off again." + + "November 6.--Another fine day. We marched till 1 p.m., when our + sledge broke down, the whole runner coming off. As we were only one + mile from Hut Point I camped. Priestley, Dickason, and I walked in to + look for news and get another sledge, as I was sure some would be + there. + + "As we neared the Point we noticed fresh tracks of mule and dogs. I + pointed them out to Priestley, and said, 'I hope there is nothing + wrong with the Pole Party, as I do not like the look of these.' He + said, 'No more do I' We ran up to the hut and found a letter from + Atkinson to the 'Commanding Officer, Terra Nova.' I opened this and + learnt the sad news of the loss of the Polar Party. The names of the + party were not given, and finding Atkinson in charge of the search + party which had started, I was afraid 2 units, or 8 men, were lost. + Finding a sledge only slightly damaged, I took that back to the camp, + getting back there about 5 p.m. + + "We were all rather tired, so instead of starting straight on to Cape + Evans, we had supper and went to sleep. Before turning in we made a + depot of the broken sledge, all rock specimens, clothes and food, so + as to travel light to Cape Evans. I was very anxious to get there as + soon as possible, as I thought there was a chance that there might be + one or two mules or enough dogs to enable me to follow the search + party. It had been a great disappointment for us to have missed them + by a week, as we were all anxious to join in the search." + + "November 7.--4 a.m. A lovely morning. After a hasty breakfast we were + off, arriving at Cape Evans at 5 p.m. We found no one at home, but a + letter on the door of the hut gave us all the news and the names of + the lost party. Very soon Debenham and Archer returned, giving us a + most hearty, welcome, and no one can realise what it meant to us to + see new faces and to be home after our long winter. + + "Our clothes, letters, etc., had been landed from the ship, and we + were able to read our home letters, which we had only time to glance + at in the ship in February. Archer provided a sumptuous dinner that + night, and we sailed into it in a way that made Debenham hold his + breath. A bath and change of clothes completed the transformation." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +NARRATIVE OF THE "TERRA NOVA" + + +The second ascent of Mount Erebus was carried out in December, 1912, by a +party under Raymond Priestley, and although it cannot be described in a +little volume like this a really fine scientific journey was made by +Griffith-Taylor, Debenham, Gran, and Petty Officer Forde. They had the +best time of the lot, for they carried out their explorations in blissful +ignorance of the tribulations of Scott, Campbell, Atkinson and myself, +whose stories I have tried to summarise. + +For breezy reading and real bright narrative commend me to +Griffith-Taylor. Volume II. of "Scott's Last Expedition" contains the +story of the "Western journeys" as written by him, and they give quite +truly the Silver Lining to the Cloud which formed about the rest of our +Expedition. + +For lightheartedness and good fellowship our Australian geologists should +be given first prize. It is of little use writing about distances covered +and dangers overcome in this connection, but if one considers that the +Western Geological Party surveyed, examined, charted, photographed, and +to some extent plodded over a mountainous, heavily glaciated land lying +in an area of the entire acreage of Kent, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Devon, +and Cornwall, one gets a fair idea of what "Griff" and Co. were playing +at. + +Taylor was the first professional physiographer to visit the Antarctic +Continent, and besides being an all round man of science he was an +admirable fellow, with the widest outlook on life of any man amongst us. + +I cannot pretend to write on geology; Taylor, Debenham, and Priestley are +still drawing up reports on Antarctic physiography and glacial geology on +our fossils collected, on the Barrier Movement, and the retreating ice of +that Frozen Wonderland. Some day another expedition, more up to date than +ours, will force its way into the Heart of that Frigid Zone. If this +expedition sets out soon, I hope I may command it when I am still fresh +and fit--if that great good fortune comes my way I shall telegraph to +Griff and ask him to be my "Uncle Bill," and to help me as Wilson helped +Scott. + +As this is only a popular version of the last Scott Antarctic Expedition +I have not collected any scientific appendices, and I have tried not to +throw any bouquets at one member more than another--if I have failed I +have done it accidentally, for one has no favourites after nearly ten +years. My especial friends in the Expedition were the lieutenants, +Campbell, Pennell, Rennick, Bowers, and Bruce, and of the scientists I +was most fond of Nelson. + +The concluding part of this narrative is concerned with our little ship, +for which we had such affection. + +To connect the story up one must go back to the time when on March 3, +1912, the "Terra Nova" made her last call for the year at Cape +Evans--here she embarked those members returning home, who for various +causes had not been collected before. Then it will be remembered that +Keohane was taken to Hut Point and landed with Atkinson, and afterwards, +owing to the thickening up of the ice in McMurdo Sound, the ship's head +was turned Northward. The ice conditions off the Bay where Campbell was +landed were terrific, and the little whaler had a tough time forcing her +way out into the Ross Sea once more after failure to relieve him. + +She arrived in New Zealand on April 1, to learn of Amundsen's success, +and I went home a physical wreck with Francis Drake, the secretary, to +carry out Scott's wishes in the matter of finance. It was many months +before I could get about in comfort; but my wife nursed me back to +health. Several scientific and other members dispersed to their +respective duties in civil life. Pennell temporarily paid off the seamen +who had joined in New Zealand, and took the ship away to survey Admiralty +Bay in the Sounds according to arrangements made with the New Zealand +Government. During this operation we had the great misfortune to lose by +drowning Stoker Petty Officer Robert Brissenden. + +Finally the little "Terra Nova" filled up with coal and left for the +South to pick up Scott and his expedition. She was once more under my +command as her original Captain, Pennell very gracefully and unselfishly +standing down to the position of second in command. + +The programme included an extensive sounding cruse, guided to some degree +by what Professor David of Sydney University wished for, to throw further +light on the great earth folds. The voyage was like its predecessors, +except that we purposely kept in Longitude 165 W. to sound over new +portions of the ocean, every opportunity being taken to gain fresh +information and fulfil the requirements of the biological programme too. +We had hardly our share of gales this voyage, and although we expected to +meet with the pack in about 66 S. Latitude, it was not reached until we +had attained the 69th parallel--two degrees farther South than we had +found it in the "Terra Nova"'s first two voyages. + +The only other expedition that had explored the Eastern part of the Ross +Sea so far was that under Ross in the "Erebus" and "Terror." We did not +gain anything by forcing the pack so far East, however, for we +encountered a heavy belt of ice through which we fought our way for 400 +miles. + +The weather mostly served us well, and great credit is due to Rennick, +Lillie, and Pennell for their sounding, biological, and magnetic work +respectively--they were indefatigable, and even though it blew hard on +occasions, thanks to Rennick's expert handling of the Lucas machine we +obtained several soundings in 3000 fathoms when less ardent hydrographers +would have surrendered to the bad weather. + +January 15 found us passing through loose pack--sometimes the ship was in +large open leads--we stopped on one of these and sounded. To our surprise +we found 368 fathoms, volcanic rock--in 72 degrees 0 minutes S., 168 +degrees 17 minutes W. we found the depth 2322 fathoms, so we had struck +the continental shelf right enough in Latitude 73 degrees. By 8 p.m. we +were in even shallower water--in fact we discovered a shoal in only 158 +fathoms--it was a great discovery for us, and Lillie immediately put over +the Agassiz trawl. After dragging it along the bottom for half an hour we +hauled in and found the net full of stuff. Big-mouthed fish, worms, +spiders, anemones, sea-cucumbers, polyzoa, prawns, little fish like +sardines, one spiky fish like nothing on earth, starfish and octopus, +limpets with jointed shells, sponges, ascidians; isopods, and all kinds +of sea lice. Enough to keep Lillie busy for weeks. + +The evening before we finally broke through into open water was +beautifully still, and a low cloud settled down in the form of a thick +fog--it was a change from the fine, clear weather--frost rime settled +everywhere, and for a time we had to stop. There was a weird stillness +over all, and whenever the ship was moved amongst the ice-floes a curious +hiss was heard; this sound is well known to all ice navigators: it is the +sear of the floe against the greenheart sheathing which protects the +little ship, and it is to the ice-master what the strange smell of the +China Seas is to the far Eastern navigator, what the Mediterranean +"cheesy odours" and the Eucalyptus scents of Australia are to the P. and +O. officers, and what the pungent peat smoke of Ireland is to the North +Atlantic seaman. I suppose the memory of the pack ice hissing around a +wooden ship is one of the little voices that call--and they sometimes +call as the memory of "a tall ship and a star to steer her by" calls John +Masefield's seamen "down to the sea again." I sometimes feel a mute fool +at race meetings, society dinner parties, and dances, the lure of the +little voices I know then at its strongest. It is felt by the Polar +explorer in peace times and in the hey-day of prosperity, and it is +surely that which called Scott away, when he had everything that man +wants, and made him write as he lay nobly dying out there in the snowy +wild: + +"How much better has it been than lounging in too great comfort at home." + +But this is yielding dream to my narrative, and I must apologise and +continue with the closing chapter. + +After this fog, which held us up awhile, we got into one more lot of pack +varying in thickness and containing some fine long water lanes, and then +we made for Cape Bird, which we rounded on January 18, to find open water +right up to Cape Evans. + +A tremendous feast was prepared, the table in the wardroom decked with +little flags and silk ribbons. Letters were done up in neat packets for +each member, and even champagne was got up from the store: chocolates, +cigarettes, cigars, and all manner of luxury placed in readiness. + +The ship was specially scrubbed and cleaned, yards were squared, ropes +hauled taut and neatly coiled down, and our best Jacks and Ensigns +hoisted in gala fashion to meet and acclaim our leader and our comrades. +Glasses were levelled on the beach, and soon we discerned little men +running hither and thither in wild excitement; a lump stuck in my throat +at the idea of greeting the Polar Party with the knowledge that Amundsen +had anticipated us, it was something like having to congratulate a dear +friend on winning second prize in a great hard won race--which is exactly +what it was. But it was not even to be that: the ship rapidly closed the +beach, engines were stopped, and a thrill of excitement ran through us. +The shore party gave three cheers, which we on board replied to, and +espying Campbell I was overjoyed, for I feared more on his behalf than on +the others, owing to the small amount of provisions he had left him at +Evans Coves. I shouted out, "Campbell, is every one well," and after a +moment's hesitation he replied, "The Southern Party reached the South +Pole on the 17th January, last year, but were all lost on the return +journey--we have their records." It was a moment of hush and overwhelming +sorrow--a great stillness ran through the ship's little company and +through the party on shore. + +I have been reminded of it particularly on the anniversaries of Armistice +Day. + +The great silence was broken by the order to let the anchor fall: the +splash which followed and the rattle of the chain gave us relief, and +then Campbell and Atkinson came off in a boat to tell us in detail how +misfortune after misfortune had befallen our leader and his four brave +comrades. Slowly and with infinite sadness the flags were lowered from +the mastheads and Scott's little "Terra Nova" stood bareheaded at the +Gate of the Great Ice Barrier. + +From the bridge one heard the occasional clatter of plates and cutlery, +for the steward was busy removing the table dressings and putting away +the things that we had no heart for any longer. The undelivered letters +were taken out of the bunks, which had been spread with white clean linen +for our chief and the Polar team, and Drake sealed them up for return to +the wives and mothers who had given up so much in order that their men +might achieve. + +A great cross was now carved of Australian jarrah, on which was carved by +Davis: + In + Memoriam + CAPT. R.F. Scott, R.N., + DR. E.A. WILSON, Capt. L.E.G. Oates, INS. DRGS. + LT. H.R. BOWERS, R.I.M., + PETTY OFFICER E. Evans, R.N., + Who Died on their + Return from the + Pole-March, + 1912. + + To Strive, To Seek, + To Find, + And Not To Yield. + +This cross was borne on a sledge over the frozen sea to Hut Point, and +thence carried by Atkinson, and those who had taken part in the search +for Captain Scott, to the top of Observation Hill, which is in full view +of Cape Evans, and also of Captain Scott's original winter quarters in +the Discovery Expedition. The cross overlooks also his resting place: The +Great Ice Barrier. + +As there is nothing to cause this wooden cross to rot, it will remain +standing for an indefinite time. + +We left a year's stores for a dozen people at Cape Evans and re-embarked +the remainder of our possessions. + +The collections and specimens were carefully stowed in our holds, and +then we took the ship to Cape Royds and Granite Harbour, where geological +depots had been made by Priestley, Taylor, and Debenham. + +Finally we revisited Evans Coves, and secured the ship to a natural wharf +of very hard sea ice, which stretches out some distance from the +Piedmont. + +Priestley here secured his party's geological dump, and while he was away +the remainder of the expedition in little relays visited the igloo where +Campbell and his party spent the previous winter. Concerning the igloo, +the following are my impressions, taken from my diary: + + "Never in my life have I experienced such sensations as I did on this + occasion. The visit to the igloo explained in itself a story of + hardship that brought home to us what Campbell never would have told. + There was only one corner of it where a short man could stand upright. + In odd corners were discarded clothes, saturated in blubber and + absolutely black with smoke; the weight of these garments was + extraordinary, and how Campbell's party ever lived through what they + did I don't know: + + "Although the igloo was once white inside, blubber stoves had + blackened it throughout. No cell prisoners ever had such discomforts. + (Campbell's simple narrative I read aloud to Bruce from Campbell's + diary. It was a tale of altruism and grit, so simply told, full of + disappointments and privations, all of which they accepted with + fortitude and never a complaint. I had to stop reading it as it + brought tears to my eyes and made my voice thick--ditto old Bruce.) + After spending half an hour at the igloo, and after Pennell had done + some magnetic work, picked up our ice anchors and steamed away." + +On 27th January, 1913, after breakfast, I called the staff together in +the wardroom and read out my plans for the future, officially assumed the +command and control of the Expedition. + +I then appointed Lieuts. Campbell, Pennell, Bruce, Surgeon E.L. Atkinson, +and Mr. Francis Drake as an executive committee, with myself as +president, to assist me in satisfactorily terminating the Expedition. I +asked every member of the staff publicly if he had any questions to put, +and also if he could suggest any better combination for the committee. As +all were unanimous in the fairness of the selection, it stands. The +minutes of the proceedings were taken down and my remarks placed verbatim +among the records of the Expedition. + +We left a depot of provisions at the head of the Bay, its position being +marked by a bamboo and flag. + +This depot contains enough foodstuffs to enable a party of five or six +men to make their way to Butter Point, where, another large depot exists. + +Early on 26th January we left these inhospitable coasts, and those who +were on deck watched the familiar rocky, snow-capped shores fast +disappearing from view. We had been happy there before disaster overtook +our Expedition, but now we were glad to leave, and some of us must have +realised that these ice-girt rocks and mountains were not meant for human +beings to associate their lives with. For centuries, perhaps for all +time, no other human being will set foot upon the Beardmore, and it is +doubtful if ever the great inland plateau will be re-visited, except +perhaps by aeroplane. + +When we left it was a "good-night" scene for most of us. The great white +plateau and peaks were grimly awaiting winter, and they seemed to mock +our departing exploring ship as though glad to be left in their loneland +Silence. + + + + * * * * * + + + +Corrections made to Collins edition: + + p.47 'Mearse' to 'Meares' + p.61 'steamiug' to 'steaming' + p.84 'Pennel' to 'Pennell' + p.85 'when the time for her' to 'when the time came for her' + p.96 'Fedruary' to 'February' + p.96 'Saftey Camp' to 'Safety Camp' + p.108 'athelete' to 'athlete' + p.218 'Cherry-Garrad' to 'Cherry-Garrard' + p.247 'anchored ourselved' to 'anchored ourselves' + p.308 'Cornwell' to 'Cornwall' + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH WITH SCOTT*** + + +******* This file should be named 18129.txt or 18129.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/1/2/18129 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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