Thursday, 16 March 1911

Scott

The last depot-laying team set out: "Evans, Wright, Crean, and Forde in one team; Bowers, Oates, Cherry-Garrard, and Atkinson in the other," wrote Scott. "It was very sporting of Wright to join in after only a day's rest. He is evidently a splendid puller." [1]

Wright himself noted, though, that "With singular short-sightedness, we were sent off with only one can of oil and less than a week's grub for a trip that could not be done in less than five days (for which the oil could be made to spin out) and at this time of year, moreover, only one out of every two days can be relied upon for travelling." [2]


Notes:

[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 17 March, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] Charles S. Wright, diary, 16 March, 1911, quoted by Adrian Raeside in Return to Antarctica: the Amazing Adventure of Sir Charles Wright on Robert Scott's Journey to the South Pole (Mississauga, Ont.: John Wiley, c2009), p.127.