Scott
Another good march brought them nineteen miles, one cairn away from the next depot. "This is the bright side," Scott noted, "the reverse of the medal is serious. Wilson has strained a tendon in his leg; it has given pain all day and is swollen to-night. Of course, he is full of pluck over it, but I don't like the idea of such an accident here. To add to the trouble Evans has dislodged two finger-nails to-night; his hands are really bad, and to my surprise he shows signs of losing heart over it. He hasn't been cheerful since the accident." [1] The cut that Evans had gotten on his hand while shortening the sledges on 31st December, which had refused to heal, left him by now unable to help with camp work. He was also, despite being the biggest and heaviest of the party, on the same rations as the others, and his physical condition had deteriorated much more rapidly.
With the wind behind them, Lt. Evans's party further to the north picked up their next depot in the evening, after a march of 14 miles. "[After] taking our food we found a shortage of oil and have taken what we think will take us to the next depôt," Lashly noted. "There seems to have been some leakage in the one can, but how we could not account for that we have left a note telling Capt. Scott how we found it, but they will have sufficient to carry them on to the next depôt, but we all know the amount of oil allowed on the Journey is enough, but if any waste takes place it means extra precautions in the handling of it." [2]
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 30 January, 1912, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1. Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.522, notes the deletion from the published journal, "which makes me much disappointed in him".
[2] William Lashly, diary, 30 January, 1912, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XII. At low temperatures, paraffin becomes a semi-solid and has a tendency to "creep", and thus leak out of a bung and evaporate. Amundsen had noticed this on the Northwest Passage expedition, and subsequently had tins specially soldered, while Scott's paraffin tins used leather washers.
Showing posts with label British equipment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British equipment. Show all posts
January 30, 2012
January 22, 2012
Monday, 22 January 1912
Scott
"I think about the most tiring march we have had," wrote Scott, "solid pulling the whole way, in spite of the light sledge and some little helping wind at first." [1]
They were almost at 89°, he noted, "within 2 1/2 miles of the 64th camp cairn, 30 miles from our depot, and with 5 days' food in hand. Ski boots are beginning to show signs of wear; I trust we shall have no giving out of ski or boots, since there are yet so many miles to go. I thought we were climbing to-day, but the barometer gives no change."
After starting that morning, Lashly wrote near the foot of the Beardmore, "we soon got round the corner from the Granite Pillars to between the mainland and Mt. Hope, on rising up on the slope between the mountain and the mainland, as soon as we sighted the Barrier, Crean let go one huge yell enough to frighten the ponies out of their graves of snow, and no more Beardmore for me after this." [2]
"We have now 360 miles to travel geographically to get to Hut Point. Mr. Evans complained to me while outside the tent that he had a stiffness at the back of his legs behind the knees. I asked him what he thought it was, and he said could not account for it, so if he dont soon get rid of it I am to have a look and see if anything is the matter with him, as I know from what I have seen and been told before the symptoms of scurvy is pains and swelling behind the knee round the ankle and loosening of the teeth, ulcerated gums. To-night I watched to see his gums, and I am convinced he is on the point of something anyhow, and this I have spoken to Crean about, but he dont seem to realise it. But I have asked him to wait developments for a time. It seems we are in for more trouble now, but lets hope for the best."
Amundsen
Soft snow with little glide made the going hard for both skiers and dogs. "Ha ha," Bjaaland wrote with not a little glee. "Those fellows who thought they would be pulled 20 m will just have to traipse to Framheim." [3] They nevertheless managed to do their thirty miles a day, almost in sight of home.
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 22 January, 1912, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] William Lashly, diary, 22 January, 1912, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XII.
[3] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 23 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.256.
"I think about the most tiring march we have had," wrote Scott, "solid pulling the whole way, in spite of the light sledge and some little helping wind at first." [1]
They were almost at 89°, he noted, "within 2 1/2 miles of the 64th camp cairn, 30 miles from our depot, and with 5 days' food in hand. Ski boots are beginning to show signs of wear; I trust we shall have no giving out of ski or boots, since there are yet so many miles to go. I thought we were climbing to-day, but the barometer gives no change."
After starting that morning, Lashly wrote near the foot of the Beardmore, "we soon got round the corner from the Granite Pillars to between the mainland and Mt. Hope, on rising up on the slope between the mountain and the mainland, as soon as we sighted the Barrier, Crean let go one huge yell enough to frighten the ponies out of their graves of snow, and no more Beardmore for me after this." [2]
"We have now 360 miles to travel geographically to get to Hut Point. Mr. Evans complained to me while outside the tent that he had a stiffness at the back of his legs behind the knees. I asked him what he thought it was, and he said could not account for it, so if he dont soon get rid of it I am to have a look and see if anything is the matter with him, as I know from what I have seen and been told before the symptoms of scurvy is pains and swelling behind the knee round the ankle and loosening of the teeth, ulcerated gums. To-night I watched to see his gums, and I am convinced he is on the point of something anyhow, and this I have spoken to Crean about, but he dont seem to realise it. But I have asked him to wait developments for a time. It seems we are in for more trouble now, but lets hope for the best."
Amundsen
Soft snow with little glide made the going hard for both skiers and dogs. "Ha ha," Bjaaland wrote with not a little glee. "Those fellows who thought they would be pulled 20 m will just have to traipse to Framheim." [3] They nevertheless managed to do their thirty miles a day, almost in sight of home.
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 22 January, 1912, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] William Lashly, diary, 22 January, 1912, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XII.
[3] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 23 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.256.
January 6, 2012
Saturday, 6 January 1912
Scott
"Obstacles arising," Scott wrote, "last night we got amongst sastrugi -- they increased in height this morning and now we are in the midst of a sea of fish-hook waves well remembered from our Northern experience. We took off our ski after the first 1 1/2 hours and pulled on foot. It is terribly heavy in places, and, to add to our trouble, every sastrugus is covered with a beard of sharp, branching crystals. We have covered 6 1/2 miles, but we cannot keep up our average if this sort of surface continues." [1]
Temperatures were around -22°, with a minimum of -25.8 (-32.11 C) in the morning.
Later, he wrote that night, there was a "fearfully hard pull again, and when we had marched about an hour we discovered that a sleeping-bag had fallen off the sledge. We had to go back and carry it on. It cost us over an hour and disorganised our party. We have only covered 10 1/2 miles (geo.) and it's been about the hardest pull we've had. We think of leaving our ski here, mainly because of risk of breakage."
Amundsen
The matches found at Mount Betty in 1929. [2]
Just before midnight, the Norwegians reached their depot under Mount Betty ("-11° 85°9'," Bjaaland noted [3]) . With 35 days' food for men and dogs, and depots all along the way back to Framheim, Amundsen wrote, "[we are] really living among the fleshpots of Egypt. It's just a matter now of eating as much as possible to lighten our sledges as quickly as possible." [4]
Amundsen sent Wisting and Helmer Hanssen up to Mount Betty to build a cairn to mark their presence. They left a message, a 17-litre tin of paraffin, and twenty boxes of matches. (This cairn was found by Admiral Byrd's expedition in 1929.)
One dog, Fridtjof, collapsed and was shot, leaving the party to set off for Framheim with twelve dogs as originally calculated.
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 6 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.227.
[2] Source unknown.
[3] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 7 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.229.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 7 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.505.
"Obstacles arising," Scott wrote, "last night we got amongst sastrugi -- they increased in height this morning and now we are in the midst of a sea of fish-hook waves well remembered from our Northern experience. We took off our ski after the first 1 1/2 hours and pulled on foot. It is terribly heavy in places, and, to add to our trouble, every sastrugus is covered with a beard of sharp, branching crystals. We have covered 6 1/2 miles, but we cannot keep up our average if this sort of surface continues." [1]
Temperatures were around -22°, with a minimum of -25.8 (-32.11 C) in the morning.
Later, he wrote that night, there was a "fearfully hard pull again, and when we had marched about an hour we discovered that a sleeping-bag had fallen off the sledge. We had to go back and carry it on. It cost us over an hour and disorganised our party. We have only covered 10 1/2 miles (geo.) and it's been about the hardest pull we've had. We think of leaving our ski here, mainly because of risk of breakage."
Amundsen
The matches found at Mount Betty in 1929. [2]Just before midnight, the Norwegians reached their depot under Mount Betty ("-11° 85°9'," Bjaaland noted [3]) . With 35 days' food for men and dogs, and depots all along the way back to Framheim, Amundsen wrote, "[we are] really living among the fleshpots of Egypt. It's just a matter now of eating as much as possible to lighten our sledges as quickly as possible." [4]
Amundsen sent Wisting and Helmer Hanssen up to Mount Betty to build a cairn to mark their presence. They left a message, a 17-litre tin of paraffin, and twenty boxes of matches. (This cairn was found by Admiral Byrd's expedition in 1929.)
One dog, Fridtjof, collapsed and was shot, leaving the party to set off for Framheim with twelve dogs as originally calculated.
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 6 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.227.
[2] Source unknown.
[3] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 7 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.229.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 7 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.505.
December 27, 2011
Wednesday, 27 December 1911
Scott
Bowers accidentally broke the thermometer on the hypsometer, an instrument for determining altitude by the boiling point of water. "[I] got an unusual outburst of wrath in consequence," he wrote in chagrin, "in fact my name is mud just at present. It is rather sad to get into the dirt tub with one's leader at this juncture, but accidents will happen." [1] Scott now had no accurate way to measure altitude, having brought only one thermometer.
"We marched off well after lunch on a soft, snowy surface," Scott wrote that evening, "then came to slippery hard sastrugi and kept a good pace; but I felt this meant something wrong, and on topping a short rise we were once more in the midst of crevasses and disturbances. For an hour it was dreadfully trying -- had to pick a road, tumbled into crevasses, and got jerked about abominably. At the summit of the ridge we came into another 'pit' or 'whirl,' which seemed the centre of the trouble -- is it a submerged mountain peak? During the last hour and a quarter we pulled out on to soft snow again and moved well. Camped at 6.45, having covered 13 1/3 miles (geo.). Steering the party is no light task. One cannot allow one's thoughts to wander as others do, and when, as this afternoon, one gets amongst disturbances, I find it is very worrying and tiring." [2]
Notes:
[1] H.R. Bowers, diary, 27 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.469. Amundsen had four thermometers, in case of accidents.
[2] R. F. Scott, diary, 27 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
Bowers accidentally broke the thermometer on the hypsometer, an instrument for determining altitude by the boiling point of water. "[I] got an unusual outburst of wrath in consequence," he wrote in chagrin, "in fact my name is mud just at present. It is rather sad to get into the dirt tub with one's leader at this juncture, but accidents will happen." [1] Scott now had no accurate way to measure altitude, having brought only one thermometer.
"We marched off well after lunch on a soft, snowy surface," Scott wrote that evening, "then came to slippery hard sastrugi and kept a good pace; but I felt this meant something wrong, and on topping a short rise we were once more in the midst of crevasses and disturbances. For an hour it was dreadfully trying -- had to pick a road, tumbled into crevasses, and got jerked about abominably. At the summit of the ridge we came into another 'pit' or 'whirl,' which seemed the centre of the trouble -- is it a submerged mountain peak? During the last hour and a quarter we pulled out on to soft snow again and moved well. Camped at 6.45, having covered 13 1/3 miles (geo.). Steering the party is no light task. One cannot allow one's thoughts to wander as others do, and when, as this afternoon, one gets amongst disturbances, I find it is very worrying and tiring." [2]
Notes:
[1] H.R. Bowers, diary, 27 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.469. Amundsen had four thermometers, in case of accidents.
[2] R. F. Scott, diary, 27 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
December 26, 2011
Tuesday, 26 December 1911
Scott
"It seems astonishing," Scott wrote at 86° 2' S, "to be disappointed with a march of 15 (stat.) miles, when I had contemplated doing little more than 10 with full loads." [1]
"Our height yesterday morning by hypsometer was 8000 feet," wrote Bowers. "That is our last hypsometer record, as I had the misfortune to break the thermometer. The hypsometer was one of my chief delights, and nobody could have been more disgusted than myself at its breaking. However, we have the aneroid to check the height. We are going gradually up and up." [2]
Day and Hooper arrived back at Cape Evans with the news that Scott had taken the dogs on further than intended. Scott's orders to Simpson, in charge in Scott's absence, instructed that the dogs "might be late returning, unfit for work or non-existent. So don't forget that the [supplies] must be [got to One Ton] somehow." [3]
Meares and the dogs had been expected back by 15th December. Simpson was of course not to know that they had not turned back until the 11th. In lieu of the dog teams, therefore, he promptly sent Day and Hooper to One Ton to replenish the depot.
Amundsen
"Boiling sun on our backs," wrote Amundsen. "Brilliant going that puts the dogs in top form, [they] really seem to be putting on weight." [2]
Land was sighted. Amundsen thought it was a new discovery, but realised his mistake a few days later, that the sun and mirage had distorted perspective. (Amundsen was in fact rather short-sighted, a fact that he concealed for most of his life.)
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 26 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[2] H.R. Bowers, diary, 26 December, 1911, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.10.
[3] George Simpson, diary, 31 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.426.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 27 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.498.
"It seems astonishing," Scott wrote at 86° 2' S, "to be disappointed with a march of 15 (stat.) miles, when I had contemplated doing little more than 10 with full loads." [1]
"Our height yesterday morning by hypsometer was 8000 feet," wrote Bowers. "That is our last hypsometer record, as I had the misfortune to break the thermometer. The hypsometer was one of my chief delights, and nobody could have been more disgusted than myself at its breaking. However, we have the aneroid to check the height. We are going gradually up and up." [2]
Day and Hooper arrived back at Cape Evans with the news that Scott had taken the dogs on further than intended. Scott's orders to Simpson, in charge in Scott's absence, instructed that the dogs "might be late returning, unfit for work or non-existent. So don't forget that the [supplies] must be [got to One Ton] somehow." [3]
Meares and the dogs had been expected back by 15th December. Simpson was of course not to know that they had not turned back until the 11th. In lieu of the dog teams, therefore, he promptly sent Day and Hooper to One Ton to replenish the depot.
Amundsen
"Boiling sun on our backs," wrote Amundsen. "Brilliant going that puts the dogs in top form, [they] really seem to be putting on weight." [2]
Land was sighted. Amundsen thought it was a new discovery, but realised his mistake a few days later, that the sun and mirage had distorted perspective. (Amundsen was in fact rather short-sighted, a fact that he concealed for most of his life.)
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 26 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[2] H.R. Bowers, diary, 26 December, 1911, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.10.
[3] George Simpson, diary, 31 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.426.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 27 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.498.
December 16, 2011
Saturday, 16 December 1911
Scott
After ten hours' march, they had covered 11 miles, over new snow covering ice-hard old sastrugi. "The sledges were so often brought up by this," wrote Scott, "that we decided to take to our feet, and thus made better progress, but for the time with very excessive labour. The crust, brittle, held for a pace or two, then let one down with a bump some 8 or 10 inches. Now and again one's leg went down a crack in the hard ice underneath." [1]
"We must push on all we can, for we are now 6 days behind Shackleton, all due to that wretched storm. So far, since we got amongst the disturbances we have not seen such alarming crevasses as I had expected; certainly dogs could have come up as far as this. At present one gets terrible hot and perspiring on the march, and quickly cold when halted, but the sun makes up for all evils. It is very difficult to know what to do about the ski; their weight is considerable and yet under certain circumstances they are extraordinarily useful. Everyone is very satisfied with our summit ration. The party which has been man-hauling for so long say they are far less hungry than they used to be. It is good to think that the majority will keep up this good feeding all through."
Amundsen
The Norwegians broke camp early in the morning. Amundsen gave the honour of skiing to the Pole to Bjaaland. "Thank you," Bjaaland said quietly. "The blokes in Morgedal will be grateful. It'll be fun, the finish to this race." [2]
Bjaaland took off, running dead straight, followed by Hassel, then Helmer Hanssen with his sledge, and Amundsen last to check the line of march. It was, he wrote, "pure pleasure to see Bj. keep his course. He moved as if he had a marked line to follow." [3] At eleven a.m., they arrived.
They pitched camp, and prepared for final observations, building two snow pedestals, one for the artificial horizon and the other to rest the sextant when they were not using it. Hourly observations were then taken for the next twenty-four hours, all four navigators -- Amundsen, Hassel, Wisting, and Helmer Hanssen -- taking it in pairs watch on and watch off. They each counter-signed the other's observation books.
In the tent that evening, Bjaaland made a speech in honour of the day, "in extremely well chosen words," Helmer Hanssen recalled. "In a shining humour, he let the curtain drop by presenting both past and present, with the very best prospects for the future, for our journey home." [4] He then passed around a box of cigars, presenting the case and remaining cigars to Amundsen with a little bow. "And this I give to you in memory of the Pole." [5] Amundsen was deeply touched, for Bjaaland himself did not smoke, and had carried the box all of the way from Framheim as a Christmas present.
"All the dogs are lying stretched out in the heat of the sun," finished Amundsen, "and enjoying life despite the poor rations -- apparently in good condition. It has been so clear today that we can see for many nautical miles around. We have all used the telescope industriously to see if there is any sign of life in any direction -- but in vain. We are the first here all right."
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 16 December 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[2] Tryggve Gran, Kampen om Sydpolen, p. 144 (Oslo : Mortensens, 1961), quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.492.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, 17 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.190.
[4] Helmer Hanssen, "Minner fra Sydpolsturen", Polar-Årboken, 1941, p.17, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.493.
[5] Johann Austbø, Olav Bjaaland, p.80, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.493.
After ten hours' march, they had covered 11 miles, over new snow covering ice-hard old sastrugi. "The sledges were so often brought up by this," wrote Scott, "that we decided to take to our feet, and thus made better progress, but for the time with very excessive labour. The crust, brittle, held for a pace or two, then let one down with a bump some 8 or 10 inches. Now and again one's leg went down a crack in the hard ice underneath." [1]
"We must push on all we can, for we are now 6 days behind Shackleton, all due to that wretched storm. So far, since we got amongst the disturbances we have not seen such alarming crevasses as I had expected; certainly dogs could have come up as far as this. At present one gets terrible hot and perspiring on the march, and quickly cold when halted, but the sun makes up for all evils. It is very difficult to know what to do about the ski; their weight is considerable and yet under certain circumstances they are extraordinarily useful. Everyone is very satisfied with our summit ration. The party which has been man-hauling for so long say they are far less hungry than they used to be. It is good to think that the majority will keep up this good feeding all through."
Amundsen
The Norwegians broke camp early in the morning. Amundsen gave the honour of skiing to the Pole to Bjaaland. "Thank you," Bjaaland said quietly. "The blokes in Morgedal will be grateful. It'll be fun, the finish to this race." [2]
Bjaaland took off, running dead straight, followed by Hassel, then Helmer Hanssen with his sledge, and Amundsen last to check the line of march. It was, he wrote, "pure pleasure to see Bj. keep his course. He moved as if he had a marked line to follow." [3] At eleven a.m., they arrived.
They pitched camp, and prepared for final observations, building two snow pedestals, one for the artificial horizon and the other to rest the sextant when they were not using it. Hourly observations were then taken for the next twenty-four hours, all four navigators -- Amundsen, Hassel, Wisting, and Helmer Hanssen -- taking it in pairs watch on and watch off. They each counter-signed the other's observation books.
In the tent that evening, Bjaaland made a speech in honour of the day, "in extremely well chosen words," Helmer Hanssen recalled. "In a shining humour, he let the curtain drop by presenting both past and present, with the very best prospects for the future, for our journey home." [4] He then passed around a box of cigars, presenting the case and remaining cigars to Amundsen with a little bow. "And this I give to you in memory of the Pole." [5] Amundsen was deeply touched, for Bjaaland himself did not smoke, and had carried the box all of the way from Framheim as a Christmas present.
"All the dogs are lying stretched out in the heat of the sun," finished Amundsen, "and enjoying life despite the poor rations -- apparently in good condition. It has been so clear today that we can see for many nautical miles around. We have all used the telescope industriously to see if there is any sign of life in any direction -- but in vain. We are the first here all right."
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 16 December 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[2] Tryggve Gran, Kampen om Sydpolen, p. 144 (Oslo : Mortensens, 1961), quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.492.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, 17 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.190.
[4] Helmer Hanssen, "Minner fra Sydpolsturen", Polar-Årboken, 1941, p.17, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.493.
[5] Johann Austbø, Olav Bjaaland, p.80, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.493.
December 8, 2011
Friday, 8 December 1911
Scott
"Three days generally see these blizzards out, and we hoped much from Friday, December 8," recalled Cherry. "But when we breakfasted at 10 a.m. (we were getting into day-marching routine) wind and snow were monotonously the same. The temperature rose to +34.3°. These temperatures and those recorded by Meares on his way home must be a record for the interior of the Barrier. So far as we were concerned it did not much matter now whether it was +40° or +34°. Things did look really gloomy that morning." [1]
"But at noon there came a gleam of comfort."
The wind dropped. Almost immediately, the men were digging out the tents and sledges in the watery sunshine. Without sewn-in groundsheets, the tents had leaked profusely. "We bails the water off the floor cloth," Keohane wrote in his diary, "but that is small comfort." [2]
"We are all sitting round now after some tea," Cherry continued in the afternoon, "it is much better than getting into the bags. I can hardly think that the ponies can pull on, but Titus thinks they can pull to-morrow; all the food is finished, and what they have had to-day was only what they would not eat out of their last feed yesterday. It is a terrible end -- driven to death on no more food, to be then cut up, poor devils. I have swopped the Little Minister with Silas Wright for Dante's Inferno!"
Amundsen
"We stayed in bed late today," Amundsen wrote in his diary, "to prepare for the final onslaught."
The Norwegians laid their last depot, lightening Wisting's and Bjaaland's sledges by about 100 pounds each. The depot was marked especially carefully, with a traverse line of planks taken from empty sledging cases and painted black, earlier at Framheim. The planks were set a hundred skiing paces from each other, making a grid of three miles in either direction of the depot. Every other plank, Amundsen noted, "carries a black pennant. Those planks to the E. all have a notch under the pennant to indicate the direction they lie in relation to the depot.... In addition to the transverse marking we will put up a few snow blocks every other nautical mile on the way South." [3]
One of Wisting's dogs had disappeared the day before -- "presumably he has gone away to die."
"We leave here well supplied to get back here -- ca.30 days [rations] for humans, ca.20 days for dogs. Three of us -- H[elmer] H[anssen], W[isting], and I," Amundsen added, "look quite awe-inspiring since our faces were frostbitten in the SE storm a few days ago. Bj[aaland] & Hass[el], who went last, got off scot free. The dogs have begun to be quite dangerous and must be considered as mortal enemies when one leaves the sledges."
To the northeast in King Edward VII Land, Prestrud and his Eastern Party decided to head for home.
Notes:
[1] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.IX.
[2] Patrick Keohane, diary, 8 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.463.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, 9 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.172-173. See the entry for 30 October 1911 for Nilsen's drawing of the similar markers at the 80° depot.
"Three days generally see these blizzards out, and we hoped much from Friday, December 8," recalled Cherry. "But when we breakfasted at 10 a.m. (we were getting into day-marching routine) wind and snow were monotonously the same. The temperature rose to +34.3°. These temperatures and those recorded by Meares on his way home must be a record for the interior of the Barrier. So far as we were concerned it did not much matter now whether it was +40° or +34°. Things did look really gloomy that morning." [1]
"But at noon there came a gleam of comfort."
The wind dropped. Almost immediately, the men were digging out the tents and sledges in the watery sunshine. Without sewn-in groundsheets, the tents had leaked profusely. "We bails the water off the floor cloth," Keohane wrote in his diary, "but that is small comfort." [2]
"We are all sitting round now after some tea," Cherry continued in the afternoon, "it is much better than getting into the bags. I can hardly think that the ponies can pull on, but Titus thinks they can pull to-morrow; all the food is finished, and what they have had to-day was only what they would not eat out of their last feed yesterday. It is a terrible end -- driven to death on no more food, to be then cut up, poor devils. I have swopped the Little Minister with Silas Wright for Dante's Inferno!"
Amundsen
"We stayed in bed late today," Amundsen wrote in his diary, "to prepare for the final onslaught."
The Norwegians laid their last depot, lightening Wisting's and Bjaaland's sledges by about 100 pounds each. The depot was marked especially carefully, with a traverse line of planks taken from empty sledging cases and painted black, earlier at Framheim. The planks were set a hundred skiing paces from each other, making a grid of three miles in either direction of the depot. Every other plank, Amundsen noted, "carries a black pennant. Those planks to the E. all have a notch under the pennant to indicate the direction they lie in relation to the depot.... In addition to the transverse marking we will put up a few snow blocks every other nautical mile on the way South." [3]
One of Wisting's dogs had disappeared the day before -- "presumably he has gone away to die."
"We leave here well supplied to get back here -- ca.30 days [rations] for humans, ca.20 days for dogs. Three of us -- H[elmer] H[anssen], W[isting], and I," Amundsen added, "look quite awe-inspiring since our faces were frostbitten in the SE storm a few days ago. Bj[aaland] & Hass[el], who went last, got off scot free. The dogs have begun to be quite dangerous and must be considered as mortal enemies when one leaves the sledges."
To the northeast in King Edward VII Land, Prestrud and his Eastern Party decided to head for home.
Notes:
[1] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.IX.
[2] Patrick Keohane, diary, 8 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.463.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, 9 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.172-173. See the entry for 30 October 1911 for Nilsen's drawing of the similar markers at the 80° depot.
November 25, 2011
Saturday, 25 November 1911
Scott
Atkinson now joined Lt. Evans and Lashly in the man-hauling party.
"Meares has just come up to report that Jehu made four feeds for the dogs," Scott noted. "He cut up very well and had quite a lot of fat on him. Meares says another pony will carry him to the Glacier. This is very good hearing. The men are pulling with ski sticks and say that they are a great assistance. I think of taking them up the Glacier. Jehu has certainly come up trumps after all, and Chinaman bids fair to be even more valuable. Only a few more marches to feel safe in getting to our first goal." [1]
Amundsen
Despite the continuing blizzard, Amundsen decided to push on. Almost immediately, they came upon huge sastrugi, nearly impossible to see in the bad weather, and the dogs were reluctant to work. "They had overeaten on their comrades," Amundsen wrote brusquely. [2] Eventually the terrain smoothed out, but the ongoing drift made the surface sticky, and difficult for the dogs.
After ten miles, they came to a gradual slope that headed downwards more and more steeply, so much that they decided to camp where they were and wait until visibility cleared.
"According to the aneroid we have descended 1,000 ft. today, Amundsen noted. "We should now be at 9,600 ft. ... Definitely calmer this evening. -23.5°."
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 25 November, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[2] Roald Amundsen, diary, 26 November, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.145-146.
Atkinson now joined Lt. Evans and Lashly in the man-hauling party.
"Meares has just come up to report that Jehu made four feeds for the dogs," Scott noted. "He cut up very well and had quite a lot of fat on him. Meares says another pony will carry him to the Glacier. This is very good hearing. The men are pulling with ski sticks and say that they are a great assistance. I think of taking them up the Glacier. Jehu has certainly come up trumps after all, and Chinaman bids fair to be even more valuable. Only a few more marches to feel safe in getting to our first goal." [1]
Amundsen
Despite the continuing blizzard, Amundsen decided to push on. Almost immediately, they came upon huge sastrugi, nearly impossible to see in the bad weather, and the dogs were reluctant to work. "They had overeaten on their comrades," Amundsen wrote brusquely. [2] Eventually the terrain smoothed out, but the ongoing drift made the surface sticky, and difficult for the dogs.
After ten miles, they came to a gradual slope that headed downwards more and more steeply, so much that they decided to camp where they were and wait until visibility cleared.
"According to the aneroid we have descended 1,000 ft. today, Amundsen noted. "We should now be at 9,600 ft. ... Definitely calmer this evening. -23.5°."
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 25 November, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[2] Roald Amundsen, diary, 26 November, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.145-146.
September 3, 2011
Sunday, 3 September 1911
Scott
Bowers wearing the standard polar gear, Burberry wind-proof outer garments over woollen underclothes, and reindeer-fur mitts. [1]
"Last night Bowers lectured on Polar clothing. He had worked the subject up from our Polar library with critical and humorous ability, and since his recent journey he must be considered as entitled to an authoritative opinion of his own. The points in our clothing problems are too technical and too frequently discussed to need special notice at present, but as a result of a new study of Arctic precedents it is satisfactory to find it becomes more and more evident that our equipment is the best that has been devised for the purpose, always excepting the possible alternative of skins for spring journeys, an alternative we have no power to adopt. In spite of this we are making minor improvements all the time." [2]
This was Bowers' first experience with polar clothing.
Amundsen
A blizzard, with visibility nil, and temperature of -46 C delayed the start yet again. "[How lucky]," Johansen wrote, "that we are now indoors and not lying some miles in over the barrier, unable to move, and perhaps lost here at the beginning in the [crevassed] terrain to 80 degrees, which must be considered the worst to begin with." [3]
"Even the Chief, who claimed to have been ready to start the whole of last month, and is very anxious that the British will get to the pole before us, and therefore insisted on starting as soon as possible, has been making alterations to his anorak and fur clothing both Sunday and today. But are we ready to go. Whether it will be tomorrow is of course uncertain." [4]
Notes:
[1] Source unknown.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 3 September, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Hjalmar Johansen, diary, 4 September, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.406.
[4] Hjalmar Johansen, diary, 4 September, 1911, published as Dagbok fra Sydpolen (Skien : Vågemot Miniforlag, 2007), p.15.
Bowers wearing the standard polar gear, Burberry wind-proof outer garments over woollen underclothes, and reindeer-fur mitts. [1]"Last night Bowers lectured on Polar clothing. He had worked the subject up from our Polar library with critical and humorous ability, and since his recent journey he must be considered as entitled to an authoritative opinion of his own. The points in our clothing problems are too technical and too frequently discussed to need special notice at present, but as a result of a new study of Arctic precedents it is satisfactory to find it becomes more and more evident that our equipment is the best that has been devised for the purpose, always excepting the possible alternative of skins for spring journeys, an alternative we have no power to adopt. In spite of this we are making minor improvements all the time." [2]
This was Bowers' first experience with polar clothing.
Amundsen
A blizzard, with visibility nil, and temperature of -46 C delayed the start yet again. "[How lucky]," Johansen wrote, "that we are now indoors and not lying some miles in over the barrier, unable to move, and perhaps lost here at the beginning in the [crevassed] terrain to 80 degrees, which must be considered the worst to begin with." [3]
"Even the Chief, who claimed to have been ready to start the whole of last month, and is very anxious that the British will get to the pole before us, and therefore insisted on starting as soon as possible, has been making alterations to his anorak and fur clothing both Sunday and today. But are we ready to go. Whether it will be tomorrow is of course uncertain." [4]
Notes:
[1] Source unknown.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 3 September, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Hjalmar Johansen, diary, 4 September, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.406.
[4] Hjalmar Johansen, diary, 4 September, 1911, published as Dagbok fra Sydpolen (Skien : Vågemot Miniforlag, 2007), p.15.
June 20, 2011
Tuesday, 20 June 1911
Amundsen
Bjaaland planing sledge runners in his workshop dug under the snow at Framheim, June or July, 1911. [1]
After experiencing the Barrier for himself, Amundsen realised that at 75 kilos (165 lbs.) their sledges were too heavy, and had run badly anyway. Prepared for difficult and treacherous ice by Scott's and Shackleton's earlier accounts, Amundsen had got his sledges from Hagen's in Christiania, the same models that Scott was using. But after their depot journeys, Amundsen found that "the mysterious Barrier of the Englishmen has once and for all disappeared, and must give place to a completely natural phenomenon -- a glacier." [2]
Bjaaland reworked four sledges they had from Sverdrup's second Fram expedition, as well as making three new sledges. Sverdrup's he planed down and lightened; these would be for the difficult ice on the glaciers leading to the Polar plateau. Once there, these sledges would be depoted and Bjaaland's own lightweight ones, built for speed on level snow, would take them the rest of the way.
"Today, Bjaaland finished the first new sledge," Amundsen wrote with satisfaction. "It is extremely fine to look at, and is particularly light -- 24 kilos [53 lbs.]-- against 34 kilos [the 75 lbs. of the rebuilt Sverdrup sledges]." [3]
Notes:
[1] Roald Amundsen Bildearkiv, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
[2] Roald Amundsen, diary, 11 July, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.382.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, 22 June, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in The Amundsen Photographs, (London : Hodder & Stoughton, c1987), p.112.
Bjaaland planing sledge runners in his workshop dug under the snow at Framheim, June or July, 1911. [1]After experiencing the Barrier for himself, Amundsen realised that at 75 kilos (165 lbs.) their sledges were too heavy, and had run badly anyway. Prepared for difficult and treacherous ice by Scott's and Shackleton's earlier accounts, Amundsen had got his sledges from Hagen's in Christiania, the same models that Scott was using. But after their depot journeys, Amundsen found that "the mysterious Barrier of the Englishmen has once and for all disappeared, and must give place to a completely natural phenomenon -- a glacier." [2]
Bjaaland reworked four sledges they had from Sverdrup's second Fram expedition, as well as making three new sledges. Sverdrup's he planed down and lightened; these would be for the difficult ice on the glaciers leading to the Polar plateau. Once there, these sledges would be depoted and Bjaaland's own lightweight ones, built for speed on level snow, would take them the rest of the way.
"Today, Bjaaland finished the first new sledge," Amundsen wrote with satisfaction. "It is extremely fine to look at, and is particularly light -- 24 kilos [53 lbs.]-- against 34 kilos [the 75 lbs. of the rebuilt Sverdrup sledges]." [3]
Notes:
[1] Roald Amundsen Bildearkiv, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
[2] Roald Amundsen, diary, 11 July, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.382.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, 22 June, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in The Amundsen Photographs, (London : Hodder & Stoughton, c1987), p.112.
February 24, 2011
Friday, 24 February 1911
Scott
Mounts Erebus (on the left) and Terror, with the Hut Point peninsula in the foreground, ca.2005. [1] The peaks were visible for a while as the party made their way to Corner Camp.
Scott decided to take a party out to depot further supplies at Corner Camp and to meet Bowers' party returning with the ponies. "Roused out at 6. Started marching at 9. Self, Crean, and Cherry-Garrard one sledge and tent; Evans, Atkinson, Forde, second sledge and tent; Keohane leading his pony. We pulled on ski in the forenoon; the second sledge couldn't keep up, so we changed about for half the march. In the afternoon we pulled on foot. On the whole I thought the labour greater on foot, so did Crean, showing the advantage of experience."
"There is no doubt," he added, "that very long days' work could be done by men in hard condition on ski."
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 24 February, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
Mounts Erebus (on the left) and Terror, with the Hut Point peninsula in the foreground, ca.2005. [1] The peaks were visible for a while as the party made their way to Corner Camp.Scott decided to take a party out to depot further supplies at Corner Camp and to meet Bowers' party returning with the ponies. "Roused out at 6. Started marching at 9. Self, Crean, and Cherry-Garrard one sledge and tent; Evans, Atkinson, Forde, second sledge and tent; Keohane leading his pony. We pulled on ski in the forenoon; the second sledge couldn't keep up, so we changed about for half the march. In the afternoon we pulled on foot. On the whole I thought the labour greater on foot, so did Crean, showing the advantage of experience."
"There is no doubt," he added, "that very long days' work could be done by men in hard condition on ski."
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 24 February, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
February 3, 2011
Friday, 3 February 1911
Scott
They shifted from day to night marching, in hopes of a better surface for the ponies, to no avail. "Then came the triumph of the snow-shoe again," wrote Scott. "If we had more of these shoes we could certainly put them on seven out of eight of our ponies ... as certainly the ponies so shod would draw their loads over the soft snow patches without any difficulty. It is trying to feel that so great a help to our work has been left behind at the station." [1]
Oates, sharing a tent with Gran and Keohane, wrote to his mother, "The surface of the barrier is very bad for travelling as the summer sun has melted the crust on the snow to a certain extent and the ponies break through almost to their knees.... These poor ponies are having a perfectly wretched time they have their summer coats on and this wind which is blowing now is bitterly cold for them I don't know how they will get on atal [sic], the dogs have bucked up a lot but don't drag much of a load. These reindeer sleeping bags are beastly smelly things but wonderfully warm in fact you could not get any sleep without one. I am very fit indeed it is marvellous how little one feels the cold I suppose it is owing to always being out in it. I have had no snow blindness yet as most people have and I hardly wear goggles atal the reason of this is I think that my eyes are sunk fairly well into my head and so don't get affected so quickly. This is a wonderful country and a great delight to travel in but one can hardly call it travelling for pleasure with 8 ponies to look after and if you take off your mitts you lose the use of your hands almost at once." [2]
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 3 February, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] L.E.G. Oates, letter to Caroline Oates, [date not given], quoted by Sue Limb and Patrick Cordingley in Captain Oates : Soldier and Explorer (London : Batsford, c1982), p.112.
They shifted from day to night marching, in hopes of a better surface for the ponies, to no avail. "Then came the triumph of the snow-shoe again," wrote Scott. "If we had more of these shoes we could certainly put them on seven out of eight of our ponies ... as certainly the ponies so shod would draw their loads over the soft snow patches without any difficulty. It is trying to feel that so great a help to our work has been left behind at the station." [1]
Oates, sharing a tent with Gran and Keohane, wrote to his mother, "The surface of the barrier is very bad for travelling as the summer sun has melted the crust on the snow to a certain extent and the ponies break through almost to their knees.... These poor ponies are having a perfectly wretched time they have their summer coats on and this wind which is blowing now is bitterly cold for them I don't know how they will get on atal [sic], the dogs have bucked up a lot but don't drag much of a load. These reindeer sleeping bags are beastly smelly things but wonderfully warm in fact you could not get any sleep without one. I am very fit indeed it is marvellous how little one feels the cold I suppose it is owing to always being out in it. I have had no snow blindness yet as most people have and I hardly wear goggles atal the reason of this is I think that my eyes are sunk fairly well into my head and so don't get affected so quickly. This is a wonderful country and a great delight to travel in but one can hardly call it travelling for pleasure with 8 ponies to look after and if you take off your mitts you lose the use of your hands almost at once." [2]
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 3 February, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] L.E.G. Oates, letter to Caroline Oates, [date not given], quoted by Sue Limb and Patrick Cordingley in Captain Oates : Soldier and Explorer (London : Batsford, c1982), p.112.
January 31, 2011
Tuesday, 31 January 1911
Scott
One of the pony snowshoes from the Terra Nova Expedition, photographed in 2009 by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. [1]
Keohane's pony had gone lame. The going had started out well, but soon the ponies were sinking deep into the snow. "[This] afternoon," Scott wrote in his diary, "we tried our one pair of [pony] snow-shoes on 'Weary Willy.' The effect was magical. He strolled around as though walking on hard ground in places where he floundered woefully without them. Oates hasn't had any faith in these shoes at all...."
"Immediately after our experiment I decided that an effort must be made to get more, and within half an hour Meares and Wilson were on their way to the station more than 20 miles away. There is just the chance that the ice may not have gone out, but it is a very poor one I fear. At present it looks as though we might double our distance with the snow-shoes." [2]
Notes:
[1] Antarctic Conservation Blog, 10 August 2009.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 31 January, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
One of the pony snowshoes from the Terra Nova Expedition, photographed in 2009 by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. [1]Keohane's pony had gone lame. The going had started out well, but soon the ponies were sinking deep into the snow. "[This] afternoon," Scott wrote in his diary, "we tried our one pair of [pony] snow-shoes on 'Weary Willy.' The effect was magical. He strolled around as though walking on hard ground in places where he floundered woefully without them. Oates hasn't had any faith in these shoes at all...."
"Immediately after our experiment I decided that an effort must be made to get more, and within half an hour Meares and Wilson were on their way to the station more than 20 miles away. There is just the chance that the ice may not have gone out, but it is a very poor one I fear. At present it looks as though we might double our distance with the snow-shoes." [2]
Notes:
[1] Antarctic Conservation Blog, 10 August 2009.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 31 January, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
January 29, 2011
Sunday, 29 January 1911
Scott
Gran, photographed by Ponting in January, 1911. [1]
With the going heavy, Gran decided to use his skis, and fastened a harness to Weary Willy. "Gran tried going on ski with his pony," Scott wrote. "All went well while he was alongside, but when he came up from the back the swish of the ski frightened the beast, who fled faster than his pursuer -- that is, the pony and load were going better than the Norwegian on ski." [2]
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.no.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 29 January, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
Gran, photographed by Ponting in January, 1911. [1]With the going heavy, Gran decided to use his skis, and fastened a harness to Weary Willy. "Gran tried going on ski with his pony," Scott wrote. "All went well while he was alongside, but when he came up from the back the swish of the ski frightened the beast, who fled faster than his pursuer -- that is, the pony and load were going better than the Norwegian on ski." [2]
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.no.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 29 January, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
January 24, 2011
Tuesday, 24 January 1911
Scott
Bowers with Victor, photographed by Ponting, October 1911. [1]
The first depot-laying party set out in the morning, leading the ponies across land as far as Glacier Tongue. Scott and the dog teams went on the Terra Nova to meet them at the end of the Tongue. There were twelve men -- Scott, Wilson, Oates, Meares, Atkinson, Bowers, Gran, Cherry-Garrard, Crean, P.O. Evans, Forde, and Keohane -- with eight ponies and two dogs teams.
"My most vivid recollection of the day we started," Cherry wrote later, "is the sight of Bowers, out of breath, very hot, and in great pain from a bad knock which he had given his knee against a rock, being led forward by his big pony Uncle Bill, over whom temporarily he had but little control. He had been left behind in the camp, giving last instructions about the storage of cases and management of provisions, and had practically lost himself in trying to follow us over what was then unknown ground. He was wearing all the clothing which was not included in his personal gear, for he did not think it fair to give the pony the extra weight. He had bruised his leg in an ugly way, and for many days he came to me to bandage it. He was afraid that if he let the doctors see it they would forbid him to go forward. He had had no sleep for seventy-two hours." [2]
Each sledge weight 52 lbs., and each driver's sleeping bag, skis, and pony gear weighed 65 lbs. Personal gear added another 12 lbs. Cooker and primus, oil, tent and poles, biscuits, tools, and oats for the ponies were distributed amongst the sledges. Each pony sledge averaged 570 lbs. (258 kg), and the two dog sledges 490 lbs. (222 kg) each. The goal was 80°.
"Stareek", photographed by Ponting, 1911. [3]
Meares was in charge of one of the dog teams and Wilson the other. Stareek ("old man" in Russian), was, Wilson wrote, "quite the nicest, quietest cleverest old dog gentleman I have ever come across. He looks in face as though he knew all the wickedness of all the world and all its cares and as though he was bored to death by both of them." [4]
Scott, however, was already writing in his diary, "I withhold my opinion of the dogs in much doubt as to whether they are going to be a real success -- but the ponies are going to be real good. They work with such extraordinary steadiness, stepping out briskly and cheerfully, following in each other's tracks. The great drawback is the ease with which they sink in soft snow: they go through in lots of places where the men scarcely make an impression -- they struggle pluckily when they sink, but it is trying to watch them." [5]
Amundsen
"As usual," Amundsen calculated in his diary, "we drove a load up before breakfast. The first run brought the remaining things for the hut, like bunks, stoves, etc. Afterwards we began carrying provisions. It is a matter of 900 packing cases.... We have done 5 runs today, but hope to manage 6 tomorrow. [Since] each sledge load consists generally of 5 cases, [thus] 25 cases per run, [that] means 150 cases in the course of a day. In this way, we will get them all carried up quickly." [6]
Notes:
[1] Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.
[2] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.5.
[3] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[4] E.A. Wilson, diary, 30 January, 1911, quoted in Diary of the Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1910-1912 (London : Blandford, 1972), p.100.
[5] R.F. Scott, diary, 24 January, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[6] Roald Amundsen, diary, 23 January, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in The Amundsen Photographs (London : Hodder & Stoughton, c1987), p.83.
Bowers with Victor, photographed by Ponting, October 1911. [1]The first depot-laying party set out in the morning, leading the ponies across land as far as Glacier Tongue. Scott and the dog teams went on the Terra Nova to meet them at the end of the Tongue. There were twelve men -- Scott, Wilson, Oates, Meares, Atkinson, Bowers, Gran, Cherry-Garrard, Crean, P.O. Evans, Forde, and Keohane -- with eight ponies and two dogs teams.
"My most vivid recollection of the day we started," Cherry wrote later, "is the sight of Bowers, out of breath, very hot, and in great pain from a bad knock which he had given his knee against a rock, being led forward by his big pony Uncle Bill, over whom temporarily he had but little control. He had been left behind in the camp, giving last instructions about the storage of cases and management of provisions, and had practically lost himself in trying to follow us over what was then unknown ground. He was wearing all the clothing which was not included in his personal gear, for he did not think it fair to give the pony the extra weight. He had bruised his leg in an ugly way, and for many days he came to me to bandage it. He was afraid that if he let the doctors see it they would forbid him to go forward. He had had no sleep for seventy-two hours." [2]
Each sledge weight 52 lbs., and each driver's sleeping bag, skis, and pony gear weighed 65 lbs. Personal gear added another 12 lbs. Cooker and primus, oil, tent and poles, biscuits, tools, and oats for the ponies were distributed amongst the sledges. Each pony sledge averaged 570 lbs. (258 kg), and the two dog sledges 490 lbs. (222 kg) each. The goal was 80°.
"Stareek", photographed by Ponting, 1911. [3]Meares was in charge of one of the dog teams and Wilson the other. Stareek ("old man" in Russian), was, Wilson wrote, "quite the nicest, quietest cleverest old dog gentleman I have ever come across. He looks in face as though he knew all the wickedness of all the world and all its cares and as though he was bored to death by both of them." [4]
Scott, however, was already writing in his diary, "I withhold my opinion of the dogs in much doubt as to whether they are going to be a real success -- but the ponies are going to be real good. They work with such extraordinary steadiness, stepping out briskly and cheerfully, following in each other's tracks. The great drawback is the ease with which they sink in soft snow: they go through in lots of places where the men scarcely make an impression -- they struggle pluckily when they sink, but it is trying to watch them." [5]
Amundsen
"As usual," Amundsen calculated in his diary, "we drove a load up before breakfast. The first run brought the remaining things for the hut, like bunks, stoves, etc. Afterwards we began carrying provisions. It is a matter of 900 packing cases.... We have done 5 runs today, but hope to manage 6 tomorrow. [Since] each sledge load consists generally of 5 cases, [thus] 25 cases per run, [that] means 150 cases in the course of a day. In this way, we will get them all carried up quickly." [6]
Notes:
[1] Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.
[2] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.5.
[3] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[4] E.A. Wilson, diary, 30 January, 1911, quoted in Diary of the Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1910-1912 (London : Blandford, 1972), p.100.
[5] R.F. Scott, diary, 24 January, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[6] Roald Amundsen, diary, 23 January, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in The Amundsen Photographs (London : Hodder & Stoughton, c1987), p.83.
December 14, 2010
Wednesday, 14 December 1910
Scott
A berg in the pack, with Debenham and Taylor on skis, photographed by Ponting, 20 December, 1910. [1]
The Terra Nova's progress through the ice was frustratingly slow but at the least it gave them a chance to leave the ship for a little while, and they took the opportunity to try out their skis -- or, as Griffith Taylor noted, "in current parlance (à la Gran) to go 'mit dee shee op'". [2] It was for many of them the very first time they had used skis.
"Gran is wonderfully good and gives instruction well," wrote Scott [3], although the men were not always particularly enthusiastic -- P.O. Evans, for one, referred to them as "planks". [4]
"It was hot and garments came off one by one -- the Soldier [Oates] and Atkinson were stripped to the waist eventually, and have been sliding round the floe for some time in that condition. Nearly everyone has been wearing goggles; the glare is very bad. Ponting tried to get a colour picture, but unfortunately the ice colours are too delicate for this."
Amundsen
Fram in high seas, in an undated photograph. [5]
During a storm, the Fram tossed and rolled and bobbed, due to her round bottom and broad beam, built for the ice. The bridge, though, stayed dry, and sheltered the poor dogs, sometimes as many as fifty at a time. She might buck and toss, but the Fram never shipped a sea. It was, Amundsen wrote in his diary, "almost unbelievable. The one sea towers up more menacingly than the other, and one might expect it over one every moment. But no -- she gives a little twist, and the sea passes under .... Archer can be proud of Fram." [6]
Notes:
[1] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[2] T. Griffith Taylor, quoted by Diana Preston in A First Rate Tragedy (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1998, c1997), p.135. "Ski" in Norwegian is pronounced "shee".
[3] R.F. Scott, diary, 14 December, 1910, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[4] Quoted by Diana Preston in A First Rate Tragedy (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1998, c1997), p.135.
[5] Roald Amundsen Bildearkiv, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
[6] Roald Amundsen, diary, 14 December 1910, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.311.
A berg in the pack, with Debenham and Taylor on skis, photographed by Ponting, 20 December, 1910. [1]The Terra Nova's progress through the ice was frustratingly slow but at the least it gave them a chance to leave the ship for a little while, and they took the opportunity to try out their skis -- or, as Griffith Taylor noted, "in current parlance (à la Gran) to go 'mit dee shee op'". [2] It was for many of them the very first time they had used skis.
"Gran is wonderfully good and gives instruction well," wrote Scott [3], although the men were not always particularly enthusiastic -- P.O. Evans, for one, referred to them as "planks". [4]
"It was hot and garments came off one by one -- the Soldier [Oates] and Atkinson were stripped to the waist eventually, and have been sliding round the floe for some time in that condition. Nearly everyone has been wearing goggles; the glare is very bad. Ponting tried to get a colour picture, but unfortunately the ice colours are too delicate for this."
Amundsen
Fram in high seas, in an undated photograph. [5]During a storm, the Fram tossed and rolled and bobbed, due to her round bottom and broad beam, built for the ice. The bridge, though, stayed dry, and sheltered the poor dogs, sometimes as many as fifty at a time. She might buck and toss, but the Fram never shipped a sea. It was, Amundsen wrote in his diary, "almost unbelievable. The one sea towers up more menacingly than the other, and one might expect it over one every moment. But no -- she gives a little twist, and the sea passes under .... Archer can be proud of Fram." [6]
Notes:
[1] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[2] T. Griffith Taylor, quoted by Diana Preston in A First Rate Tragedy (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1998, c1997), p.135. "Ski" in Norwegian is pronounced "shee".
[3] R.F. Scott, diary, 14 December, 1910, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[4] Quoted by Diana Preston in A First Rate Tragedy (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1998, c1997), p.135.
[5] Roald Amundsen Bildearkiv, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
[6] Roald Amundsen, diary, 14 December 1910, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.311.
March 5, 2010
March 1910
Scott
Tryggve Gran as a naval cadet. [1]
Inspired by the second Fram expedition to the Canadian Arctic and by Shackleton's travels, the twenty-year-old Norwegian Tryggve Gran was in fact planning an expedition of his own to the Antarctic, and had had a ship built for the purpose, to start from Norway the next summer. He had consulted Nansen, who was dismayed not so much by Gran's enthusiasm as by his youth and polar inexperience. Nansen did, however, see an opportunity to benefit both Gran and Scott, and arranged for the three of them to meet at Hagen's in Christiania, the ski and sporting-goods manufacturers famous for fitting out expeditions, where Nansen (very casually, one imagines) turned to Scott and remarked, as Gran recorded later, "Now you're going to take ski with you. Shackleton didn't take ski and told me when he had lunch with me if he had known how to use ski he would have reached the pole. He would have done!"
"But remember," Nansen went on, "it's no use having ski unless you know how to use them properly. You ought to [let] a Norwegian show [you]. Well, if you can point out a man who can show me, says Scott, I would be very thankful to you. So [Nansen] knocked me on the shoulder and said, well, Gran, can't you do it? And I said, with the greatest pleasure." [2]
Gran caught the train to Fefor with Scott to discuss the matter and, merely a day later, was presented with the opportunity to prove both himself and the noble art of skiing when an axle on the motor sledge broke, and the British were faced with a long journey to the workshop for repairs. Instead, Gran went off down the valley on skis with the broken pieces strapped to his back, and returned a mere five hours later with the repaired axle.
"Scott could scarcely believe his eyes," Gran later wrote. Scott had never seen two ski poles used, only the by-now obsolete single pole, and Gran's apparently-effortless gliding and climbing impressed Scott deeply. [3] "[He] suddenly stopped and asked me if I would consider postponing my own Antarctic plans and follow him South instead. I thought I had heard wrongly, and it was only when Scott explained that now, for the first time he realized what ski, properly used, would mean to him and his expedition, that I grasped that my ears had not been playing me tricks." [4]
Notes:
[1] IFFHS.
[2] Tryggve Gran, in an interview with Roland Huntford, quoted by Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.275-276.
[3]
Tryggve Gran as a naval cadet. [1]Inspired by the second Fram expedition to the Canadian Arctic and by Shackleton's travels, the twenty-year-old Norwegian Tryggve Gran was in fact planning an expedition of his own to the Antarctic, and had had a ship built for the purpose, to start from Norway the next summer. He had consulted Nansen, who was dismayed not so much by Gran's enthusiasm as by his youth and polar inexperience. Nansen did, however, see an opportunity to benefit both Gran and Scott, and arranged for the three of them to meet at Hagen's in Christiania, the ski and sporting-goods manufacturers famous for fitting out expeditions, where Nansen (very casually, one imagines) turned to Scott and remarked, as Gran recorded later, "Now you're going to take ski with you. Shackleton didn't take ski and told me when he had lunch with me if he had known how to use ski he would have reached the pole. He would have done!"
"But remember," Nansen went on, "it's no use having ski unless you know how to use them properly. You ought to [let] a Norwegian show [you]. Well, if you can point out a man who can show me, says Scott, I would be very thankful to you. So [Nansen] knocked me on the shoulder and said, well, Gran, can't you do it? And I said, with the greatest pleasure." [2]
Gran caught the train to Fefor with Scott to discuss the matter and, merely a day later, was presented with the opportunity to prove both himself and the noble art of skiing when an axle on the motor sledge broke, and the British were faced with a long journey to the workshop for repairs. Instead, Gran went off down the valley on skis with the broken pieces strapped to his back, and returned a mere five hours later with the repaired axle.
"Scott could scarcely believe his eyes," Gran later wrote. Scott had never seen two ski poles used, only the by-now obsolete single pole, and Gran's apparently-effortless gliding and climbing impressed Scott deeply. [3] "[He] suddenly stopped and asked me if I would consider postponing my own Antarctic plans and follow him South instead. I thought I had heard wrongly, and it was only when Scott explained that now, for the first time he realized what ski, properly used, would mean to him and his expedition, that I grasped that my ears had not been playing me tricks." [4]
Notes:
[1] IFFHS.
[2] Tryggve Gran, in an interview with Roland Huntford, quoted by Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.275-276.
[3]
In this 1893 studio portrait, Amundsen (centre) and his friends Laurentius Urdahl and Vilhelm Holst recreate their crossing of the Hardanger plateau in December of that year. At that time, the use of a single long ski pole was still common, but the two-pole style was becoming popular due to the increased agility possible. Nansen himself used a single pole for part of his 1888 traverse of Greenland, with two poles for the inland ice. See, for example, "Ancient skis in Finland" and "Ski history timeline".
[4] Tryggve Gran, Fra Tjuagutt til Sydpolfarer (Oslo: Mortensen, 1974), quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.276-277.
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