Sunday, 18 February 1912

Scott

Within half an hour after P.O. Evans' death, the remaining party struck camp and got down to the Lower Barrier Depot, and gave themselves five hours' sleep "after the horrible night." A short march then took them across the divide to Shambles Camp. "Here with plenty of horsemeat we have had a fine supper, to be followed by others such, and so continue a more plentiful era if we can keep good marches up. New life seems to come with greater food almost immediately, but I am anxious about the Barrier surfaces." [1]

With the supplies available at the intermediary depots, they had four weeks' full rations to cover the 240 miles to One Ton Depot, allowing an average daily march of eight to nine miles.

Hauling the semi-conscious Lt. Evans on a sledge in bitter temperatures and with low food, Lashly and Crean decided that Crean would go on ahead to fetch help. "We had about a day's provisions with extra biscuit taken from the motor, and a little extra oil taken from the same place, so we gave Crean what he thought he could manage to accomplish the Journey of 30 miles geographical on, which was a little chocolate and biscuits. We put him up a little drink, but he would not carry it. What a pity we did not have some ski," Lashly observed, "but we [had] dumped them to save weight." With only three biscuits and a little chocolate, Crean set out on the thirty-some miles to Hut Point. Lashly himself went on a mile or so to Corner Camp where he picked up what supplies he could, and a piece of fabric to make a signal flag. "I found a note left at Corner Camp by Mr. Day saying there was a lot of very bad crevasses between there and the sea ice, especially off White Island. This put me in a bit of a fix, as I, of course, at once thought of Crean. He being on foot was more likely to go down than he would had he been on ski. I did not tell Mr. Evans anything about the crevasses, as I certainly thought it would be best kept from him. I just told him the note was there and all was well." [2]

The Second Western Geological Party on the deck of the Terra Nova, 1912. From left, Taylor, Debenham, Gran, and Forde. [3]

Pennell in the Terra Nova was unable to pick up Campbell's Northern Party at Evans Cove but sighted the Second Western Geological Party trekking south and collected them.


Notes:

[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 18 February, 1912, quoted in Scott's Last Journey, v.1.
[2] William Lashly, diary, 18 February, 1912, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XII.
[3] Scott Polar Research Institute.

Wednesday, 1 November 1911

Scott

Bowers, Wilson, and Cherry with their ponies, 6 October 1911, photographed by Ponting. [1]

The main party set off from Cape Evans. "They had packed the sledges overnight," Taylor recalled, "and they took 20 lbs. personal baggage. The Owner had asked me what book he should take. He wanted something fairly filling. I recommended Tyndall's Glaciers -- if he wouldn't find it 'coolish.' He didn't fancy this! So then I said, 'Why not take Browning, as I'm doing?' And I believe that he did so.

"Wright's pony was the first harnessed to its sledge. Chinaman is Jehu's rival for last place, and as some compensation is easy to harness. Seaman Evans led Snatcher, who used to rush ahead and take the lead as soon as he was harnessed. Cherry had Michael, a steady goer, and Wilson led Nobby -- the pony rescued from the killer whales in March.... Christopher, as usual, behaved like a demon. First they had to trice his front leg up tight under his shoulder, then it took five minutes to throw him. The sledge was brought up and he was harnessed in while his head was held down on the floe. Finally he rose up, still on three legs, and started off galloping as well as he was able. After several violent kicks his foreleg was released, and after more watch-spring flicks with his hind legs he set off fairly steadily. Titus can't stop him when once he has started, and will have to do the fifteen miles in one lap probably!

"Dear old Titus -- that was my last memory of him. Imperturbable as ever; never hasty, never angry, but soothing that vicious animal, and determined to get the best out of most unpromising material in his endeavour to do his simple duty.

"Bowers was last to leave. His pony, Victor, nervous but not vicious, was soon in the traces. I ran to the end of the Cape and watched the little cavalcade -- already strung out into remote units -- rapidly fade into the lonely white waste to southward." [1]

Scott, Gran noted, "rather more than a little nervous" [2], hitched his pony to the wrong sledge and had to transfer before departing.

A few hours later, Scott rang from Hut Point, saying that he had forgotten the flag given to him by Queen Alexandra for the Pole, and wanted it sent on. Gran was ordered to do so, and set off the next day in a strong headwind, skiing the fifteen miles to Hut Point in three hours, and catching the Polar party just before they left. "The irony of fate," Scott said to Gran, that a Norwegian had carried the Union Jack the first few miles towards the Pole. [3]


Amundsen

After a day of thick fog and narrow but treacherous crevasses, the going smoothed out. "We seemed to be rushing along at 9 or 10 miles an hour, just like a rabbit chased by a bear," wrote Bjaaland. [4]

They stopped every five nautical miles to build a marker cairn.


Notes:

[1] Thomas Griffith Taylor, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, v.2.
[2] Tryggve Gran, diary, 1 November, 1911, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.139.
[3] Tryggve Gran, interview with Roland Huntford, November, 1973, quoted by Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.422.
[4] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 2 November, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.432.

Sunday, 8 October 1911

Scott

"Matterhorn Iceberg (with Thomas Clissold climbing) and Mount Erebus in the background, during the British Antarctic ('Terra Nova') Expedition (1910-1913). Photograph taken on the 8th of October 1911, by Herbert George Ponting." [1]

"Troubles rarely come singly," wrote Scott. Anxiety over Taylor, who had gone missing on a bicycle trip to Turk's Head, and a series of mishaps over the last few days put Scott into a dark mood. One of the best dogs had died of a mysterious ailment, and Atkinson had reported that the pony Jehu would not make even the start of the journey. Forde's fingers were badly frostbitten after the Corner Camp trip. The cook Clissold fell from an iceberg while posing for a photograph, to Ponting's great consternation, and suffered concussion and a hurt back.

"It is trying, but I am past despondency. Things must take their course," wrote Scott. "[It] is hard to have two sick men after all the care which has been taken." [2]


Notes:

[1] Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand. Posing for the photographer quickly became known, perhaps inevitably, as "ponting".
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 8 and 10 October, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1. Taylor recalled many years later, "I had a few keen arguments with Scott -- the only ones I knew about. He scolded me very deservedly when I was lost some six miles south of the hut.... Yet in spite of this he gave me command of the second Western Party" (quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic [New York : Knopf, c2005], p.450).

Thursday, 22 June 1911

Scott

Midwinter's Day at Cape Evans, photographed by Ponting, 22 June, 1911. Seated from left, Debenham, Oates, Meares, Bowers, Cherry-Garrard, Scott at the head, Wilson, Simpson, Nelson?, Lt. Evans, Day?, and Taylor. Standing at left, Wright and Atkinson; at left, Gran. [1]

To mark Midwinter's Day, Scott wrote, "I screwed myself up to a little speech which drew attention to the nature of the celebration as a half-way mark not only in our winter but in the plans of the Expedition as originally published. (I fear there are some who don't realise how rapidly time passes and who have barely begun work which by this time ought to be in full swing.)

"We had come through a summer season and half a winter, and had before us half a winter and a second summer. We ought to know how we stood in every respect; we did know how we stood in regard to stores and transport, and I especially thanked the officer in charge of stores and the custodians of the animals. I said that as regards the future, chance must play a part, but that experience showed me that it would have been impossible to have chosen people more fitted to support me in the enterprise to the South than those who were to start in that direction in the spring. I thanked them all for having put their shoulders to the wheel and given me this confidence.

"We drank to the Success of the Expedition."

Everyone gave a short speech in turn, and then the table was upended and chairs set out for a show of Ponting's slides of the expedition.

"After this show the table was restored for snapdragon, and a brew of milk punch was prepared in which we drank the health of Campbell's party and of our good friends in the Terra Nova. Then the table was again removed and a set of lancers formed.

"By this time the effect of stimulating liquid refreshment on men so long accustomed to a simple life became apparent. Our biologist had retired to bed, the silent Soldier bubbled with humour and insisted on dancing with Anton. Evans, P.O., was imparting confidences in heavy whispers. Pat Keohane had grown intensely Irish and desirous of political argument, whilst Clissold sat with a constant expansive smile and punctuated the babble of conversation with an occasional 'Whoop' of delight or disjointed witticism. Other bright-eyed individuals merely reached the capacity to enjoy that which under ordinary circumstances might have passed without evoking a smile." [2]

Bowers' midwinter tree. [3]

"After dinner we had to make speeches," Cherry remembered, "but instead of making a speech Bowers brought in a wonderful Christmas tree, made of split bamboos and a ski stick, with feathers tied to the end of each branch; candles, sweets, preserved fruits, and the most absurd toys of which Bill was the owner. Titus [Oates] got three things which pleased him immensely, a sponge, a whistle, and a pop-gun which went off when he pressed in the butt. For the rest of the evening he went round asking whether you were sweating. 'No.' 'Yes, you are,' he said, and wiped your face with the sponge. 'If you want to please me very much you will fall down when I shoot you,' he said to me, and then he went round shooting everybody. At intervals he blew the whistle." [4]

Midwinter's Day at Cape Adare, photographed by Levick. [5]

At Cape Adare, Campbell's usually-strict rationing of alcohol was waived for the occasion, and champagne, brandy, and crême de menthe accompanied the celebratory dinner, with cigars and crystallized fruit, followed by songs, paper hats, and parcels from home.


Notes:

[1] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 22 June, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[4] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.7.
[5] Scott Polar Research Institute.

Tuesday, 6 June 1911

Scott

Scott's birthday lunch, 6th June. From left, Bowers, Atkinson, Wright, Nelson, Lt. Evans, Scott, Wilson, Simpson, Taylor, Gran, unknown (possibly Oates?).

"It is my birthday, a fact I might easily have forgotten, but my kind people did not," wrote Scott in his diary. "At lunch an immense birthday cake made its appearance and we were photographed assembled about it. Clissold had decorated its sugared top with various devices in chocolate and crystallised fruit, flags and photographs of myself."

"Captain Robert Falcon Scott's last birthday dinner, 6th June, 1911, photographed by Herbert George Ponting during the British Antarctic ('Terra Nova') Expedition (1910-1913). From left to right: Atkinson, Meares, Cherry-Garrard, Taylor, Nelson, Evans, Scott (centre), Wilson, Simpson, Bowers, Wright, Debenham, and Day. Standing are Oates (left) and Gran." [1]

"After my walk I discovered that great preparations were in progress for a special dinner, and when the hour for that meal arrived we sat down to a sumptuous spread with our sledge banners hung about us. Clissold's especially excellent seal soup, roast mutton and red currant jelly, fruit salad, asparagus and chocolate -- such was our menu. For drink we had cider cup, a mystery not yet fathomed, some sherry and a liqueur.

"After this luxurious meal everyone was very festive and amiably argumentative. As I write there is a group in the dark room discussing political progress with discussions -- another at one corner of the dinner table airing its views on the origin of matter and the probability of its ultimate discovery, and yet another debating military problems. The scraps that reach me from the various groups sometimes piece together in ludicrous fashion. Perhaps these arguments are practically unprofitable, but they give a great deal of pleasure to the participants. It's delightful to hear the ring of triumph in some voice when the owner imagines he has delivered himself of a well-rounded period or a clinching statement concerning the point under discussion. They are boys, all of them, but such excellent good-natured ones; there has been no sign of sharpness or anger, no jarring note, in all these wordy contests! all end with a laugh." [2]


Amundsen

Bjaaland, Hassel, Wisting, Helmer Hanssen, Amundsen, Johansen, Prestrud, and Stubberud around the table at Framheim, in an undated but obviously celebratory photo. [3]

Johansen, on this Norwegian Independence Day, "proposed the Chief's skål, and said that working together was easy on the present expedition, because we had such a straightforward, understanding and pleasant chief." [4]


Notes:

[1] Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 6 June, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Roald Amundsen Bildearkiv, Nasjonalbiblioteket.
[4] Hjalmar Johansen, diary, 7 June, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.384.

Friday, 5 May 1911

Scott

In the long, quiet winter days at Cape Evans, Scott reflected upon the men around him.

"Bill" Wilson working up a sketch, 18 May, 1911, photographed by Ponting. [1]

"One sees Wilson busy with pencil and colour box, rapidly and steadily adding to his portfolio of charming sketches and at intervals filling the gaps in his zoological work of Discovery times; withal ready and willing to give advice and assistance to others at all times; his sound judgment appreciated and therefore a constant referee." [2]

Simpson in his lab, photographed by Ponting, 21 December, 1911. [3]

"Simpson, master of his craft, untiringly attentive to the working of his numerous self-recording instruments, observing all changes with scientific acumen, doing the work of two observers at least and yet ever seeking to correlate an expanded scope. So the current meteorological and magnetic observations are taken as never before by Polar expeditions.

"Wright, good-hearted, strong, keen, striving to saturate his mind with the ice problems of this wonderful region. He has taken the electrical work in hand with all its modern interest of association with radio-activity.

"Evans, with a clear-minded zeal in his own work, does it with all the success of result which comes from the taking of pains. Therefrom we derive a singularly exact preservation of time -- an important consideration to all, but especially necessary for the physical work. Therefrom also, and including more labour, we have an accurate survey of our immediate surroundings and can trust to possess the correctly mapped results of all surveying data obtained. He has Gran for assistant. [4]

"Taylor's intellect is omnivorous and versatile -- his mind is unceasingly active, his grasp wide. Whatever he writes will be of interest -- his pen flows well."

Debenham, Gran, and Taylor in their cubicle, photographed by Ponting, 18 May, 1911. [5]

"Debenham's is clearer. Here we have a well-trained, sturdy worker, with a quiet meaning that carries conviction; he realises the conceptions of thoroughness and conscientiousness."

Bowers reading the thermometer at the top of the Ramp, with Wilson taking notes, photographed by flash-light by Ponting, 7 June, 1911. [6]

"To Bowers' practical genius is owed much of the smooth working of our station. He has a natural method in line with which all arrangements fall, so that expenditure is easily and exactly adjusted to supply, and I have the inestimable advantage of knowing the length of time which each of our possessions will last us and the assurance that there can be no waste. Active mind and active body were never more happily blended. It is a restless activity, admitting no idle moments and ever budding into new forms.

"So we see the balloons ascending under his guidance and anon he is away over the floe tracking the silk thread which held it. Such a task completed, he is away to exercise his pony, and later out again with the dogs, the last typically self-suggested, because for the moment there is no one else to care for these animals. Now in a similar manner he is spreading thermometer screens to get comparative readings with the home station. He is for the open air, seemingly incapable of realising any discomfort from it, and yet his hours within doors spent with equal profit. For he is intent on tracking the problems of sledging food and clothing to their innermost bearings and is becoming an authority on past records. This will be no small help to me and one which others never could have given."

Atkinson in his lab, photographed by Ponting. [7]

"Adjacent to the physicist's corner of the hut Atkinson is quietly pursuing the subject of parasites. Already he is in a new world. The laying out of the fish trap was his action and the catches are his field of labour. Constantly he comes to ask if I would like to see some new form and I am taken to see some protozoa or ascidian isolated on the slide plate of his microscope. The fishes themselves are comparatively new to science; it is strange that their parasites should have been under investigation so soon.

"Atkinson's bench with its array of microscopes, test-tubes, spirit lamps, &c., is next the dark room in which Ponting spends the greater part of his life. I would describe him as sustained by artistic enthusiasm. This world of ours is a different one to him than it is to the rest of us -- he gauges it by its picturesqueness -- his joy is to reproduce its pictures artistically, his grief to fail to do so. No attitude could be happier for the work which he has undertaken, and one cannot doubt its productiveness. I would not imply that he is out of sympathy with the works of others, which is far from being the case, but that his energies centre devotedly on the minutiae of his business."

Cherry typing up the "South Polar Times", photographed by Ponting. [8]

"Cherry-Garrard is another of the open-air, self-effacing, quiet workers; his whole heart is in the life, with profound eagerness to help everyone. 'One has caught glimpses of him in tight places; sound all through and pretty hard also.' Indoors he is editing our Polar journal, out of doors he is busy making trial stone huts and blubber stoves, primarily with a view to the winter journey to Cape Crozier, but incidentally these are instructive experiments for any party which may get into difficulty by being cut off from the home station. It is very well to know how best to use the scant resources that nature provides in these regions. In this connection I have been studying our Arctic library to get details concerning snow hut building and the implements used for it."

Meares and Oates at the blubber stove in the stables, cooking mash for the ponies, photographed by Ponting, possibly May 1911. [9]

"Oates' whole heart is in the ponies. He is really devoted to their care, and I believe will produce them in the best possible form for the sledging season. Opening out the stores, installing a blubber stove, &c., has kept him busy, whilst his satellite, Anton, is ever at work in the stables -- an excellent little man."

"Thomas Crean (on left) and Petty Officer Evans (on right) mending sleeping bags. Taken by Herbert George Ponting on 16 May 1911 during British Antarctic ('Terra Nova') Expedition (1910-1913)". [10]

"Evans and Crean are repairing sleeping-bags, covering felt boots, and generally working on sledging kit. In fact there is no one idle, and no one who has the least prospect of idleness."


Notes:

[1] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 5 May, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[4] "Evans himself is a queer study," Scott wrote in a passage cut from the published diary, "his boyish enthusiasm carries all along till one sees clearly the childish limitations of its foundations and appreciates that it is not a rock to be built on -- He is altogether a good fellow and wholly well-meaning but terribly slow to learn and hence fails altogether to grasp the value of any work but his own -- very desirous to help everyone he is mentally incapable of doing it. There are problems ahead here for I cannot consider him fitted for a superior position -- though he is physically strong & fit for a subordinate one. It was curious to note how his value (in this respect) suddenly diminished as he stepped ashore -- The ship's deck was his trained position -- on the land he seems incapable of expanding beyond the limits of an astonishingly narrow experience." Quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.443-444.
[5] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[6] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[7] Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.
[8] Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.
[9] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[10] Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand.

Sunday, 15 January 1911

Scott

In Scott's initial plans, a group of scientists would remain at Cape Evans, while two other groups, an Eastern Party under Campbell, would explore the coastline of King Edward VII Land, and a Western Geological Party under Taylor, would work in the mountains. The Southern Party would be made of up a select group of those at Cape Evans.

Oates had marked down two of the better ponies for Campbell's use, but upon watching them in action during the unloading of the ship, Scott decided that the slower ones in the polar contingent would hinder the faster ones. "After Service," Scott noted in his diary, "I told Campbell that I should have to cancel his two ponies and give him two others. He took it like the gentleman he is, thoroughly appreciating the reason." [1]


Amundsen

Transporting equipment and supplies to Framheim. [2]

"[All] dogs were landed," wrote Amundsen in his diary. "At the same time we drove up all supplies and equipment we dared load on the sledges the first time.... We have had a lot of trouble with driving today. There have been hidings for the dogs, but it has been necessary to make them understand the gravity of the situation. Things will soon be better." [3]

Each sledge moved five or six loads a day, about two tons in all.

They established their first camp on the Barrier "as a temporary residence for the dogs. It lay 1.2 nautical miles from the ship. Here ... in a pleasant little valley, we pitched a 16-man tent for the dog minders J[ohansen] & H[assel], together with passing travellers. Round the tent we then ran a wire in the form of a triangle -- each side 50 m. -- where our animals will be placed. We then continued our march to the place we had selected for our house. It lay only 2.2 nautical miles from the ship. In this way, our landing will be much quicker than originally planned." [4]

Amundsen had intended to build the hut ten miles inland, in case the Barrier calved, but upon getting a look at the terrain, he decided that the much shorter distance was sufficient. "At the appointed place, we marked out the building plot -- in a SE-NW direction, and pitched [another] 16-man tent for the use of Bj[aaland] & Jørg. [Stubberud], who will be the builders."

"On our return journey, we marked the whole route with dark blue pennants," Amundsen added, "so that it will be impossible to lose one's way. These marks have been placed at intervals of 15 paces. We were on board again at 5 p.m. -- Took some photos of this first trip of ours."


Notes:

[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 15 January, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[2] Roald Amundsen Bildearkiv, Nasjonalbiblioteket. The glass plate has suffered considerable damage.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, [16 January, 1911], quoted by Roland Huntford in The Amundsen Photographs (London : Hodder & Stoughton, c1987), p.75.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 15 January, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in The Amundsen Photographs (London : Hodder & Stoughton, c1987), p.82.

Thursday, 5 January 1911

Scott

"An iceberg and grotto. Photograph taken by Herbert George Ponting on 5 January 1911, during the British Antarctic ('Terra Nova') Expedition (1910-1913)." [1]

Priestley was unimpressed at the difference "between the way the work was carried out and the way when we were landing stores at Cape Royds.... [There are] too many officers superintending and the men never know when and where to go for orders.... [An] Expedition to make a complete success should be entirely away from any Navy ideas.... [In] this one particular give me Shackleton's expedition over and over again." [2]

Faced with the necessity of marking the route between ship and hut, empty paraffin tins were pressed into service.


Amundsen

"The Midnight Sun was visible for the first time today," wrote Amundsen. "It was a wonderful sight on this beautiful evening. It is almost calm; just a breath of wind from the S.E.... Who can describe the wonderful feeling of wellbeing that has enveloped us here in the calm waters among the ice, with plenty of fresh water -- or rather fresh ice -- and fine, fresh meat, after 4 months' unending, intolerable pitching and tossing? I believe that hardly anyone who has not experienced this, can properly understand to what degree we appreciate the change." [3]


Notes:

[1] National Library of New Zealand. The figures are Taylor and Wright; posing for Ponting quickly became known by the new verb "to pont".
[2] Raymond Priestley, letter from Cape Adare, undated, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.333.
[3] Roald Amundsen, diary, 5 January, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in The Amundsen Photographs (London : Hodder & Stoughton, c1987), p.72.

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.

Thursday, 1 December 1910

Scott

Oates with some of the ponies on the Terra Nova, photographed by Herbert Ponting. (Note the damage that the ponies have done to the edge of their stalls by windsucking.) [1]

Even in calm weather, life aboard ship for the ponies must have been a trial. Scott described their situation in his diary: "Under the forecastle fifteen ponies close side by side, seven one side, eight the other, heads together and groom between -- swaying, swaying continually to the plunging, irregular motion. One takes a look through a hole in the bulkhead and sees a row of heads with sad, patient eyes come swinging up together from the starboard side, whilst those on the port swing back; then up come the port heads, whilst the starboard recede. It seems a terrible ordeal for these poor beasts to stand this day after day for weeks together...." [2]

The rest of the scientific staff had joined the ship in New Zealand -- Taylor, Raymond Priestley, and Frank Debenham.

Australian Frank Debenham received a BA in English and philosophy from the University of Sydney, and after a few years teaching in New South Wales returned to university to study geology under Sir Edgeworth David, who, on Shackleton's expedition had led the first ascent of Mt Erebus as well as the first party to reach the South Magnetic Pole (although there is now some doubt about its then-location).

Raymond Priestley, recruited by Scott in Sydney, had just completed his second year reading geology at University College, Bristol, when he joined Shackleton's Nimrod expedition as geologist, working with Edgeworth David and Douglas (later Sir Douglas) Mawson.


Amundsen

Amundsen announced the landing party: Prestrud, Johansen, Hassel, Lindstrøm, Helmer Hanssen, Wisting, Bjaaland, Stubberud, and himself.

Gjertsen wanted so badly to go ashore that he asked Amundsen if he could change places with Prestrud. Amundsen agreed if Prestrud did, but Prestrud did not want to change.

Amundsen increased the wages of those sailing back by half again, partly in consolation for the disappointment. He had, however, chosen his men, with a few exceptions, from those who had originally signed on for the whole Arctic drift.


Notes:

[1] Wikipedia.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 1 December, 1910, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.

Friday, 3 June 1910

Scott

Debenham, Wright, Priestley, and Taylor (reading). Debenham and Priestley would meet the expedition in New Zealand and Australia, respectively. [1]

The Terra Nova arrived in Cardiff. Here they would be joined by more of the scientific staff.

T. Griffith Taylor, thirty, was an Australian geologist who received a Bachelor of Engineering in mining and metallurgy and had recently been elected a Fellow of the Geological Society. Encouraged by his Cambridge tutors and by his friend Douglas Mawson, recently returned from Shackleton's expedition, Taylor applied for the post of physiographer and geologist on Scott's expedition, and was accepted.

Charles S. Wright, nicknamed "Silas", was a twenty-three-year old Canadian physicist who had studied at the University of Toronto and won a postgraduate scholarship to Cambridge where he was now at the end of his two years research into cosmic rays. Impressed by Mawson, Wright had applied for Scott's expedition and been rejected.

Taylor then suggested to his friend that he should reapply to Scott in person; being academics and thus chronically short of funds, they decided to walk the fifty miles from Cambridge to London, with only a dozen hard-cooked eggs for sustenance. "Wright came through 'smiling'," Taylor later wrote of their ten-hour walk, "but my feet were so sore I could hardly stand the next day. My chief recollection is one of loathing for hard-boiled eggs, and of the relief with which I dropped three-quarters of our provisions in a secluded corner of King's Cross." [2]

After a brief interview, Scott changed his mind and Wright was engaged as expedition physicist, for the standard expedition rate of £4 per week for the first year. [3] It was still uncertain as to whether the expedition would remain for a second year.


Amundsen

The Fram off Uranienborg, June 1910. Amundsen stands in front with his dog. Photograph by Anders Beer Wilse. [4]

The Fram left Christiania and sailed down to anchor off Amundsen's home at Bundefjord. Verdens Gang, a Christiania newspaper, wrote that her "three yellow masts glistened in the sunlight, and ... the ship's black bulk stood out ... against the green ... forest-clad background.... Broad, sturdy and sober is she [and] a certain Sabbath peace hung over the vessel, as she lay there, at the edge of the gently rippled, slightly sombre fjord." [5]

Uranienborg, June 1910. Photograph by Anders Beer Wiltse. [6]

The "ice hut", June 1910. Photograph by Anders Beer Wiltse. [7]

The hut stood on the lawn at the water's edge for all to see, and was disassembled and stowed on board. "The more experienced among the members of the expedition," Amundsen wrote later, "were evidently absorbed in profound conjectures as to the meaning of this 'observation house,' as the newspapers had christened it. It may willingly be admitted that they had good reason for their speculations. By an observation house is usually meant a comparatively simple construction, sufficient to provide the necessary shelter from wind and weather. Our house, on the other hand, was a model of solidity, with three double walls, double roof and floor. Its arrangements included ten inviting bunks, a kitchen, and a table; the latter, moreover, had a brand-new American-cloth cover. 'I can understand that they want to keep themselves warm when they're making observations,' said Helmer Hanssen; 'but what they want with a cloth on the table I can’t make out.'" [8] Amundsen did not enlighten them.


Notes:

[1] "The TERRA NOVA Expedition 1910-13", south-pole.com.
[2] T. Griffith-Taylor, With Scott: the Silver Lining (London: Smith Elder, 1916), p.5, 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.37-38.
[3] Wheeler, Sara, Cherry : a life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard (New York : Modern Library, 2003, c2001), p.66.
[4] GalleriNOR, Norsk Folkemuseum.
[5] Verdens Gang, 6 June 1910, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.287.
[6] GalleriNOR, Norsk Folkemuseum.
[7] GalleriNOR, Norsk Folkemuseum.
[8] Roald Amundsen, The South Pole, ch.3.

Wednesday, 1 June 1910

Scott

The Terra Nova in Cardiff. [1]

Canadian explorer Robert Bartlett, who had been with Peary in 1908-09, attended the farewell luncheon at the RGS on 31st May, and, by special invitation, was at the docks to see the Terra Nova depart London for Cardiff the next day.

"Two things especially struck me about what I saw," Bartlett later wrote, "the attitude of the country and the kind of equipment ... there were gold lace and cocked hats and dignitaries enough to run a Navy. I couldn't help comparing all this formality with the shoddy, almost sneering attitude of the American public towards Peary's brave efforts.... The basis of all Peary's work was application of Eskimo methods .... In contrast to this, the British worked out their own theories. [They] proved on paper that it wasn't worth while to use dogs .... I thought of these things as I looked at the fine woollen clothing, the specially designed (in England) ... other gear. None of it looked like the Eskimo stuff that we were used to." [1]

Scott was not aboard; he stayed behind for last-minute fund-raising and final arrangements, leaving Teddy Evans in charge of the ship. Six of the staff were aboard -- Atkinson, Wright, Taylor, Gran, Oates, and Cherry -- the others were to join the ship in New Zealand and Australia.


Notes:

[1] Source unknown.
[2] Captain Robert Bartlett, The Log of Bob Bartlett, p.224, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.283.