Wednesday, 12 February 1913

Scott

The Terra Nova put in at Lyttelton, to find flags at half-mast.

"Yes, Scott is dead, the adventure is at an end," wrote Gran, "and the future lies ahead." [1]

Amundsen was on a lecture tour in Madison, Wisconsin when he heard the news. "In a spirit of absolute dejection," wrote the New York Times, "travel-stained and woebegone, [the] discoverer of the south pole paced his apartment at the Blackstone Hotel this afternoon, and with an intensity of emotion, which he unsuccessfully endeavored to conceal, paid tribute to Capt. Scott and his brave associates who perished with him in the Antarctic.

"'Horrible, horrible!' exclaimed Capt. Amundsen, as he walked back and forth .... 'I cannot read that last message of Scott's without emotion. I never met him, personally, but I know he was a brave man. That is the way he died, like a brave man.'

"'And to think,' added the Captain in a hushed tone, 'that while those brave men were dying out there in the waste of ice, I was lecturing in warmth and comfort in Australia.'"

Asked about his Arctic ambitions, he replied, guarded as ever, "'I do not seek the pole. I may not even reach it. I do not care whether I do. These stories that I am actually to seek the pole are untrue. I am going up into that vicinity only on a scientific expedition, chiefly to study air and ocean currents. If I am close to the pole and conditions are favorable I will go there, not otherwise.'" [2]


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, diary, 12 February, 1913, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 ([Greenwich] : National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.237.
[2] New York Times, 11 February, 1913.

Saturday, 18 January 1913

Scott

"Terra Nova in sight," Gran wrote in his diary. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Great jubilation. Hurrah!" [1]

The ship, scrubbed and squared in preparation for celebration, and under now-Commander Evans, approached Cape Evans. "'Are you all well,' through a megaphone from the bridge. 'The Polar Party died on their return from the Pole: we have their records.' A pause and then a boat." [2]


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, diary, 18 January, 1913, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.232.
[2] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.19.

Wednesday, 27 November 1912

Scott

The search party arrived at Hut Point to find Campbell already there. "At long last there's something cheerful to record," wrote Gran in his diary. [1]


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, diary, 27 November, 1912, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.221.

Monday, 26 November 1912

Scott

Hooper and Abdullah at Cape Evans, 1912. [1]

The search party arrived at Safety Camp. "Since 'lunch' at midnight," Gran wrote in his diary, "Wright, Nelson, and I have hauled 'Abdullah's' sledge. The animal was exhausted and simply couldn't get on at all." [2]


Notes:

[1] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[2] Tryggve Gran, diary, 26 November, 1912, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.221.

Sunday, 17 November 1912

Scott

For the return to Hut Point, Gran put on Scott's skis: "they at any rate will complete the 3,000-km trail," he wrote in his diary. [2] They hurried back, for (to their knowledge) there was still no news of Campbell and his men.


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, diary, 17 November, 1912, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.218. A film clip of Gran in 1962 recalling the finding of Scott is posted at NRK.no/skole.

Wednesday, 13 November 1912

Scott

"Hour after hour, so it seemed to me," Cherry wrote later, "Atkinson sat in our tent and read. The finder was to read the diary and then it was to be brought home -- these were Scott's instructions written on the cover. But Atkinson said he was only going to read sufficient to know what had happened -- and after that they were brought home unopened and unread. When he had the outline we all gathered together and he read to us the Message to the Public, and the account of Oates' death, which Scott had expressly wished to be known." [1]

"Of their sufferings hardship and devotion to one another the world will soon know," wrote Williamson, "the deeds that were done were equally as great as any committed on Battlefield and the respect and honour of every true Britisher." [2]

But, wrote Gran in his diary, "I cannot rid myself of the thought that we ought to have been able to save Scott. Perhaps we might have succeeded if Cherry could have navigated. My companions are too phlegmatic. It is sometimes a good thing to raise Hell. Perhaps Scott himself is most to blame. He did not want to risk others' lives to save his own. But I wonder if he didn't also think that if Shackleton managed to come back without help, so could he -- and so he could, if it had been Our Lord's intention .... Atkinson was too much the calm, conservative doctor. He is capable, but too unimaginative. Ah yes, it is sad indeed." [3]

"The question of what we might have done for them with the dog teams is terribly on my mind," wrote Cherry, "but we obeyed instructions, and did our very utmost -- up to breaking down ourselves -- and I know that we did our best. To have found that they were here when we were at One Ton could have been most terrible -- but they did not get here till 11 days after we had to leave: & we could not have waited longer." He added, "It is all too horrible -- I am almost afraid to go to sleep now." [1]


Notes:

[1] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.14.
[2] Thomas Williamson, diary, [date not given], quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.556.
[3] Tryggve Gran, diary, [13 November, 1912?], quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.555.
[4] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, diary, 12-13 November 1912, Scott Polar Research Institute.

Tuesday, 12 November 1912

Scott

The cairn, November 1912. [1]

Early in the morning, about ten miles south of One Ton Depot, they saw in the distance what they thought was a cairn. Wright, going over to investigate, saw that it was a tent that had been drifted up.

Wright later wrote, "I had been plugging away along my chosen course when I saw a small object projecting above the surface on the starboard bow, but carried on the chosen course until we were nearly abreast of this object.... I decided [it] had better be investigated more closely, but did not expect if was of great interest.... It was the 6 inches or so tip of a tent and was a great shock.... I tried to signal my party to stop and come up to me, but my alphabetical signals could not be read by the navy and I considered it would be a sort of sacrilege to make a noise. I felt much as if I were in a cathedral and found myself with my hat on." [2]

He went out to meet the rest of the advance party, waiting until Atkinson and Cherry could arrive.

"Wright came across to us," Cherry wrote afterwards. "'It is the tent.' I do not know how he knew. Just a waste of snow: to our right the remains of one of last year's cairns, a mere mound: and then three feet of bamboo sticking quite alone out of the snow: and then another mound, of snow, perhaps a trifle more pointed. We walked up to it. I do not think we quite realized -- not for very long -- but some one reached up to a projection of snow, and brushed it away. The green flap of the ventilator of the tent appeared, and we knew that the door was below." [3]

"I must own I shed a few tears," wrote Williamson, "and I know the others did the same, it came as a great shock to us all, although we knew full well for months past that we should meet with this sort of thing everyone seemed dumfounded [sic] we did not touch anything but just stood gazing and wondering what awful secrets the tent held for us." [4]

Two of the men went into the tent, but they could see little as the drift around it obscured the light, until they dug it out.

"Everything was tidy," wrote Cherry later. "The tent had been pitched as well as ever, with the door facing down the sastrugi, the bamboos with a good spread, the tent itself taut and shipshape. There was no snow inside the inner lining. There were some loose pannikins from the cooker, the ordinary tent gear, the personal belongings and a few more letters and records -- personal and scientific. Near Scott was a lamp formed from a tin and some lamp wick off a finnesko. It had been used to burn the little methylated spirit which remained. I think that Scott had used it to help him to write up to the end. I feel sure that he had died last -- and once I had thought that he would not go so far as some of the others. We never realized how strong that man was, mentally and physically, until now."

After ordering camp to be made a little ways off, Atkinson then opened the tent and, before anything was removed, insisted on each of them going in one by one, so that there could be no disagreement over what was found.

"Captain Scott lay in the middle, half out of his sleeping bag," Gran wrote, "Bowers on his right, and Wilson on his left but twisted round with his head and upper body up against the tent pole. Wilson and Bowers were right inside their sleeping bags. The cold had turned their skin yellow and glassy, and there were masses of marks of frost-bite. Scott seemed to have fought hard at the moment of death, but the others gave the impression of having passed away in their sleep." [5]

"I did not go over for quite a good time," Williamson wrote, "for fear I could not look on this most pityable [sic] scene, but when at last I made up my mind I saw a most ghastly sight, those sleeping bags with frozen bodies in them the one in the middle I recognized as Capt. Scott ... the other two bodies I did not see, nor did I care to see them poor fellows." [6]

When they had finished, Atkinson took out the watches and documents, and the tent was collapsed over the bodies and a cairn built, topped by Gran's skis tied into a cross. Atkinson read the burial service.

"We never moved them," wrote Cherry. "We took the bamboos of the tent away, and the tent itself covered them. And over them we built the cairn. I do not know how long we were there, but when all was finished, and the chapter of Corinthians had been read, it was midnight of some day. The sun was dipping low above the Pole, the Barrier was almost in shadow. And the sky was blazing -- sheets and sheets of iridescent clouds. The cairn and Cross stood dark against a glory of burnished gold."

"It was a truly solemn moment," Gran wrote. "It was moving to witness 11 weather-beaten men standing with bared heads singing. The sun flamed through threatening storm-clouds, and strange colours played over the icy desert. Driving snow whirled up around us and, when the hymns came to an end, a white mantle had already covered the dead." [7]


Notes:

[1] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[2] Charles S. Wright, Silas : the Antarctic Diaries and Memoir of Charles S. Wright (Columbus : Ohio University, 1993), quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.509.
[3] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.14.
[4] Thomas Williamson, diary, 12 November, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.554.
[5] Tryggve Gran, diary, 12 November, 1912, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.216.
[6] Thomas Williamson, diary, 12 November, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.554.
[7] Tryggve Gran, diary, 12 November, 1912, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.217.

Winter 1912

Scott

At Cape Evans, there remained thirteen men, instead of the previous year's twenty-seven. Atkinson was in charge, with Cherry-Garrard, Wright, Debenham, Gran, Nelson, Lashly, Crean, Keohane, Dimitri, and Hooper. Williamson and Archer (the cook) had been landed from the ship.

"Everyone had got respect for him," Gran wrote of Atkinson later. "His wonderful qualities of leadership soon appeared in the winter hibernation at Cape Evans. He never gave orders -- only expressed wishes -- and more was not needed." [1]

In addition to being in command, Cherry wrote later, Atch and Dimitri "took over the care of the dogs. Many of these, both those which had been out sledging and those just arrived, were in a very poor state, and a dog hospital was soon built. At this date we had 24 dogs left from the last year, and 11 dogs brought down recently by the ship: three of the new dogs had already died. Lashly was in charge of the seven mules, which were allotted to seven men for exercise: Nelson was to continue his marine biological work: Wright was to be meteorologist as well as chemist and physicist: Gran was in charge of stores, and would help Wright in the meteorological observations: Debenham was geologist and photographer. I was ordered to take a long rest, but could do the zoological work, the South Polar Times, and keep the Official Account of the Expedition from day to day. Crean was in charge of sledging stores and equipment. Archer was cook. Hooper, our domestic, took over in addition the working of the acetylene plant. There was plenty of work for our other two seamen, Keohane and Williamson, in the daily life of the camp and in preparations for the sledging season to come." [2]


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, Kampen om Sydpolen, p.192, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.554.
[2] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XIV.

June 1912

Scott
 

"Afterguard dinner mid-winter 1912", photo by Debenham, June 1912. From left, Cherry, Silas Wright, Atkinson, Nelson, and Gran. [1]

Atkinson's quiet leadership held together those waiting out the winter at Cape Evans. Lectures were given -- "but not as many as during the previous winter when they became rather excessive: and we included outside subjects," noted Cherry, who spoke once on rowing and later on Florence under the Medici -- a second edition of the expedition's South Polar Times was produced, and scientific experiments continued, and Oates's Indian mules occupied much of the men's time. [2]

"This winter is passing a lot better than I thought it would under the circumstances," Keohane wrote. "It is no doubt owing to our skelleywag board everybody is very keen on winning." [3]

"We usually wear our underclothing about a month," noted Williamson. "Now that we have run out of soap we shall be obliged to wear them much longer periods." [4]

But there was no escaping the sight of the empty bunks. "Cherry was his usual cheerful self," Silas remembered later, "but rather subdued by the loss of his two greatest friends." [5] Cherry himself wrote afterwards that it was at times "a ghastly experience." "The scenery has lost much of its beauty to us," wrote Deb, "the auroras are cheap and the cold rather colder." [6]


Notes:

[1] Scott Polar Research Institute.
[2] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.14.
[3] Patrick Keohane, diary, 21 July 1912, quoted by Sara Wheeler in Cherry : a Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard (New York : Modern Library, 2003, c2001), p.139.
[4] Thomas Williamson, diary, 11 July 1912, quoted by Sara Wheeler in Cherry : a Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard (New York : Modern Library, 2003, c2001), p.139.
[5] Charles S. Wright, in Silas : the Antarctic Diaries and Memoir of Charles S. Wright (p.300), quoted by Sara Wheeler in Cherry : a Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard (New York : Modern Library, 2003, c2001), p.140.
[6] Frank Debenham, in The Quiet Land : the Antarctic Diaries of Frank Debenham (p.143), quoted by Sara Wheeler in Cherry : a Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard (New York : Modern Library, 2003, c2001), p.140.

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, 3 January 1912

Scott

"Last night I decided to reorganise," wrote Scott, "and this morning told off Teddy Evans, Lashly, and Crean to return. They are disappointed, but take it well." [1]

"'You've got a bad cold, Crean,' said Scott. But Crean saw through him. 'I understand a half-sung song, sir.'" [2]

Scott also told Lt. Evans privately that he wanted Bowers to go on with Scott's own team. Evans recalled, "He asked me to spare Bowers from mine if I thought I could make the return journey of 750 miles short-handed; this, of course, I consented to do, and so little Bowers left us to join the Polar Party. Captain Scott said he felt I was the only person capable of piloting the last supporting party back without a sledge meter. I felt very sorry for him having to break the news to us, although I had foreseen it." [3]

"I never thought for a moment that he [Lt. Evans] would be in the final party," Bowers wrote, "but he had buoyed himself up with the idea of going till the last minute.... Poor Teddy -- I am sure it was for his wife's sake he wanted to go. He gave me a little silk flag she had given him to fly at the pole." [4]

"Bowers is to come into our tent," Scott continued, "and we proceed as a five man unit to-morrow. We have 5 1/2 units of food -- practically over a month's allowance for five people -- it ought to see us through."

"I am one of the five to go on to the Pole," Wilson wrote to his wife. "It seems too good to be true that this long journey to the Pole should be realizing itself -- we ought to be there in less than a fortnight now..... Our five are all very nice together and we shall be a happy party." [5]

"The Captain said he was satisfied we were all in good condition," wrote Lashly, "fit to do the journey, but only so many could go on, so it was his wish Mr. Evans, Crean and myself should return. He was quite aware we should have a very stiff job, but we told him we did not mind that, providing he thought they could reach the Pole with the assistance we had been able to give them. The first time I have heard we were having mules coming down to assist us next year. I was offering to remain at Hut Point, to be there if any help was needed, but the Captain said it was his and also Capt. Oates' wish if the mules arrived I was to take charge of and look after them until their return; but if they did not arrive there was no reason why I should not come to Hut Point and wait their return. We had a long talk with the owner [Scott] in our tent about things in general and he seemed pretty confident of success. He seemed a bit afraid of us getting hung up, but as he said we had a splendid navigator [Lt. Evans], who he was sure he could trust to pull us through. He also thanked us all heartily for the way we had assisted in the Journey and he should be sorry when we parted. We are of course taking the mail, but what a time before we get back to send it. We are nearly as far as Shackleton was on his Journey. I shall not write more to-night, it is too cold." [6]

Oates' last letter home was dated "The Plateau, 3rd Jan '12. Dear Mother, I have been selected to go on to the Pole with Scott as you will have seen by the papers. I am of course delighted but I am sorry I shall not be home for another year as we shall miss the ship. We shall get to the Pole alright. We are now within 50 miles of Shackleton's farthest South.

"It is pretty cold up here (9500 feet) and the work has been very heavy but it is easier now as we can ski. The last supporting party takes this home. I am now lying writing this in my bag, we had -20° last night. I am very fit indeed and have lost condition less than anyone else almost. I hope the alterations at Gestingthorpe have been carried out I mean the archway between Violet's room & my room and my gear is in the room opposite the bath room, it shd be nice in there as I can have a fire at night better than in my old one. My clothes I left in the ship for returning to Lyttleton [sic] in will be in a fearful state from damp I am afraid so I have enclosed a list of things I should like sent out for me if you will, also I enclose a note for Brujum it is about the filly. Can you please also ask Col. Boucher to send me 1/2 doz books so that I can start working for my Major's exam on the way home. These things should be addressed to the Terra Nova at Lyttleton. What a lot we shall have to talk about when I get back. God bless you & keep you well until I come home.... 4th Waiting in the tent for hoosh. We get plenty of food & as soon as we start back we have plenty in the depots. Please give my love to Violet Lilian & Eric, & mention me to Algy. I am afraid the letter I wrote you from the hut was full of grumbles but I was very anxious about setting off with those ponies." [7] He enclosed the list of clothing he wanted sent out, adding at the end tobacco, cigarettes, and a big box of caramel creams.

"My feet are giving me a bit of trouble," he confessed in his diary. "They've been continually wet since leaving Hut Point. And now walking along this hard ice [on the Beardmore] has made rather hay of them." [8]

Back at Cape Adare, the Terra Nova put in at Robertson Bay to collect the Northern Party. "I sighted her," Levick noted at 8:30 a.m., " and hoisted a flag to alert the five men in the hut." Heavy pack meant that time was short, and many of Levick's specimens had to be left behind, to his great disappointment. Campbell, however, wrote, "We were not sorry to leave that gelid desolate spot, our place of abode for so many dreary months." [9] Pennell's orders were to drop off the Northern Party at Evans Coves, and to collect from the same place Debenham's Second Western Party, around January 8th.

Gran with his mule Lal Khan at Cape Evans, date unknown. [10]

The ship also carried a new set of dogs and seven mules. Oates had earlier persuaded Scott that mules would be a better form of transport on the Barrier than ponies, specifically trained Indian Transport mules.


Amundsen

Since the weather was fine and the going good, Amundsen abandoned his timetable and drove twenty miles, stopped for a five-hour rest, and continued on. After the first ten miles, they picked up their line of cairns.


Notes:

[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 3 January, 1912, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] Tryggve Gran, Kampen om Sydpolen, p.158, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.472.
[3] E.R.G.R. Evans, South with Scott (London : Collins, 1947), p.210, quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.482.
[4] H.R. Bowers, quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.480.
[5] E.A. Wilson, letter to Oriana Wilson, 3 January, 1912, quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.483.
[6] William Lashly, diary, 3 January, 1912, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XII.
[7] L.E.G. Oates, letter, 3 January 1912, reproduced by Sue Limb and Patrick Cordingly in Captain Oates, Soldier and Explorer (London : Batsford, 1982), p.153-155. Violet and Lilian were Oates' sisters; Oates and the unmarried Violet lived with their mother in the family home at Gestingthorpe Hall, near Sudbury in Essex.
[8] L.E.G. Oates, diary, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.474.
[9] Both quoted by Katherine Lambert in The Longest Winter (Washington DC : Smithsonian Books, c2004), p.105-106.
[10] R.F. Scott, Scott's last expedition, v.2 (GoogleBooks edition), facing p.216. Note that the header on this e-book states that it is volumes 1 and 2, but is in fact only volume 2, which contains the various accounts of the Winter Journey, the Northern Party and Western Journeys, the second winter at Cape Evans, and scientific reports.

Friday, 15 December 1911

Scott

"Did a splendid bust off on ski," Bowers wrote cheerfully, "leaving Scott in the lurch, and eventually overhauling the party which had left some time before us. All the morning we kept up a steady, even swing which was quite a pleasure." [1]

Scott, though, wrote, "Evans' is now decidedly the slowest unit, though Bowers' is not much faster. We keep up and overhaul either without difficulty." [2]

They were now at 84° 8', at about 2500 ft. (762 m). "At the lunch camp," Scott continued, "the snow covering was less than a foot, and at this it is a bare nine inches; patches of ice and hard névé are showing through in places. I meant to camp at 6.30, but before 5.0 the sky came down on us with falling snow. We could see nothing, and the pulling grew very heavy. At 5.45 there seemed nothing to do but camp -- another interrupted march. Our luck is really very bad. We should have done a good march to-day, as it is we have covered about 11 miles (stat.)."

Back in the Western Mountains with Debenham and Taylor, Tryggve Gran wrote in his diary, "I dreamed I had a telegram reading: 'Amundsen reached Pole, 15-20 December.'" [3]


Amundsen

"An extremely agitated day," Amundsen began his diary entry. [4]

Observations showed the camp to be four miles from the Pole, and Amundsen set about to make certain of it. He woke the men at midnight, "to the most glorious sunny weather," Bjaaland wrote, "so the observers ran about with their instruments to fix the position." [5] At 2.30 a.m., Bjaaland, Wisting, and Hassel all set out to ski ten miles, Bjaaland continuing on their course from Framheim, and the other two at right angles.

"Thus equipped," Amundsen wrote later, "and with thirty biscuits as an extra ration, the three men started off in the directions laid down. Their march was by no means free from danger, and does great honour to those who undertook it, not merely without raising the smallest objection, but with the greatest keenness. Let us consider for a moment the risk they ran. Our tent on the boundless plain, without marks of any kind, may very well be compared with a needle in a haystack. From this the three men were to steer out for a distance of twelve and a half miles. Compasses would have been good things to take on such a walk, but our sledge-compasses were too heavy and unsuitable for carrying. They therefore had to go without. They had the sun to go by, certainly, when they started, but who could say how long it would last? The weather was then fine enough, but it was impossible to guarantee that no sudden change would take place. If by bad luck the sun should be hidden, then their own tracks might help them. But to trust to tracks in these regions is a dangerous thing. Before you know where you are the whole plain may be one mass of driving snow, obliterating all tracks as soon as they are made. With the rapid changes of weather we had so often experienced, such a thing was not impossible. That these three risked their lives that morning, when they left the tent at 2.30, there can be no doubt at all, and they all three knew it very well. But if anyone thinks that on this account they took a solemn farewell of us who stayed behind, he is much mistaken. Not a bit; they all vanished in their different directions amid laughter and chaff." [6]

Each man carried a marker, a spare sledge runner twelve feet long with a black flag attached and a bag containing a note with the bearing and distance of the camp. The men were to ski ten miles by the clock, then plant the marker in the snow. They all three arrived back at almost exactly the same time, after about six hours. "No English flag to be seen anywhere," Bjaaland reported.

Amundsen and Helmer Hanssen had in the meantime been taking frequent altitudes of the sun. Amundsen's meticulousness surprised no-one: he was taking no chances, and his men understood this. "The Chief wanted it that way," Helmer Hanssen said simply, "and that was the way he had it." [7]

Late in the afternoon, Amundsen found his position, on the 123rd meridian East, not the 168th West that he had been following on the Plateau. Nevertheless, they had come only about seven miles out of their way, and were now 5 1/2 miles from the Pole itself, well within the area boxed by Bjaaland, Wisting, and Hassel.

Sixteen dogs remained, and were reorganised into two teams, and Bjaaland's sledge was abandoned. "Thank God," he noted with relief, "I am quit the fuss and bother of my dogs."

"Tomorrow," finished Amundsen, "we will set off for the exact point of the Pole 5 1/2 nautical miles from here. We now have food for us human beings for 18 days, for the dogs 10. I think we will be all right back to our depot at 88° 25', and from there to the depot at the 'Devil's Glacier'."

In the north-east, Prestrud, Johansen, and Stubberud arrived back at Framheim.


Notes:

[1] H.R. Bowers, diary, 15 December, 1911, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, v.2.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 15 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Tryggve Gran, diary, 15 December 1911, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 (National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.153.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 16 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.187-188.
[5] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 16 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.188.
[6] Roald Amundsen, The South Pole, ch.12.
[7] Helmer Hanssen, Gjennem Isbaksen, p.95, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.489.

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.

Thursday, 21 September 1911

Scott

"I saw Scott's plan for the journey today," wrote Gran at Cape Evans. "My goodness, it is an involved proposition. The thought behind it is no doubt marvellous, if only he can carry it out." [1]


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, diary, 21 September, 1911, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 ([Greenwich] : National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.128.

Wednesday, 13 September 1911

Scott

At Cape Evans, Scott outlined his final plans for the Pole. They would use ponies, dogs, motors, and man-hauling, with support parties going back and forth and depots being laid until the final push.

"[Everyone] was enthusiastic," Scott recorded, "and the feeling is general that our arrangements are calculated to make the best of our resources. Although people have given a good deal of thought to various branches of the subject, there was not a suggestion offered for improvement." [1] This was the first time he had made his plans known.

Gran, for one, kept quiet, only commenting silently in his diary that the "Southern Plans" were "[a] decidedly intricate apparatus". [2]

The polar journey would take an estimated 144 days, with motor-, dog-, and manhauling-parties laying a string of depots out to the Beardmore, and manhauling to the Pole itself: a total of 1,530 miles there and back.

"Of hopeful signs for the future," Scott had written a few days earlier, "none are more remarkable than the health and spirit of our people. It would be impossible to imagine a more vigorous community, and there does not seem to be a single weak spot in the twelve good men and true who are chosen for the Southern advance. All are now experienced sledge travellers, knit together with a bond of friendship that has never been equalled under such circumstances. Thanks to these people, and more especially to Bowers and Petty Officer Evans, there is not a single detail of our equipment which is not arranged with the utmost care and in accordance with the tests of experience. It is good to have arrived at a point where one can run over facts and figures again and again without detecting a flaw or foreseeing a difficulty." [3]

A late start in November would mean a second year in Antarctica, as the Polar Party could not hope to return until late March, by which time the Terra Nova would have already had to leave McMurdo Sound if she was not to be frozen in. A second year was unfortunately not something that the expedition could afford, and later in October Scott was compelled to ask any officer who could afford it to forego future payment -- to which they generously agreed.


Amundsen

Two unidentified men in front of the depot at 80°. To one side is the marker pennant. [4]

"-56° Calm and clear," wrote Amundsen. "After a few hours on the march, we caught sight of our depot along our course. Now that wasn't bad without a compass. All honour to H[elmer] H[anssen], who has steered the whole time." [5]

After depoting their supplies, the Norwegians immediately turned for home, riding on the now-empty sledges. "It was a bloody cold job," Bjaaland noted, "to drive in 55-56 degrees of frost." [6]

A bottle of geneva that Amundsen had brought proved to be frozen solid and the bottle cracked as they tried to thaw it, but they were more careful with another bottle, this time of acquavit, and the drink cheered them somewhat.


Notes:

[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 14 September, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] Tryggve Gran, diary [date not given], quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.402.
[3] R.F. Scott, diary, 10 September, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[4] Roald Amundsen Bildearkiv, Nasjonalbiblioteket. The NB dates this photo "13-11-11?", and identifies it as "probably" being taken by Prestrud's Eastern party, which passed the depot on their way to King Edward VII Land in November. Bjaaland noted in his diary that he took two photos at the depot before they left for home (see Huntford, Race for the South Pole, p.44).
[5] Roald Amundsen, diary, 14 September, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen, (London : Continuum, c2010), p.44.
[6] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 14 September, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.408.

Saturday, 15 July 1911

Scott

At Cape Evans, Gran wrote, "One day passes very much like the next. After breakfast, Evans goes to his cartography, Scott to his diary, Day to his 'make and mend' [with the motor sledges], Meares to his harness-making, Oates (at 12) to his horses, Ponting to his photographic plates, Deb to his rock specimens, Taylor and I to our geographical studies or to our diaries. At noon Atkinson with Taylor or Ponting go up to The Ramp. Then comes lunch with cocoa, coffee, cheese, marmalade and honey. The afternoon is like the morning, except that after five o'clock the pianola starts up. Day, Ponting, and Atkinson are the main players, supplemented occasionally by Deb and Meares. Then comes supper. Taylor waits impatiently for the pudding. Finally it comes and the meal ends with the lighting-up of cigars and pipes. Atkinson or I put the gramophone on. Then we play dominoes or chess until ten. Nelson is the chess champion. About ten we begin to turn in; we read in bed, some till nearly midnight, and Deb, Nelson, and Ponting often later. Deb is the worst. Out go the lights at 11 and on goes the night watchkeeper's lamp. At midnight and at 4 a.m. readings of the barometer and thermometer are taken. Naturally the watcher is on the look-out every hour for signs of the aurora." [1]

Wilson, Cherry, and Bowers arrived at Cape Crozier on the far side of Ross Island, sixty miles (97 km) from Cape Evans. Temperatures had ranged from -40 °F (-40 °C) to -77.5 °F (-60.8 °C), with winds anywhere from Force 3 to Force 10 during a blizzard.

"The horror of the nineteen days it took us to travel from Cape Evans to Cape Crozier would have to be re-experienced to be appreciated," wrote Cherry later, "and any one would be a fool who went again: it is not possible to describe it. The weeks which followed them were comparative bliss, not because later our conditions were better -- they were far worse -- because we were callous. I for one had come to that point of suffering at which I did not really care if only I could die without much pain." [2]

They began almost at once to build a stone igloo in which they planned to shelter while collecting their penguin specimens. Cherry stopped keeping his diary, because his breath froze a film of ice on the paper, making it impossible to write on.


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, diary, 15 July, 1911, quoted in The Norwegian With Scott : Tryggve Gran's Antarctic Diary 1910-1913 ([Greenwich] : National Maritime Museum, 1984), p.110.
[2] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, ch.VII.

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.

Wednesday, 22 March 1911

Scott

Gran had a long talk with Wilson, sitting on a boulder some distance from the hut. "I had the sort of feeling," Gran later said, "when I opened my mouth Scott would think of Amundsen. I had a sort of feeling that I was a kind of shadow in Scott's life.... [Wilson said] You mustn't think like that. Scott is in a terrible state. But it is natural, because I think he thinks that if Amundsen does not have bad luck, he will get to the Pole first and then you know that the expedition will be ruined, and nothing to what it could have been if Amundsen hadn't existed." [1]


Amundsen

The second depot-laying party arrived back at Framheim. Eight dogs had been lost; two more depots had been laid, one at 81° and another at 82° S., containing over a ton and a half of supplies, including three months' of pemmican for twenty-five dogs at the 82° depot, and 110 litres of paraffin, enough for four or five men travelling for two hundred days, twice Amundsen's estimation of the Polar journey.


Notes:

[1] Tryggve Gran, interview with Roland Huntford, quoted by Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.373.