EXPLORER JOURNAL

Excerpt: The Last March by Robert Falcon Scott

Robert Falcon Scott, 1868-1 1!
A British naval officer, Robert Falcon Scott commanded two noted expeditions to Antarctica. He spent much of his life at sea, becoming a naval cadet at thirteen, a midshipman at fifteen, and a full lieutenant at twenty three. !n "#$", Scott was chosen to lead his first expedition, which was organi%ed &ointly by the Royal 'eographical Society and the Royal Society. (he expedition is usually referred to as the )iscovery expedition *"#$" $+,, after the name of Scott-s ship, which was specially made for Antarctic wor. and was well e/uipped for scientific research. Scott landed with more than thirty men on Ross !sland, the southernmost point of Antarctica accessible by sea. He sounded the Ross Sea and used sleds to explore the continent. He discovered 0ing 1dward 2!! 3and *now .nown as 1dward 2!! 4eninsula,, surveyed the coast of 2ictoria 3and, and reached a new 5farthest South5 of 678"9-. 4romoted to captain upon his return to 1ngland, Scott set out for Antarctica again in "#"$, this time intent on reaching the South 4ole. He set up a base on the Ross Sea and in :ovember "#"" started across the high polar plateau with four companions, pulling heavy sleds by hand. After immense physical hardship, they reached the 4ole, only to find that Roald Amundsen and his team had claimed the pri%e &ust a month before. 1xcerpts from Scott-s &ournal describe the long march bac. to the waiting ship. "e#ne$#ay, Jan%ary 1&' ;amp <#. (. 778F at start. :ight 7"8F. (he 4ole. =es, but under very different circumstances from those expected.... >e started at 9?@$, none of us having slept much after the shoc. of our discovery....A the wind is blowing hard, (. 7"8F, and there is that curious damp, cold feeling in the air which chills one to the bone in no time.... 'reat 'odB (his is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority. >ell, it is something to have got here, and the wind may be our friend tomorrow. >e have had a fat 4olar hoosh Cfood in li/uid form, typically made of lard, oatmeal, beef protein, vegetable protein, salt, and sugarD in spite of our chagrin, and feel comfortable insideEadded a small stic. of chocolate and the /ueer taste of a cigarette brought by >ilson. :ow for the run home and a desperate struggle. ! wonder if we can do it. S%n#ay, Jan%ary !1' R. +. "$,$l$. (emp. bli%%ard, "68F to ""8F, to "+8F now. (he surface bad, horribly bad on new sastrugi Cridges in the snowD, and decidedly rising again in elevation. >e are going to have a pretty hard time this next one hundred miles ! expect. !f it was difficult to drag downhill over this belt, it will probably be a good deal more difficult to drag up.... "e#ne$#ay, Jan%ary !(' 3unch (emp. 68F. (hings beginning to loo. a little serious. A strong wind at the start has developed into a full bli%%ard at lunch, and we have had to get into our sleeping bags. !t was a bad march, but we covered seven miles.... ! don-t li.e the loo. of it. !s the weather brea.ing upF !f so, 'od help us, with the tremendous summit &ourney and scant food. >ilson and Bowers are my standby. ! don-t li.e the easy way in which Gates and 1vans get frostbitten. )*%r$#ay, Jan%ary !+' 3unch (emp. ""8F, (emp. night "<8F. (han. 'od we found our Half )egree )epot.... Gnly eighty nine miles to the next depot, but it-s time we cleared off this plateau. >e are not without ailments? Gates suffers from a very cold footA 1vans- fingers and nose are in a bad state, and tonight >ilson is suffering tortures from his eyes. Bowers and ! are the only members of the party without troubles &ust at present.... :eedless to say ! shall sleep much better with our provision bag full again. Sat%r#ay, Jan%ary !&' R. "$. (emp. "<8F *lunch,, "+.@8F *evening,. Hinimum "#8F Height ##$$. Barometer lowF Gur sleeping bags are slowly but surely getting wetter and !-m afraid it will ta.e a lot of this weather to put them right. However, we all sleep well enough in them, the hours allowed being now on the short side.... A long way to go, and, by Iove, this is tremendous labour.

)%e$#ay, Jan%ary ,-' R. "@. #6<$. 3unch (emp. 7J8F, Supper (emp. 7+.J8F. (han. the 3ord, another fine marchE nineteen miles. >e have passed the last cairn before the depot, the trac. is clear ahead, the weather fair, the wind helpful, the gradient downEwith any luc. we should pic. up our depot in the middle of the morning march. (his is the bright sideA the reverse of the medal is serious. >ilson has strained a tendon in his leg.... CandD 1vans has dislodged two fingernails tonightA his hands are really bad, and to my surprise he shows signs of losing heart over it.... )*%r$#ay, Febr%ary 1' R. "J. #996. 3unch (emp. 7$8F, Supper (emp. "#.68F. Heavy collar wor. most of the day.... >ilson-s leg much better. 1vans- fingers now very bad, two nails coming off, blisters burst. S%n#ay, Febr%ary (' R."6. 6<7$ feet. (emp. 3unch 778FA Supper 7@8F.... Iust before lunch unexpectedly fell into crevasses, 1vans and ! togetherEa second fall for 1vans, and ! camped.... Half way in the march the land showed up splendidly, and ! decided to ma.e straight for Ht. )arwin, which we are rounding. 1very sign points to getting away off this plateau. )%e$#ay, Febr%ary 6' 3unch 9#$$A Supper 97"$. (emp. "J8F.... this evening, though we are not as far advanced as ! expected, the outloo. is much more promising. 1vans is the chief anxiety nowA his cuts and wounds suppurate, his nose loo.s very bad.... ! am indeed glad to thin. we shall so soon have done with plateau conditions. !t too. us twenty seven days to reach the 4ole and twenty one days bac.Ein all forty eight daysEnearly seven wee.s in low temperature with almost incessant wind.... Fr.#ay, Febr%ary 16' "7.J m. 3unch (emp. <."8FA Supper (emp. 98F. A rather trying position. 1vans has nearly bro.en down in brain, we thin..... >e cannot be more than ten or twelve miles from the depot, but the weather is all against us.... CandD it is anxious wor. with the sic. man. But it-s no use meeting troubles half way, and our sleep is all too short to write more. Sat%r#ay, Febr%ary 1&' A very terrible day. 1vans loo.ed a little better after a good sleep, and declared, as he always did, that he was /uite well. He started in his place on the traces, but half an hour later wor.ed his s.i shoes adrift, and had to leave the sledge.... Abreast the Honument Roc. we stopped, and seeing 1vans a long way astern, ! camped for lunch.... After lunch, we loo.ed out, to see him still afar off. By this time we were alarmed, and all four started bac. on s.i. ! was first to reach the poor man and shoc.ed at his appearanceA he was on his .nees with clothing disarranged, hands uncovered and frostbitten, and a wild loo. in his eyes. As.ed what was the matter, he replied with a slow speech that he didn-t .now, but thought he must have fainted. >e got him on his feet, but after two or three steps he san. down again. >ilson, Bowers, and ! went bac. for the sledge, whilst Gates remained with him. >hen we returned he was practically unconscious, and when we got him into the tent /uite comatose. He died /uietly at "7?@$ am.... !t is a terrible thing to lose a companion in this way.... "e#ne$#ay, Febr%ary !!' R. @<. Supper (emp. 78F. Shortly after starting today the wind grew very fresh from the S1 with strong surface drift. >e lost the faint trac. immediately.... Result, we have passed another pony camp without seeing it.... Heanwhile it is satisfactory to note that such untoward events fail to damp the spirit of the party. (onight we had a pony hoosh so excellent and filling that one feels really strong and vigorous again. Fr.#ay, Febr%ary !(' 3unch. Saw depot and reached it middle forenoon. Found store in order except shortage oilEshall have to be very saving with fuelEotherwise have ten full days- provision from tonight and shall have less than seventy miles to go.... 'reat difference now between night and day temperatures. Kuite warm as ! write in tent.... 4oor >ilson has a fearful attac. snow blindness conse/uent on yesterday-s efforts. >ish we had more fuel. )%e$#ay, Febr%ary !8' 3unch. (hermometer went below +$8F last nightA it was desperately cold for us, but we had a fair

night.... Gnly twenty four miles from the depot. (he Sun shines brightly, but there is little warmth in it. (here is no doubt the middle of the Barrier is a pretty awful locality. S%n#ay, /arc* (' 3unch. (hings loo.ing very blac. indeed.... All the morning we had to pull with all our strength, and in four hours we covered three miles.... >e are about forty two miles from the next depot and have a wee.-s food, but only about three to four days- fuelEwe are as economical of the latter as one can possibly be, and we cannot afford to save food and pull as we are pulling.... ! don-t .now what ! should do if >ilson and Bowers weren-t so determinedly cheerful over things. "e#ne$#ay, /arc* &' A little worse ! fear. Gne of Gates- feet very bad this morningA he is wonderfully brave. >e still tal. of what we will do together at home. )*%r$#ay, /arc* 8' 3unch. >orse and worse in morningA poor Gates- left foot can never last out, and time over footgear something awful. Have to wait in night footgear for nearly an hour before ! start changing, and then am generally first to be ready. >ilson-s feet giving trouble now, but this mainly because he gives so much help to others. >e did four miles this morning and are now eight miles from the depotEa ridiculously small distance to feel in difficulties, yet on this surface we .now we cannot e/ual half our old marches, and that for that effort we expend nearly double the energy. S%n#ay, /arc* 11' (itus Gates is very near the end, one feels.... :othing could be said but to urge him to march as long as he could. Gne satisfactory result to the discussionA ! practically ordered >ilson to hand over the means of ending our troubles to us, so that any one of us may .now how to do so. >ilson had no choice between doing so and our ransac.ing the medicine case. >e have thirty opium tabloids apiece and he is left with a tube of morphine. So far the tragical side of our story. *R. J@., Fr.#ay, /arc* 16 or Sat%r#ay 1&' At night Gates was worse and we .new the end had come.... He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wa.eA but he wo.e in the morningEyesterday. !t was blowing a bli%%ard. He said, 5! am &ust going outside and may be some time.5 He went out into the bli%%ard and we have not seen him since.... >e .new that poor Gates was wal.ing to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we .new it was the act of a brave man and an 1nglish gentleman. >e all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far.... >e are cold on the march now, and at all times except meals.... >e are at :o. "+ pony camp, only two pony marches from Gne (on )epot. >e leave here our theodolite, a camera, and Gates- sleeping bags. )iaries, etc., and geological specimens carried at >ilson-s special re/uest, will be found with us or on our sledge. S%n#ay, /arc* 18' (oday, lunch, we are twenty one miles from the depot. !ll fortune presses, but better may come.... Hy right foot has gone, nearly all the toesEtwo days ago ! was proud possessor of best feet.... Bowers ta.es first place in condition, but there is not much to choose after all. (he others are still confident of getting throughEor pretend to beE! don-t .nowB.... (he mileage would have seemed ridiculously small on our outward &ourney. )*%r$#ay, /arc* !! an# !,' Bli%%ard bad as everE>ilson and Bowers unable to start.... Have decided it shall be naturalEwe shall march for the depot with or without our effects and die in our trac.s. )*%r$#ay, /arc* ! ' ' ' ' 1very day we have been ready to start for our depot eleven miles away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. >e shall stic. it out to the end, but we are getting wea.er, of course, and the end cannot be far. !t seems a pity, but ! do not thin. ! can write more. R. S;G((. 3ast entry. For 'od-s sa.e loo. after our 4eople.