South (56 page)

APPENDIX II

The following notes are designed for the benefit of future explorers who may make McMurdo Sound a base for inland operations, and to clear any inaccuracies or ambiguities concerning the history, occupation, and state of these huts.

This hut was constructed by Captain Scott in 1902, by the Expedition sent out by the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society, the Government, and by private subscription. Captain Robert F. Scott was appointed to the command of the Expedition. I served as Third Lieutenant until February 1903, when I was invalided home through a broken blood vessel in the lungs, the direct result of scurvy contracted on the Southern journey. The
Discovery
hut was a large strong building, but was so draughty and cold in comparison with the ship, which was moored one hundred yards away, that it was, during the first year, never used for living quarters. Its sole use was as a storehouse, and a large supply of rough stores, such as flour, cocoa, coffee, biscuit, and tinned meat, was left there in the event of its being used as a place of retreat should any disaster overtake the ship. During the second year occasional parties camped inside the hut, but no bunks or permanent sleeping quarters were ever erected. The discomfort of the hut was a byword on the Expedition, but it formed an excellent depot and starting point for all parties proceeding to the south.

When the
Discovery
finally left McMurdo Sound, the hut was stripped of all gear, including the stove, but there was left behind a large depot of the stores mentioned above. I was not aware of this until I returned to McMurdo Sound in February 1908, when I sent Adam, Joyce, and Wild across to the hut while the
Nimrod
was lying off the ice.

On the return of the party they reported that the door had been burst open, evidently by a southerly blizzard, and was jammed by snow outside and in, so they made an entrance through one of the lee windows. They found the hut practically clear of snow, and the structure quite intact. I used the hut in the spring, i.e. September and October 1908, as a storehouse for the large amount of equipment, food, and oil that we were to take on the Southern journey. We built a sort of living room out of the cases of provisions, and swept out the debris. The Southern Party elected to sleep there before the start, but the supporting party slept outside in the tents, as they considered it warmer.

We still continued to use the lee window as means of ingress and egress to avoid continual shoveling away of the snow, which would be necessary as every southerly blizzard blocked up the main entrance. The various depot parties made use of the hut for replenishing their stores, which had been sledged from my own hut to Hut Point. On the night of March 3, 1909, I arrived with the Southern Party, with a sick man, having been absent on the march 128 days. Our position was bad, as the ship was north of us. We tried to burn the Magnetic Hut in the hope of attracting attention from the ship, but were not able to get it to light. We finally managed to light a flare of carbide, and the ship came down to us in a blizzard, and all were safely aboard at 1 A.M. on March 4, 1909. Before leaving the hut we jammed the window up with baulks of timber, to the best of our ability in the storm and darkness. The hut was used again by the Ross Sea Section of this last Expedition. The snow was cleared out and extra stores were placed in it. From reports I have received the
Discovery
Hut was in as good condition in 1917 as it was in 1902. The stores placed there in 1902 are intact. There are a few cases of extra provisions and oil in the hut, but no sleeping gear or accommodation, nor stoves, and it must not be looked upon as anything else than a shelter and a most useful
pied-à-terre
for the start of any Southern journey. No stores nor any equipment have been taken from it during either of my two Expeditions.

For several reasons, when I went into McMurdo Sound in 1908 in command of my own Expedition, known as the British Antarctic Expedition, after having failed to land on King Edward VII Land, I decided to build our hut at Cape Royds—a small promontory twenty-three miles north of Hut Point. Here the whole shore party lived in comfort through the winter of 1908. When spring came stores were sledged to Hut Point, so that should the sea ice break up early between these two places we might not be left in an awkward position. After the return of the Southern Party we went direct north to civilization, so I never visited my hut again. I had left, however, full instructions with Professor David as to the care of the hut, and before the whole Expedition left the hut was put in order. A letter was pinned in a conspicuous place inside, stating that there were sufficient provisions and equipment to last fifteen men for one year, indicating also the details of these provisions and the position of the coal store. The stove was in good condition, and the letter ended with an invitation for any succeeding party to make what use they required of stores and hut. The hut was then locked and the key nailed on the door in a conspicuous place. From the report of Captain Scott’s last Expedition the hut was in good condition, and from a still later report from the Ross Sea side of this present Expedition the hut was still intact.

This large and commodious hut was constructed by Captain Scott at Cape Evans on his last Expedition. The party lived in it in comfort, and it was left well supplied with stores in the way of food and oil and a certain amount of coal. Several of the scientific staff of this present Expedition were ashore in it, when the
Aurora,
which was to have been the permanent winter quarters, broke adrift in May 1915 and went north with the ice. The hut became the permanent living quarters for the ten marooned men, and thanks to the stores they were able to sustain life in comparative comfort, supplementing these stores from my hut at Cape Royds. In January 1917, after I had rescued the survivors, I had the hut put in order and locked up.

To sum up, there are three available huts in McMurdo Sound.

In spite of the fact that several depots have been laid to the south of Hut Point on the Barrier, the last being at the Gap (the entrance to the Beardmore Glacier), no future Expedition should depend on them as the heavy snowfall obliterates them completely. There is no record of the depots of any Expedition being made use of by any subsequent Expedition. No party in any of my Expeditions has used any depot laid down by a previous Expedition.

Index

Admiralty Range

Agag

Aitken

albatross

Allardyce Range

Allen, James

Amundsen, Roald

Amundsen (dog)

“Ancient Mariner, The,” 91

animal life in Weddell Sea .
See also
bird life, penguins,
and
seals

Annewkow Island

Antarctic Circle

Antarctic Derby

Argentine government

Armitage, Lieut.

atmospheric effects .
See also
mirage
and
sun

Aurora
206 236-242

Aurora Australis

Australia

 

Bakewell

Barne Glacier

barrier, ice

surface of

Beardmore Glacier

Beaufort Island

Belgica Straits

bergs

Bergschrund

Bernsten, Mr.

bird life in Weddell Sea

Black Island

Blackborrow

blizzards, severe

Blue Ice Glacier

Bluff

 

depot

 

boats

Bovril

British Admiralty

British territory

Brocklehurst, Capt. H. Courtney

Browning

Bruce, Dr. W. S.

Buenos Aires

Burberry clothing

Butler Point depot

 

Caird, Sir James

Caird Coast

Candlemas Volcano

Cape Adare

Cape Armitage

Cape Barne

Cape Bernacchi

Cape Bird

Cape Cotter

Cape Crozier

Cape Evans

Cape Horn weather

Cape Hudson

Cape pigeons

Cape Ross

Cape Royds

Cape Valentine

Cape Wild

Castle Rock

Cave Cove

Cavell, Edith Louisa (nurse)

Cheetham

Cherry-Garrard, Apsley

Chilean government

 

Christmas celebrations

Churchill, Winston

Clarence Island

Clark

coal, Antarctic on deck

Coats’ Land

Con (dog)

cook

Cope

Corner Camp

Coulman Islands

Crean

current meter

cyclone

 

Danger Islands

Davis, Captain John K.

daylight saving

Deception Islands

Discovery Bay

distances, Ross Sea Party

Docker, Dudley

dog pemmican

dogs

Dominican gulls

Dudley Docker
(boat)

Dump Camp

Dunlop Island

 

eclipse of moon

Elephant Island

Eliot, T. S.

Empire Day celebrations

“Encyclopedia Britannica,” 90

 

Enderby Land

abandoned

attempt to cut ship out

beset,

Fortuna Glacier

Franklin Island

 

galley

Gallipoli

Gaze

Girling tractor motor

Glacier Bay

Glacier Tongue

Glasgow,
H.M.S.

gold

Graham Land

Great Ice Barrier

Greenstreet

Grytviken

Gunner (dog)

 

Half-Way Camp

Harding, Mr.

Hayward ,> 275

Hercules (dog)

Hobart

Holness

Hooke

Hope Bay

Hope Mountain

Howe

Hudson

Hurley, Frank

Hurtado, Admiral Muñoz

Hussey

Husvik

Hut:

at Cape Evans

at Cape Royds

at Elephant Island

at Hut Point

Hut Point

 

Iceblink

Ice hole

Inaccessible Island

 

Jack

Jaeger sleeping bags

James

James Caird
(boat)

Joinville Island

Joyce

 

Kavenagh

Kelvin sounding machine

Kerr

Khyber Pass

killer whales

King Haakon Bay

King George V:

flag from

telegram from

telegram to

to inspect
Endurance

 

Lambton, Miss Elizabeth Dawson

lamps

Larkman

Leap Year day

Lees,
See
Orde-Lees

Leith

Lucas sounding machine

Luitpold Land

 

Mackintosh

Macklin

Macquarie Island

Magellan Straits

Magnetic Pole

Magnetic storm

Magnetic variation

Marston

Mauger

McCarthy

McDonald, Allen

McIlroy

McLeod

McMurdo Sound 240

McNab, Dr.

McNeish

meteorology

Midwinter’s Day celebrations

Minna Bluff

mirage

Montevideo

Morrell Land

Morrell’s farthest south

motor crawler

motor sledge

motor tractor

Mount Discovery

Mount Erebus

Mount Haddington

Mount Melbourne

Mount Murchison

Mount Sabine

Mrs. Chippy (cat)

Mugridge

Mutton Island

 

New South Greenland

New Year Island

New Zealand

Nigger (dog)

Ninnis

Nordenskjöld

Nordenskjöld Ice Tongue

North Polar Basin

Norwegian whalers

 

Orde-Lees

Oscar (dog)

pack ice

described

See also
pressure

paddies

Pardo, Captain Luis

Paulet Island

Peak Berg

Peak Foreman

Peggotty Camp

penguins

adelie

emperor

gentoo

ringed