The Worst Journey in the World (54 page)

Take it all in all it is wonderful that the South Pole was
reached so soon after the North Pole had been conquered. From
Cape Columbia to the North Pole, straight going, is 413
geographical miles, and Peary who took on his expedition 246
dogs, covered this distance in 37 days. From Hut Point to the
South Pole and back is 1532 geographical or 1766 statute miles,
the distance to the top of the Beardmore Glacier alone being more
than 100 miles farther than Peary had to cover to the North Pole.
Scott travelled from Hut Point to the South Pole in 75 days, and
to the Pole and back to his last camp in 147 days, a period of
five months. A. C.-G.

(All miles are geographical unless otherwise stated.)

I. THE BARRIER STAGE

The departure from Cape Evans at 11 P.M. on November 1 is described by
Griffith Taylor, who started a few days later on the second Geological
Journey with his own party:

"On the 31st October the pony parties started. Two weak ponies led by
Atkinson and Keohane were sent off first at 4.30, and I accompanied them
for about a mile. Keohane's pony rejoiced in the name of Jimmy Pigg, and
he stepped out much better than his fleeter-named mate Jehu. We heard
through the telephone of their safe arrival at Hut Point.

"Next morning the Southern Party finished their mail, posting it in the
packing case on Atkinson's bunk, and then at 11 A.M. the last party were
ready for the Pole. They had packed the sledges overnight, 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. Scott led out
Snippets to the sledges, and harnessed him to the foremost, with little
Anton's help—only it turned out to be Bowers' sledge! However he
transferred in a few minutes and marched off rapidly to the south.
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.

"That evening I had a chat with Wilson over the telephone from the
Discovery Hut—my last communication with those five gallant
spirits."
^[173]

All the ponies arrived at Hut Point by 4 P.M., just in time to escape a
stiff blow. Three of them were housed with ourselves inside the hut, the
rest being put into the verandah. The march showed that with their loads
the speed of the different ponies varied to such an extent that
individuals were soon separated by miles. "It reminded me of a regatta or
a somewhat disorganized fleet with ships of very unequal speed."
^[174]

It was decided to change to night marching, and the following evening we
proceeded in the following order, which was the way of our going for the
present. The three slowest ponies started first, namely, Jehu with
Atkinson, Chinaman with Wright, James Pigg with Keohane. This party was
known as the Baltic Fleet.

Two hours later Scott's party followed; Scott with Snippets, Wilson with
Nobby, and myself with Michael.

Both these parties camped for lunch in the middle of the night's march.
After another hour the remaining four men set to work to get Christopher
into his sledge; when he was started they harnessed in their own ponies
as quickly as possible and followed, making a non-stop run right through
the night's march. It was bad for men and ponies, but it was impossible
to camp in the middle of the march owing to Christopher. The composition
of this party was, Oates with Christopher, Bowers with Victor, Seaman
Evans with Snatcher, Crean with Bones.

Each of these three parties was self-contained with tent, cooker and
weekly bag, and the times of starting were so planned that the three
parties arrived at the end of the march about the same time.

There was a strong head wind and low drift as we rounded Cape Armitage on
our way to the Barrier and the future. Probably there were few of us who
did not wonder when we should see the old familiar place again.

Scott's party camped at Safety Camp as the Baltic fleet were getting
under weigh again. Soon afterwards Ponting appeared with a dog sledge and
a cinematograph,—how anomalous it seemed—which "was up in time to catch
the flying rearguard which came along in fine form, Snatcher leading and
being stopped every now and again—a wonderful little beast. Christopher
had given the usual trouble when harnessed, but was evidently subdued by
the Barrier Surface. However, it was not thought advisable to halt him,
and so the party fled through in the wake of the advance guard."
^[175]

Immediately afterwards Scott's party packed up. "Good-bye and good luck,"
from Ponting, a wave of the hand not holding in a frisky pony and we had
left the last link with the hut. "The future is in the lap of the gods; I
can think of nothing left undone to deserve success."
^[176]

The general scheme was to average 10 miles (11.5 statute) a day from Hut
Point to One Ton Depôt with the ponies lightly laden. From One Ton to the
Gateway a daily average of 13 miles (15 statute) was necessary to carry
twenty-four weekly units of food for four men each to the bottom of the
glacier. This was the Barrier Stage of the journey, a distance of 369
miles (425 statute) as actually run on our sledge-meter. The twenty-four
weekly units of food were to carry the Polar Party and two supporting
parties forward to their farthest point, and back again to the bottom of
the Beardmore, where three more units were to be left in a depôt.

All went well this first day on the Barrier, and encouraging messages
left on empty petrol drums told us that the motors were going well when
they passed. But the next day we passed five petrol drums which had been
dumped. This meant that there was trouble, and some 14 miles from Hut
Point we learned that the big end of the No. 2 cylinder of Day's motor
had broken, and half a mile beyond we found the motor itself, drifted up
with snow, and looking a mournful wreck. The next day's march (Sunday,
November 5, A.M.) brought us to Corner Camp. There were a few legs down
crevasses during the day but nothing to worry about.

From here we could see to the South an ominous mark in the snow which we
hoped might not prove to be the second motor. It was: "the big end of No.
1 cylinder had cracked, the machine otherwise in good order. Evidently
the engines are not fitted to working in this climate, a fact that should
be certainly capable of correction. One thing is proved; the system of
propulsion is altogether satisfactory."
^[177]
And again: "It is a
disappointment. I had hoped better of the machines once they got away on
the Barrier Surface."
^[178]

Scott had set his heart upon the success of the motors. He had run them
in Norway and Switzerland; and everything was done that care and
forethought could suggest. At the back of his mind, I feel sure, was the
wish to abolish the cruelty which the use of ponies and dogs necessarily
entails. "A small measure of success will be enough to show their
possibilities, their ability to revolutionize polar transport. Seeing the
machines at work to-day [leaving Cape Evans] and remembering that every
defect so far shown is purely mechanical, it is impossible not to be
convinced of their value. But the trifling mechanical defects and lack of
experience show the risk of cutting out trials. A season of experiment
with a small workshop at hand may be all that stands between success and
failure."
^[179]
I do not believe that Scott built high hopes on these
motors: but it was a chance to help those who followed him. Scott was
always trying to do that.

Did they succeed or fail? They certainly did not help us much, the motor
which travelled farthest drawing a heavy load to just beyond Corner Camp.
But even so fifty statute miles is fifty miles, and that they did it at
all was an enormous advance. The distance travelled included hard and
soft surfaces, and we found later when the snow bridges fell in during
the summer that this car had crossed safely some broad crevasses. Also
they worked in temperatures down to -30° Fahr. All this was to the good,
for no motor-driven machine had travelled on the Barrier before. The
general design seemed to be right, all that was now wanted was
experience. As an experiment they were successful in the South, but Scott
never knew their true possibilities; for they were the direct ancestors
of the 'tanks' in France.

Night-marching had its advantages and disadvantages. The ponies were
pulling in the colder part of the day and resting in the warm, which was
good. Their coats dried well in the sun, and after a few days to get
accustomed to the new conditions, they slept and fed in comparative
comfort. On the other hand the pulling surface was undoubtedly better
when the sun was high and the temperature warmer. Taking one thing with
another there was no doubt that night-marching was better for ponies, but
we seldom if ever tried it man-hauling.

Just now there was an amazing difference between day and night
conditions. At midnight one was making short work of everything, nursing
fingers after doing up harness with minus temperatures and nasty cold
winds: by supper time the next morning we were sitting on our sledges
writing up our diaries or meteorological logs, and even dabbling our bare
toes in the snow, but not for long! Shades of darkness! How different all
this was from what we had been through. My personal impression of this
early summer sledging on the Barrier was one of constant wonder at its
comfort. One had forgotten that a tent could be warm and a sleeping-bag
dry: so deep were the contrary impressions that only actual experience
was convincing. "It is a sweltering day, the air breathless, the glare
intense—one loses sight of the fact that the temperature is low [-22°],
one's mind seeks comparison in hot sunlit streets and scorching
pavements, yet six hours ago my thumb was frost-bitten. All the
inconveniences of frozen footwear and damp clothes and sleeping-bags have
vanished entirely."
^[180]

We could not expect to get through this windy area of Corner Camp without
some bad weather. The wind-blown surface improved, the ponies took their
heavier loads with ease, but as we came to our next camp it was banking
up to the S.E. and the breeze freshened almost immediately. We built pony
walls hurriedly and by the time we had finished supper it was blowing
force 5 (A.M. November 6, Camp 4). There was a moderate gale with some
drift all day which increased to force 8 with more drift at night. It was
impossible to march. The drift took off a bit the next morning, and
Meares and Dimitri with the two dog-teams appeared and camped astern of
us. This was according to previous plan by which the dog-teams were to
start after us and catch us up, since they travelled faster than the
ponies. "The snow and drift necessitated digging out ponies again and
again to keep them well sheltered from the wind. The walls made a
splendid lee, but some sledges at the extremities were buried altogether,
and our tent being rather close to windward of our wall got the back eddy
and was continually being snowed up above the door. After noon the snow
ceased except for surface drift. Snatcher knocked his section of the wall
over, and Jehu did so more than ever. All ponies looked pretty miserable,
as in spite of the shelter they were bunged up, eyes and all, in drift
which had become ice and could not be removed without considerable
difficulty."
^[181]

Towards evening it ceased drifting altogether, but a wind, force 4, kept
up with disconcerting regularity. Eventually Atkinson's party got away at
midnight. "Castle Rock is still visible, but will be closed by the north
end of White Island in the next march—then good-bye to the old landmarks
for many a long day."
^[182]

The next day (November 8-9) "started at midnight and had a very pleasant
march. Truly sledging in such weather is great. Mounts Discovery and
Morning, which we gradually closed, looked fine in the general panorama
of mountains. We are now nearly abreast the north end of the Bluff. We
all came up to camp together this morning: it looked like a meet of the
hounds, and Jehu ran away!!!"
^[183]

The next march was just the opposite. Wind force 5 to 6 and falling snow.
"The surface was very slippery in parts and on the hard sastrugi it was a
case of falling or stumbling continually. The light got so bad that one
might have been walking in the clouds for all that could be discerned,
and yet it was only snowing slightly. The Bluff became completely
obscured, and the usual signs of a blizzard were accentuated.