The Worst Journey in the World (6 page)

Almost more dramatic was the grounding of the Discovery off the shoal at
Hut Point owing to the rise of a blizzard immediately after her release
from the ice. Hour after hour she lay pounding on the shore, and when it
seemed most certain that she had been freed only to be destroyed, and
when all hope was nearly gone, the wind lulled, and the waters of the
Sound, driven out by the force of the wind, returned and the Discovery
floated off with little damage. The whole story of the release from the
ice and subsequent grounding of the Discovery is wonderfully told by
Scott in his book.

Some years after this I met Wilson in a shooting lodge in Scotland. He
was working upon grouse disease for the Royal Commission which had been
appointed, and I saw then for the first time something of his magnetic
personality and glimpses also of his methods of work. He and Scott both
meant to go back and finish the job, and I then settled that when they
went I would go too if wishing could do anything. Meanwhile Shackleton
was either in the South or making his preparations to go there.

He left England in 1908, and in the following Antarctic summer two
wonderful journeys were made. The first, led by Shackleton himself,
consisted of four men and four ponies. Leaving Cape Royds, where the
expedition wintered in a hut, in November, they marched due south on the
Barrier outside Scott's track until they were stopped by the eastward
trend of the range of mountains, and by the chaotic pressure caused by
the discharge of a Brobdingnagian glacier.

But away from the main stream of the glacier, and separated from it by
land now known as Hope Island, was a narrow and steep snow slope forming
a gateway which opened on to the main glacier stream. Boldly plunging
through this, the party made its way up the Beardmore Glacier, a giant of
its kind, being more than twice as large as any other known. The history
of their adventures will make anybody's flesh creep. From the top they
travelled due south toward the Pole under the trying conditions of the
plateau and reached the high latitude of 88° 23' S. before they were
forced to turn by lack of food.

While Shackleton was essaying the geographical Pole another party of
three men under Professor David reached the magnetic Pole, travelling a
distance of 1260 miles, of which 740 miles were relay work, relying
entirely on man-haulage, and with no additional help. This was a very
wonderful journey, and when Shackleton returned in 1909 he and his
expedition had made good. During the same year the North Pole was reached
by Peary after some twelve years of travelling in Arctic regions.

Scott published the plans of his second expedition in 1909. This
expedition is the subject of the present history.

The Terra Nova sailed from the West India Dock, London, on June 1, 1910,
and from Cardiff on June 15. She made her way to New Zealand, refitted
and restowed her cargo, took on board ponies, dogs, motor sledges,
certain further provisions and equipment, as well as such members of her
executive officers and scientists as had not travelled out in her, and
left finally for the South on November 29, 1910. She arrived in McMurdo
Sound on January 4, 1911, and our hut had been built on Cape Evans and
all stores landed in less than a fortnight. Shortly afterwards the ship
sailed. The party which was left at Cape Evans under Scott is known as
the Main Party.

But the scientific objects of the expedition included the landing of a
second but much smaller party under Campbell on King Edward VII.'s Land.
While returning from an abortive attempt to land here they found a
Norwegian expedition under Captain Roald Amundsen in Nansen's old ship
the Fram in the Bay of Whales: reference to this expedition will be found
elsewhere. One member of Amundsen's party was Johansen, the only
companion of Nansen on his famous Arctic sledge journey, of which a brief
outline has been given above. Campbell and his five companions were
finally landed at Cape Adare, and built their hut close to
Borchgrevinck's old winter quarters. The ship returned to New Zealand
under Pennell: came back to the Antarctic a year later with further
equipment and provisions, and again two years later to bring back to
civilization the survivors of the expedition.

The adventures and journeyings of the various members of the Main Party
are so numerous and simultaneous that I believe it will help the reader
who approaches this book without previous knowledge of the history of
the expedition to give here a brief summary of the course of events.
Those who are familiar already with these facts can easily skip a page or
two.

Two parties were sent out during the first autumn: the one under Scott to
lay a large depôt on the Barrier for the Polar Journey, and this is
called the Depôt Journey; the other to carry out geological work among
the Western Mountains, so called because they form the western side of
McMurdo Sound: this is called the First Geological Journey, and another
similar journey during the following summer is called the Second
Geological Journey.

Both parties joined up at the old Discovery Hut at Hut Point in March
1911, and here waited for the sea to freeze a passage northwards to Cape
Evans. Meanwhile the men left at Cape Evans were continuing the complex
scientific work of the station. All the members of the Main Party were
not gathered together at Cape Evans for the winter until May 12. During
the latter half of the winter a journey was made by three men led by
Wilson to Cape Crozier to investigate the embryology of the Emperor
penguin: this is called the Winter Journey.

The journey to the South Pole absorbed the energies of most of the
sledging members during the following summer of 1911-12. The motor party
turned back on the Barrier; the dog party at the bottom of the Beardmore
Glacier. From this point twelve men went forward. Four of these men under
Atkinson returned from the top of the glacier in latitude 85° 3' S.: they
are known as the First Return Party. A fortnight later in latitude 87°
32' S. three more men returned under Lieutenant Evans: these are the
Second Return Party. Five men went forward, Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates
and Seaman Evans. They reached the Pole on January 17 to find that
Amundsen had reached it thirty-four days earlier. They returned 721
statute miles and perished 177 miles from their winter quarters.

The supporting parties got back safely, but Lieutenant Evans was very
seriously ill with scurvy. The food necessary for the return of the Polar
Party from One Ton Camp had not been taken out at the end of February
1912. Evans' illness caused a hurried reorganization of plans, and I was
ordered to take out this food with one lad and two dog-teams. This was
done, and the journey may be called the Dog Journey to One Ton Camp.

We must now go back to the six men led by Campbell who were landed at
Cape Adare in the beginning of 1911. They were much disappointed by the
small amount of sledge work which they were able to do in the summer of
1911-1912, for the sea-ice in front of them was blown out early in the
year, and they were unable to find a way up through the mountains behind
them on to the plateau. Therefore, when the Terra Nova appeared on
January 4, it was decided that she should land them with six weeks'
sledging rations and some extra biscuits, pemmican and general food near
Mount Melbourne at Evans Coves, some 250 geographical miles south of Cape
Adare, and some 200 geographical miles from our Winter Quarters at Cape
Evans. Late on the night of January 8, 1912, they were camped in this
spot and saw the last of the ship steaming out of the bay. They had
arranged to be picked up again on February 18.

Let us return to McMurdo Sound. My two dog-teams arrived at Hut Point
from One Ton Depôt on March 16 exhausted. The sea-ice was still in from
the Barrier to Hut Point, but from there onwards was open water, and
therefore no communication was possible with Cape Evans. Atkinson, with
one seaman, was at Hut Point and the situation which he outlined to me on
arrival was something as follows:

The ship had left and there was now no possibility of her returning owing
to the lateness of the season, and she carried in her Lieut. Evans, sick
with scurvy, and five other officers and three men who were returning
home this year. This left only four officers and four men at Cape Evans,
in addition to the four of us at Hut Point.

The serious part of the news was that owing to a heavy pack the ship had
been absolutely unable to reach Campbell's party at Evans Coves. Attempt
after attempt had made without success. Would Campbell winter where he
was? Would he try to sledge down the coast?

In the absence of Scott the command of the expedition under the
extraordinarily difficult circumstances which arose, both now and during
the coming year, would naturally have devolved upon Lieutenant Evans. But
Evans, very sick, was on his way to England. The task fell to Atkinson,
and I hope that these pages will show how difficult it was, and how well
he tackled it.

There were now, that is since the arrival of the dog-teams four of us at
Hut Point; and no help could be got from Cape Evans owing to the open
water which intervened. Two of us were useless for further sledging and
the dogs were absolutely done. As time went on anxiety concerning the
non-arrival of the Polar Party was added to the alarm we already felt
about Campbell and his men; winter was fast closing down, and the weather
was bad. So little could be done by two men. What was to be done? When
was it to be done with the greatest possible chance of success? Added to
all his greater anxieties Atkinson had me on his hands—and I was pretty
ill.

In the end he made two attempts.

The first with one seaman, Keohane, to sledge out on to the Barrier,
leaving on March 26. They found the conditions very bad, but reached a
point a few miles south of Corner Camp and returned. Soon after we knew
the Southern Party must be dead.

Nothing more could be done until communication was effected with Winter
Quarters at Cape Evans. This was done by a sledge journey over the newly
frozen ice in the bays on April 10. Help arrived at Hut Point on April
14.

The second attempt was then made, and this consisted of a party of four
men who tried to sledge up the Western Coast in order to meet and help
Campbell if he was trying to sledge to us. This plucky attempt failed, as
indeed it was practically certain it would.

The story of the winter that followed will be told, and of the decision
which had to be taken to abandon either the search for the Polar Party
(who must be dead) and their records, or Campbell and his men (who might
be alive). There were not enough men left to do both. We believed that
the Polar Party had come to grief through scurvy, or through falling into
a crevasse—the true solution never occurred to us, for we felt sure that
except for accident or disease they could find their way home without
difficulty. We decided to leave Campbell to find his way unaided down the
coast, and to try and find the Polar Party's records. To our amazement we
found their snowed-up tent some 140 geographical miles from Hut Point,
only 11 geographical miles from One Ton Camp. They had arrived there on
March 19. Inside the tent were the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers.
Oates had willingly walked out to his death some eighteen miles before in
a blizzard. Seaman Evans lay dead at the bottom of the Beardmore Glacier.

Having found the bodies and the records the Search Party returned,
proposing to make their way up the Western Coast in search of Campbell.
On arrival at Hut Point with the dog-teams, I must have gone to open the
hut door and found pinned on to it a note in Campbell's handwriting; but
my recollection of this apparently memorable incident is extraordinarily
vague. It was many long months since we had had good news. This was their
story.

When Campbell originally landed at Evans Coves he brought with him
sledging provisions for six weeks, in addition to two weeks' provisions
for six men, 56 lbs. sugar, 24 lbs. cocoa, 36 lbs. chocolate and 210 lbs.
of biscuit, some Oxo and spare clothing. In short, after the sledge work
which they proposed, and actually carried out, the men were left with
skeleton rations for four weeks. They had also a spare tent and an extra
sleeping-bag. It was not seriously anticipated that the ship would have
great difficulty in picking them up in the latter half of February.

Campbell's party had carried out successful sledging and useful
geological work in the region of Evans Coves. They had then camped on the
beach and looked for the ship to relieve them. There was open water
lashed to fury by the wind so far as they could see, and yet she did not
come. They concluded that she must have been wrecked. The actual fact was
that thick pack ice lay beyond their vision through which Pennell was
trying to drive his ship time after time, until he had either to go or to
be frozen in. He never succeeded in approaching nearer than 27 miles.

It was now that a blizzard wind started to blow down from the plateau
behind them out into the continually open sea in front. The situation was
bad enough already, but of course such weather conditions made it
infinitely worse. Evans Coves is paved with boulders over which all
journeys had to be fought leaning against the wind as it blew: when a
lull came the luckless traveller fell forward on to his face. Under these
circumstances it was decided that preparations must be made to winter
where they were, and to sledge down the coast to Cape Evans in the
following spring. The alternative of sledging down the coast in March and
April never seems to have been seriously considered. At Hut Point, of
course, we were entirely in the dark as to what the party would do, hence
Atkinson's journey over to the western side in April 1912.

Meanwhile the stranded men divided into two parties of three men each.
The first under Campbell sank a shaft six feet down into a large
snow-drift and thence, with pick and shovel, excavated a passage and at
the end of it a cave, twelve feet by nine feet, and five feet six inches
high. The second under Levick sought out and killed all the seal and
penguin they could find, but their supply was pitifully small, and the
men never had a full meal until mid-winter night. One man always had to
be left to look after the tents, which were already so worn and damaged
that it was unsafe to leave them in the wind.