414 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [March 



sickness of different members of the party, but the real thing 

 that has stopped us is the awful weather and unexpected cold 

 towards the end of the journey. 



This traverse of the Barrier has been quite three times as 

 severe as any experience we had on the summit. 



There is no accounting for it, but the result has thrown out 

 my calculations, and here we are little more than lOO miles from 

 the base and petering out. 



Good-bye. Please see my widow is looked after as far as 

 Admiralty is concerned. 



R. Scott. 



My kindest regards to Lady Egerton. I can never forget 

 all your kindness. 



To Mr. J. J. Kinsey — Christchurch 



March 24th, 191 2. 

 My dear Kinsey, 



I'm afraid we are pretty well done — four days of blizzard 

 just as we were getting to the last depot. My thoughts have 

 been with you often. You have been a brick. You will pull 

 the expedition through, I'm sure. 



My thoughts are for my wife and boy. Will you do what 

 you can for them if the country won't. 



I want the boy to have a good chance In the world, but you 

 know the circumstances well enough. 



If I knew the wife and boy were in safe keeping I should 

 have little regret in leaving the world, for I feel that the country 

 need not be ashamed of us — our journey has been the biggest 

 on record, and nothing but the most exceptional hard luck at the 

 end would have caused us to fail to return. We have been to 

 the S. pole as we set out. God bless you and dear Mrs. Kinsey. 

 It is good to remember you and your kindness. 



Your friend, 



R. Scott. 



Letters to his Mother, his Wife, his Brother-in-law (Sir 

 William Ellison Macartney), Admiral Sir Lewis Beaumont, and 

 Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Smith were also found, from which 

 come the following extracts: 



