298 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [October 



down here ? Whatever the matter, one knows Bill will be sound, 

 shrewdly practical, intensely loyal and quite unselfish. Add to 

 this a wider knowledge of persons and things than is at first guess- 

 able, a quiet vein of humour and really consummate tact, and 

 you have some idea of his values. I think he is the^most popular 

 member of the party, and that is saying much. 



' Bowers is all and more than I ever expected of him. He 

 is a positive treasure, absolutely trustworthy and prodigiously 

 energetic. He is about the hardest man amongst us, and that is 

 saying a good deal nothing seems to hurt his tough little body 

 and certainly no hardship daunts his spirit. I shall have a hun- 

 dred little tales to tell you of his indefatigable zeal, his unselfish- 

 ness, and his inextinguishable good humour. He surprises 

 always, for his intelligence is of quite a high order and his 

 memory for details most exceptional. You can imagine him, as 

 he is, an indispensable assistant to me in every detail concerning 

 the management and organisation of our sledging work and a 

 delightful companion on the march. 



1 One of the greatest successes is Wright. He is very thor- 

 ough and absolutely ready for anything. Like Bowers he has 

 taken to sledging like a duck to water, and although he hasn't 

 had such severe testing, I believe he would stand it pretty nearly 

 as well. Nothing ever seems to worry him, and I can't imagine 

 he ever complained of anything in his life. 



1 I don't think I will give such long descriptions of the others, 

 though most of them deserve equally high praise. Taken all 

 round they are a perfectly excellent lot. 



The Soldier is very popular with all a delightfully humor- 

 ous cheery old pessimist striving with the ponies night and day 

 and bringing woeful accounts of their small ailments into the 

 hut. 



X. . . . has a positive passion for helping others it is 

 extraordinary what pains he will take to do a kind thing un- 

 obtrusively. 



' One sees the need of having one's heart in one's work. 

 Results can only be got down here by a man desperately eager 

 to get them. 



