4 o6 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION [March 



morning, and of course Bill had to say he didn't know. In 

 point of fact he has none. Apart from him, if he went under 

 now, I doubt whether we could get through. With great care 

 we might have a dog's chance, but no more. The weather con- 

 ditions are awful, and our gear gets steadily more-icy and difficult 

 to manage. At the same time of course poor Titus is the greatest 

 handicap. He keeps us waiting in the morning until we have 

 partly lost the warming effect of our good breakfast, when the 

 only wise policy is to be up and away at once; again at lunch. 

 Poor chap! it is too pathetic to watch him; one cannot but try 

 to cheer him up. 



Yesterday we marched up the depot, Mt. Hooper. Cold 

 comfort. Shortage on our allowance all round. I don't know 

 that anyone is to blame. The dogs which would have been our 

 salvation have evidently failed.* Meares had a bad trip home 

 I suppose. 



This morning it was calm when we breakfasted, but the 

 wind came from W.N.W. as we broke camp. It rapidly grew 

 in strength. After travelling for half an hour I saw that none 

 of us could go on facing such conditions. We were forced to 

 camp and are spending the rest of the day in a comfortless 

 blizzard camp, wind quite foul. (R.52.) 



Sunday, March II. Titus Oates is very near the end, one 

 feels. What we or he will do, God only knows. We discussed 

 the matter after breakfast; he is a brave fine fellow and under- 

 stands the situation, but he practically asked for advice. Noth- 

 ing could be said but to urge him to march as long as he could. 

 One satisfactory result to the discussion; I practically ordered 

 Wilson to hand over the means of ending our troubles to us, so 

 that anyone of us may know how to do so. Wilson had no choice 

 between doing so and our ransacking the medicine case. We 



* For the last six days the dogs had been waiting at One Ton Camp under Cherry- 

 Garrard and Demetri. The supporting party had come out as arranged on the chance 

 of hurrying the Pole travellers back over the last stages of their journey in time to catch 

 the ship. Scott had dated his probable return to Hut Point anywhere between mid- 

 March and early April. Calculating from the speed of the other return parties, Dr. 

 Atkinson looked for him to reach One Ton Camp between March 3 and 10. Here Cherry- 

 Garrard met four days of blizzard; then there remained little more than enough dog food 

 to bring the teams home. He could either push south one more rnarch and back, at 

 imminent risk of missing Scott on the way, or stay two days at the Camp where Scott 

 was bound to come, if he came at all. His wise decision, his hardships and endurance 

 Ore recounted by Dr. Atkinson in Vol. II., 'The Last Year at Cape Evans.' 



