I9I31 THE SOUTHERN PARTY 271 



manner in which these men died is in itself an eloquent descrip- 

 tion of their characters as we knew them. The absolute gener- 

 osity of Captain Scott himself runs through his dying appeal to 

 the nation and those letters of his with no word of blame or 

 reflection on others for the disaster, though he could not know 

 that scurvy had smitten the last supporting party, and that 

 those who would have come were fettered by illness and the 

 weather conditions that finally arrested the advance of the dog 

 teams. 



It was characteristic also that he did not forget the future 

 of his Expedition, but left instructions and letters to the end 

 that the scientific results should be fitly published. 



The two devoted men who died side by side with Captain 

 Scott were fine British types. Wilson was a wonderful fellow, 

 whose magnificent judgment helped us all to smooth over the 

 little troubles which were bound to arise from time to time, and 

 who (it has been said before and let it be said again) by his own 

 example and the influence of his personality was mainly respon- 

 sible for the fact that there never was a quarrel or an angry 

 word in the Expedition. 



Bowers possessed an individuality that attracted his com- 

 panions enormously. He was, besides being a very quick, clever 

 worker, a humourist of the most pleasing type. He bore hard- 

 ship splendidly and stood the cold probably better than anyone 

 in the Expedition. 



The conspicuous bravery of Gates was typical of the man. 

 ' The Soldier ' was really loved by the men. He had a dry wit 

 that always left him uppermost in those exciting arguments that 

 did so much to cheer us during the winter season. Patrick Keo- 

 hane, a splendid Irish seaman, remarked to us as the details of 

 the story were unfolded: ' Captain Gates did just what we all 

 expected of him, sir; he was a fine man that, sir; not much talk 

 about him, but chock full of grit.' 



The fifth man of the Southern Party was a British blue- 

 jacket of the finest type, who had made himself invaluable. 

 Edgar Evans was the sledge-master, and to him we owed the 

 splendid fitting of our travelling equipment. He left a fine rec- 

 ord of service, and his example will do a great deal for the 

 younger seamen of the Royal Navy. 



The Terra Nova remained at anchor off Cape Evans for 



