7 86 



Review of Review?, 1/10113. 



SCOTT'S JOURNEY TO THE POLE. 



The third instalment of Captain 

 S is published in /: . 



'; \ .1/ It takes us to wil 



miles of the Pole, where the lasl 

 supporting party turned back. 



A raging blizzard, experienced 



rtly after the start on the Southern 

 journey, threw Scott's calculations out a 

 week, but despite the terrible marching 

 on newly-fallen snow, excellent time 

 was kept. On the completion of the 

 first stage of the journey, 424 miles 

 over the Barrier ice, and the fortieth day 

 out — a week behind schedule — all the 

 ponies left were shot. It took twelve 

 days of the most strenuous exertion 

 — man power now, no ponies — to ascend 

 the glacier. The surface was " appal- 

 ling." The soft snow was a terrible 

 handicap. The men sunk below their 

 finnesko everywhere, and often above 

 their knees The sledge runners got 

 coated with a thin film of ice, and with 

 here and there hard knots of ice making 

 it almost impossible to haul. Once 

 started, the sledge had to be kept 

 going ; if it stopped it stuck, and Scott 

 notes with relief on December 15th 

 that " for the first time we could start 

 by giving one good heave together, and 

 for the first time we are able to stop 



readjust foot gear or do any other 

 desirable task." 



EVANS AND OTHERS. 



Scott's own team was easily the best, 

 lie constantly refers to Petty-Officer 

 Evans, who was always a tower of 

 strength. It was he who fell after 

 leaving the Pole, and damaged himself 

 so much that his companions drag 

 him on the sledge for some days before 

 he died. We read : " Evans put the 

 shoes into shape again." "We ha\e 

 worn our crampons all day, and are de- 

 lighted with them. Evans, tine inventor 

 of both crampons and ski shoes, 

 greatly pleased, and certainly we owe 



him much." " Evans and Crean built 

 the 1 o-foot sledges. It was a re- 

 markable piece of work." "Certainly 

 Evans is the most invaluable asset to 

 our party." "It is wonderful to see 

 how neatly everything stows on a little 

 sledge, thanks to Evans," and so on. 

 Bowers was, as ever, the man for de- 

 tails. " It is," says Scott, "an immense 

 relief to have the indefatigable little 

 Bowers to see to all detail arrange- 

 ments.'' "If the ponies pull through 

 well, all the thanks will be due to 



Oates." 



shackleton's luck. 



" At every step," runs the diary,. 

 " Shackleton's luck becomes more evi- 

 dent." Where Scott ploughed his way 

 through deep snow, Shackleton found 

 blue ice. Where Scott experienced 

 warm winds and thaws, Sir Ernest had 

 good hard surface to run on. Yet de- 

 spite it all, Shackleton's time-table was 

 bettered. The men certainly had more 

 to' pat than Shackleton's party could 

 afford. On Christmas Day, for instance, 

 the latter had a " splendid " dinner. 

 ' First came hoosh, consisting of pony 

 ration boiled up with pemmican and 

 some of our emergency oxo and biscuit. 

 Then in the cocoa water I boiled our 

 little plum pudding, which a friend of 

 Wild's had given him. This, with a drop 

 of medical brandy, was a luxury which 

 Lucullus himself might have envied; 

 then came cocoa, and lastly cigars and 

 a spoonful of creme de menthe, ?ent us 

 by a friend in Scotland. We are full 

 to-night, and this is the last time we 

 will be for many a long day." This 

 was a far greater increase on Shackle- 

 's ordinary fare than was the fol- 

 lowing Christmas supper on Scott's 

 regular ration^ : -" I must write a word 

 of our supper last night. We had four 

 courses: the first, pemmican, full 

 whack, with slices of horse meat 

 flavoured with onion and curry-powder 



