THE NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 463 



Captain Scott established a depot 60 miles to the south in a journe}^ 

 of ten days, from Septeml)er 23 to October 4, when there was a heavy 

 gale, and the thermometer fell to —51^. On November 1 he started 

 with 18 dogs, accompanied by Lieutenant Shackleton and Doctor 

 Wilson, A supporting sledge under Lieutenant Barne went as far as 

 the first depot. At first all went well, but after a fortnight- the dogs 

 got weaker and weaker, and a long tract of soft snow had to be 

 crossed, which occupied them for thirty days, bringing the sledges up 

 in relays. Practically the dogs l)ecame useless. The explorers had to 

 do all the work themselves. But, nothing daunted, the gallant men 

 pushed onward, lightening the weight by leaving a depot in SO"^ 30' S. 



They reached 82° 17' S. On their return Lieutenant Shackleton 

 broke a blood vessel, and was only just able, owing to his extraor- 

 dinary pluck, to keep up with the sledge; while Scott and Wilson, 

 suffering from snow-blindness and hunger, dragged the sledge back, 

 240 pounds each, and reached the ship on February 4, after an absence 

 of ninety-four da3"s. 



I calculate that they nuist have gone over 981 statute miles. The 

 storv will be told by Scott himself — a story of heroic perseverance 

 to obtain great results; a story which is unmatched in polar annals. 

 It will tell us, too, of new geographical facts and deductions of intense 

 interest; of a new and hitherto unknown world in the far south, 

 reached with such extreme difficulty — 



Yet even liere Britannia's flag has thrown 



Her shadow on the iee, and hailed the land her own. 



The achievement of the great western party, dragging sledges over 

 mountains and glaciers, with such leaders as Armitage and Shackleton, 

 is only second to Scott's memorable journey. They were dragging 

 240 pounds per man; first over 29 miles of sea ice, and then for 19 

 -miles up a snow-filled valley to the foot of the moimtains. They also 

 had to work Iw relays. Crampons, blocks and tackles, ice axes, and 

 crowbars w^ere needed; and so they climl)ed the ice slopes with loaded 

 sledges, and traveled many miles over bare blue glacier amidst mag- 

 nificent scener}^, reaching an elevation of 9,000 feet, at a distance of 

 142 statute miles inland from the ship as the crow flies. They were 

 fifty-three da3'S away. 



The loss of the dogs was felt as a great calamity, because each dog 

 was given in charge to a man, who became much attached to it. There 

 are, however, several puppies. 



Another calamity was the loss of all the boats, which during the 

 winter got frozen into a mass of solid ice. After hacking at this ice 

 for months, it was found impossible to extricate the boats. 



But now all the traveling parties had returned, and the longed-for 

 relief ship Morning hove in sight on the 23d of last -lanuarv. 



