308 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



reports he wrote for Scott of his geological explorations. 

 He was a demon note-taker, and he had a passion for 

 being equipped so that he could cope with any observation 

 which might turn up. Thus Old Griffon a sledge journey 

 might have notebooks protruding from every pocket, and 

 hung about his person, a sundial, a prismatic compass, a 

 sheath knife, a pair of binoculars, a geological hammer, 

 chronometer, pedometer, camera, aneroid and other items 

 of surveying gear, as well as his goggles and mitts. And in 

 his hand might be an ice-axe which he used as he went 

 along to the possible advancement of science, but the cer- 

 tain disorganization of his companions. 



His gaunt, untamed appearance was atoned for by a 

 halo of good-fellowship which hovered about his head. I 

 am sure he must have been an untidy person to have in 

 your tent : I feel equally sure that his tent-mates would 

 have been sorry to lose him. His gear took up more room 

 than was strictly his share, and his mind also filled up a 

 considerable amount of space. He always bulked large, 

 and when he returned to the Australian Government, which 

 had lent him for the first two sledging seasons, he left a 

 noticeable gap in our company. 



From the time we returned from Cape Crozier until 

 now Scott had been full of buck. Our return had taken a 

 weight off his mind: the return of the daylight was stimu- 

 lating to everybody: and to a man of his impatient and 

 impetuous temperament the end of the long period of wait- 

 ing was a relief. Also everything was going well. On Sep- 

 tember 10 he writes with a sigh of relief that the detailed 

 plans for the Southern Journey are finished at last. " Every 

 figure has been checked by Bowers, who has been an enor- 

 mous help to me. If the motors are successful, we shall 

 have no difficulty in getting to the Glacier, and if they fail, 

 we shall still get there with any ordinary degree of good 

 fortune. To work three units of four men from that point 

 onwards requires no small provision, but with the proper 

 provision it should take a good deal to stop the attainment 

 of our object. I have tried to take every reasonable possi- 

 bility of misfortune into consideration, and to so organize 



