THE POLAR JOURNEY 379 



that in all probability he would reach the Pole : " What 

 castles one builds now hopefully that the Pole is ours," he 

 wrote the day after the supporting party left him. The 

 final advance to the Pole was, according to plan, to have 

 been made by four men. We were organized in four-man 

 units : our rations were made up for four men for a week : 

 our tents held four men : our cookers held four mugs, four 

 pannikins and four spoons. Four days before the Support- 

 ing Party turned, Scott ordered the second sledge of four 

 men to depot their ski. It is clear, I suppose, that at this 

 time he meant the Polar Party to consist of four men. I 

 think there can be no doubt that he meant one of those men 

 to be himself: "for your own ear also, I am exceedingly 

 fit and can go with the best of them," he wrote from the 

 top of the glacier. 1 



He changed his mind and went forward a party of five : 

 Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates and Seaman Evans. I am 

 sure he wished to take as many men as possible to the Pole. 

 He sent three men back : Lieutenant Evans in charge, and 

 two seamen, Lashly and Crean. It is the vivid story of 

 those three men, who turned on January 4 in latitude 

 8 7 32', which is told by Lashly in the next chapter. Scott 

 wrote home: "A last note from a hopeful position. I 

 think it's going to be all right. We have a fine party going 

 forward and arrangements are all going well." 2 



Ten months afterwards we found their bodies. 



1 Scott's Last Expedition, vol. i. p. 513. 2 Ibid. p. 529. 



