51 6 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



Dressing Evans' fingers every other day with boric vase- 

 line : they are quite sweet still." February 5 : " Evans' 

 fingers suppurating. Nose very bad [hard] and rotten- 

 looking." 1 



Scott was getting alarmed about Evans, who "has dis- 

 lodged two finger-nails to-night ; his hands are really bad, 

 and, to my surprise, he shows signs of losing heart over it. 

 He hasn't been cheerful since the accident." 2 " The party 

 is not improving in condition, especially Evans, who is 

 becoming rather dull and incapable." " Evans' nose is 

 almost as bad as his fingers. He is a good deal crocked 

 up. 3 



Bowers' diary, quoted above, finished on January 25, 

 on which day they picked up their One and a Half Degree 

 Depot. " I shall sleep much better with our provision bag 

 full again," wrote Scott that night. " Bowers got another 

 rating sight to-night — it was wonderful how he managed 

 to observe in such a horribly cold wind." They marched 

 16 miles the next day, but got off the outward track, which 

 was crooked. On January 27 they did 14 miles on a "very 

 bad surface of deep-cut sastrugi all day, until late in the 

 afternoon when we began to get out of them." 4 " By Jove, 

 this is tremendous labour," said Scott. 



They were getting into the better surfaces again : 1 5.7 

 miles for January 28, "a fine day and a good march on 

 very decent surface." 5 On January 29 Bowers wrote his 

 last full day's diary : " Our record march to-day. With a 

 good breeze and improving surface we were soon in among 

 the double tracks where the supporting party left us. Then 

 we picked up the memorable camp where I transferred to 

 the advance party. How glad I was to change over. The 

 camp was much drifted up and immense sastrugi were 

 everywhere, S.S.E. in direction and S.E. We did 10.4 

 miles before lunch. I was breaking back on sledge and con- 

 trolling ; it was beastly cold and my hands were perished. 

 In the afternoon I put on my dogskin mitts and was far 

 more comfortable. A stiff breeze with drift continues : 



1 Wilson. 2 Scott's Last Expedition, vol. i. p. 557. 



3 Ibid. pp. 560, 561. 4 Wilson. 6 Ibid. 



