524 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 



Meanwhile both Wilson and Bowers had been badly 

 snow-blind, though Wilson does not mention it in his 

 diary ; and this night Scott says Evans had no power to 

 assist with camping work. A good march followed on 

 February 14, but " there is no getting away from the fact 

 that we are not pulling strong. Probably none of us : 

 Wilson's leg still troubles him and he doesn't like to trust 

 himself on ski ; but the worst case is Evans, who is giving 

 us serious anxiety. This morning he suddenly disclosed a 

 huge blister on his foot. It delayed us on the march, when 

 he had to have his crampon readjusted. Sometimes I feel 

 he is going from bad to worse, but I trust he will pick up 

 again when we come to steady work on ski like this after- 

 noon. He is hungry and so is Wilson. We can't risk open- 

 ing out our food again, and as cook at present I am serv- 

 ing something under full allowance. We are inclined to 

 get slack and slow with our camping arrangement, and 

 small delays increase. I have talked of the matter to-night 

 and hope for improvement. We cannot do distance with- 

 out the hours." 1 



There was something wrong with this party : more 

 wrong, I mean, than was justified by the tremendous jour- 

 ney they had already experienced. Except for the blizzard 

 at the bottom of the Beardmore and the surfaces near the 

 Pole it had been little worse than they expected. Evans, 

 however, who was considered by Scott to be the strongest 

 man of the party, had already collapsed, and it is admitted 

 that the rest of the party was becoming far from strong. 

 There seems to be an unknown factor here somewhere. 



Wilson's diary continues : '''February 15. 13I m. geog. 

 I got on ski again first time since damaging my leg and 

 was on them all day for 9 hours. It was a bit painful and 

 swelled by the evening, and every night I put on snow 

 poultice. We are not yet abreast of Mt. Kyffin, and much 

 discussion how far we are from the Lower Glacier Depot, 

 probably 1 8 to 20 m. : and we have to reduce food again, 

 only one biscuit to-night with a thin hoosh of pemmican. 

 To-morrow we have to make one day's food which remains 



1 Scott's Last Expedition, vol. i. pp. 570-571. 



