LAND 89 
looked like a pony. A brief acquaintance soon convinced 
me that he was without doubt a cross between a pig and 
a mule. He was obviously a strong beast and, since he 
always went as slowly as possible and stopped as often as 
possible it was most difficult to form any opinion as to what 
load he was really able to draw. Consequently I am afraid 
there is little doubt that he was generally overloaded until 
that grim day on the Barrier when he was set upon by a 
dog-team. It was his final collapse at the end of the Depét 
journey which caused Scott to stay behind when we went 
out on the sea-ice. But of that I shall speak again. 
Twice only have I ever seen Weary Willie trot. We 
were leading the ponies now as always with halters and 
without bits. Consequently our control was limited, espe- 
cially on ice, but doubtless the ponies’ comfort was in- 
creased, especially in cold weather when a metal bit would 
have been difficult if not impossible. On this occasion he 
and I had just arrived at the ship after a trudge in which | 
seemed to be pulling both Weary and the sledge. Just 
then a motor back-fired, and we started back across that 
floe at a pace which surprised Weary even more than my- 
self, for he fell over the sledge, himself and me, and for 
days I felt like a big black bruise. The second occasion on 
which he got a move on was during the Depdt journey 
when Gran on ski tried to lead him. 
Christopherand Hackenschmidt wereimpossible ponies. 
Christopher, as we shall see, died on the Barrier a year 
after this, fighting almost to the last. Hackenschmidt, so 
called ‘“‘ from his vicious habit of using both fore and hind 
legs in attacking those who came near him,’’? led an even 
more lurid life but had a more peaceful end. Whether 
Oates could have tamed him I do not know: he would have 
done it if it were possible, for his management of horses 
was wonderful. But in any case Hackenschmidt sickened at 
the hut while we were absent on the Depét journey, for 
no cause which could be ascertained, gradually became too 
weak to stand, and was finally put out of his misery. 
There was a breathless minute when Hackenschmidt, 
1 Scott's Last Expedition, vol. i. p. 230. 
