THE DEPOT JOURNEY 11s 
Oates wished to take certain of the ponies as far south 
as possible on the Depot journey, and then to kill them 
and leave the meat there as a depdt of dog food for 
the Polar Journey. Scott was against this plan. Here at 
Bluff Depot he decided to send back the three weakest 
ponies (Blossom, Bliicher and Jimmy Pigg, with their 
leaders, Lieutenant Evans, Forde and Keohane). They 
started back the next morning (February 13) while the 
remainder of the party went forward over a surface which 
gradually became softer as we left behind the windy region 
of the Bluff. We now had with us the two teams of dogs, 
driven by Meares and Wilson, and five ponies. 
Scott with *‘ Nobby.’ 
Oates with ‘Punch.’ 
Bowers with ‘ Uncle Bill.’ 
Gran with “Weary Willie.’ 
Cherry-Garrard with ‘Guts.’ 
Scott, Wilson, Meares and myself inhabited one tent, 
Bowers, Oates and Gran the other. Scott was evolving in 
his mind means by which ponies should follow one another 
in a string, the second pony with his leading rein fastened 
to the back of the sledge of the first and so on, the caval- 
cade to be managed by two or three men only, instead 
of one man to lead each pony. 
Sunday night (February 12) we started from Bluff 
Depét and did seven miles before lunch against a consider- 
able drift and wind. It was pretty cold, and ten minutes 
after we left our lunch camp with the ponies it was blowing 
a full blizzard. The dog party had not started, so we 
camped and slept five in the four-man tent, and it was by 
no means uncomfortable. Probably this was the time when 
Scott first thought of taking a five-man party to the Pole. 
By Monday evening the blizzard was over, the dogs came 
up, and we did 6} miles of very heavy going. Gran’s pony, 
Weary Willie, a sluggish and obstinate animal, was far 
behind, as usual, when we halted our ponies at the camping 
place. Farther off the dog-teams were coming up. What 
happened never became clear. Poor Weary, it seems, was in 
