LAE DEPOT JOURNEY 135 
northern shores of Queen Victoria Land. At the same time 
there was so little coal left that it might be necessary to 
go straight back to New Zealand. Campbell regretted not 
being able to see Scott, supposing that the altered circum- 
stances caused Scott to wish to rearrange his parties, and 
also because Amundsen had asked Campbell to land his 
party at the Bay of Whales, giving him the area to the east 
to explore, and Campbell did not wish to accept before 
getting Scott’s permission. 
As we know now coal ran so short that it came to an 
alternative of dumping Campbell, his men and gear hastily 
on the beach at Cape Adare, or taking them back to New 
Zealand. As one member of the crew said: “‘ Exploring is 
all very well in its way, but it is a thing which can be very 
easily overdone.” The ship was as ready to get rid of them 
as they were to get rid of the ship. They were landed, 
working to their waists in the surf, and the ship got safely 
back to New Zealand. 
Scott decided that the period of waiting until the pony 
party arrived from One Ton should be employed in sledg- 
ing stores out to Corner Camp. But the dog-teams were 
done, “the dogs are thin as rakes ; they are ravenous and 
very tired. I feel this should not be, and that it is evident 
that they are underfed. The ration must be increased next 
year and we must have some properly-thought-out diet. 
The biscuit alone is not good enough.”! In addition, 
several dogs were feeling the effects of injuries due to the 
crevasse incident. There remained the men and the one 
pony which had survived out of the three sent back from 
Bluff Depot, namely Jimmy Pigg. 
The party started on Friday, February 24, marching 
by day. It consisted of Scott, Crean and myself with one 
sledge and tent, Lieutenant Evans, Atkinson and Forde 
with a second sledge and tent, and Keohane leading James 
Pigg. On the second night out we saw the pony party 
pass us in the distance on their way to Safety Camp.? At 
Corner Camp Scott decided to leave Lieutenant Evans’ 
1 Scott’s Last Expedition, vol. i. p. 185. 
See p. 123. 
