138 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 
Towards midnight we propped him up as comfortably as 
we could and went to bed. 
“Wednesday, March 1. a.m. Our pony died in the 
night. It is hard to have got him back so far only for this. 
It is clear that these blizzards are terrible for the poor 
animals. Their coats are not good, but even with the best 
of coats it is certain they would lose condition badly if 
caught in one, and we cannot afford to lose condition at the 
beginning of a journey. It makes a late start necessary for 
next year. 
‘Well, we have done our best and bought our experi- 
ence at a heavy cost. Now every effort must be bent on 
saving the remaining animals.” 4 
A letter from Bowers home, which certainly does not 
overstate the adventures of himself and the two men sent 
forward to join him, is probably the best description of 
the incidents which followed. It will be remembered that 
Crean and I with three ponies were sent from Safety Camp 
to join him: he was already leading one pony. Night was 
beginning to fall, and the light was bad, but from the edge 
of the Barrier the two dog-teams could still be seen as black 
dots in the distance towards Cape Armitage. 
‘On the night of February 28 I led off with my pony 
and was surprised at the delay in the others leaving— 
knowing nothing of Weary’s collapse. Over the edge of 
the Barrier I went, and at the bottom of the snow incline 
awaited the others. To my surprise Cherry and Crean ap- | 
peared with Punch, Nobby and Guts in a string, and then © 
I heard the reason for Oates and Scott not having come on. 
My orders were to push on to Hut Point over the sea-ice 
without delay, and to follow the dogs; previously I had 
been told to camp on the sea-ice only in case of the beasts 
being unable to go on. We had four pretty heavy sledges, 
as we were taking six weeks’ man food and oil to the hut, as 
well as a lot of gear from the depét, and pony food, etc. 
Unfortunately the dogs misunderstood their orders and, 
instead of piloting us, dashed off on their own. We saw 
them like specks in the distance in the direction of the old t 
1 Scott’s Last Expedition, vol. i. pp. 191-192. 
