180 WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD 
Oates trained them and fed them as though they were 
toruninthe Derby. They were exercised whenever possible 
throughout the winter and spring by those who were to 
lead them on the actual journey. Fresh and good food was 
found in the shape of oilcake and oats, a limited quantity 
of each of which had been brought and was saved for the 
actual Polar Journey, and everything which care and fore- 
sight could devise was done to save them discomfort. It is 
a grim life for animals, but in the end we were to know that 
up to the time of that bad blizzard almost at the Glacier 
Gateway, which was the finishing post of these plucky 
animals, they had fed all they needed, slept as well and 
lived as well as any, and better than most horses in ordinary | 
life at home. “I congratulate you, Titus,” said Wilson, as 
we stood under the shadow of Mount Hope, with the 
ponies’ task accomplished, and “‘I thank you,” said Scott. 
Titus grunted and was pleased. 
Transport difficulties for the Polar Journey were con- 
siderable, but in every other direction the outlook was 
bright. The men who were to do the sledging had been 
away from Winter Quarters for three months. They had 
had plenty of sledging experience, some of it none too soft. 
The sledges, clothing, man-food, and outfit generally were 
excellent, although some changes were suggested and could 
be put into effect. There was no obvious means, however, — 
of effecting the improvement most desired, a satisfactory 
snow-shoe for the ponies. 
The work already accomplished was enormous. On the 
Polar Journey the ponies and dogs could now travel light 
for the first hundred and thirty geographical miles, when, 
at One Ton Camp, they would for the first time take their 
full loads: the advantage of being able to start again with 
full loads when so far on your way is obvious when it is 
considered that the distance travelled depends upon the 
weight of food that can be carried. During the geological 
journey on the western side of the Sound, Taylor and his 
party had carried out much useful geological work in Dry 
Valley and on the Ferrar and Koettlitz Glaciers, which had 
been accurately plotted for the charts, and had been exam- 
