SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[July 
ready for placing and fixing the roof, but couldn't do it 
in the wind. We left the work at noon and turned in to 
spend a very cold night, a thing which we generally 
found was the consequence of not having done any hard 
work or marching during the day. [During this time 
our bags were getting worse and worse, but were still 
very possible, and we always looked forward to the 
days of the ' Stone Age ' when the blubber stove should 
be going and we were to dry everything. When we 
arrived we had begun our fifth out of six tins of oil, and 
we were economising oil as much as possible, often only 
having two hot meals a day. 
It was curious how the estimate of how much oil was 
necessary to our return, diminished as our stock decreased : 
at first we said we must have at least two gallons to go 
back with : then about Terror Point a tin and two full 
primus lamps ; until it came down to one full gallon tin, 
and this is what we actually did use.] 
Wednesday^ July 19, 191 1. — As it was a fine, calm day 
we decided to use it in an effort to reach the Emperor 
rookery and get some blubber, as our last can of oil but 
one was already running low and we had determined to 
keep the last can untouched for the journey home. We 
started down at 9.30 a.m., just as dawn appeared on the 
horizon in the east. We took an empty sledge, with a 
couple of ice axes, Alpine rope, harnesses, and skinning 
tools. We had about a mile to go down snow slopes to 
the edge of the first pressure ridge, and our intention 
was to keep close in under the land ice cliffs which are 
very much more extensive now than they were ten years 
