52 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[July 
Wc discussed the position, and came to the conclusion 
that as our oil had now run down to one can only, and 
as we couldn't afford to spend time trying to fix up an 
improvised blubber stove in a roofless hut, we ought 
to return to Cape Evans. 
It was disappointing to have seen so very little of the 
Emperor penguins, but it seemed to me unavoidable, 
and that we had attempted too difficult an undertaking 
without light in the winter. 
I had also some doubt as to whether our bags were 
not already in such a state as might make them quite 
unusable should we meet with really low temperatures 
again in our journey home. 
I therefore decided to start for Hut Point the next 
day. To this end we sorted out all our gear, and made 
a depot in a corner of the stone hut of all that we could 
usefully leave there for use on a future occasion. This 
depot I fixed up finally with Cherry the next morning 
while Bowers packed up the sledge at our tent. We 
put rocks on our depot and the nine-foot sledge, and the 
pick, with a matchbox containing a note tied to the handle, 
where it could not be missed. We also fixed up bamboos 
round the walls to attract attention to the spot. 
[Mr. Cherry-Garrard's account of this episode must 
be quoted in full : 
All that day and night it blew ii, with absolutely no 
real lull ; what the wind was in the gusts we shall never 
know— it was something appalling. We quite lost count 
of time, but Sunday morning it was just the same. This 
was Bill's birthday. 
