ch. lix] The Societies" Expedition 
473 
On November 3rd they had reached a height of 7000 ft. 
The majestic cliffs were below them and they gazed over 
the summits of mountains to the eastward. Next day it 
was blowing a full gale, and there was only just time to get 
the tents up when it burst upon them. It was a week 
before they were able to move again, and throughout the 
whole time the gale raged incessantly. 
The delight of being able to start again may be 
imagined, and on the 13th they had reached the summit 
at a height of 8900 ft. with five weeks' provisions in hand. 
They found themselves on a great snow plain with a level 
horizon all round, but above it to the east rose the tops 
of mountains. Captain Scott had discovered the great 
Antarctic ice-cap. 
The gale had blown away the nautical tables so that 
the observations could not be worked out until their 
return. Scott's inventive talent came into play. He could 
calculate the declination for certain fixed days, and having 
ruled a sheet of his note-paper in squares, he plotted these 
points on the squares, and joined them with a curve. 
It was afterwards found that the curve was nowhere more 
than 4' in error. It gave him the latitude with as much 
accuracy as was needed at the time. 
The cold on the ice-cap was intense, - 44 0 Fahr. But 
they had reached the lofty plateau, leaving the mountain 
peaks behind, and before them lay the unknown. Scott 
resolved to press onwards. On November 22nd he went 
on with Evans and Lashly, the rest returning. 
From a magnetic point of view this was a very 
interesting region. The travellers were directly south of 
the magnetic pole, and the north end of the compass 
pointed south, or a variation of 180 0 ! 
Of Scott's two companions, Evans, who had been a 
gymnastic instructor in the navy, was a man of herculean 
strength. Lashly had been a non-smoker and a teeto- 
taller all his life, and had the largest chest measurement 
in the ship. The progress made was rapid, though they 
had to struggle over a sea of broken and distorted snow- 
waves, causing frequent capsizes of the far- too-narrow 
sledge. The night temperature continued as low as - 40 0 , 
and, judging from the sastrugi, the wind blows from west 
to east across the ice-cap, often with great violence, and 
