362 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
[August 
Wilson is very thin, but this morning very much his 
keen, wiry self — Bowers is quite himself to-day. Cherry- 
Garrard is slightly puffy in the face and still looks worn. 
It is evident that he has suffered most severely — but 
Wilson tells me that his spirit never wavered for a moment. 
Bowers has come through best, all things considered, and 
I believe he is the hardest traveller that ever undertook 
a Polar journey, as well as one of the most undaunted ; 
more by hint than direct statement I gather his value to 
the party, his untiring energy and the astonishing physique 
which enables him to continue to work under conditions 
which are absolutely paralysing to others. Never was 
such a sturdy, active, undefeatable little man. 
So far as one can gather, the story of this journey in 
brief is much as follows : The party reached the Barrier 
two days after leaving C. Evans, still pulling their full 
load of 250 lbs. per man ; the snow surface then changed 
completely and grew worse and worse as they advanced. 
For one day they struggled on as before, covering 4 miles, 
but from this onward they were forced to relay, and found 
the half load heavier than the whole one had been on the 
sea ice. Meanwhile the temperature had been falling, 
and now for more than a week the thermometer fell 
below -6o°. On one night the minimum showed -71°, 
and on the next -77 0 , 109 0 of frost. Although in this 
truly fearful cold the air was comparatively still, every 
now and again little puffs of wind came eddying across 
the snow plain with blighting effect. No civilised being 
has ever encountered such conditions before with only a 
tent of thin canvas to rely on for shelter. We have been 
