19X2] THE LAST MESSAGE 605 
MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC 
The causes of the disaster are not due to faulty 
organisation, but to misfortune in all risks which had 
to be undertaken. 
1. The loss of pony transport in March 191 1 obliged 
me to start later than I had intended, and obliged the 
limits of stuff transported to be narrowed. 
2. The weather throughout the outward journey, 
and especially the long gale in 83 0 S., stopped us. 
3. The soft snow in lower reaches of glacier again 
reduced pace. 
We fought these untoward events with a will and 
conquered, but it cut into our provision reserve. 
Every detail of our food supplies, clothing and depots 
made on the interior ice-sheet and over that long stretch 
of 700 miles to the Pole and back, worked out to per- 
fection. The advance party would have returned to 
the glacier in fine form and with surplus of food, but for 
the astonishing failure of the man whom we had least 
expected to fail. Edgar Evans was thought the strongest 
man of the party. 
The Bcardmorc Glacier is not difficult in fine weather, 
but on our return we did not get a single completely 
fine day ; this with a sick companion enormously increased 
our anxieties. 
As I have said elsewhere we got into frightfully rough 
ice and Edgar Evans received a concussion of the brain 
