630 
SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION 
arc thus entirely rilled : the third has only part of its pages used and 
the Message to the Public is written at the reverse end. 
Inside the front cover of No. 1 is a 1 ready ' table to convert the 
day's run of geographical miles as recorded on the sledgemeter into 
statute miles, a list of the depots and their latitude, and a note of the 
sledgemeter reading at Corner Camp. 
These are followed in the first pages by a list of the outward 
camps and distances run as noted in the book, with special ' remarks ' 
as to cairns, latitude, and so forth. At the end of the book is a full list 
of the cairns that marked the track out. 
Inside the front cover of No. 2 are similar entries, together with 
the ages of the Polar party and a note of the error of Scott's watch. 
Inside the front cover of No. 3 are the following words : ' Diary 
can be read by finder to ensure recording of Records, &c, but Diary 
should be sent to my widow.' And on the first page : 
4 Send this diary to my widow. 
' R. Scott/ 
The word ' wife ' had been struck out and 1 widow ' written in. 
Note 26, />. 578. — At this, the Barrier stage of the return journey, 
the Southern Party were in want of more oil than they found at the 
dcp6ts. Owing partly to the severe conditions, but still more to the 
delays imposed by their sick comrades, they reached the full limit 
of time allowed for between depots. The cold was unexpected, and 
at the same time the actual amount of oil found at the depots was 
less than they had counted on. 
Under summer conditions, such as were contemplated, when there 
was less cold for the men to endure, and less firing needed to melt the 
snow for cooking, the fullest allowance of oil was 1 gallon to last a unit 
of four men ten days, or -fa of a gallon a day for each man. 
The amount allotted to each unit for the return journey from the 
South was apparently rather less, being §■ gallon for eight days, or 
JL gallon a day for each man. But the eight days were to cover the 
march from depdt to dep6t, averaging on the Barrier some 70-80 
miles, which in normal conditions should not take more than six 
days. Thus there was a substantial margin for delay by bad weather, 
while if all went well the surplus afforded the fullest marching 
allowance. 
The same proportion for a unit of five men works out at § of a gallon 
for the eight-day stage. 
Accordingly, for the return of the two supporting parties and the 
Southern Party, two tins of a gallon each were left at each depot, 
each unit of four men being entitled to J of a gallon, and the units of 
three and five men in proportion. 
The return journey on the Summit had been made at good speed, 
taking twenty-one days as against twenty-seven going out, the last 
part of it, from Three Degree to Upper Glacier Dep6t, taking nearly 
