22 
THE STRAND MAGAZINE . 
sledge drawn by Jimmy Pig,* who alone of 
the three sent back from the depot party had 
survived the severe weather at the end of 
February. They took further supplies to 
Corner Camp. The experience of this trip 
showed that for those who were practised, 
pulling on ski was easier than pulling on foot ; 
beyond doubt very long days’ work could be 
done by men in hard condition on ski. 
Every one. it is noted down, must be prac- 
tised in this. 
At Corner Camp they hoped to have met 
Oates and Bowers on their slower march back ; 
but the day before arriving the latter were 
seen far away on the horizon making for 
home on a different track. And Scott’s team, 
hurrying back, and held up for a day by 
another blizzard, found them at last at Safety 
Camp, the ponies in sorry condition after the 
blizzard of unexampled severity for the time 
of the year, which had raged there for two 
days, burying parts of the sledges three or 
four feet under drift. 
Disasters. 
The word now was back to the shelter of 
Hut Point. The Barrier was cold, the sea- 
ice dangerous. The return was disastrous. 
First Weary Willy collapsed, and, though 
Scott and the two who stayed with him made 
every effort, he died in the night. “ It. s 
hard to have got him back so far only for 
this.” The hard fact stood out that even 
with the best of coats the ponies lose con- 
dition badly if caught in a blizzard ; and an 
expedition could not afford to let them lose 
condition at the beginning of a journey ; this 
” makes a late start necessary for next 
year.” 
This was bad ; but the events of the next 
forty-eight hours bade fair to wreck the 
expedition. The only consolation was the 
miraculous avoidance of loss of human life. 
It will be remembered that some five miles 
of sea-ice extended between the solid flank of 
the Barrier and Ilut Point, and that the pony- 
track made a large elbow over the Sound 
instead of following a straight line. What 
was the horror of the three men, on drawing 
near, to see that the dark and lowering sky 
ahead, with its mirage of broken floes, was no 
ordinary optical illusion. The sea was full 
of broken pieces of Barrier edge. Their 
thoughts flew to the ponies and dogs with 
The ponies were to have been called after the schools which 
contributed to their purchase: hut sailors are great hands at 
inventing nicknames, and these nicknames were too much for 
the official nomenclature. 
Bowers’s and Wilson’s sections of the party, 
who had been sent on while Scott tended the 
sick pony. 
Turning to follow the ice-edge, they 
suddenly discovered a working crack, dashed 
over this, and slackened pace again after a 
quarter-mile. At each new crack pace was 
put on, not slackening again till they were 
upon solid ice to the eastward on the line 
between Safety Camp and the Castle Rock 
above the Hut. Here they pitched tent, 
and, with a leader’s thoughtfulness, Scott 
sent a warning by Gran to Lieutenant Evans 
who was returning to t he depot. I fe expected 
that if either section of the party ahead had 
reached safety, whether on the Barrier or at 
Hut Point, they would immediately have sent 
a warning message to Safety ('amp, and by 
this time it should have reached them. 
Anxiety reigned. “ Some half-hour passed, 
and suddenly, with a 1 Thank God ! ’ I made 
certain that two specks in the direction of 
Pram Point were human beings.” These 
turned out to be Wilson and M cares, who had 
got the dogs to Hut Point. 'They feared the 
ponies were adrift on the sea-ice, having seen 
them with glasses from Observatory Hill, 
whereupon they had hastened out without 
breakfast. Before anything else was done 
they were given cocoa. Then Wilson espied 
a figure hurrying towards the depot from the 
west. Intercepted by the- speedy Gran, it 
turned out to be Crean, of the pony party, 
much spent with haste. 
A Thrilling Story : Adrift on the Ice-Floes. 
He brought brief word of a thrilling story, 
the fullness of which, in the deeds of rescued 
and rescuers, can only be realized by Polar 
explorers. Bowers, with Cherry Garrard and 
Crean, had duly made for Hut Point with the 
ponies. As they advanced over the sea-ice 
towards Hut Point one crack appeared after 
another, till at last they reached one which 
showed the ice to be actually on the move. 
At once they turned and hastened back but 
the ice was dri/ting out to sea ! 
The ponies behaved splendidly, jumping 
the ever-widening cracks with extraordinary 
sagacity, while their devoted drivers launched 
the sledges 1 ack over the cracks in order not 
to risk the ponies’ legs. Eventually they 
reached what looked like a safe place. Men 
and ponies were thoroughly exhausted. Camp 
was pitched, and the weary party fell asleep. 
But soon Bowers was awakened by a strange 
noise. The ice had begun to break up even 
at their camping spot ; one of their four ponies 
