CAPTAIN SCOTT’S OWN STORY. 
21 
The bridge was firm, and I got hold of both 
dogs, which were hauled up in turn to the 
surface. Then 1 heard dim shouts and howls 
above. Some of the rescued animals had 
wandered to the second sledge and a big 
fight was in progress. All my rope- tenders 
had to leave to separate the combatants, but 
they soon returned, and with some effort l 
was hauled to the surface. All’s well that 
ends well, and certainly this was a most 
surprisingly happy ending to a very serious 
episode ” — which took, all told, nearly two 
hours. Above all, Scott was pleased by the 
steadiness and resource of his three com- 
panions. 
The conclusion arrived at was the need to 
plot out the danger zone among the cracks 
running from the Bluff to Cape Crozier, and 
to adhere rigidly to the first pony-route, 
where the cracks appeared to be very narrow. 
February 22nd, when they reached Safety 
Camp again early in the morning, was an 
agitating day. They found Lieutenant Evans 
and his return party, but with only one pony. 
Both other weaklings had succumbed to the 
blizzards. After a short sleep they visited 
Hut Point, but Atkinson and Crean had 
vanished, ft was guessed that they had gone 
to meet the new-comers ax Safety Camp ; 
but their tent was not to be seen beside the 
others, and — alarming to contemplate — the 
ice over which they must have passed near 
Cape Armitage was full of water-holes. It 
was so ; they had come, and their tent was 
not yet up. But the mail they brought with 
them disturbed the sense of relief. 
News of Amundsen. 
A letter from Lieutenant Campbell told 
how he had found Amundsen established in 
the Bay of Whales — one hundred and twenty- 
six statute miles nearer to the Pole than 
Scott’s station, and with many dogs, ready 
to start his dash for the South Pole at an 
earlier date than ponies could set out. This 
knowledge might have hurried a smaller man 
into staking success upon a rival dash with 
dogs only, but Scott resolved to adhere to the 
plans he had so carefully thought out and 
proceed exactly as though this had not 
happened. Strange that history can produce 
a parallel in the case of Ross seventy-three 
years ago — only with the result that he was, 
as it were, driven off his intended beat into 
the making of his famous discoveries. 
After a day’s rest Scott organized a party, 
including two man-hauled sledges and one 
AN ENORMOUS BERG IN THE ICE-PACK. 
THIS PHOTOGRAPH ADMIRABLY SHOWS THK PICTURESQUE FORMATION' OF THESE FORMIDABLE MASSES 
OF FLOATING ICE. 
