CAPTAIN SCOTT’S OWN STORY. 
377 
HERE CAPTAIN SCOTT WROTE MIS PATHETIC MESSAGE 
WERE FOUND EIGHT MONTHS AFTER DEATH. 
a member of the. Search Party. 
over smaller crevasses and wearisome sastrugi. 
Weather was threatening ; food ran low ; 
anxiety only ended in the second evening, 
when a straight course brought them to the 
long-looked-for depot at the end ol the 
summit’s journey, after “twenty-seven days 
to the Pole and twenty-one back- -nearly 
seven weeks in low temperature, with almost 
incessant wind.” 
The descent of the Glacier took eleven days, 
from February 8th to the x8th. It opened 
with a day of refreshing interest. The 
moraine they reached “ was obviously so 
interesting that at last, when they got out of 
the wind, they decided to camp and spend the 
rest of the day geologizing ” even finding 
“veritable coal- seams.” To “set foot on 
rock after fourteen weeks of snow and ice, 
and nearly seven out of sight of aught 
else.” was “ like going ashore after a sea 
voyage.” These and other specimens, as 
the world knows, were hauled on the sledge 
to the very last. Though the dis- 
coverers should perish, their dis- 
coveries should be saved for science. 
But they were not to reach the 
mid - Glacier depot without sixty 
hours’ critical experience. The nth 
had a black mark as “ the worst day 
we have had during the trip,” for, 
unwisely turning east out of an area 
of ice pressure, they became en- 
tangled in another and worse one — 
“ a regular trap of irregular cre- 
vasses succeeded by huge chasms,” 
over which only desperation forced 
a way. 
“The Worst Place of All.” 
At the end of twelve hours’ 
marching in “ horrible light which 
made everything look fantastic,” a 
condition which can be appreciated 
by those who have tried winter 
sports in dim weather, the depot 
was still many miles away. A 
similar experience landed them next 
day “ in the worst place of all ” — 
faced with a short supper and one 
meal only remaining in the food 
bag ; the depot doubtful in locality. 
“We must get there to-morrow. 
Meanwhile we are cheerful with an 
effort. It is a tight place, but 
luckily we’ve been well fed up to the 
present. Pray God we have fine 
weather to-morrow. 'Three-quarter 
rations must suffice." Yet, “ it was 
a test of our endurance on t he march 
and our fitness with small supper. We have 
come through well.” 
They “ all slept well in spite of their grave 
anxieties.” Fog and snow awaited them in 
the morning of the 13th. On “ tea and one 
biscuit” they pushed ahead, “leaving a 
scanty remaining meal for eventualities, ” and 
gradually got clear of the tangle- and after a 
false alarm from Evans, “ Wilson suddenly 
saw the actual depot flag ’ — to their “inex- 
pressible relief.” It was a near thing and 
“ gave a horrid feeling of insecurity,” such as 
must be guarded against in future. 
'Thereafter progress was slow — “ there is 
no getting away from the fact that we arc 
not going strong.” Evans, especially, could 
give little help and involuntarily delayed the 
march. And for the remaining days short 
rations were again necessary. 
The Death of P.0. Evans. 
On his last day— February 17th — Evans 
