Chapter 15 - THE LAST WEEKS AT CAPE EVANS
Scott's Last Expedition
- The Journals of Captain R. F. Scott
Contents
and Preface Chapters:
Chapter 1
| Chapter
2 | Chapter
3 | Chapter
4 | Chapter
5 | Chapter
6 | Chapter
7 | Chapter
8 | Chapter
9 | Chapter
10 |
Chapter 11 |
Chapter 12
| Chapter
13 |
Chapter 14 |
Chapter 15
| Chapter
16 |
Chapter 17 |
Chapter 18
| Chapter
19 |
Chapter 20
| Appendix
Summary
(2 pages) of the Terra
Nova Expedition |
The Men of
the Expedition
Friday, October 6
With the rise of temperature
there has been a slight thaw in the hut; the drips come down
the walls and one has found my diary, as its pages show. The
drips are already decreasing, and if they represent the whole
accumulation of winter moisture it is extraordinarily little,
and speaks highly for the design of the hut. There cannot be
very much more or the stains would be more significant.
Yesterday I had a good look at Jehu and became convinced
that he is useless; he is much too weak to pull a load, and
three weeks can make no difference. It is necessary to face
the facts and I've decided to leave him behind--we must
do with nine ponies. Chinaman is rather a doubtful quantity
and James Pigg is not a tower of strength, but the other seven
are in fine form and must bear the brunt of the work somehow.
If we suffer more loss we shall depend on the motor, and
then! ... well, one must face the bad as well as the good.
It is some comfort to know that six of the animals at least
are in splendid condition--Victor, Snippets, Christopher, Nobby,
Bones are as fit as ponies could well be and are naturally strong,
well-shaped beasts, whilst little Michael, though not so shapely,
is as strong as he will ever be.
To-day Wilson, Oates,
Cherry-Garrard, and Crean have gone to Hut Point with their
ponies, Oates getting off with Christopher after some difficulty.
At 5 o'clock the Hut Point telephone bell suddenly rang
(the line was laid by Meares some time ago, but hitherto there
has been no communication). In a minute or two we heard a voice,
and behold! communication was established. I had quite a talk
with Meares and afterwards with Oates. Not a very wonderful
fact, perhaps, but it seems wonderful in this primitive land
to be talking to one's fellow beings 15 miles away. Oates
told me that the ponies had arrived in fine order, Christopher
a little done, but carrying the heaviest load.
If we
can keep the telephone going it will be a great boon, especially
to Meares later in the season.
The weather is extraordinarily
unsettled; the last two days have been fairly fine, but every
now and again we get a burst of wind with drift, and to-night
it is overcast and very gloomy in appearance.
The photography
craze is in full swing. Ponting's mastery is ever more impressive,
and his pupils improve day by day; nearly all of us have produced
good negatives. Debenham and Wright are the most promising,
but Taylor, Bowers and I are also getting the hang of the tricky
exposures.
Saturday, October 7
As
though to contradict the suggestion of incompetence, friend 'Jehu'
pulled with a will this morning--he covered 3 1/2 miles without
a stop, the surface being much worse than it was two days ago.
He was not at all distressed when he stopped. If he goes on
like this he comes into practical politics again, and I am arranging
to give 10-feet sledges to him and Chinaman instead of 12-feet.
Probably they will not do much, but if they go on as at present
we shall get something out of them.
Long and cheerful
conversations with Hut Point and of course an opportunity for
the exchange of witticisms. We are told it was blowing and drifting
at Hut Point last night, whereas here it was calm and snowing;
the wind only reached us this afternoon.
Sunday,
October 8
A very beautiful day. Everyone out and
about after Service, all ponies going well. Went to Pressure
Ridge with Ponting and took a number of photographs.
So far good, but the afternoon has brought much worry. About
five a telephone message from Nelson's igloo reported that
Clissold had fallen from a berg and hurt his back. Bowers organised
a sledge party in three minutes, and fortunately Atkinson was
on the spot and able to join it. I posted out over the land
and found Ponting much distressed and Clissold practically insensible.
At this moment the Hut Point ponies were approaching and I ran
over to intercept one in case of necessity. But the man# party
was on the spot first, and after putting the patient in a sleeping-bag,
quickly brought him home to the hut. It appears that Clissold
was acting as Ponting's 'model' and that the two
had been climbing about the berg to get pictures. As far as
I can make out Ponting did his best to keep Clissold in safety
by lending him his crampons and ice axe, but the latter seems
to have missed his footing after one of his 'poses';
he slid over a rounded surface of ice for some 12 feet, then
dropped 6 feet on to a sharp angle in the wall of the berg.
He must have struck his back and head; the latter is contused
and he is certainly suffering from slight concussion. He complained
of his back before he grew unconscious and groaned a good deal
when moved in the hut. He came to about an hour after getting
to the hut, and was evidently in a good deal of pain; neither
Atkinson nor Wilson thinks there is anything very serious, but
he has not yet been properly examined and has had a fearful
shock at the least. I still feel very anxious. To-night Atkinson
has injected morphia and will watch by his patient.
Troubles
rarely come singly, and it occurred to me after Clissold had
been brought in that Taylor, who had been bicycling to the Turk's
Head, was overdue. We were relieved to hear that with glasses
two figures could be seen approaching in South Bay, but at supper
Wright appeared very hot and said that Taylor was exhausted
in South Bay--he wanted brandy and hot drink. I thought it best
to despatch another relief party, but before they were well
round the point Taylor was seen coming over the land. He was
fearfully done. He must have pressed on towards his objective
long after his reason should have warned him that it was time
to turn; with this and a good deal of anxiety about Clissold,
the day terminates very unpleasantly.
Tuesday,
October 10
Still anxious about Clissold. He has
passed two fairly good nights but is barely able to move. He
is unnaturally irritable, but I am told this is a symptom of
concussion. This morning he asked for food, which is a good
sign, and he was anxious to know if his sledging gear was being
got ready. In order not to disappoint him he was assured that
all would be ready, but there is scarce a slender chance that
he can fill his place in the programme.
Meares came from
Hut Point yesterday at the front end of a blizzard. Half an
hour after his arrival it was as thick as a hedge. He reports
another loss--Deek, one of the best pulling dogs, developed
the same symptoms which have so unaccountably robbed us before,
spent a night in pain, and died in the morning. Wilson thinks
the cause is a worm which gets into the blood and thence to
the brain. It is trying, but I am past despondency. Things must
take their course.
Forde's fingers improve, but not
very rapidly; it is hard to have two sick men after all the
care which has been taken.
The weather is very poor--I
had hoped for better things this month. So far we have had more
days with wind and drift than without. It interferes badly with
the ponies' exercise.
Friday, October 13
The past three days have seen a marked improvement in both our
invalids. Clissold's inside has been got into working order
after a good deal of difficulty; he improves rapidly in spirits
as well as towards immunity from pain. The fiction of his preparation
to join the motor sledge party is still kept up, but Atkinson
says there is not the smallest chance of his being ready. I
shall have to be satisfied if he practically recovers by the
time we leave with the ponies.
Forde's hand took
a turn for the better two days ago and he maintains this progress.
Atkinson thinks he will be ready to start in ten days' time,
but the hand must be carefully nursed till the weather becomes
really summery.
The weather has continued bad till to-day,
which has been perfectly beautiful. A fine warm sun all day--so
warm that one could sit about outside in the afternoon, and
photographic work was a real pleasure.
The ponies have
been behaving well, with exceptions. Victor is now quite easy
to manage, thanks to Bowers' patience. Chinaman goes along
very steadily and is not going to be the crock we expected.
He has a slow pace which may be troublesome, but when the weather
is fine that won't matter if he can get along steadily.
The most troublesome animal is Christopher. He is only a
source of amusement as long as there is no accident, but I am
always a little anxious that he will kick or bite someone. The
curious thing is that he is quiet enough to handle for walking
or riding exercise or in the stable, but as soon as a sledge
comes into the programme he is seized with a very demon of viciousness,
and bites and kicks with every intent to do injury. It seems
to be getting harder rather than easier to get him into the
traces; the last two turns, he has had to be thrown, as he is
unmanageable even on three legs. Oates, Bowers, and Anton gather
round the beast and lash up one foreleg, then with his head
held on both sides Oates gathers back the traces; quick as lightning
the little beast flashes round with heels flying aloft. This
goes on till some degree of exhaustion gives the men a better
chance. But, as I have mentioned, during the last two days the
period has been so prolonged that Oates has had to hasten matters
by tying a short line to the other foreleg and throwing the
beast when he lashes out. Even when on his knees he continues
to struggle, and one of those nimble hind legs may fly out at
any time. Once in the sledge and started on three legs all is
well and the fourth leg can be released. At least, all has been
well until to-day, when quite a comedy was enacted. He was going
along quietly with Oates when a dog frightened him: he flung
up his head, twitched the rope out of Oates' hands and dashed
away. It was not a question of blind fright, as immediately
after gaining freedom he set about most systematically to get
rid of his load. At first he gave sudden twists, and in this
manner succeeded in dislodging two bales of hay; then he caught
sight of other sledges and dashed for them. They could scarcely
get out of his way in time; the fell intention was evident all
through, to dash his load against some other pony and sledge
and so free himself of it. He ran for Bowers two or three times
with this design, then made for Keohane, never going off far
and dashing inward with teeth bared and heels flying all over
the place. By this time people were gathering round, and first
one and then another succeeded in clambering on to the sledge
as it flew by, till Oates, Bowers, Nelson, and Atkinson were
all sitting on it. He tried to rid himself of this human burden
as he had of the hay bales, and succeeded in dislodging Atkinson
with violence, but the remainder dug their heels into the snow
and finally the little brute was tired out. Even then he tried
to savage anyone approaching his leading line, and it was some
time before Oates could get hold of it. Such is the tale of
Christopher. I am exceedingly glad there are not other ponies
like him. These capers promise trouble, but I think a little
soft snow on the Barrier may effectually cure them.
E.R.
Evans and Gran return to-night. We received notice of their
departure from Hut Point through the telephone, which also informed
us that Meares had departed for his first trip to Corner Camp.
Evans says he carried eight bags of forage and that the dogs
went away at a great pace.
In spite of the weather Evans
has managed to complete his survey to Hut Point. He has evidently
been very careful with it and has therefore done a very useful
bit of work.
Sunday, October 15
Both
of our invalids progress favourably. Clissold has had two good
nights without the aid of drugs and has recovered his good spirits;
pains have departed from his back.
The weather is very
decidedly warmer and for the past three days has been fine.
The thermometer stands but a degree or two below zero and the
air feels delightfully mild. Everything of importance is now
ready for our start and the ponies improve daily.
Clissold's
work of cooking has fallen on Hooper and Lashly, and it is satisfactory
to find that the various dishes and bread bakings maintain their
excellence. It is splendid to have people who refuse to recognise
difficulties.
Tuesday, October 17
Things not going very well; with ponies all pretty well. Animals
are improving in form rapidly, even Jehu, though I have ceased
to count on that animal. To-night the motors were to be taken
on to the floe. The drifts make the road very uneven, and the
first and best motor overrode its chain; the chain was replaced
and the machine proceeded, but just short of the floe was thrust
to a steep inclination by a ridge, and the chain again overrode
the sprockets; this time by ill fortune Day slipped at the critical
moment and without intention jammed the throttle full on. The
engine brought up, but there was an ominous trickle of oil under
the back axle, and investigation showed that the axle casing
(aluminium) had split. The casing has been stripped and brought
into the hut; we may be able to do something to it, but time
presses. It all goes to show that we want more experience and
workshops.
I am secretly convinced that we shall not
get much help from the motors, yet nothing has ever happened
to them that was unavoidable. A little more care and foresight
would make them splendid allies. The trouble is that if they
fail, no one will ever believe this.
Meares got back
from Corner Camp at 8 A.M. Sunday morning--he got through on
the telephone to report in the afternoon. He must have made
the pace, which is promising for the dogs. Sixty geographical
miles in two days and a night is good going--about as good as
can be.
I have had to tell Clissold that he cannot go
out with the Motor Party, to his great disappointment. He improves
very steadily, however, and I trust will be fit before we leave
with the ponies. Hooper replaces him with the motors. I am kept
very busy writing and preparing details.
We have had
two days of northerly wind, a very unusual occurrence; yesterday
it was blowing S.E., force 8, temp. -16‚°, whilst
here the wind was north, force 4, temp. -6‚°. This
continued for some hours--a curious meteorological combination.
We are pretty certain of a southerly blizzard to follow, I should
think.
Wednesday, October 18
The
southerly blizzard has burst on us. The air is thick with snow.
A close investigation of the motor axle case shows that
repair is possible. It looks as though a good strong job could
be made of it. Yesterday Taylor and Debenham went to Cape Royds
with the object of staying a night or two.
Sunday,
October 22
The motor axle case was completed by
Thursday morning, and, as far as one can see, Day made a very
excellent job of it. Since that the Motor Party has been steadily
preparing for its departure. To-day everything is ready. The
loads are ranged on the sea ice, the motors are having a trial
run, and, all remaining well with the weather, the party will
get away to-morrow.
Meares and Demetri came down on Thursday
through the last of the blizzard. At one time they were running
without sight of the leading dogs--they did not see Tent Island
at all, but burst into sunshine and comparative calm a mile
from the station. Another of the best of the dogs, 'Czigane,'
was smitten with the unaccountable sickness; he was given laxative
medicine and appears to be a little better, but we are still
anxious. If he really has the disease, whatever it may be, the
rally is probably only temporary and the end will be swift.
The teams left on Friday afternoon, Czigane included; to-day
Meares telephones that he is setting out for his second journey
to Corner Camp without him. On the whole the weather continues
wretchedly bad; the ponies could not be exercised either on
Thursday or Friday; they were very fresh yesterday and to-day
in consequence. When unexercised, their allowance of oats has
to be cut down. This is annoying, as just at present they ought
to be doing a moderate amount of work and getting into condition
on full rations.
The temperature is up to zero about;
this probably means about -20‚° on the Barrier. I
wonder how the motors will face the drop if and when they encounter
it. Day and Lashly are both hopeful of the machines, and they
really ought to do something after all the trouble that has
been taken.
The wretched state of the weather has prevented
the transport of emergency stores to Hut Point. These stores
are for the returning depots and to provision the Discovery
hut in case the Terra Nova does not arrive. The most important
stores have been taken to the Glacier Tongue by the ponies to-day.
In the transport department, in spite of all the care I
have taken to make the details of my plan clear by lucid explanation,
I find that Bowers is the only man on whom I can thoroughly
rely to carry out the work without mistake, with its arrays
of figures. For the practical consistent work of pony training
Oates is especially capable, and his heart is very much in the
business.
23 October, 1911
I don't
know what to think of Amundsen's chances. If he gets to
the Pole, it must be before we do, as he is bound to travel
fast with dogs and pretty certain to start early. On this account
I decided at a very early date to act exactly as I should have
done had he not existed. Any attempt to race must have wrecked
my plan, besides which it doesn't appear the sort of thing
one is out for.
'Possibly you will have heard something
before this reaches you. Oh! and there are all sorts of possibilities.
In any case you can rely on my not doing or saying anything
foolish--only I'm afraid you must be prepared for the chance
of finding our venture much belittled.
'After all,
it is the work that counts, not the applause that follows.
'Words must always fail me when I talk of Bill Wilson.
I believe he really is the finest character I ever met--the
closer one gets to him the more there is to admire. Every quality
is so solid and dependable; cannot you imagine how that counts
down here? Whatever the matter, one knows Bill will be sound,
shrewdly practical, intensely loyal and quite unselfish. Add
to this a wider knowledge of persons and things than is at first
guessable, a quiet vein of humour and really consummate tact,
and you have some idea of his values. I think he is the most
popular member of the party, and that is saying much.
'Bowers is all and more than I ever expected of him.
He is a positive treasure, absolutely trustworthy and prodigiously
energetic. He is about the hardest man amongst us, and that
is saying a good deal--nothing seems to hurt his tough little
body and certainly no hardship daunts his spirit. I shall have
a hundred little tales to tell you of his indefatigable zeal,
his unselfishness, and his inextinguishable good humour. He
surprises always, for his intelligence is of quite a high order
and his memory for details most exceptional. You can imagine
him, as he is, an indispensable assistant to me in every detail
concerning the management and organisation of our sledging work
and a delightful companion on the march.
'One of
the greatest successes is Wright. He is very thorough and absolutely
ready for anything. Like Bowers he has taken to sledging like
a duck to water, and although he hasn't had such severe
testing, I believe he would stand it pretty nearly as well.
Nothing ever seems to worry him, and I can't imagine he
ever complained of anything in his life.
'I don't
think I will give such long descriptions of the others, though
most of them deserve equally high praise. Taken all round they
are a perfectly excellent lot.'
The Soldier is very
popular with all--a delightfully humorous cheery old pessimist--striving
with the ponies night and day and bringing woeful accounts of
their small ailments into the hut.
X.... has a positive
passion for helping others--it is extraordinary what pains he
will take to do a kind thing unobtrusively.
'One
sees the need of having one's heart in one's work. Results
can only be got down here by a man desperately eager to get
them.
'Y.... works hard at his own work, taking extraordinary
pains with it, but with an astonishing lack of initiative he
makes not the smallest effort to grasp the work of others; it
is a sort of character which plants itself in a corner and will
stop there.
'The men are equally fine. Edgar Evans
has proved a useful member of our party; he looks after our
sledges and sledge equipment with a care of management and a
fertility of resource which is truly astonishing--on 'trek'
he is just as sound and hard as ever and has an inexhaustible
store of anecdote.
'Crean is perfectly happy, ready
to do anything and go anywhere, the harder the work, the better.
Evans and Crean are great friends. Lashly is his old self in
every respect, hard working to the limit, quiet, abstemious,
and determined. You see altogether I have a good set of people
with me, and it will go hard if we don't achieve something.
'The study of individual character is a pleasant pastime
in such a mixed community of thoroughly nice people, and the
study of relationships and interactions is fascinating--men
of the most diverse upbringings and experience are really pals
with one another, and the subjects which would be delicate ground
of discussion between acquaintances are just those which are
most freely used for jests. For instance the Soldier is never
tired of girding at Australia, its people and institutions,
and the Australians retaliate by attacking the hide-bound prejudices
of the British army. I have never seen a temper lost in these
discussions. So as I sit here I am very satisfied with these
things. I think that it would have been difficult to better
the organisation of the party--every man has his work and is
especially adapted for it; there is no gap and no overlap--it
is all that I desired, and the same might be said of the men
selected to do the work.'
It promised to be very
fine to-day, but the wind has already sprung up and clouds are
gathering again. There was a very beautiful curved 'banner'
cloud south of Erebus this morning, perhaps a warning of what
is to come.
Another accident! At one o'clock 'Snatcher,'
one of the three ponies laying the depot, arrived with single
trace and dangling sledge in a welter of sweat. Forty minutes
after P.O. Evans, his driver, came in almost as hot; simultaneously
Wilson arrived with Nobby and a tale of events not complete.
He said that after the loads were removed Bowers had been holding
the three ponies, who appeared to be quiet; suddenly one had
tossed his head and all three had stampeded--Snatcher making
for home, Nobby for the Western Mountains, Victor, with Bowers
still hanging to him, in an indefinite direction. Running for
two miles, he eventually rounded up Nobby west of Tent Island
and brought him in. 20 Half an hour after Wilson's return,
Bowers came in with Victor distressed, bleeding at the nose,
from which a considerable fragment hung semi-detached. Bowers
himself was covered with blood and supplied the missing link--the
cause of the incident. It appears that the ponies were fairly
quiet when Victor tossed his head and caught his nostril in
the trace hook on the hame of Snatcher's harness. The hook
tore skin and flesh and of course the animal got out of hand.
Bowers hung to him, but couldn't possibly keep hold of the
other two as well. Victor had bled a good deal, and the blood
congealing on the detached skin not only gave the wound a dismal
appearance but greatly increased its irritation. I don't
know how Bowers managed to hang on to the frightened animal;
I don't believe anyone else would have done so. On the way
back the dangling weight on the poor creature's nose would
get on the swing and make him increasingly restive; it was necessary
to stop him repeatedly. Since his return the piece of skin has
been snipped off and proves the wound not so serious as it looked.
The animal is still trembling, but quite on his feed, which
is a good sign. I don't know why our Sundays should always
bring these excitements.
Two lessons arise. Firstly,
however quiet the animals appear, they must not be left by their
drivers; no chance must be taken; secondly, the hooks on the
hames of the harness must be altered in shape.
I suppose
such incidents as this were to be expected, one cannot have
ponies very fresh and vigorous and expect them to behave like
lambs, but I shall be glad when we are off and can know more
definitely what resources we can count on.
Another trying
incident has occurred. We have avoided football this season
especially to keep clear of accidents, but on Friday afternoon
a match was got up for the cinematograph and Debenham developed
a football knee (an old hurt, I have since learnt, or he should
not have played). Wilson thinks it will be a week before he
is fit to travel, so here we have the Western Party on our hands
and wasting the precious hours for that period. The only single
compensation is that it gives Forde's hand a better chance.
If this waiting were to continue it looks as though we should
become a regular party of 'crocks.' Clissold was out
of the hut for the first time to-day; he is better but still
suffers in his back.
The Start of the Motor Sledges
Tuesday, October 24
Two fine days for
a wonder. Yesterday the motors seemed ready to start and we
all went out on the floe to give them a 'send off.'
But the inevitable little defects cropped up, and the machines
only got as far as the Cape. A change made by Day in the exhaust
arrangements had neglected the heating jackets of the carburetters;
one float valve was bent and one clutch troublesome. Day and
Lashly spent the afternoon making good these defects in a satisfactory
manner.
This morning the engines were set going again,
and shortly after 10 A.M. a fresh start was made. At first there
were a good many stops, but on the whole the engines seemed
to be improving all the time. They are not by any means working
up to full power yet, and so the pace is very slow. The weights
seem to me a good deal heavier than we bargained for. Day sets
his motor going, climbs off the car, and walks alongside with
an occasional finger on the throttle. Lashly hasn't yet
quite got hold of the nice adjustments of his control levers,
but I hope will have done so after a day's practice.
The only alarming incident was the slipping of the chains
when Day tried to start on some ice very thinly covered with
snow. The starting effort on such heavily laden sledges is very
heavy, but I thought the grip of the pattens and studs would
have been good enough on any surface. Looking at the place afterwards
I found that the studs had grooved the ice.
Now as I
write at 12.30 the machines are about a mile out in the South
Bay; both can be seen still under weigh, progressing steadily
if slowly.
I find myself immensely eager that these tractors
should succeed, even though they may not be of great help to
our southern advance. A small measure of success will be enough
to show their possibilities, their ability to revolutionise
Polar transport. Seeing the machines at work to-day, and remembering
that every defect so far shown is purely mechanical, it is impossible
not to be convinced of their value. But the trifling mechanical
defects and lack of experience show the risk of cutting out
trials. A season of experiment with a small workshop at hand
may be all that stands between success and failure.
At
any rate before we start we shall certainly know if the worst
has happened, or if some measure of success attends this unique
effort.
The ponies are in fine form. Victor, practically
recovered from his wound, has been rushing round with a sledge
at a great rate. Even Jehu has been buckish, kicking up his
heels and gambolling awkwardly. The invalids progress, Clissold
a little alarmed about his back, but without cause.
Atkinson
and Keohane have turned cooks, and do the job splendidly.
This morning Meares announced his return from Corner Camp,
so that all stores are now out there. The run occupied the same
time as the first, when the routine was: first day 17 miles
out; second day 13 out, and 13 home; early third day run in.
If only one could trust the dogs to keep going like this it
would be splendid. On the whole things look hopeful.
1 P.M. motors reported off Razor Back Island, nearly 3 miles
out--come, come!
Thursday, October 26
Couldn't see the motors yesterday till I walked well out
on the South Bay, when I discovered them with glasses off the
Glacier Tongue. There had been a strong wind in the forenoon,
but it seemed to me they ought to have got further--annoyingly
the telephone gave no news from Hut Point, evidently something
was wrong. After dinner Simpson and Gran started for Hut Point.
This morning Simpson has just rung up. He says the motors
are in difficulties with the surface. The trouble is just that
which I noted as alarming on Monday--the chains slip on the
very light snow covering of hard ice. The engines are working
well, and all goes well when the machines get on to snow.
I have organised a party of eight men including myself,
and we are just off to see what can be done to help.
Friday, October 27
We were away by 10.30
yesterday. Walked to the Glacier Tongue with gloomy forebodings;
but for one gust a beautifully bright inspiriting day. Seals
were about and were frequently mistaken for the motors. As we
approached the Glacier Tongue, however, and became more alive
to such mistakes, we realised that the motors were not in sight.
At first I thought they must have sought better surface on the
other side of the Tongue, but this theory was soon demolished
and we were puzzled to know what had happened. At length walking
onward they were descried far away over the floe towards Hut
Point; soon after we saw good firm tracks over a snow surface,
a pleasant change from the double tracks and slipper places
we had seen on the bare ice. Our spirits went up at once, for
it was not only evident that the machines were going, but that
they were negotiating a very rough surface without difficulty.
We marched on and overtook them about 2 1/2 miles from Hut Point,
passing Simpson and Gran returning to Cape Evans. From the motors
we learnt that things were going pretty well. The engines were
working well when once in tune, but the cylinders, especially
the two after ones, tended to get too hot, whilst the fan or
wind playing on the carburetter tended to make it too cold.
The trouble was to get a balance between the two, and this is
effected by starting up the engines, then stopping and covering
them and allowing the heat to spread by conductivity--of course,
a rather clumsy device. We camped ahead of the motors as they
camped for lunch. Directly after, Lashly brought his machine
along on low gear and without difficulty ran it on to Cape Armitage.
Meanwhile Day was having trouble with some bad surface; we had
offered help and been refused, and with Evans alone his difficulties
grew, whilst the wind sprang up and the snow started to drift.
We had walked into the hut and found Meares, but now we all
came out again. I sent for Lashly and Hooper and went back to
help Day along. We had exasperating delays and false starts
for an hour and then suddenly the machine tuned up, and off
she went faster than one could walk, reaching Cape Armitage
without further hitch. It was blizzing by this time; the snow
flew by. We all went back to the hut; Meares and Demetri have
been busy, the hut is tidy and comfortable and a splendid brick
fireplace had just been built with a brand new stove-pipe leading
from it directly upward through the roof. This is really a most
creditable bit of work. Instead of the ramshackle temporary
structures of last season we have now a solid permanent fireplace
which should last for many a year. We spent a most comfortable
night.
This morning we were away over the floe about
9 A.M. I was anxious to see how the motors started up and agreeably
surprised to find that neither driver took more than 20 to 30
minutes to get his machine going, in spite of the difficulties
of working a blow lamp in a keen cold wind.
Lashly got
away very soon, made a short run of about 1/2 mile, and then
after a short halt to cool, a long non-stop for quite 3 miles.
The Barrier, five geographical miles from Cape Armitage, now
looked very close, but Lashly had overdone matters a bit, run
out of lubricant and got his engine too hot. The next run yielded
a little over a mile, and he was forced to stop within a few
hundred yards of the snow slope leading to the Barrier and wait
for more lubricant, as well as for the heat balance in his engine
to be restored.
This motor was going on second gear,
and this gives a nice easy walking speed, 2 1/2 to 3 miles an
hour; it would be a splendid rate of progress if it was not
necessary to halt for cooling. This is the old motor which was
used in Norway; the other machine has modified gears. [30]
Meanwhile Day had had the usual balancing trouble and had
dropped to a speck, but towards the end of our second run it
was evident he had overcome these and was coming along at a
fine speed. One soon saw that the men beside the sledges were
running. To make a long story short, he stopped to hand over
lubricating oil, started at a gallop again, and dashed up the
slope without a hitch on his top speed--the first man to run
a motor on the Great Barrier! There was great cheering from
all assembled, but the motor party was not wasting time on jubilation.
On dashed the motor, and it and the running men beside it soon
grew small in the distance. We went back to help Lashly, who
had restarted his engine. If not so dashingly, on account of
his slower speed, he also now took the slope without hitch and
got a last handshake as he clattered forward. His engine was
not working so well as the other, but I think mainly owing to
the first overheating and a want of adjustment resulting therefrom.
Thus the motors left us, travelling on the best surface
they have yet encountered--hard windswept snow without sastrugi--a
surface which Meares reports to extend to Corner Camp at least.
Providing there is no serious accident, the engine troubles
will gradually be got over; of that I feel pretty confident.
Every day will see improvement as it has done to date, every
day the men will get greater confidence with larger experience
of the machines and the conditions. But it is not easy to foretell
the extent of the result of older and earlier troubles with
the rollers. The new rollers turned up by Day are already splitting,
and one of Lashly's chains is in a bad way; it may be possible
to make temporary repairs good enough to cope with the improved
surface, but it seems probable that Lashly's car will not
get very far.
It is already evident that had the rollers
been metal cased and the runners metal covered, they would now
be as good as new. I cannot think why we had not the sense to
have this done. As things are I am satisfied we have the right
men to deal with the difficulties of the situation.
The
motor programme is not of vital importance to our plan and it
is possible the machines will do little to help us, but already
they have vindicated themselves. Even the seamen, who have remained
very sceptical of them, have been profoundly impressed. Evans
said, 'Lord, sir, I reckon if them things can go on like
that you wouldn't want nothing else'--but like everything
else of a novel nature, it is the actual sight of them at work
that is impressive, and nothing short of a hundred miles over
the Barrier will carry conviction to outsiders.
Parting
with the motors, we made haste back to Hut Point and had tea
there. My feet had got very sore with the unaccustomed soft
foot-gear and crinkly surface, but we decided to get back to
Cape Evans. We came along in splendid weather, and after stopping
for a cup of tea at Razor Back, reached the hut at 9 P.M., averaging
3 1/2 stat. miles an hour. During the day we walked 26 1/2 stat.
miles, not a bad day's work considering condition, but I'm
afraid my feet are going to suffer for it.
Saturday,
October 28
My feet sore and one 'tendon Achillis'
strained (synovitis); shall be right in a day or so, however.
Last night tremendous row in the stables. Christopher and Chinaman
discovered fighting. Gran nearly got kicked. These ponies are
getting above themselves with their high feeding. Oates says
that Snippets is still lame and has one leg a little 'heated';
not a pleasant item of news. Debenham is progressing but not
very fast; the Western Party will leave after us, of that there
is no doubt now. It is trying that they should be wasting the
season in this way. All things considered, I shall be glad to
get away and put our fortune to the test.
Monday,
October 30
We had another beautiful day yesterday,
and one began to feel that the summer really had come; but to-day,
after a fine morning, we have a return to blizzard conditions.
It is blowing a howling gale as I write. Yesterday Wilson, Crean,
P.O. Evans, and I donned our sledging kit and camped by the
bergs for the benefit of Ponting and his cinematograph; he got
a series of films which should be about the most interesting
of all his collection. I imagine nothing will take so well as
these scenes of camp life.
On our return we found Meares
had returned; he and the dogs well. He told us that (Lieut.)
Evans had come into Hut Point on Saturday to fetch a personal
bag left behind there. Evans reported that Lashly's motor
had broken down near Safety Camp; they found the big end smashed
up in one cylinder and traced it to a faulty casting; they luckily
had spare parts, and Day and Lashly worked all night on repairs
in a temperature of -25‚°. By the morning repairs
were completed and they had a satisfactory trial run, dragging
on loads with both motors. Then Evans found out his loss and
returned on ski, whilst, as I gather, the motors proceeded;
I don't quite know how, but I suppose they ran one on at
a time.
On account of this accident and because some
of our hardest worked people were badly hit by the two days'
absence helping the machines, I have decided to start on Wednesday
instead of to-morrow. If the blizzard should blow out, Atkinson
and Keohane will set off to-morrow for Hut Point, so that we
may see how far Jehu is to be counted on.
Tuesday,
October 31
The blizzard has blown itself out this
morning, and this afternoon it has cleared; the sun is shining
and the wind dropping. Meares and Ponting are just off to Hut
Point. Atkinson and Keohane will probably leave in an hour or
so as arranged, and if the weather holds, we shall all get off
to-morrow. So here end the entries in this diary with the first
chapter of our History. The future is in the lap of the gods;
I can think of nothing left undone to deserve success.
CHAPTER XVI
- SOUTHERN JOURNEY: THE BARRIER STAGE