Section C: The Polar Plateau/ The Summit
19 January
The team set off, making a sail for the sledge out of the tent poles and the tent's floorcloth. With a tail wind this made the start to their return journey much easier.
20 January
Last depot reached.
The next depot, One and a half Depot was about 50 miles away and they had 7 days food and fuel supplies.
22 January
Sightings of the cairns became a key navigation method. Wilson noted that the cairn from camp 65 could be seen 1½ miles away. At other times they struggled to find their initial tracks which had become covered up with snowdrifts.
25 January
Wilson had a bad attack of snow-blindness, applies the zinc sulphate and cocaine but was still in pain and got very little sleep.
Oates and Evans were showing signs of frostbite. After some searching the One and a half Degree depot was found. This gave them just over 9 days food and about 90 miles until the next depot.
30 January
Wilson strained a tendon in his leg and was in pain.
Evans lost two fingernails.
31 January
Three Degree Depot reached. Only four men fit enough to pull the sledge. In the afternoon Bowers was able to reclaim his ski.
7 February
The Upper Glacier Depot was reached. Here it is discovered that the biscuit tin was short of the expected supplies. Scott was angry at the man responsible for stores, Bowers who was also upset at this turn of events.
Section B: The descent through the Transantarctic Mountains/ The Beardmore Glacier
The descent of the Glacier began with the party five days away from the next depot, the Mid-Glacier Depot but in possession of only five days food.
8 February
The party stopped to collect rock specimens, including rocks with plant fossils. This stop probably cost the party half a day's travelling.
11 February
The party lost their way and, with food supplies running low, they were in a desperate state. The pemmican ration was divided to stretch it out for another meal.
12 February
The cairn half a day out from the depot was discovered but from there the party got lost again and camped with only one meal left in the food bag.
13 February
The depot was found in the afternoon, giving them another three and a half day's food.
Evans was showing definite signs of stress and was incapable of helping in the work at camp. He had frostbite with a huge blister on a foot. He was also suffering from the effects of malnutrition and a fall earlier on the descent had affected him badly.
There is also evidence that psychologically he was losing the will to continue. His condition was also beginning to delay the progress of the party e.g. he was taking a long time to get ready for marching.
16 February
Evans collapses, "sick and giddy and unable to walk even by sledge on ski". (Wilson)
17 February
Evans fell behind the rest of the party and they had to go back to collect him. Scott describes Evans when he found him:
"he was on his knees with clothing disarranged, hands uncovered and frostbitten, and a wild look in his eyes. Asked what was the matter, he replied with a slow speech that he didn't know, but thought he must have fainted."
When they got him into the tent he became comatose and died at 10pm.
Later that night the party reached the Lower Glacier Depot.
Section C: The Ross Ice Shelf /The Barrier
18 February
Shambles Camp, where the last ponies had been killed, was reached. Here horsemeat was added to their pemmican hoosh. At this camp they picked up a sledge that had been left at the depot and packed it up, including good supplies of horsemeat.
Setting on the 19th they had heavy work of the soft snow.
25 February
Reached the Southern Barrier Depot.
Here the paraffin oil shortage became more apparent. The tins had been leaking and now this loss was to put great pressure on the returning party.
Scott was now the only member of the party keeping a diary.
26- February- 1 March
The temperatures on the Barrier were getting much colder and Scott complains a lot about cold feet.
1 March
Reached the Middle Barrier Depot. Here three serious matters came to a head.
- Yet another shortage of fuel was discovered. It was unsure whether there was enough to get them through to the next depot (Mount Hooper) over 60 miles away.
- Oates revealed the state of his frostbitten feet, now clearly in an advanced gangerous state.
- The run of very cold conditions continued, falling below -40° at night. It took 1½ hours to get their footwear on.
4 March
Man-hauling was becoming more difficult. 3½ miles was made in 4½ hours.
The next depot was 42 miles away, food supplies were sufficient for a week, fuel could only last 3-4 days.
5 March
Oates' condition continues to worsen. Scott writes "..the poor Soldier nearly done."
6 March
"Poor Oates is unable to pull, sits on the sledge when we are track-searching- he is wonderfully plucky, as his feet must be giving him great pain. He makes no complaint, but his spirits only come in spurts now."
"If we were all fit I should have hopes of getting through, but the poor Soldier has become a terrible hindrance.."
7 March
"One of Oates' feet very bad this morning; he is wonderfully brave. We still talk of we will do together at home."
8 March
"Wilson's feet giving trouble now, but this mainly because he gives so much help to others."
"God help us indeed. We are in a very bad way"
9 March
Mount Hooper depot reached. Scott had hoped that Meares would have been there with the dogs. Meares had returned to New Zealand on the Terra Nova and Cherry-Garrard and Girev had moved up to One Ton Depot on 4 March. He did not proceed and waited until 10 March before returning to Cape Evans.
10 March
"Things steadily downhill. Oates' foot worse. He has rare pluck and must know that he can never get through. He asked Wilson if he had a chance this morning, and of course Bill had to say he didn't know. In point of f act he has none."
"…poor old Titus is the greatest handicap. He keeps us waiting in the morning until we have partly lost the warming effect of our breakfast…. Poor chap! It is too pathetic to watch him; one cannot but try to cheer him up"
11 March
"Titus Oates is very near the end, one feels. What we or he will do, God only knows. We discussed the matter after breakfast; he is a brave fine fellow and understands the situation, but he practically asked for advice. Nothing could be said but to urge him to march as long as he could."
Wilson gave the party 30 opium tablets each to use if they wanted to end their lives.
12 March
6.9 miles achieved. 47 miles from the next depot.
14 March
"We must go on, but now the making of every camp must be more difficult and dangerous. It must be near the end, but a pretty merciful end."
17 March
"At lunch, the day before yesterday, poor Titus Oates said he couldn't go on; he proposed we should leave him in his sleeping bag. That we could not do…At night he was worse and we knew the end had come."
"Should this be found I want these facts recorded. Oates' last thoughts were of his mother, but immediately before he took pride in thinking that his regiment would be pleased with the bold way in which he met his death."
"He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning-yesterday. It was blowing a blizzard. He said, "I am just going outside and may be some time" He went out into the blizzard and we have not seen him since.
"We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far."
They reached camp 14 of the southern march. They had last been here on 18 November. Here they left their theodolite, a camera and Oates' sleeping bags.
18 March
21 miles from One Ton Depot. Scott is suffering gangrene, with toes in his right foot very bad.
19 March
15½ miles from the depot. Three days march away and with two day's food and a day's fuel.
20 March
11 miles from the depot. Scott, Wilson and Bowers tent but are kept in by a blizzard.
21 March
Still held down by the blizzard. Wilson and Bowers were hoping to go to get fuel at the depot.
22 March
Wilson and Bowers unable to go because of the blizzard
23 March
Blizzard keeps the party tent-bound
29 March
Still confined by the blizzard. Scott makes his last diary entry.
" We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.
It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.
R. Scott
Last entry.
For God's sake look after our people."
During the period 21 March to 29 March the three men lay in their tents and wrote their farewell letters.
The Discovery of Scott, Wilson and Bowers
Thirteen men wintered over at Cape Evans during 1912 under the command of Atkinson. On 29 October 1912 they set out to find the bodies of Scott and his party.
The found Scott's tent drifted up with snow on 12 November. After all the men had witnessed the scene inside the tent, Atkinson removed the diaries and letters. The tent was collapsed and a large cairn erected over the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers. A search for Oates' body failed to locate it but where they found his sleeping bag another cairn was erected.
The search party returned and awaited the arrival of the Terra Nova which arrived on 18 January 1913 under the command of Teddy Evans.
Before they left, a memorial cross was set up to mark the deaths of the polar party. The inscription was from Tennyson's Ulysses:
To strive, to seek,
to find, and not to yield
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Predicted times
Section C: The Polar Plateau/ The Summit
January 3
Depart South Pole
GPS Location S99.00.00
Distance to Depot #8 - 88km (3 days)
Bearing to Depot #8 - 213°M (0°T) Decl. 147°
January 6
arrive Depot #8 South Plateau
Projected Waypoint S89.16.18 W176.15.00
Collect 15kg food, 3litres fuel (18kg, 5 days)
Distance to Depot #7 - 200km (5 days, ave 40km/d)
Bearing to Depot #7 - 213°M (0°T) Decl. 147°
January 11
Arrive Depot #7 Central Plateau
Projected Waypoint S87.26.54 W176.15.00
Collect 15kg food, 3litres fuel (18kg, 5 days)
Distance to Depot #6 - 200km (4 days, ave 40km/d)
Bearing to Depot #6 - 216°M (0°T) Decl. 144°
January 16
Arrive Depot #6 North Plateau
Projected Waypoint S85.37.30 W176.15.00
Collect 15kg food, 3litres fuel (18kg, 5 days)
Distance to Depot #5 - 132km (3 days, ave 44km/d)
Bearing to Depot #5 - 215°M (357°T) Decl. 142°
Section B: The descent through the Transantarctic Mountains/ The Shackleton Glacier
January 19
Arrive Depot #5 South Ice Shelf
Projected Waypoint S84.27.00 W163.10.00
Collect 9kg food 1.8litres fuel (10.8kg, 3 days)
Distance to Depot #4 - 82km (2 days, ave 41km/d)
Bearing to Depot #4 - 191°M (330°T) Decl. 139°
Section C: The Ross Ice Shelf
January 21
Arrive Depot #4 South Central Ice Shelf
Projected Waypoint S83.45.13 W173.30.00
Collect 9.5kg food, 3litres fuel (5 days)
Distance to Depot #3 - 200km (4 days, ave 50km/d)
Bearing to Depot #3 - 191°M (334°T) Decl. 143°
January 25
Arrive Depot #3 Central Ice Shelf
Projected Waypoint S82.04.01 E178.24.00
Collect 15kg food, 3litres fuel (18kg, 5 days)
Distance to Depot #2 - 200km (4 days, ave 50km/d)
Bearing to Depot #2 - 194°M (339°T) Decl. 145°
January 29
Arrive Depot #2 North Central Ice Shelf
Projected Waypoint S80.22.49 E173.00.00
Collect 15kg food, 3litres fuel (18kg, 5 days)
Distance to Depot #1 - 200km (5 days, ave 40km/d)
Bearing to Depot #1 - 199°M (343°T) Decl. 144°
February 3
Arrive Depot #1 North Ice Shelf
Projected Waypoint S78.41.16 E167.48.30
Collect 9kg food 1.8litres fuel (10.8kg, 3 days)
Distance to Scott Base - 100km (3 days, ave 33.3km/d)
Bearing to Scott Base - 199°M (346°T) Decl. 147°
February 6
Arrive Scott Base
Position S77.51.00 E 166.45.00
Yippee!
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