Scotts Last Expedition Volume I | Page 2

and pathos, with the last closing
scene in that silent wilderness of snow. The great leader, with the
bodies of his dearest friends beside him, wrote and wrote until the
pencil dropped from his dying grasp. There was no thought of himself,
only the earnest desire to give comfort and consolation to others in their
sorrow. His very last lines were written lest he who induced him to
enter upon Antarctic work should now feel regret for what he had done.
'If I cannot write to Sir Clements, tell him I thought much of him, and
never regretted his putting me in command of the Discovery.'
CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM.

Sept. 1913.

Contents of the First Volume

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
THROUGH STORMY SEAS
General Stowage--A Last Scene in New Zealand--Departure--On Deck
with the Dogs--The Storm--The Engine-room Flooded--Clearing the
Pumps--Cape Crozier as a Station--Birds of the South--A Pony's
Memory--Tabular Bergs--An Incomparable Scene--Formation of the
Pack--Movements of the Floes ... 1

CHAPTER II
IN THE PACK
A Reported Island--Incessant Changes--The Imprisoning Ice--Ski-ing
and Sledging on the Floes--Movement of Bergs--Opening of the
Pack--A Damaged Rudder--To Stop or not to Stop--Nicknames--Ski
Exercise--Penguins and Music--Composite Floes--Banked
Fires--Christmas in the Ice--The Penguins and the Skua--Ice
Movements--State of the Ice-house--Still in the Ice--Life in the
Pack--Escape from the Pack--A Calm--The Pack far to the
North--Science in the Ice ... 20

CHAPTER III
LAND

Land at Last--Reach Cape Crozier--Cliffs of Cape Crozier--Landing
Impossible--Penguins and Killers--Cape Evans as Winter Station--The
Ponies Landed--Penguins' Fatuous Conduct--Adventure with Killer
Whales--Habits of the Killer Whale--Landing Stores--The Skuas
Nesting--Ponies and their Ways--Dangers of the Rotting Ice ... 53

CHAPTER IV
SETTLING IN
Loss of a Motor--A Dog Dies--Result of Six Days' Work--Restive
Ponies--An Ice Cave--Loading Ballast--Pony Prospects--First Trip to
Hut Point--Return: Prospects of Sea Ice--A Secure Berth--The
Hut--Home Fittings and Autumn Plans--The Pianola--Seal
Rissoles--The Ship Stranded--Ice begins to go. ... 73

CHAPTER V
DEPOT LAYING TO ONE TON CAMP
Dogs and Ponies at Work--Stores for Depots--Old Stores at Discovery
Hut--To Encourage the Pony--Depôt Plans--Pony
Snowshoes--Impressions on the March--Further Impressions--Sledging
Necessities and Luxuries--A Better Surface--Chaos Without; Comfort
Within--After the Blizzard--Marching Routine--The Weakest Ponies
Return--Bowers and Cherry-Garrard--Snow Crusts and Blizzards--A
Resented Frostbite--One Ton Camp. ... 96

CHAPTER VI
ADVENTURE AND PERIL

Dogs' and Ponies' Ways--The Dogs in a Crevasse--Rescue
Work--Chances of a Snow Bridge--The Dog Rations--A Startling
Mail--Cross the Other Party--The End of Weary Willy--The Ice
Breaks--The Ponies on the Floe--Safely Back. ... 122

CHAPTER VII
AT DISCOVERY HUT
Fitting up the Old Hut--A Possible Land Route--The Geological Party
Arrives--Clothing--Exceptional Gales--Geology at Hut Point--An Ice
Foot Exposed--Stabling at Hut Point--Waiting for the Ice--A Clear
Day--Pancake Ice--Life at Hut Point--From Hut Point to Cape
Evans--A Blizzard on the Sea Ice--Dates of the Sea Freezing. ... 138

CHAPTER VIII
HOME IMPRESSIONS AND AN EXCURSION
Baseless Fears about the Hut--The Death of 'Hackenschmidt'--The Dark
Room--The Biologists' Cubicle--An Artificer Cook--A Satisfactory
Organisation--Up an Ice Face--An Icy Run--On getting Hot ... 158

CHAPTER IX
THE WORK AND THE WORKERS
Balloons--Occupations--Many Talents--The Young Ice goes
out--Football: Inverted Temperatures--Of Rainbows--Football: New
Ice--Individual Scientific Work--Individuals at Work--Thermometers
on the Floe--Floe Temperatures--A Bacterium in the Snow--Return of
the Hut Point Party--Personal Harmony ... 171

CHAPTER X
IN WINTER QUARTERS: MODERN STYLE
On Penguins--The Electrical Instruments--On Horse Management--On
Ice Problems--The Aurora--The Nimrod Hut--Continued
Winds--Modern Interests--The Sense of Cold--On the Floes--A Tribute
to Wilson ... 190

CHAPTER XI
TO MIDWINTER DAY
Ventilation--On the Meteorological Instruments--Magnesium
Flashlight--On the Beardmore Glacier--Lively Discussions--Action of
Sea Water on Ice--A Theory of Blizzards--On Arctic Surveying--Ice
Structure--Ocean Life--On Volcanoes--Daily Routine--On Motor
Sledging--Crozier Party's Experiments--Midwinter Day Dinner--A
Christmas Tree--An Ethereal Glory ... 205

CHAPTER XII
AWAITING THE CROZIER PARTY
Threats of a Blizzard--Start of the Crozier Party--Strange Winds--A
Current Vane--Pendulum Observations--Lost on the Floe--The
Wanderer Returns--Pony Parasites--A Great Gale--The Ways of
Storekeepers--A Sick Pony--A Sudden Recovery--Effects of Lack of
Light--Winds of Hurricane Force--Unexpected Ice
Conditions--Telephones at Work--The Cold on the Winter
Journey--Shelterless in a Blizzard--A Most Gallant Story--Winter
Clothing Nearly Perfect. 228

CHAPTER XIII
THE RETURN OF THE SUN
The Indomitable Bowers--A Theory of Blizzards--Ponies' Tricks--On
Horse Management--The Two Esquimaux Dogs--Balloon Records--On
Scurvy--From Tent Island--On India--Storms and Acclimatisation--On
Physiography--Another Lost Dog Returns--The Debris Cones--On
Chinese Adventures--Inverted Temperature. ... 255

CHAPTER XIV
PREPARATIONS: THE SPRING JOURNEY
On Polar Clothing--Prospects of the Motor Sledges--South Polar Times,
II--The Spring Western Journey--The Broken Glacier
Tongue--Marching Against a Blizzard--The Value of
Experience--General Activity--Final Instructions ... 276

CHAPTER XV
THE LAST WEEKS AT CAPE EVANS
Clissold's Accident--Various Invalids--Christopher's Capers--A Motor
Mishap--Dog Sickness--Some Personal Sketches--A Pony Accident--A
Football Knee--Value of the Motors--The Balance of Heat and
Cold--The First Motor on the Barrier--Last Days at Cape Evans. ... 290

CHAPTER XVI

SOUTHERN JOURNEY: THE BARRIER STAGE
Midnight Lunches--A Motor Breaks Down--The Second Motor
Fails--Curious Features of the Blizzard--Ponies Suffer in a
Blizzard--Ponies go Well--A Head Wind--Bad Conditions
Continue--At One Ton Camp--Winter Minimum Temperature--Daily