The Voyages of Captain Scott - Charles Turley
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The extensive preparations for the western journey had practically
stripped the ship of sledge equipment, and those who went out on
shorter journeys were obliged to make the best of the little that
remained. This did not, however, balk their energies, and by resorting
to all kinds of shifts and devices they made many useful expeditions.
While these efforts at exploration were being carried out the ship
was left in the charge of Royds, who employed everyone on board
in the most important task of freeing the boats. Drastic measures
had to be taken before they could be released from their beds of
ice, and with sawing and blasting going on in the unseen depths,
it was not possible
[Page 140]
that the task could be accomplished without doing considerable
damage. When at length all of them had been brought to the surface
their condition was exceedingly dilapidated; indeed only two of
them were in a condition to float; but although it was evident
that the carpenter would be busy for many weeks before they would
be seaworthy, their reappearance was a tremendous relief.
Long before his departure to the south, Scott had given instructions
that the _Discovery_ should be prepared for sea by the end of January.
Consequently, after the boats had been freed, there was still plenty
of employment for everybody, since 'preparations for sea' under
such circumstances meant a most prodigious amount of labour. Tons
and tons of snow had to be dug out from the deck with pick-axes
and shoveled over the side; aloft, sails and ropes had to be looked
to, the running-gear to be re-rove, and everything got ready for
handling the ship under sail; many things that had been displaced
or landed near the shore-station had to be brought on board and
secured in position; thirty tons of ice had to be fetched, melted,
and run into the boilers; below, steam-pipes had to be rejointed,
glands re-packed, engines turned by hand, and steam raised to see
that all was in working order.
Not doubting that the ice would soon break up and release the ship,
this work was carried on so vigorously that when the southern travelers
returned all was ready for them to put to sea again.
[Page 141]
But eleven days before Scott and his companions struggled back to
safety the great event of the season had happened in the arrival
of the _Morning_. How the funds were raised by means of which this
ship was sent is a tale in itself; briefly, however, it was due to
the untiring zeal and singleness of purpose shown by Sir Clements
Markham that the _Morning_, commanded by Lieutenant William Colbeck,
R.N.R., was able to leave the London Docks on July 9, 1902.
Long before the _Discovery_ had left New Zealand the idea of a
relief ship had been discussed, and although Scott saw great
difficulties in the way, he also felt quite confident that if the
thing was to be done Sir Clements was the man to do it. Obviously
then it was desirable to leave as much information as possible
on the track, and the relief ship was to try and pick up clues
at the places where Scott had said that he would attempt to leave
them. These places were Cape Adare, Possession Islands, Coulman
Island, Wood Bay, Franklin Island and Cape Crozier.
On January 8 a landing was effected at Cape Adare, and there Colbeck
heard of the _Discovery's_ safe arrival in the south. The Possession
Islands were drawn blank, because Scott had not been able to land
there, and south of this the whole coast was so thickly packed that
the _Morning_ could not approach either Coulman Island or Wood
Bay.
Franklin Island was visited on January 14, but
[Page 142]
without result; and owing to the quantities of pack ice it was not
until four days later that a landing was made at Cape Crozier. Colbeck
himself joined the landing party, and after spending several hours
in fruitless search, he was just giving up the hunt and beginning
despondently to wonder what he had better do next, when suddenly a
small post was seen on the horizon. A rush was made for it, and
in a few minutes Colbeck knew that he had only to steer into the
mysterious depths of McMurdo Sound to find the _Discovery_, and
practically to accomplish the work he had set out to do.
On board the _Discovery_ the idea had steadily grown that a relief
ship would come. For no very clear reason the men had begun to
look upon it as a certainty, and during the latter part of January
it was not uncommon for wild rumors to be spread that smoke had
been seen to the north. Such reports, therefore, were generally
received without much excitement, but when a messenger ran down
the hill on the night of the 23rd to say that there was actually a
ship in sight the enthusiasm was intense. Only the most imperturbable
of those on board could sleep much during that night, and early
on the 24th a large party set out over the floe. The _Morning_
was lying some ten miles north of the _Discovery_, but it was far
easier to see her than to reach her. At last, however, the party,
after various little adventures, stood safely on deck and received
the warmest of welcomes.
During the last week of January the weather was
[Page 143]
in its most glorious mood, and with some of the treacherous thin
ice breaking away the _Morning_ was able to get a mile nearer.
Parties constantly passed to and fro between the two ships, and
everyone--with unshaken confidence that the _Discovery_ would soon
be free--gave themselves up to the delight of fresh companionship,
and the joy of good news from the home country. To this scene of
festivity and cheeriness Scott, Wilson and Shackleton returned on
February 3, and though the last to open their letters they had
the satisfaction of knowing that the _Morning_ had brought nothing
but good news.
By a curious coincidence Colbeck chose the night of the Southern
party's return to make his first visit to the _Discovery_, and soon
after Scott had come out of his delicious bath and was reveling in
the delight of clean clothes, he had the pleasure of welcoming him
on board. 'In those last weary marches over the barrier,' Scott says,
'I had little expected that the first feast in our home quarters
would be taken with strange faces gathered round our festive table,
but so it was, and I can well remember the look of astonishment
that dawned on those faces when we gradually displayed our power
of absorbing food.'
But however difficult the appetites of the party were to appease,
for a fortnight after they had reached the ship their condition
was very wretched. Shackleton at once went to bed, and although
he soon tried to be out and about again, the least exertion caused
a return of his breathlessness, and he still suffered from
[Page 144]
the violent fits of coughing that had troubled him so much on the
journey. With Wilson, who at one time had shown the least signs
of scurvy, the disease had increased so rapidly at the end that
on his return he wisely decided to go to bed, where he remained
quietly for ten days. 'Wilson,' Scott wrote on February 16, 'is a
very fine fellow, his pluck and go were everything on our southern
journey; one felt he wouldn't give in till he dropped.' And this
collapse when he got back to the ship was in itself a proof of the
determination which must have upheld him during the last marches.
Scott, though the least affected of the three, was also by no means
fit and well. Both his legs were swollen and his gums were very
uncomfortable, but in addition to these troubles he was attacked
by an overwhelming feeling of both physical and mental weariness.
'Many days passed,' he says, 'before I could rouse myself from this
slothful humour, and it was many weeks before I had returned to
a normally vigorous condition. It was probably this exceptionally
relaxed state of health that made me so slow to realize that the
ice conditions were very different from what they had been in the
previous season.... The prospect of the ice about us remaining fast
throughout the season never once entered my head.' His diary, however,
for the month shows how he gradually awakened to the true state of
affairs, and on February 13 he decided to begin the transport of
stores from the _Morning_ to the _Discovery_, so that the former
ship 'should run no risk of being detained.' And on the 18th when
[Page 145]
he paid his first visit to the _Morning_ and found the journey
'an awful grind,' he had begun to wonder whether the floe was ever
going to break up.
[Illustration: LUNAR CORONA.]
A week later he was clearly alive to the situation. 'The _Morning_
must go in less than a week, and it seems now impossible that we
shall be free by that time, though I still hope the break-up may
come after she has departed.' Some time previously he had decided
that if they had to remain the ship's company should be reduced,
and on the 24th he had a talk with the men and told them that he
wished nobody to stop on board who was not willing. On the following
day a list was sent round for the names of those who wanted to go,
and the result was curiously satisfactory--for Scott had determined
that eight men should go, and not only were there eight names on
the list, but they were also precisely those which Scott would
have put there had he made the selection. Shackleton also had to
be told that he must go, as in his state of health Scott did not
think that any further hardships ought to be risked; but in his
place Scott requisitioned Mulock who by an extraordinary chance
is just the very man we wanted. We have now an immense amount of
details for charts... and Mulock is excellent at this work and as
keen as possible. It is rather amusing, as he is the only person
who is obviously longing for the ice to stop in, though of course
he doesn't say so. The other sporting characters are still giving
ten to one that it will go out, but I am bound to confess that
I am not sanguine.'
[Page 146]
The letter from which the last extract is taken was begun on February
16, and before the end of the month all hope of the _Discovery_
being able to leave with the _Morning_ had been abandoned. On March
2 nearly the whole of the _Discovery's_ company were entertained
on board the _Morning_, and on the following day the relief ship
slowly backed away from the ice-edge, and in a few minutes she was
turning to the north, with every rope and spar outlined against
the black northern sky. Cheer after cheer was raised as she gathered
way, and long after she had passed out of earshot the little band
stood gazing at her receding hull, and wondering when they too
would be able to take the northern track.
In the _Morning_ went a letter from Scott which shows that although
in a sense disappointed by the prospect of having to remain for
another winter, both he and his companions were not by any means
dismayed. 'It is poor luck,' he wrote, 'as I was dead keen on getting
a look round C. North before making for home. However we all take
it philosophically, and are perfectly happy and contented on board,
and shall have lots to do in winter, spring and summer. We will
have a jolly good try to free the ship next year, though I fear
manual labour doesn't go far with such terribly heavy ice as we
have here; but this year we were of course unprepared, and when
we realized the situation it was too late to begin anything like
extensive operations. I can rely on every single man that remains
in the ship and I gave them all the option of leaving...
[Page 147]
the ship's company is now practically naval-officers and men--it
is rather queer when one looks back to the original gift of two
officers.'
Referring to the Southern journey he says, 'We cut our food and
fuel too fine.... I never knew before what it was to be hungry;
at times we were famished and had to tighten our belts nightly
before going to sleep. The others dreamt of food snatched away at
the last moment, but this didn't bother me so much.'
But characteristically the greater part of this long letter refers
not to his own doings, but to the admirable qualities of those who
were with him. Wilson, Royds, Skelton, Hodgson, Barne and Bernacchi
are all referred to in terms of the warmest praise, and for the
manner in which Colbeck managed the relief expedition the greatest
admiration is expressed. But in some way or other Scott discovered
good points in all the officers he mentioned, and if they were
not satisfactory in every way his object seemed to be rather to
excuse than to blame them. He was, however, unaffectedly glad to
see the last of the cook, for the latter had shown himself far
more capable at talking than at cooking, and had related so many
of his wonderful adventures that one of the sailors reckoned that
the sum total of these thrilling experiences must have extended
over a period of five hundred and ninety years--which, as the sailor
said, was a fair age even for a cook.
By March 14 even the most optimistic of the company were compelled
to admit the certainty of a second winter, and orders were given
to prepare the
[Page 148]
ship for it. Compared with the previous year the weather had been
a great deal worse, for there had been more wind and much lower
temperatures, and under such conditions it was hopeless to go on
expecting the ice to break up. But it was not to be wondered at
that they found themselves wondering what their imprisonment meant.
Was it the present summer or the last that was the exception? For
them this was the gravest question, since on the answer to it their
chance of getting away next year, or at all, depended.
While, however, the situation as regards the future was not altogether
without anxiety, they sturdily determined to make the best of the
present. To ward off any chance of scurvy, it was determined to
keep rigidly to a fresh-meat routine throughout the winter, and
consequently a great number of seals and skuas had to be killed.
At first the skua had been regarded as unfit for human food, but
Skelton on a sledding trip had caught one in a noose and promptly
put it into the pot. And the result was so satisfactory that the
skua at once began to figure prominently on the menu. They had,
however, to deplore the absence of penguins from their winter diet,
because none had been seen near the ship for a long time.
On Wednesday, April 24, the sun departed, but Scott remarks upon
this rather dismal fact with the greatest cheerfulness: 'It would be
agreeable to know what is going to happen next year, but otherwise
we have no wants. Our routine goes like clock-work;
[Page 149]
we eat, sleep, work and play at regular hours, and are never in
lack of employment. Hockey, I fear, must soon cease for lack of
light, but it has been a great diversion, although not unattended
with risks, for yesterday I captured a black eye from a ball furiously
driven by Royds.'
Of the months that followed little need be said, except that Scott's
anticipations were fully realized. In fact the winter passed by
without a hitch, and their second mid-winter day found them even
more cheerful than their first. Hodgson continued to work away
with his fish-traps, tow-nets and dredging; Mulock, who had been
trained as a surveyor and had great natural abilities for the work,
was most useful, first in collecting and re-marking all the
observations, and later on in constructing temporary charts; while
Barne generally vanished after breakfast and spent many a day at
his distant sounding holes.
Throughout the season the routine of scientific observations was
carried out in the same manner as in the previous year, while many
new details were added; and so engaged was everyone in serviceable
work that when the second long Polar night ended, Scott was able to
write: 'I do not think there is a soul on board the _Discovery_ who
would say that it has been a hardship.... All thoughts are turned
towards the work that lies before us, and it would be difficult to
be blind to the possible extent of its usefulness. Each day has
brought it more home to us how little we know and how much there
is to be learned, and we
[Page 150]
realize fully that this second year's work may more than double
the value of our observations. Life in these regions has lost any
terror it ever possessed for us, for we know that, come what may,
we can live, and live well, for any reasonable number of years
to come.'
[Page 151]
CHAPTER VIII
THE WESTERN JOURNEY
Path of advance! but it leads
A long steep journey through sunk
Gorges, o'er mountains in snow.--M. ARNOLD.
During the second winter much time and attention had to be given
to the sledge equipment, for there was scarcely an article in it
that did not need to be thoroughly overhauled and refitted. But in
spite of all their efforts, the outfit for the coming season was
bound to be a tattered and makeshift affair. Skins of an inferior
quality had to be used for sleeping-bags; the tents were blackened
with use, threadbare in texture, and patched in many places; the
cooking apparatus was considerably the worse for wear; the wind
clothes were almost worn out, while for all the small bags, which
were required for provisions, they were obliged to fall back on any
sheets and tablecloths that could be found. This state of things,
however, was very far from daunting their spirits, and long before
the winter was over the plan of campaign for the next season had
been drawn up.
In making the program Scott knew that extended
[Page 152]
journeys could only be made by properly supported parties, and it
was easy to see that his small company would not be able to make
more than two supported journeys, though it might be just possible
to make a third more or less lengthy journey without support. The
next thing to decide was in what direction these parties should
go, and in this connection the greatest interest undoubtedly lay
in the west. To explore the Ferrar Glacier from a geological point
of view and find out the nature of the interior ice-cap must, Scott
determined, be attempted at all costs, and this journey to the
west he decided to lead himself.
In the south it was evident that without dogs no party could hope
to get beyond the point already reached. But Scott's journey had
been made a long way from land, and consequently had left many
problems unsolved, chief among which were the extraordinary straits
that had appeared to run through the mountain ranges without rising
in level. It was therefore with the main object of exploring one
of them that the second supported party, under the leadership of
Barne and Mulock, was to set out.
The credit in arranging the direction in which the unsupported
party should go belongs to Bernacchi, who was the first to ask
Scott what proof they had that the barrier surface continued on
a level to the eastward; and when Scott began to consider this
question, he discovered that there was no definite proof, and decided
that the only way to get it was to go and see.
[Illustration: PINNACLED ICE AT MOUTH OF FERRAR GLACIER. _Photo
by F. Debenham._]
[Illustration: PRESSURE RIDGES NORTH SIDE OF DISCOVERY BLUFF. _Photo
by F. Debenham._]
[Page 153]
Besides the longer journeys, the program included a number of shorter
ones for specific purposes, and the most important of these were
the periodic visits to the Emperor penguin rookery, as it was hoped
that Wilson would be able to observe these birds from the beginning
of their breeding season.
Finally, one important factor was to dominate all the sledding
arrangements, for although the _Discovery_ was mainly at the mercy
of natural causes, Scott made up his mind that everything man could
do to free her from the ice should be done. As soon as they could
hope to make any impression upon the great ice-sheet around them,
the whole force of the company was to set to work at the task of
extrication, and so all sledding journeys were to start in time
to assure their return to the ship by the middle of December.
On September 9 Scott got away with his own party of Skelton, Dailey,
Evans, Lashly and Handsley, their object being to find a new road to
the Ferrar Glacier, and on it to place a depot ready for a greater
effort over the ice-cap. The Ferrar Glacier descends gradually
to the inlet, which had been named New Harbor, but Armitage had
reported most adversely on this inlet as a route for sledges, and
in conducting his own party had led it across the high foot-hills.
As yet Scott had not been to this region, but in the nature of
things he could not help thinking that some practical route must
exist up the New Harbour inlet, and that if it could be found the
journey to the west would be much easier. And the result of this
little journey
[Page 154]
was really important, for whereas Armitage, at the foot of the
Ferrar Glacier, had seen the disturbance on the south side, and
had concluded that it must extend right across, Scott's party
fortunately pushed over this disturbance and found much easier
conditions beyond it.
The fact thus discovered, and which was amply supported by further
observations, was that invariably in the Antarctic regions where
glaciers run more or less east and west, the south side will be
found to be much broken up and decayed, while the north side will
be comparatively smooth and even. The reason of this, of course,
is simple enough, for the sun achieves its highest altitude in the
north, and consequently its warmest and most direct rays fall on
the south side of a valley. Here, therefore, the greater part of
the summer melting takes place, and a wild chaos of ice disturbance
is caused.
Scott's party, by taking a different route, laid a depot at a spot
which Armitage had taken three weeks to reach, and was back again
at the ship in less than a fortnight.
'We were,' Scott says, 'inclined to be exceedingly self-satisfied;
we had accomplished our object with unexpected ease, we had done
a record march, and we had endured record temperatures--at least,
we thought so, and thought also how pleasant it would be to tell
these things in front of a nice bright fire. As we approached the
ship, however, Hodgson came out to greet us, and his first question
was, "What temperatures
[Page 155]
have you had?" We replied by complacently quoting our array of
_minus_ fifties, but he quickly cut us short by remarking that we
were not in it.'
In fact during those few days there had been a very cold snap throughout
the region. Barne's party on the barrier, where they had been laying
a depot, had the coldest time, and after their thermometer had
fallen lower and lower its spirit-column broke at -67.7 deg.. Royds
and his party also had to endure -62 deg., but in other respects they
were in luck. For on arriving at Cape Crozier they found that the
Emperor penguins had already hatched out their young, and Wilson
was delighted to get the opportunity of studying the chicks at
such a tender age. Commenting upon this and another journey to
Cape Crozier, Wilson wrote: 'The Emperor penguin stands nearly
four feet high, and weighs upward of eighty to ninety pounds....
I think the chickens hate their parents, and when one watches the
proceedings in a rookery it strikes one as not surprising. In the
first place there is about one chick to ten or twelve adults, and
each adult has an overpowering desire to "sit" on something. Both
males and females want to nurse, and the result is that when a
chicken finds himself alone there is a rush on the part of a dozen
unemployed to seize him. Naturally he runs away, and dodges here
and there till a six-stone Emperor falls on him, and then begins
a regular football scrimmage, in which each tries to hustle the
other off, and the end is too often disastrous to the chick....
I think it is not
[Page 156]
an exaggeration to say that of the 77 per cent. that die no less
than half are killed by kindness.'
From Cape Crozier Cross resolved to try to bring two chickens back
to the ship, and by giving up his sleeping jacket to keep them
warm and tending them with the utmost care, he succeeded in his
attempt. But eventually they died from unnatural feeding, and Wilson
says: 'Had we even succeeded in bringing them to the age when they
put on their feathers, I fear that the journey home through the
tropics would have proved too much for them, as we had no means
of making a cool place for them on the ship.'
September 21 brought with it a grievous disappointment, as on that
day the nautical almanac announced that nine-tenths of the sun would
be obscured. For this event Bernacchi had made the most careful
preparations, and everyone was placed under his orders during the
day. Telescopes and the spectroscopic camera were trained in the
right direction, magnetic instruments were set to run at quick
speed, and observers were told off to watch everything on which the
absence of sun could possibly have the smallest effect. Everything,
in short, was ready except the sun itself which obstinately refused
to come out. 'There may,' Scott says, 'have been an eclipse of
the sun on September 21, 1903, as the almanac said, but we should
none of us have liked to swear to the fact.'