“10 p.m.—­We have got in a march after all, thank the Lord.

“Assisted by the wind we made an excellent run down to our 1 1/2 Depot, where the big red flag was blowing out of driving drift.  Here we picked up 14 cans of oil, and one week’s food for five men, together with some personal gear depoted.

“We left the bamboo and the flag on the cairn.  I was much relieved to pick up this depot; now we have only one other source of anxiety in the endless snow summit, viz., the third depot in Latitude 86 degrees 56 minutes S. In the afternoon we did 5.2 miles.  It was a miserable march, blizzard all the time and our sledge either sticking on sastrugi or overrunning the traces.  We had to lower the sail half down, and Titus and I hung on to her—­it was most strenuous work as well as much colder than pulling ahead.  Most of the time we had to brake back with all our strength to keep the sledge from overrunning.  Bill got a bad go of sun-glare from following the track without goggles on.

“January 26.—­This day last year we started the depot journey.  I did not think so short a time would turn me into an old hand at Polar travelling, neither did I imagine all the time that I would be returning from the Pole.

“January 29.—­Our record march to-day.  With a good breeze and improving surface we were soon in amongst the double tracks where the supporting party left us.  Then we picked up the memorable camp where I transferred to the advance party.  How glad I was to change over.  The camp was much drifted up, and immense sastrugi . . . etc.”

Day’s marches, temperatures, and so on, then his diary commences missing days out and only contains two line entries in short, sharp notes such as: 

   “January 31.—­Picked up depot 11.20 a.m.  Picked up my ski 6.15 p.m. 
   No wind latterly—­heavy surface. 13 1/2—­Bill’s leg—­Evans’s
   fingers—­extra biscuits, etc.”; and

   “February 11.—­Very heavy surface—­ice crystals—­movement of upper
   currents—­Evans cook—­finer weather—­lower temperature—­sastrugi. 
   Run 11.1.”

It was probably the beginning of the end.

February brought little to the party but bad luck and reverses.  Wilson had strained a tendon in his leg.  Evans’s fingers were in a bad state through frostbite, and on the first of the month Scott himself had fallen and shaken himself badly.  Temperatures low, too low for any good surface.  February 4 found the party amongst crevasses, both Scott and Evans falling into them.  Notwithstanding all their troubles they made a fine pace over the ice-capped plateau and down the Beardmore.  Evans’s fall on February 4 crocked him up a good deal, and he suffered from facial frostbites.  His condition all the time now was causing the gravest anxiety.  The summit journey ended on February 7.  On the