Free A First Rate Tragedy by Diana Preston Page A

trips had gone well. Scott knew that the expedition would be returning to England with some useful scientific information under its belt. Royds, Bernacchi and a party had sledged for thirty-one days south-east over the Barrier proving that it continued level and Bernacchi had made a number of observations yielding useful data about the region’s magnetic conditions. He also left a more down-to-earth account of sledging, describing some of the problems not addressed in Scott’s loftier and more dignified accounts. In particular he described ‘one of the nightmares of sledging in Antarctica’ – going to the loo in sub-zero temperatures. Explaining that there was no room for facilities in the tiny tents, that latrines took too long to dig and that temporary shelters were an impossibility in the whirling snow, he described how:
    Feeling like a ham in a sack, you go through various preparatory antics of loosening garments – preferably within the tent, and prowl around some distance away facing always the biting wind, and watchfully awaiting a temporary lull. The rest is a matter of speed and dexterity, but invariably the nether garments are filled instantly with masses of surface-drifting snow, which you must take along with you and suffer the discomforts of extreme wetness for hours.
    Later less inhibited explorers have also commented that few Polar travellers avoid piles, the agony of which can all too easily be imagined in a rushed evacuation.
    Mulock, who had joined the Discovery from the Morning in place of Shackleton, had fixed the position and heights of over 200 mountains. Armitage, Wilson and Heald had surveyed the Koettlitz Glacier to the south-west. Armitage had wanted to sledge south but Scott, after consulting Wilson, had ruled that there was no point going over old ground. It would be more productive to explore somewhere new. A reasonable proposition, but Armitage interpreted it as Scott’s desire to keep the record for farthest south for himself. Wilson had been able to make another visit to the emperor penguin rookery at Cape Crozier, and had solved the mystery of how the young birds, still downy and unable to swim, were able to leave the Cape. He had watched them float serenely out to sea with their parents on the ice floes.
    However, all the parties were now safely back on board the Discovery in relative warmth and security. Lashly and Evans were tucking into some fine dishes created by Ford, who had taken over as cook and took his inspiration from a copy of Mrs Beeton, and were fast regaining their strength and lost weight. Indeed Scott observed that Evans was assuming gigantic proportions. He himself was suffering from his recurring problem of dyspepsia, perhaps stress-related, and could not indulge quite so freely. His condition was not helped by worry over whether the Discovery could be freed from the ice in time to sail from McMurdo Sound when the relief vessel joined them. Psychologically and emotionally the Discovery meant a great deal to Scott. She was the symbol of everything that had been achieved during their stay in Antarctica and she had been their home and their refuge. She was also his first independent command and abandoning her would be very difficult for him.
    By early January twenty miles of solid ice still separated the Discovery from the open sea. The sawing camp which Armitagehad set up on Scott’s orders to try and cut a channel was achieving little and Scott ordered the work to stop. He faced a real possibility of yet another winter in McMurdo Sound and ordered his men to lay in a stock of penguin meat. Meanwhile he and Wilson made a journey northwards. Scott was watching for signs that the ice was breaking up. Wilson was studying penguins. They enjoyed a relaxed couple of days breakfasting off fried penguin liver and seal kidneys and resting and chatting in their tent. Then Scott looked out and saw the relief ship Morning barely three miles out to sea. And she was not alone.