ATTEMPT ON THE POLE
Robert Falcon Scott was just 33 when he was given command of the National Antarctic Expedition. Having set sail from Britain on 6th August, 1901 in the new, purpose-built R.R.S. Discovery, the expedition arrived at Hut Point, Ross Island on 11th February, 1902. From there, probing explorations were mounted to the south-west and north along the coast of Victoria Land, as well as southward across the Ice Barrier towards the Pole.
In the following year, while Discovery was locked fast in the polar ice, more expeditions were undertaken. Inevitably, as the sun began to return and the days lengthened, thoughts turned to a possible assault on the Pole.
At the beginning of November, the Southern Party, consisting of Scott, Wilson and Shackleton, was ready to explore further south than any man had been before. They estimated they would be away for two to three months and set off in high spirits with nineteen dogs and five sledges of supplies.
The trip turned out to be a gruelling test of their powers of endurance. Progress was painfully slow and, only two weeks after leaving the ship, some of the dogs began to die. In some places the terrain changed from smooth, flat ice into frozen furrows and ridges, which meant the dogs were unable to pull the sledges, forcing the party to put on harnesses and man-haul the sledges.
It was exhausting, grinding work, but they pushed ahead and on 25th November, in great elation, they passed latitude 80°. Their charts showed only plain white space beyond this point. . . now they were discovering and recording new land with each day.
But physically and psychologically
all three men were suffering. The dogs were
unable to pull all the sledges, so stores were
jettisoned and rations cut. They were
hallucinating about food. Frostbite, scurvy and
snowblindness were in evidence. Wilson, in
particular, suffered severe and painful
snowblindness, caused by shedding his goggles
when sketching the dazzling, white landscapes.
Tensions between Scott and Shackleton surfaced.
Shackleton did not agree with some of Scott's
decisions and could not hide his feelings. Scott
resented his authority being questioned. As more
dogs were reduced to a pitiable state, they had
to be killed and the meat fed to the surviving
dogs to keep them going. At a latitude of 82°
17°, some 530 miles from the Pole, they turned
for home.
Shackleton was now in the advanced stages of
scurvy, coughing up blood and no longer capable
of carrying anything. The last two dogs were
killed and the final, dreary trudge began.
Finally on 3rd February, after 93 days and over
950 miles, they were within 6 miles of the ship
when they were met by Skelton and Bernacchi from
the Discovery with the joyful news that the
relief ship Morning had arrived.
Shackleton was invalided home at Scott's insistence, but Scott himself remained with the Discovery for a second winter. There was now 20 miles of ice between the ship and the sea and the prospect of spending a third winter in the Antarctic was becoming a grim reality. The situation worsened when the relief ships Morning and Terra Nova returned on 5th January, 1904 with the news that the venture was running out of funds and the Discovery was to be abandoned if she could not be freed by the end of February. So began the long task of blasting Discovery free from the ice, which was finally achieved on 16th February.
Scott returned to Britain to great public acclaim. The expedition had yielded a wealth of scientific data and captured the public imagination.
"Never," trumpeted Sir Clements Markham of the Royal Geographical Society, "has any polar expedition returned with so great a harvest of results".
Scott was feted wherever he went. He lectured widely and wrote The Voyage Of Discovery. He was promoted to Captain and spent the next few years pursuing his navy career.
Scott returned to the Antarctic in 1910, this time in the Terra Nova. Drawn by rumours of other expeditions, Scott meant to become the first man to reach the south pole...
To be continued . . .
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