There are many questions which ought to be studied. The effect upon men of going from heat to cold, such as Bowers coming to us from the Persian Gulf: or vice versa of Simpson returning from the Antarctic to India; differences of dry and damp cold; what is a comfortable temperature in the Antarctic and what is it compared to a comfortable temperature in England, the question of women in these temperatures...? The man with the nerves goes farthest. What is the ratio between nervous and physical energy? What is vitality? Why do some things terrify you at one time and not at others? What is this early morning courage? What is the influence of imagination? How far can a man draw on his capital? Whence came Bowers' great heat supply? And my own white beard? and X's blue eyes: for he started from England with brown ones and his mother refused to own him when he came back? Growth and colour change in hair and skin?

There are many reasons which send men to the Poles, and the Intellectual Force uses them all. But the desire for knowledge for its own sake is the one which really counts and there is no field for the collection of knowledge which at the present time can be compared to the Antarctic.

Exploration is the physical expression of the Intellectual Passion.

And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore. If you are a brave man you will do nothing: if you are fearful you may do much, for none but cowards have need to prove their bravery. Some will tell you that you are mad, and nearly all will say, "What is the use?" For we are a nation of shopkeepers, and no shopkeeper will look at research which does not promise him a financial return within a year. And so you will sledge nearly alone, but those with whom you sledge will not be shopkeepers: that is worth a good deal. If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin's egg.

FOOTNOTES:

[349] Scott, Voyage of the Discovery, vol. i. p. 449.

[350] Amundsen, The South Pole, vol. ii. p. 19.

[351] Lashly's diary records that the Second Return Party found a shortage of oil at the Middle Barrier Depôt (see p. 395).

[352] Scott, "Message to the Public."

[353] A full discussion of these and other Antarctic temperatures is to be found in the scientific reports of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13, "Meteorology," vol. i. chap. ii., by G. C. Simpson.

[354] Modern research suggests that the presence or absence of certain vitamines makes a difference, and it may be a very great difference, in the ability of any individual to profit by the food supplied to him. If this be so this factor must have had great influence upon the fate of the Polar Party, whose diet was seriously deficient in, if not absolutely free from, vitamines. The importance of this deficiency to the future explorer can hardly be exaggerated, and I suggest that no future Antarctic sledge party can ever set out to travel inland again without food which contains these vitamines. It is to be noticed that, although the Medical Research Council's authoritative publication on the true value of these accessory substances was not available when we went South in 1910, yet Atkinson insisted that fresh onions, which had been brought down by the ship, be added to our ration for the Search Journey. Compare recent work of Professor Leonard Hill on the value of ultra-violet rays in compensating for lack of vitamines.—A. C.-G.

[355] Scott's Last Expedition, vol. ii. p. 356.

[356] My own diary.

[357] See p. 234.

[358] Wilson, Nat. Ant. Exp., 1901-1904, "Zoology," Part ii. pp. 44-45.

[359] My own diary.

[360] Ibid.

[361] My own diary.

[362] My own diary.

[363] My own diary.

[364] Ibid.

GLOSSARY

Blizzard.

An Antarctic blizzard is a high southerly wind generally accompanied by clouds of drifting snow, partly falling from above, partly picked up from the surface. In the daylight of summer a tent cannot be seen a few yards off: in the darkness of winter it is easy to be lost within a few feet of a hut. There is no doubt that a blizzard has a bewildering and numbing effect upon the brain of any one exposed to it.

Brash.

Small ice fragments from a floe which is breaking up.

Cloud.

The commonest form of cloud, and also that typical of blizzard conditions, was a uniform pall stretching all over the sky without distinction. This was logged by us as stratus. Cumulus clouds are the woolly billows, flat below and rounded on top, which are formed by local ascending currents of air. They were rare in the south and only formed over open water or mountains. Cirrus are the "mare's tails" and similar wispy clouds which float high in the atmosphere. These and their allied forms were common. Generally speaking, the clouds were due to stratification of the air into layers rather than to ascending currents.

Crusts.

Layers of snow in a snow-field with air space between them.

Finnesko.

Boots made entirely of fur, soles and all.

Frost Smoke.

Condensed water vapour which forms a mist over open sea in cold weather.

Ice-Foot.

Fringes of ice which skirt many parts of the Antarctic shores: many of them have been formed by sea-spray.

Nunatak.

An island of land in a snow-field. Buckley Island is the top of a mountain sticking out of the top of the Beardmore Glacier.

Piedmont.

Stretches of ancient ice which remain along the Antarctic coasts.

Pram.

A Norwegian skiff, with a spoon bow.

Saennegrass.

A kind of Norwegian hay used as packing in finnesko.

Sastrugi

are the furrows or irregularities formed on a snow plain by the wind. They may be a foot or more deep and as hard and as slippery as ice: they may be quite soft: they may appear as great inverted pudding bowls: they may be hard knots covered with soft powdery snow.

Sledging Distances.

All miles are geographical miles unless otherwise stated, 1 statute or English mile = 0.87 geographical mile: 1 geographical mile = 1.15 statute miles.

Tank.

A canvas "hold-all" strapped to the sledge to contain food bags.

Tide Crack.

A working crack between the land ice and the sea ice which rises and falls with the tide.

Wind.

Wind forces are logged according to the Beaufort scale, which is as follows:

No.Description.    Mean velocity in
miles per hour.
0.Calm0
1.Light air1
2.Light breeze4
3.Gentle breeze9
4.Moderate breeze14
5.Fresh breeze20
6.Strong breeze26
7.Moderate gale33
8.Fresh gale42
9.Strong gale51
10.Whole gale62
11.Storm75
12.Hurricane92

INDEX