ponies, 33 Siberian sledge dogs and three motor sledges on the design of which Scott had taken immense pains. The motors were practically useless on account of mechanical defects and were abandoned early in the great march. The health of the animals was a source of unending anxiety and much trouble was ex- perienced in driving them.
The route selected was at first about a day's march to the E. of that taken by Shackleton and consequently far to the E. of that followed by Scott on the " Discovery " expedition, the reason being to get the smooth Barrier ice beyond the influence of the great pressure ridges which disturb the surface near the mountains. But the Plateau was to be reached by Shackleton's way up the Beardmore glacier at which point the tracks converged.
Depots were laid out by Scott in Jan. and Feb. 1911 at Corner Camp in lat. 78 S., Bluff Camp nearly in lat. 79 S. and at One Ton depot which he had hoped to plant in lat. 80 S., but was obliged by circumstances to place in lat. 79 29' S. only a necessity which contributed to the greatest Antarctic disaster on record. In Sept. 1911, when the temperature was usually below -40 F., Scott's second-in-command, Lt. Edward R. A. R. Evans, took additional stores to Corner Camp; but no more distant depots were supplemented before the main southern journey started.
The two motor sledges left Cape Evans on Oct. 24 1911, got over the sea-ice to Hut Point, safely ascended to the Barrier and broke down hopelessly, the first a few miles N. of Corner Camp, the second a few miles S. of Corner Camp on Nov. 3. Thence- forward the southern advance was made by 16 people in three parties of four each, reinforced by two from the motor sledges and two with the dogs, one party ahead breaking the trail, the others following at intervals. Bad weather was experienced, frequent blizzards making the advance difficult. Depots with stores were provided for the returning parties at Mount Hooper in lat. 80 35' S. on Nov. 21 (Day and Hooper of the motor party, who had dragged a sledge so far, left to return three days later), at the Mid Barrier in lat. 81 35' S., at the South Barrier depot in lat. 82 47' S. on Dec. i and at the entrance to the Beardmore glacier in lat. 83 30' S. on Dec. 10. The last of the ponies had broken down and been shot, and from this point Meares and the dog- teams returned northward. The party of 12 pushed on up the Beardmore glacier with three man-hauled sledges, and after leaving a depot in the middle of the glacier, reached the Plateau at 8,000 ft. on Dec. 21 1911 and left the Upper Glacier depot in lat. 85 7' S. Here Dr. Atkinson, Mr. Wright, Mr. Cherry- Garrard and P. O. Keohane returned, and the party of eight went on with two sledges. Ten days later Three Degree depot waa formed in lat. 86 56' S. and at this point Lt. Evans with Crean and Lashley returned. This party was attacked by scurvy as on the southern march from the " Discovery " in 1902, and Lt. Evans broke down on the Barrier and was only rescued by the heroic exertions of his companions. The southern party now consisting of five men: Scott, E. A. Wilson, H. R. Bowers, L. E. G. Dates and P. O. E. Evans made one more depot in lat. 88 29' S. and reached the South Pole on Jan. 18 1912, having made 69 marches averaging over 12 m. per day. His diary shows that in the outward journey Scott's mind was full of care and anxiety, while the disappointment of finding by Amundsen's record that he was not first to reach the Pole was a shock from which his spirits seemed never to recover.
The return journey was commenced without delay, but without any help from animal traction it proved too much for the men. Edgar Evans fell ill first and after causing fatal delay, he died on Feb. 17 on the Beardmore glacier. Dates, feeling his strength exhausted, had the heroism to sacrifice himself rather than cause further delay, and he left the tent on March 17 in 79 50' S. never to return. The last camp was made in lat. 79 40' S., only ii m. from One Ton depot on March 19, and here during a blizzard which raged for several days Scott, Wilson and Bowers met their fate with heroism, Scott writing to the end. The immediate cause of collapse seems to have been^cold, due to the deficiency of oil fuel in the Mount Hooper depot, the reason for which was stated to be evaporation through defective stoppers.
The Winter of 1912 at Cape Evans. During the absence of the southern party the " Terra Nova " had reached Cape Evans in Feb. 1912 and stores were landed, including seven mules from India and 14 dogs. Dr. Atkinson's party, sent back by Scott from the Beardmore glacier, arrived on Jan. 28, and after seeing to matters at the base, Dr. Atkinson went south with the dog- teams in time to rescue Lt. Evans near Corner Camp on Feb. 22, and as the latter was in a serious condition Atkinson stayed with him until he got him on board the " Terra Nova." Cherry- Garrard and Dimitri took 'the dog-teams back to One Ton depot to meet Scott, reaching that point on March 4 and remaining until March 10 in weather that made a further advance S. im- possible, and they got back to Hut Point on the i6th with great difficulty and in a very bad state. The ship left on March 8 to make a final attempt to relieve Campbell's northern party and did not return, so the base party did not know what had happened either to the northern or southern parties. On March 26 Atkinson with P. O. Keohane set out from Hut Point and got as far as Corner Camp, where he turned, being satisfied that Scott's party must have perished. He made one more journey, though it was now very late in the season, and left two weeks' provisions at Butter Point for the northern party, returning to Hut Point on April 23, the day the sun disappeared for the winter. There were 13 souls in the Cape Evans hut that winter, with Dr. Atkinson in charge, Lt. Evans having returned ill to New Zealand and Dr. G. C. Simpson, whose meteorological work had been of unique value, having gone back to his duties in India. On Oct. 30 1912 the whole party, under Dr. Atkinson, with Mr. C. S. Wright as guide, with seven mules and the dogs, set out from Hut Point, an d on Nov. 12 the tent with the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers was discovered in lat. 79 50' S., and the records and collections brought back.
During Dec. 1912 a party of six climbed Mt. Erebus, reaching the summit on the nth, the second occasion of its ascent.
The " Terra Nova " returned on Jan. 18 1913 and a few days later took off the entire party, reaching New Zealand on Feb. 12. The sensation produced by the tragedy of the expedition was profound and a large fund was subscribed for the benefit of the relatives of the dead explorers and for the pro- motion of polar research. The scientific results of the expedition have been worked up and are of the highest value in all depart- ments.
Australian Expedition (iQii4).^An Australian expedition was fitted out under the command of Dr. (later Sir) Douglas Mawson, with Capt. John King Davis as commander of the ship and second-in-command of the expedition, for the purpose of exploring the coast of Antarctica S. of Australia. The expedition left Hobart in the " Aurora " on Dec. 2 1911, and after landing a party with a wireless installation on Macquarie I. (lat. 55 S.) the ship reached Adelie Land, discovered by D'Urville in 1840, and effected a landing in Commonwealth Bay, the position of which was subsequently fixed by wireless time-signals as lat. 67 S., long. 142 40' E. Dr. Mawson with 17 companions was landed here in Jan. 1912. The " Aurora " proceeded westward close along the Antarctic circle. Balleny's Sabrina Land, D'Ur- ville 's Cote Clarie and most of the land reported by Wilkes were found not to exist, 'though an enormous ice-tongue which might well have been taken for part of the continent occupied the position of Termination Land. Just beyond this point Mr. Frank Wild was landed on a new coast called Queen Mary Land in lat. 66 S., long. 94 E., and left with seven companions on Feb. 20 1912, the actual position being on a solid ice-shelf about 17 m. from the high land. The " Aurora " returned to Hobart.
At the main base in Adelie Land autumn sledging proved impossible, and throughout the winter there was a continuous succession of terrific blizzards, wind with an average velocity of 50 m.p.h. for the year, and sometimes with average hourly velocity of over 100 m.p.h. poured torrents of drift snow from the interior into the sea. Only the fact that the hut was buried in the snowdrifts saved it from being carried away. No such weather has been recorded from any other part of the world. In the spring two caverns were excavated in the ice at distances
