The Worst Journey in the World (87 page)

There can be no doubt that the oil, which was specially volatile, tended
to vaporize and escape through the stoppers, and that this process was
accelerated by the perishing, and I suggest also the hardening and
shrinking, of the leather washers. Another expedition will have to be
very careful on this point: they might reduce the risk by burying the
oil.

The second point about which something must be said is the unexpected
cold met by Scott on the Barrier, which was the immediate cause of the
disaster. "No one in the world would have expected the temperatures and
surfaces which we encountered at this time of the year.... It is clear
that these circumstances come on very suddenly, and our wreck is
certainly due to this sudden advent of severe weather, which does not
seem to have any satisfactory cause."
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They came down the glacier in plus temperatures: nor was there anything
abnormal for more than a week after they got on to the Barrier. Then
there came a big drop to a -37° minimum on the night of February 26. It
is significant that the sun began to dip below the southern horizon at
midnight about this time. "There is no doubt the middle of the Barrier is
a pretty awful locality," wrote Scott.

Simpson, in his meteorological report, has little doubt that the
temperatures met by the Polar Party were abnormal. The records "clearly
bring to light the possibility of great cold at an extremely early period
in the year within a comparatively few miles of an open sea where the
temperatures were over 40 degrees higher." "It is quite impossible to
believe that normally there is a difference of nearly 40 degrees in March
between McMurdo Sound and the South of the Barrier." The temperatures
recorded by other sledge parties in March 1912 and those recorded at Cape
Evans form additional evidence, in Simpson's opinion, that the
temperatures experienced by Scott were not such as might be expected
during normal autumn weather.

Simpson's explanation is based upon the observations made in McMurdo
Sound by sending up balloons with self-recording instruments attached.
These showed that very rapid radiation takes place from the snow surface
in winter, which cools the air in the immediate neighbourhood: a cold
layer of air is thus formed near the ground, which may be many degrees
colder than the air above it. It becomes, as it were, colder than it
ought to be. This, however, can only happen during an absence of wind:
when a wind blows the cold layer is swept away, the air is mixed and the
temperature rises.

The absence of wind from the south noted by Scott was, in Simpson's
opinion, the cause of the low temperatures met by Scott: the temperature
was reduced ten degrees below normal at Cape Evans, and perhaps twenty
degrees where Scott was.
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The third question is that of food. It is this point which is most
important to future explorers. It is a fact that the Polar Party failed
to make their distance because they became weak, and that they became
weak although they were eating their full ration or more than their full
ration of food, save for a few days when they went short on the way down
the Beardmore Glacier. The first man to weaken was the biggest and
heaviest man in the expedition: "the man whom we had least expected to
fail."

The rations were of two kinds. The Barrier (B) ration was that which was
used on the Barrier during the outward journey towards the Pole. The
Summit (S) ration was the result of our experiments on the Winter
Journey. I expect it is the best ration which has been used to date, and
consisted of biscuits 16, pemmican 12, butter 2, cocoa 0.57, sugar 3 and
tea 0.86 ounces; total 34.43 ounces daily per man.

The twelve men who went forward started this S ration at the foot of the
Beardmore, and it was this ration which was left in all depôts to see
them home. It was much more satisfying than the Barrier ration, and men
could not have eaten so much when leading ponies or driving dogs in the
early stages of summer Barrier sledging: but man-hauling is a different
business altogether from leading ponies or driving dogs.

It is calculated that the body requires certain proportions of fat,
carbohydrates and proteins to do certain work under certain conditions:
but just what the absolute quantities are is not ascertained. The work of
the Polar Party was laborious: the temperatures (the most important of
the conditions) varied from comparative warmth up and down the glacier to
an average of about -20° in the rarefied air of the plateau. The
temperatures met by them on their return over the Barrier were not really
low for more than a week, and then there came quite commonly minus
thirties during the day with a further drop to minus forties at night,
when for a time the sun was below the horizon. These temperatures, which
are not very terrible to men who are fresh and whose clothing is new,
were ghastly to these men who had striven night and day almost
ceaselessly for four months on, as I maintain, insufficient food. Did
these temperatures kill them?

Undoubtedly the low temperatures caused their death, inasmuch as they
would have lived had the temperatures remained high. But Evans would not
have lived: he died before the low temperatures occurred. What killed
Evans? And why did the other men weaken as they did, though they were
eating full rations and more? Weaken so much that in the end they starved
to death?

I have always had a doubt whether the weather conditions were sufficient
to cause the tragedy. These men on full rations were supposed to be
eating food of sufficient value to enable them to do the work they were
doing, under the conditions which they actually met until the end of
February, without loss of strength. They had more than their full
rations, but the conditions in March were much worse than they imagined
to be possible: when three survivors out of the five pitched their Last
Camp they were in a terrible state. After the war I found that Atkinson
had come to wonder much as I, but he had gone farther, for he had the
values of our rations worked out by a chemical expert according to the
latest knowledge and standards. I may add that, being in command after
Scott's death, he increased the ration for the next year's sledging, so I
suppose he had already come to the conclusion that the previous ration
was not sufficient. The following are some of the data for which I am
indebted to him: the whole subject will be investigated by him and the
results published in a more detailed form.

According to the most modern standards the food requirements for
laborious work at a temperature of zero Fahr. (which is a fair Barrier
average temperature to take) are 7714 calories to produce 10,069
foot-tons of work. The actual Barrier ration which we used would generate
4003 calories, equivalent to 5331 foot-tons of work. Similar requirements
for laborious work at -10° Fahr. (which is a high average plateau
temperature) are 8500 calories to produce 11,094 foot-tons of work. The
actual Summit ration would generate 4889 calories, equivalent to 6608
foot-tons of work. These requirements are calculated for total absorption
of all food-stuffs: but in practice, by visual proof, this does not take
place: this is especially noticeable in the case of fats, a quantity of
which were digested neither by men, ponies, nor dogs.

Several things go to prove that our ration was not enough. In the first
case we were probably not as fit as we seemed after long sledge journeys.
There is no doubt that when sledging men developed an automaticity of
certain muscles at the expense of other muscles: for instance, a sledge
could be hauled all day at the expense of the arms, and we had little
power to lift weights at the end of several months of sledging. In
relation to this I would add that, when the relief ship arrived in
February 1912, four of us were at Cape Evans, but just arrived from three
months of the Polar Journey. The land party, we four among them, were
turned on to sledge stores ashore. This in practice meant twenty miles
every day dragging a sledge; a good deal of 'humping' heavy cases, from
five o'clock in the morning to very late at night; with uncertain meals
and no rests. I can remember now how hard that work was to myself and, I
expect, to those others who had been away sledging. The ship's party
sledged only every other day "because they were not used to it." This was
extremely bad organization, and in view of the possibility that some of
the men might be required for further sledging in the autumn, just silly.

Again, there is the experience of the man-hauling parties of the Polar
Journey. There was, you may remember, a man-hauling party on the way to
the Beardmore Glacier. They travelled with a light sledge but they lost
weight on the Barrier ration. It is significant that they picked up
condition when they started the Summit ration, especially Lashly.

The Polar Party and the two returning parties, who were on the Summit
ration from the foot of the Beardmore until the end of their journeys,
weakened, in Atkinson's opinion, more than they should have done had
their ration been sufficient. The First Return Party covered
approximately 1100 statute miles. At the end of their journey their
pulling muscles were all right, but Atkinson, who led the party,
considers that they were at least 70 per cent weaker in other muscles.
They all lost a great deal of weight, though they had the best conditions
of the three returning parties, and the temperatures met by them averaged
well over zero.

The Second Return Party faced much worse conditions. They were only three
men, and one of the three was so sick that for 120 miles he could not
pull and for 90 miles he had to be dragged on the sledge. The average
temperature approximated zero. They were extremely exhausted.

Scott makes constant reference to the increasing hunger of the Polar
Party: it is clear that the food did not compensate for the conditions
which were met in increasing severity. Yet they were eating rather more
than their full ration a considerable part of the time. It has to be
considered that the temperatures met by them averaged far below -10°:
that they did not absorb all their food: that increased heat was wanted
not only for energy to do extra work caused by bad surfaces and contrary
winds, but also to heat their bodies, and to thaw out their clothing and
sleeping-bags.

I believe it to be clear that the rations used by us must not only be
increased by future expeditions, but co-ordinated in different
proportions of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Taking into
consideration the fact that our bodies were not digesting the amount of
fats we had provided, Atkinson suggests that it is useless to increase
the fats at the expense of the protein and carbohydrates. He recommends
that fats should total about 5 ounces daily. The digestion of
carbohydrates is easy and complete, and though that of protein is more
complicated there are plenty of the necessary digestive ferments. The
ration should be increased by equal amounts of protein and carbohydrates;
both should be provided in as dry and pure a form as possible.

There is no censure attached to this criticism. Our ration was probably
the best which has been used: but more is known now than was known then.
We are all out to try and get these things right for the future.
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Campbell reached Hut Point only five days after we left it with the
dog-teams. A characteristic note left to greet us on our return regretted
they were too late to take part in the Search Journey. If I had lived
through ten months such as those men had just endured, wild horses would
not have dragged me out sledging again. But they were keen to get some
useful work done in the time which remained until the ship arrived.

We had the Polar records: Campbell and his men, unaided, had not only
survived their terrible winter, but had sledged down the coast after it.
We ourselves, faced by a difficult alternative, had fallen on our feet.
We never hoped for more than this: we seldom hoped for so much.

I wanted a series of Adélie penguin embryos from the rookery at Cape
Royds, but had not expected an opportunity of getting them because I was
away sledging during the summer months. Now the chance had come. Atkinson
wanted to work on parasites at the same place, and others to survey. But
the real job was an ascent of Erebus, the active volcano which rose from
our doors to some 13,400 feet in height. A party of Shackleton's men
under Professor David went up it in March, and managed to haul a sledge
up to 5800 feet, from which point they had to portage their gear. A year
before this Debenham, with the help of a telescope, selected a route by
which they could haul a sledge up to 9000 feet. There proved to be no
great difficulty about it; it was just a matter of legs and breath.

They were a cheery company, part-singing in the evenings and working hard
all day. It was an uneventful trip, Debenham said, and very harmonious:
the best trip he had down there. Both Debenham and Dickason suffered from
mountain sickness, however, and they were the two smokers! The clearness
of the air was marked. At 5000 feet they could plainly see Mount
Melbourne and Cape Jones, between two and three hundred miles away, and
several uncharted mountains over to the west, but they were unable to
plot them accurately because they could get direction rays from one point
only. The Sound itself was covered by cloud most of the time, but
Beaufort Island and Franklin Island were clear. Unlike David's party,
they could see no signs whatever of volcanic action on Mount Bird, which
is almost entirely covered with ice on which it was to be expected that
some mark might be left. At 9000 feet Terror looked very imposing, but
Mount Bird and Terra Nova were insignificant and uninteresting. The
valley between the old crater and the slopes of the second crater greatly
impressed them, and they found a fine little crevassed glacier in it.
Both Priestley and Debenham are of opinion that it is possible to get to
Terror by this valley, and that there are no crevassed areas or
impossible slopes on the way. All the same it would probably be more
sensible to go from Cape Crozier.