For breezy reading and real bright narrative commend me to Griffith-Taylor. Volume II. of "Scott's Last Expedition" contains the story of the "Western journeys" as written by him, and they give quite truly the Silver Lining to the Cloud which formed about the rest of our Expedition.
For lightheartedness and good fellowship our Australian geologists should be given first prize. It is of little use writing about distances covered and dangers overcome in this connection, but if one considers that the Western Geological Party surveyed, examined, charted, photographed, and to some extent plodded over a mountainous, heavily glaciated land lying in an area of the entire acreage of Kent, Sussex, Hants, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, one gets a fair idea of what "Griff" and Co. were playing at.
Taylor was the first professional physiographer to visit the Antarctic Continent, and besides being an all round man of science he was an admirable fellow, with the widest outlook on life of any man amongst us.
I cannot pretend to write on geology; Taylor, Debenham, and Priestley are still drawing up reports on Antarctic physiography and glacial geology on our fossils collected, on the Barrier Movement, and the retreating ice of that Frozen Wonderland. Some day another expedition, more up to date than ours, will force its way into the Heart of that Frigid Zone. If this expedition sets out soon, I hope I may command it when I am still fresh and fit—if that great good fortune comes my way I shall telegraph to Griff and ask him to be my "Uncle Bill," and to help me as Wilson helped Scott.
As this is only a popular version of the last Scott Antarctic Expedition I have not collected any scientific appendices, and I have tried not to throw any bouquets at one member more than another—if I have failed I have done it accidentally, for one has no favourites after nearly ten years. My especial friends in the Expedition were the lieutenants, Campbell, Pennell, Rennick, Bowers, and Bruce, and of the scientists I was most fond of Nelson.
The concluding part of this narrative is concerned with our little ship, for which we had such affection.
To connect the story up one must go back to the time when on March 3, 1912, the "Terra Nova" made her last call for the year at Cape Evans—here she embarked those members returning home, who for various causes had not been collected before. Then it will be remembered that Keohane was taken to Hut Point and landed with Atkinson, and afterwards, owing to the thickening up of the ice in McMurdo Sound, the ship's head was turned Northward. The ice conditions off the Bay where Campbell was landed were terrific, and the little whaler had a tough time forcing her way out into the Ross Sea once more after failure to relieve him.
She arrived in New Zealand on April 1, to learn of Amundsen's success, and I went home a physical wreck with Francis Drake, the secretary, to carry out Scott's wishes in the matter of finance. It was many months before I could get about in comfort; but my wife nursed me back to health. Several scientific and other members dispersed to their respective duties in civil life. Pennell temporarily paid off the seamen who had joined in New Zealand, and took the ship away to survey Admiralty Bay in the Sounds according to arrangements made with the New Zealand Government. During this operation we had the great misfortune to lose by drowning Stoker Petty Officer Robert Brissenden.
Finally the little "Terra Nova" filled up with coal and left for the South to pick up Scott and his expedition. She was once more under my command as her original Captain, Pennell very gracefully and unselfishly standing down to the position of second in command.
The programme included an extensive sounding cruse, guided to some degree by what Professor David of Sydney University wished for, to throw further light on the great earth folds. The voyage was like its predecessors, except that we purposely kept in Longitude 165 W. to sound over new portions of the ocean, every opportunity being taken to gain fresh information and fulfil the requirements of the biological programme too. We had hardly our share of gales this voyage, and although we expected to meet with the pack in about 66 S. Latitude, it was not reached until we had attained the 69th parallel—two degrees farther South than we had found it in the "Terra Nova"'s first two voyages.