On the morning of the 12th November, 1912, they found the tent. It was pitched well and had withstood the furious gales. Each man recognised the bodies. All their gear was recovered, and the sledge was dug out with their belongings and the precious fossils. Then the bodies were covered with the outer tent and the burial service was read. A mighty cairn was built above them, and it was surmounted by a cross made out of two skis. On either side two sledges were up-ended and fixed firmly in the snow. Between the eastern sledge and the cairn a bamboo was placed containing a metal cylinder and the following inscription:—
This cross and cairn were erected over the bodies of Captain Scott, R.N., Dr Wilson, M.B., and Lieut. Bowers, R.I.M. a slight token to perpetuate their successful and gallant attempt to reach the Pole. This they did on January 17th, 1912. Inclement weather with lack of fuel was the cause of their death. Also to commemorate their two gallant comrades, Captain Oates of the Inniskilling Dragoons, who walked to his death to save his comrades about eighteen miles south of this position; and Seaman Edgar Evans, who died at the foot of the glacier.
“The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
It was signed by all the members of the party. They then marched south to search for the body of Captain Oates; but “the kindly snow had covered the body, giving it a fitting burial.” Here, as near the site as they could judge, they built another cairn to his memory, placing on it a small cross and the following record:—
Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain Oates of the Inniskilling Dragoons. In March 1912, returning from the Pole, he walked willingly to his death to try and save his comrades, beset by hardships. This note is left by the Relief Expedition of 1912.
It was signed by Dr Atkinson and Mr. Cherry Garrard. Returning they bade a final farewell to their lost friends. Dr Atkinson wrote:—
There, alone in their greatness, they will lie without change or bodily decay, with the most fitting tomb in the world above them.
The results of Captain Scott’s expedition are of great importance. He arranged that the geologists should make a thorough geological survey of the region from Granite Harbour to Koettlitz Glacier, extending thirty miles inland where possible. This was done, and they also made a very interesting ascent to the crater of Mount Erebus, an account of which was written by Mr. Priestley. The results in the other branches of science were of no less importance, and furnish a splendid and convincing answer to those who question the use of polar expeditions. But of far greater service are the examples set to their countrymen by the lost heroes, and the experience gained by the young naval officers of the expedition.
The dying appeal of Captain Scott met with a prompt response. Seldom has the nation, both at home and beyond seas, been so deeply touched. On February 14th, 1913, there was a memorial service at St Paul’s at which the King and the Queen Mother were present. Scott’s widow was given the rank to which her heroic husband would have been raised. An appeal for funds to meet all demands received a most generous and ample response. The widows and orphans were suitably provided for, all the liabilities of the expedition were met, a bounty was given to the members of the expedition, provision was made for the publication of results, and a large sum was left for memorials.
In the whole range of polar history there is no greater name than that of Robert Falcon Scott. A life of devotion to duty, latterly of devotion to scientific discovery, was closed by a heroic and glorious death. A man with rare gifts both of head and heart, those gifts were nobly used through life, and were never more prominent than in his last fatal march and in the hour of death.