ees E., practically one hundred and fifty
miles distant from the base, and here a ton or so of sledging stores
awaited us preparatory for the great sledge journey to the Pole.

Bowers, Oates, and Gran had been left to build up the depot and lead back
the other five ponies with their empty sledges. We waited for them at
Safety Camp before transporting some of the stuff we had left here out to
Corner Camp, the position thirty-five miles E.S.E. of Safety Camp, where
the crevasses ended. Some of us went into Hut Point to see if the ship
had been there with any message. Little did we dream whilst we sauntered
in over the ice of the news that awaited us. We found that the "Terra
Nova" had been there the day before Atkinson and Crean had got there; she
had also made a second visit on the 9th or 10th February, bringing the
unwelcome news that Amundsen's expedition had been met with in the Bay of
Whales. The "Terra Nova" had entered the bay and found the "Fram" there
with the Norwegians working like ants unloading their stores and
hut-building in rather a dangerous position quite close to the Barrier
edge. Amundsen's people had about 120 dogs and a hard lot of men, mostly
expert ski-runners. They were contemplating an early summer journey to
the Pole and not proposing to attempt serious scientific work of any
sort. Further, to our chagrin, the eastern party had not effected a
landing, for Campbell realised that it would be profitless to set up his
base alongside that of the Norwegians.

The ice conditions about King Edward VII. Land had been found
insuperable, great masses of land ice barring the way to their objective,
and so poor Campbell and his mates left news that they were reluctantly
seeking a landing elsewhere. We spent a very unhappy night, in spite of
all attempts to be cheerful. Clearly, there was nothing for us but to
abandon science and go for the Pole directly the season for sledging was
advanced enough to make travelling possible after the winter. It now
became a question of dogs versus ponies, for the main bulk of our stuff
must of necessity be pony-drawn unless we could rely on the motor
sledges--nobody believed we could. However, all the arguing in the world
wouldn't push Amundsen and his dogs off the Antarctic continent and we
had to put the best face on our disappointment. Captain Scott took it
very bravely, better than any of us, I think, for he had done already
such wonderful work down here. It was he who i