ng was heavy, and two of them were not fit. As long ago as
January 14 Scott wrote that Oates was feeling the cold and fatigue more
than the others[318] and again he refers to the matter on January
20.[319] On January 19 Wilson wrote: "We get our hairy faces and mouths
dreadfully iced up on the march, and often one's hands very cold indeed
holding ski-sticks. Evans, who cut his knuckle some days ago at the last
depot, has a lot of pus in it to-night." January 20: "Evans has got 4 or
5 of his finger-tips badly blistered by the cold. Titus also his nose and
cheeks--al[so] Evans and Bowers." January 28: "Evans has a number of
badly blistered finger-ends which he got at the Pole. Titus' big toe is
turning blue-black." January 31: "Evans' finger-nails all coming off,
very raw and sore." February 4: "Evans is feeling the cold a lot, always
getting frost-bitten. Titus' toes are blackening, and his nose and cheeks
are dead yellow. Dressing Evans' fingers every other day with boric
vaseline: they are quite sweet still." February 5: "Evans' fingers
suppurating. Nose very bad [hard] and rotten-looking."[320]

Scott was getting alarmed about Evans, who "has dislodged two
finger-nails to-night; his hands are really bad, and, to my surprise, he
shows signs of losing heart over it. He hasn't been cheerful since the
accident."[321] "The party is not improving in condition, especially
Evans, who is becoming rather dull and incapable." "Evans' nose is almost
as bad as his fingers. He is a good deal crocked up."[322]

Bowers' diary, quoted above, finished on January 25, on which day they
picked up their One and a Half Degree Depot. "I shall sleep much better
with our provision bag full again," wrote Scott that night. "Bowers got
another rating sight to-night--it was wonderful how he managed to observe
in such a horribly cold wind." They marched 16 miles the next day, but
got off the outward track, which was crooked. On January 27 they did 14
miles on a "very bad surface of deep-cut sastrugi all day, until late in
the afternoon when we began to get out of them."[323] "By Jove, this is
tremendous labour," said Scott.

They were getting into the better surfaces again: 15.7 miles for January
28, "a fine day and a good march on very decent surface."[324] On January
29 Bowers wrote his last full day's diary: "Our record march to-day.
With a good breeze and improving surface we were soon in among the double
tracks where the supporting party left