SCOTT'S DIARY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1810, 24 July 1913, Page 7

SCOTT'S DIARY.

SECOND INSTALMENT,

WINTER IN THE ANTARCTIC. HEROIC SCIENTISTS. START OF THE FATEFUL DASH. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. July 23, 10.55 p.m.) London, July 23. The second instalment of Scott's diary, published in tho "Strand" ■ magazine for August, deals with wintering experiences at Capo Evans. Captain Scott pays a tribute to tho excellence with which tho scientists fitted out their quarters. On St. George's Day, they saw tho last of the sun, after which there remained only tho long mild twilight. The scientists lectured twice weekly to all hands, and devoted their time to perfecting their l arrangements for tho southern advance, impelling Captain Scott to chronicle

"It is well with the scientific interests, which gave solid justification for tho expedition. Nothing, even priority at the Pole, can prevent tho expedition from ranking as tho most important ever directed to the Polar regions. I consider it a triumph to have collected such men." Heroic Scientists. Scott speaks admiringly of Dr. Wilson's oxpedition to the Emperor penguins' rookery at Capo Crozier. "The party," he says, "performed the journey in 109deg. of frost. No civilised being had ever encountered such temperature, sheltered only by a canvas tent. Amundsen experienced it in the Arctic, the severity of his situation being tempered, however, by Eskimo igloos. A blizzard assailed the party, but its members staggered along, in almost complete darkness. A gale wrecked their tent, and compelled ,them to lie in sleeping bags all night and half tho next day, wondering how it all won Id end. They were foodl'jss for fortyeight hours. "This," says Scott, "is one of tho most gallant, stories of Polar history. That men should wander in tho depth of the Polar night to face dismal cold and the fiercest gales is something new.' That they should persist for fivo weeks is heroic! They obtained no mean • scientific results, contributing greatly to our knowledge of penguins, and collected much information with regard to climatology."

A Minute of Blizzard. Scott also describes the coming of a blizzard. "The barometer fell rapidly, and the wind blew in fitful gusts, rising from a velocity of only four miles nil hour to sixty-eight, then decreasing to twenty, all within one minute. The suction of theso gusts was enormous, and destructive." Experiments carried out at the Ferrar Glacier showed that the ice had advanced thirty-seven feet im seven and a half months, confirming tho belief in tho slow movement of tho coastal glaciers. Scott recounts the diisoovery of two species of wingless insects, in thousands, under tho. peb'blos qf granite in the harbour. - As th<j spring drew on, Scott, with tho others, marched 175 miles to tho western mountains, to complete certain observations and gain, sledging practice. The Fateful Dash. On November 1 the fateful southern journey began. The .weather was sweltering, the air breathless, and tho glare of the snow intense. Although the temperature was minus 22. "One's mind," says Scott, "sought comparison in tho lot of thoso in the sunlit streets and scorching pavements,, yet six hours ago my thumbs were frost-bitten." Night marching was then resorted to as being moro pleasurable. By November 5 tho motors had broken down. Yiet they had proved their utility if furnished with engines constructed to withstand tho climate. Tho article is illustrated with remarkable photographs of icebergs and iceformations. Captain Scott's diary, which is now appearing month by month in the Strand Magazine, is also appearing in successive issues of "Life," the proprietors of which (Messrs. Fitchett) purchased the exclusive rights for Australasia. •