THE TERRA NOVA

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8356, 17 February 1913, Page 8

THE TERRA NOVA

DISCHARGING SCIENTISTS’ SPECIMENS. DETAILS OF RELIEF DASH. On Friday the Terra Nova was more or less deserted, as most of the men were paid off, but some of the scientists were discharging their specimens, and getting them under lock and key, says the “Lyttelton Times.'' Details of the southern trip are meagre. An interesting point that has come out is the statement that Dimitri, who with Garrard made the first relief party at the beginning of March, was prepared to go on further than One Ton Depot, making a solitary dash with the dogs in search of the returning explorers. However, the plan was not persisted in, and the two men returned to the base. It will be remembered that as Captain Scott was expected to return to Hut Point about March 10th, Cherry Garrard and Dimitri set out with two dog teams. Neither man was a navigator, but Dimitri, the Russian, was an expert dog driver. Dr. Atkinson remained behind in charge of a member of the expedition who was ill with scurvy. Dimitri and Garrard reached One Ton depot on March 3rd, and remained, until March 10th, when they were compelled to return, owing primarily to the dog food running short. The spot was only eleven miles from where Scott died, and if Dimitri had carried out his dash south single-handed he might possibly have got in touch with the three southern survivors. Calculating that Scott and his companions were reduced in the latter stages to a rate of three miles a day, it is probable that on March 10th Dimitri and Garrard were no more than fifty miles away from them. As it was, these two 'brave men arrived back at their base in a very low condition, Garrard suffering from an overstrained heart, and Dimitri being sick. •When the search parties set out in the spring they spread out in skirmishing order, and went ahead straining their eyes for any sign of the bodies, as it was not supposed that anybody could have survived through, the polar

winter on the ice barrier. Creaa sighted the tent first, followed by Dimitri, and they waited till Dr. Atkinson came up. The evidence seemed to indicate that Captain Scott had been the last of the party to die, on March 27th. He was half out of his sleeping ■’bag, while the others were fully coverled, with their hoods on. The only 'provisions found were half a pound of tea and a couple of spoonfuls of sugar. Lieutenant Bowers and Dr. Wilson left diaries, but it is stated that they have not been opened. . 1