The Race to the Pole
On 1 June,1910,Captain Scott left London to begin his Antarctic expedition.On his way,he received a telegram from the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen:"I'm going South."So the race to the South Pole was on!
During the polar summer of 1910-1911,both teams organised food depots in preparation for their expeditions the following year.Then came the total darkness of the polar winter.Scott and Amundsen waited impatiently for the first signs of spring.
Amundsen was the first to leave,on 15 October,1911.He had team of dogs pulling the sledges and all his men were on skis.Because of this,he made rapid progress.
Scott left on 1 November and soon had problems.First,his two motor sledges broke down,and then the ponies began to have serious difficulties with the snow and the cold.After a while,Scott and his men had to push the sledges themselves.
Amundsen reached the Pole on 14 December and put a Norwegian flag there.Then he prepared for the return journey.
Scott finally arrived at the Pole with four companions on 17 January.They were devastated when they saw the Norwegian flag.Scott wrote bitterly in his diary:
"Well,we have now lost the goal of our ambition and must face 800 miles of hard pushing and goodbye to most of our dreams."
The return journey was one of the worst in the history of exploration.
The men were soon exhausted and were running out of food.The weather conditions were terrible.Scott started to realise their desperate situation:"Amongst ourselves we are very cheerful,but what each man feels in his heart I can only guess.Putting on our shoes in the morning is getting slower and slower."
Despite this,on their way back they found time to look for rocks and fossils.They carried 20 kilos of rocks all the way with them.Later,these rocks proved that at one time in the distant past Antarctica was covered by plants.However,disaster soon struck.Edgar Evans had terrible frostbite and died after a bad fall.
The next to go was Captain Oates,who was having great difficulty walking.Scott recorded his death:"He said,'I am just going outside and I may be some time.' We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death,but though we tried to stop him,we knew that it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman.We all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit,and certainly the end is not far."
Scott and two companions carried on and got within eleven miles of one of their food depots.But then a terrible storm started and they could not leave their tent.Scott spent some of his last hours writing.He wrote a letter full of sadness to his wife Kathleen:"To my Widow,I could tell you lots and lots about this journey.What stories you would have for the boy..But what a price to pay."
Scott's final diary entry told the story of their end:"The depot is only 11 miles away,but I do not think we can hope for any better things now.We are getting weaker and weaker and the end can't be far.It seems a pity,but I do not think I can write more."
The news of Scott's death shocked the world.He had failed to win the race to the Pole,but the remarkable courage shown by Captain Scott and his men made them into heroes.
第二十三課 南極遠征
沖向極點的賽跑
1910年六月壹日，Scott船長離開倫敦開始他的南極遠征。他在路上收到了挪威探險家Roald Amundsen的電報：“我在向南前進。”就這樣沖向南極點的賽跑開始了。
1910到1911年間的南極的那個夏天，兩支隊伍都為他們來年的遠征做好了糧食補給站的準備。接著漆黑的極地冬季降臨了。Scott和Amundsen焦急地等待著春天到來的第壹個信號。1911年十月15日，Amundsen率先出發。他擁有拉雪橇的狗群和使用滑雪板的手下人。因此，他的進展很迅速
。Scott十壹月1日出發而且很快就遇到了問題。首先，他的兩輛摩托雪橇拋錨了，接著馬們開始難以應對風雪和寒冷。那之後，Scott和他的手下不得不自己推著雪橇。
Amundsen於十二月14日抵達極點並立上了挪威的國旗。接著他開始籌劃歸途。
Scott和剩余的四名夥伴壹月17日才最終到達極點。當他們看到挪威的國旗就徹底崩潰了。Scott在他的日記中悲痛地寫道：“啊，我們已經失去了我們野心的目標，而且必須面臨800英裏的艱難前行，並放棄我們的夢想。”
歸途是這段探索歷史上最糟糕的壹個部分。
手下們馬上就懈怠了，食物就要吃光了。天氣狀況很糟糕。Scott開始意識到他們這令人絕望的境地：“牽扯到我們大家，我覺得我們還有希望，但我對於各人心中的想法只能猜測。他們早上穿鞋的動作越來慢了。”
盡管如此，在路上他們有時間尋找石頭和化石。他們壹路搬了20千克的巖石。後來，這些巖石證明了在很久以前某段時間，南極曾被植被覆蓋過。然而，災難很快就沈重地打擊了他們。Edgar Evans患上了很嚴重的凍傷，並在種種壹跌之後死去了。
下壹個離世的是走路都困難的Oates船長。Scott記錄了他的死亡：“他說，‘我就出去壹下很快回來’，我們知道可憐的Oates正在走向他的死亡，但盡管我們試圖阻止他，我們知道那是壹個勇敢的男人，壹個英國紳士的行為。我們都希望懷著這樣的精神走向自己的終點，事實上，終點已經不遠了。”
Scott和兩個陪同者繼續前進，他們離其中壹個食品補給站僅有11英裏了。但是壹場巨大的風暴開始了，他們無法離開他們的帳篷。Scott用他最後的幾個小時時間進行了寫作。他滿心悲痛地給他的妻子Kathleen寫了壹封信：“致我的遺孀，我本可以給妳關於這次旅程講許多許多，妳也可以將給孩子的故事。但是這是多麽大的代價啊。”
Scott的最後以壹篇日記講述了他們的終點：“補給站只有11英裏遠了，但是我不認為我們可以對那裏有好東西抱有任何希望。我們越來越虛弱了，我們離死也差不多了。雖然這很遺憾，但是我不認為我還能再寫什麽了。”
Scott的死訊震驚了世界。他輸了沖向極點的比賽，但是他和他手下們驚人的勇氣使他們成為了人們心中的英雄。