Sir Ranulph Fiennes will buy a Huntley and Palmer biscuit found by Scott’s body in 1999 for £3,900 to save it leaving Britain.
A noble gesture, but I think even Sir Ran now accepts the chances of a biscuit escaping three starving men tent bound for days on end is marginal to say the very least.
Scott was probably the last man to die in that tent. So close to food, so far from everything.
The two corpses of Scott’s companions are lying either side of him composed, he had made sure of that.
Oates had staggered out of the tent previously and in doing so gives us one of the memorable quotes.
Had Oates feet fallen off, were his hands actually capable of opening the tent on his own. Those are the questions of a more cynical age.
Scott dies presumably as broken as just about anyone can be. He slogged to the pole to discover he had been beaten to it by Amundsen.
Dying elevates him to iconic figure. He battles against nature and rather than yield prefers to die.
A useful lesson for young Englishman facing the first global conflict.
Amundsen clearly cheated, keeping his intentions to himself, he also knew how to ski and used dogs. It was just not “British”. It smacked of professionalism.
Man-hauling, misery and waging war against nature that is what defined the British approach. Knowing what you were doing seemed to be considered an actual hindrance.
Sure Amundsen got to the South Pole first, but dogs hauled him there and as reward were killed and eaten on the way back. Anyone that has to be dragged to the Pole isn’t fit to be there in the first place.
Scott’s stock has risen and fallen over the years and continues to fluctuate to this day, was he a good leader, was he an idiot.
The tale of his heroic failure will be forever told, it’s mother’s milk for an Englishman.
Psychologists forever debate the influence of nature and nurture upon personality development. What hope have we got.
The English might well be naturally driven towards man-hauling, but if we are not then nurture can ensure we will be.
At heart we are a nation of man-haulers at war with nature. The first nation to industrialise we built an empire on the back of industrial might and machines.
Physically its great to go lightweight, mentally its near torture. I still have to stop myself strapping on a huge great pair of boots the moment I consider a walk. Leaving behind the foul weather gear, even in the height of summer is a wrench.
I have an 18lb packweight for the most simple of day-hikes (I don’t take cooking equipment now). It is needlessly heavy but I excuse myself on the basis it keeps me in training.
There is sense in that, but it is a cover story for the real reason, Scott, Wilson and Bowers would spin in their icy grave if I took less.
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