Capitan scott

RACE FOR THE SOUTH POLE

Figure 1 Olav Bjaaland’s diary for 15 December 1911. ‘We reached the South Pole at 2.30 today, tired and hungry’, the entry begins, ‘thank God we have enough food for the return journey. So now we have attained the goal of our desires.’ – Margit Bjåland

RACE FOR THE SOUTH POLE
THE EXPEDITION DIARIES OF SCOTT AND AMUNDSEN

Roland Huntford

Published by theContinuum International Publishing Group The Tower Building 11 York Road London SE1 7NX www.continuumbooks.com Editorial matter and translation of the diaries of Roald Amundsen and Olav Bjaaland copyright © Roland Huntford, 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recordingor any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission from the publishers. First published 2010 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1441-16982-2 Designed and typeset by Pindar NZ, Auckland, New Zealand Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group 80 Maiden Lane Suite 704 NewYork NY 10038

CONTENTS

Figures Acknowledgements Note on the Text Dramatis Personae Abbreviations Introduction Race for the South Pole Epilogue Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

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To my wife, Anita

FIGURES

Figure 1

Map 1 Map 2 Map 3 Map 4 Map 5 Map 6 Map 7 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

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OlavBjaaland’s diary for 15 December 1911. ‘We reached the South Pole at 2.30 today, tired and hungry’, the entry begins, ‘thank God we have enough food for the return journey’. Scott’s route to the South Pole Amundsen’s route to the South Pole Amundsen’s crossing of the Transantarctic Mountains McMurdo Sound Framheim and the Bay of Whales The Antarctic The tracks of Amundsen and Scott at the South PoleTraditional mariner’s compass dial Portrait of Olav Bjaaland. Taken 1910, before Fram sailed. The scoop that never was. Cutting from the front page of Diario de Noticias, the chief Madeira newspaper, for 7 September 1910 declaring that Amundsen was going South. Fram in high seas, two men at the helm, to stop her flying up into the wind. In the Roaring Forties on the way to the Antarctic, October–November1910. Framheim, Amundsen’s base at the Bay of Whales. The fateful encounter. Scott’s Terra Nova and Amundsen’s Fram meet at the Bay of Whales, 4th February 1911.

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Figures

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Unusual picture of Amundsen (centre) at Framheim, the Norwegian base at the Bay of Whales during the southern winter of 1911. Adolf Henrik Lindstrøm, Amundsen’s cook and major-domo, in the galley at Framheim. Amundsen’s party at rest on the way to the Pole, October–November 1911. Amundsen at a depot on the way to the South Pole. Asnapshot by Bjaaland. Norwegians ‘shooting the sun’ on the way to the Pole. Amundsen ready for the Pole. Captain Scott ready for the Pole. Amundsen and companions at the foot of the Transantarctic Mountains, 19 November 1911. The Axel Heiberg Glacier; a fearsome, unexplored cataract of ice through which Amundsen threaded his way up to the polar plateau. Amundsen watching Martin Rønne, the sailmaker, athis sewing machine on the deck of Fram in the Tropics. On the Devil’s Glacier. Amundsen passing Shackleton’s Furthest South, 8 December 1911. Amundsen’s first observation on reaching the South Pole, on 15th December 1911. Amundsen’s diary on reaching the South Pole, 15/14 December 1911. Olav Bjaaland and dogs on reaching the South Pole. Iconic snapshot of the Norwegians at the South Pole,...