The original text of Scott's suicide note

Scott's "suicide note" is the original:

On March 4th, at lunch time, we were really in a difficult situation, but no one was depressed yet. At least we still maintain good morale outside, but when the sled gets stuck in some snow waves, everyone's heart will suddenly sink. Now the temperature is MINUS 20 degrees, which has improved. We feel much more comfortable, but a colder cold wave is coming soon. I'm afraid Oates will suffer again. God, help us. We don't have much hope for help now. We just hope there will be more food at the next supply station. It would be too bad if there was an oil shortage there. Can we get there? It's actually only a short distance. I really don't know what I would have done if Wilson and Bowles hadn't always overcome difficulties with high morale. ?

Monday, March 5, lunch time. Unfortunately, things are getting worse. Yesterday afternoon, we met with an oblique wind, which lasted for 35 hours. The March in the morning was not very good. We only walked 35 miles, and walked more than 89 miles all day. We drank a cup of cocoa, ate some hard minced meat, and then went to bed. Oates' foot is still in poor condition. One foot was swollen very high last night, so I can only limp this morning. Like last night, we started marching after eating minced meat and drinking tea-we pretended to like minced meat in this way. In the morning, there is a section of the road in a slightly better condition. We walked for five hours, the sleigh turned over twice, and we pulled 55 miles on foot. None of us expected such a low temperature, and the low temperature had the greatest influence on Wilson, mainly because he always sacrificed his body temperature to warm his feet for Oates. We can't help each other, so it's good that everyone can take care of themselves. All of us are always excited when we are in tents. In order to maintain a good mental state, we have to face the long-term hauling work that we have never encountered in our lives, but it is really too difficult and we feel that the progress is very slow. We talked about various topics in the tent, but now we don't talk much about food because we decided to take the risk of rationing food in full. At this time, we can't go forward hungry.

Tuesday, March 6, lunch time. Yesterday afternoon, with the help of the wind, we made a slight improvement, completing 95 miles in the whole day, and 27 miles away from the supply station. But things got worse this morning. It is very warm at night. I overslept for the first time on the trip and slept for an hour. Then we put on our shoes and socks slowly, and then we tried our best to drag, but we couldn't even walk at 1 mile. Then it got dark, and we untied the rope three times before we found the track. As a result, I left less than three hours before noon. Five miles. Now the sun is shining high and the wind has subsided. Poor Oates couldn't move. When we went to find the track, he was sitting on the sleigh-he was actually very patient because his foot must have been badly hurt. He never complained and became more and more silent in the tent. We are now trying to use alcohol lamps instead of kerosene lamps in order to use them when the oil runs out. ?

On Wednesday, March 7th, the situation was getting worse. Oates's feet are not very good this morning. He is very brave. We are discussing what to do when we go home together.

We only walked 65 miles yesterday. It took us four hours to walk a little over four miles this morning, and we are still 16 miles away from the supply point. If there are only normal supplies there and the road conditions continue as they are now, we may reach the next supply station (Hooper Mountains, 72 miles), but we can't reach the warehouse supply station. We are anxious that the dog sled team has reached Hooper Mountain. In this case, we may overcome the difficulties. If the oil shortage continues, our hopes will be dim. Considering the heavy physical labor we are doing now, our state is quite good, but poor Oates is facing an approaching crisis. Eat well now to stick to it. There was no wind this morning. The sun is shining and the stone piles are clearly visible.

Thursday, March 8, lunch time. Things are getting worse in the morning. Oates can't hold on to his left foot any longer, and it's very hard to put on his shoes and socks. Wilson's foot is in trouble now, mainly because he has given too much help to others. We walked 45 miles this morning, and now there are 85 miles to the supply point-the distance is very short, and even this distance has brought us difficulties. It's a bit ridiculous, but on this road, we can't even reach half the normal marching speed, and we have to pay twice as much energy and effort. An important question is: if the dog sled team has been to the supply station, what can we find at the supply station? Then we may have to go a long way, but if there is another oil shortage, then only God can really help us. From any point of view, our present situation is very critical. ?

March 10 Saturday, from bad to worse. Oates' feet are worse. His morale is very low. He must know that he can't come. He asked Wilson if he had a chance to take part in the parade this morning. Of course, Bill can only say that he doesn't know. Starting from the facts, he really has no chance. If he collapses now and we leave him, I really doubt whether we can pull through. The weather is bad, and our equipment is covered with more and more ice, which is difficult to handle ...?

Yesterday we went to the supply station in Hooper Mountain. A little comfort. There, the supplies we needed were not fully replenished. I don't know who to blame. The dog sled team obviously didn't arrive here. I guess Mills' trip home must have been terrible, too. ?

There was silence at breakfast this morning, but when we set out, the wind blew from the north-northwest direction and the wind rose rapidly. After marching for half an hour, none of us can persist in this situation. We were forced to camp and spent the day in a stormy camp.

March Sunday 1 1. Tiitus Oates is very close to the end of his life, and everyone can feel it. Only God knows what we or he should do. After breakfast, we discussed the present situation. He is a brave guy and knows the current situation, but he is actually asking for our advice. We can't say anything but urge him to go as far as possible. The discussion reached a satisfactory result: in fact, I ordered Wilson to control the way to end our predicament so that any of us would know what to do when we couldn't stand it any longer. We collected all the medicines. * * * There are 30 opium tablets and one morphine for Oates. This is the sad side of our story. ?

It was completely dark when we set out this morning. We can't see clearly, lose our way and walk hard. I walked 3 1 mile before noon, which was quite good. Now, 6 miles is about the limit we can reach without the help of the wind or the improvement of road conditions. We still have seven days of food, and we should be about 55 miles from the warehouse supply station tonight. Six miles a day, 42 miles in seven days. Even if the situation doesn't get worse, there are still 13 miles to complete.

Monday, March 12. We finished 69 miles yesterday, still below the average we had to finish. The situation is basically the same. Oates' hands are as bad as his feet now. We walked 4 miles in 4 hours and 20 minutes this morning. We hope to walk three miles in the afternoon, but I doubt whether we can do it. The road conditions are still not good, it is freezing, and our physical condition is gradually declining. God bless, there has been no wind behind us for more than a week. But there may be an oncoming wind at any time.

Wednesday, March 14. Everything is not going well now. When I woke up yesterday morning, the north wind was very strong, and the temperature was MINUS 37 degrees. I couldn't go against the wind, so I had to stay in the camp until 2 o'clock. Then I drove 525 miles. Later, I wanted to move on, but the north wind kept blowing and the players felt very cold. After the sun went down, the temperature was even lower. It took a long time to have dinner in the dark.

When we set out this morning, it was the south wind, and the sails were hung up, and the speed was not bad. Experienced another stone pile. However, halfway, the wind blows from south to west, or southwest, and the wind can blow into our windbreakers and gloves. Poor Wilson is so cold that he can't even take off his skis sometimes. Bowles and I were actually doing camping work, and when we finally got into the tent, we almost froze to death. Now the temperature drops to MINUS 43 degrees during the day, and the wind is very strong. We must move on. But now every camping is more and more difficult and dangerous. Poor Oates, his feet are torturing him again. I'm too scared to even think about what tomorrow will be like. He endured the most severe pain. No one expected that there would be such a low temperature and such a violent wind at this time of year. The situation outside the tent is really bad. We must get through this with the last biscuit, but the food quota cannot be reduced.

March/kloc-Friday 0/6 and March/kloc-Saturday 0/7. At lunch the day before yesterday, poor Tiitus Oates said he couldn't go any further. He suggested that we leave him in the sleeping bag. We can't do that. We advised him to stick to it and continue the March in the afternoon. Although he was really dying, he struggled to walk a few more miles with us. In the evening, his condition deteriorated further, and we knew the end was coming.

All this should be discovered, and I hope to record these facts. Oates thought of his mother at the last minute, but immediately thought proudly that his cavalry would be proud of his fearless way of welcoming death. We can experience his bravery. He endured weeks of severe pain without complaining, and at the last minute he was able and willing to take the initiative to talk about some outdoor topics. He didn't-and won't-give up hope until the last moment. He is a brave man. This is the end. When he fell asleep the night before yesterday, he hoped that he would never wake up again, but he woke up yesterday morning. There is still a snowstorm outside. He said, "I'm going out. I may not come back for a while. " He braved the snowstorm and went out, and we haven't seen him since. ?

I would like to take this opportunity to say that we have been supporting our sick companions until the end. When we were desperately short of food, edgar evans lost consciousness. The merciful God took him away at this critical moment, and his departure objectively met the security needs of those of us who are still alive. He died of natural causes, and we didn't leave him until two hours after his death. We know that poor Oates is dying. Although we tried our best to persuade him not to do this, we knew it was a heroic act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We all hope to greet the end with a similar fearless spirit, and we are sure that the end is not far away.

I can only keep a diary during lunch or other occasional breaks. It's MINUS 40 degrees during the day and it's extremely cold. My friends have always maintained high morale, but all of us are on the verge of severe frostbite. Although we keep talking about overcoming difficulties, I don't think anyone really believes this in their hearts. ?

We always feel cold when marching now. At other times, besides eating, we are afraid. Yesterday, we were delayed by the snowstorm, and today's progress is still very slow. We are now at 14 Maying, only two steps away from the military station. We left the theodolite, camera and Oates' sleeping bag here. At Wilson's special request, I brought my diary and geological samples so that others could find them around us and on the sleigh.

March/kloc-Sunday, 0/8. At lunch today, we were 2 1 mile away from the supply station. Yesterday, there was more oncoming wind and snow, so we had to stop marching. The wind is northwest, the wind force is 4, and the temperature is MINUS 35 degrees. Humans can't face this situation, and we have almost exhausted our last strength.

My right foot and almost all my toes are out of control-just two days ago, I was proud of having the best feet among us. Bowles is at his best now, but it doesn't help much after all. Others are still confident to get through this-or just pretend to be like this-I don't know. There is only half a can of oil left in the oil reservoir of our oil lamp, and we have only a little alcohol left. The wind is calm now, which may help us a little. ?

Monday morning, March 19. I went camping very hard yesterday, and it was very cold. I didn't feel better until after dinner. Dinner is cold minced meat, biscuits and half a pot of cocoa cooked with alcohol. We warmed up afterwards and everyone slept soundly.

Today's departure is as slow as ever. Sleigh sliding is very difficult. We are now 0/55 miles away from the supply depot/kloc-and should arrive in three days. What kind of progress is this? We only have two days' food and barely enough fuel for one day. Our feet are getting worse, Wilson's is the best, my right foot is worse, and my left foot is ok. It is impossible to care about our feet before we can eat hot food. Amputation is the best result I can expect at present, but whether the trouble will expand is a serious problem. The weather doesn't give us any chance at all. The wind is north-northwest and the temperature is MINUS 40 degrees today.

Wednesday, March 2 1 Sunday, and Monday night is less than 1 1 mile from the supply station. Yesterday, there was another snowstorm, so it had to be postponed for a whole day. There is little hope that Wilson and Bowles will go to the supply station to find oil today.

The 22nd and 23rd. The snowstorm is still howling, and Wilson and Bowles can't start-tomorrow is the last chance-there is no oil, only a little food left-and it's really drawing to a close. We decided to let nature take its course-we would go to the supply station and die of natural causes on the way home.

Thursday, March 29th. Since 2 1, the west-southwest wind has been blowing continuously. We only have enough oil to cook two cups of tea, and there are two days' food on the 20th. Every day we are always ready to leave for the supply station inside and outside 1 1, but there is always a whirlpool of ice and snow outside the tent. Now, I don't think we can expect things to get better, but we will hold out until the last moment, but we are getting weaker and weaker. Of course, the finish line is not far away.

I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can write any more.

1, because Scott is a great explorer with fearless exploration spirit, strong sense of honor, responsibility and mission, tenacious will, heroic spirit to overcome difficulties, rational spirit to face reality and accept failure, and upright personality. The great spirit behind Scott's failure, especially the heroic spirit of tenacious struggle with nature and overcoming difficulties with incomparable courage, is a great wealth of mankind.

According to common sense, Scott and others finally reached the South Pole after difficulties and obstacles, and achieved their goal. Should be successful, but sadly, they are not the first, they lost the original meaning of action; Especially when I am depressed and go home, despair hangs over the whole collective, which is really a tragedy. Scott and others' will and courage to overcome difficulties, their willingness to sacrifice personal spirit for the collective, their acceptance of the scientific spirit of failure, their mind to bear the humiliation of failure and testify for the winner, their attitude towards life of loving their relatives in the motherland, and their spirit of exploration for collective honor are far greater than failure, which is a "great" embodiment except "tragedy". This is also the purpose of the author to write this article. The greatness shown by Scott and others in the tragedy is the pride of human spirit and the greatness of events.