New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-12-13
ROBERT FALCON SCOTT.

ROBERT FAlCON oSO' -
SCOTS LAST EXPEDITION. In two
volumes. Vol ! Being the Journals o.
captain r. f. Scott 4. " G. y. -.
Vol. ii Being the Reports OF the jour
news and the Scientific work Ondel
taken bv DR. T.. \. Wilson and the sur
viving Members Of the Expedition AT
ranged by Leonard Huxley. Win a
X. g. 80. f. II :. With photogravure
frOutispieces 6 original sketches ~ pho-
toeravure. is colored plates. % iull,paGe
and smaller illustrations from photo-
, graphs, panoramas ana n4ps;; IL ,Sli5'
Svo PIP. xiv, 4i3; xiv, 316. Dodd, Mead
4 CO.
The bare facts OF Captain SCOTS last
Antarctic expedition are sufficiently
well known lie attained the South
Pole. though not until Amundsen had
preceded him 10 this last summit OF at
tainment in the exploration of ihe
world. And on the way back he per
ished amid ice and snow, together with
his last surviving companions, Dr. Ed
ward A. Wilson and Lieutenant II. l..
Bowers. Their bodies were found eisht
months later.
SCOTS diaries. which were 10 form
the basis Of the account Of the eXpedi-
ton which he had contracted TO write
before his departure from England. are
printed in the first OF these two vol
umes as he totted down the entries
from day To day They have been sup
plemented by the editor with extracts
from the explorers letters home, the
whole making a vivid, spontaneous
narrative, for even into these first
rough drafts Scott put much of that
literary gift which made his earlier
book such a solid success That this
new work, which is a worthy monu-
ment to his memory, will fare even
better is already an assured fact.
The man stands here revealed, fun
length. an ideal type of the Anglo
Saxon-determned, courageous. a
leader Of men, and the wise and So
licitous guardian Of their welfare; re-
sourceful. efficient and gifted with that
supreme gift Of the commander Of des-
perate ventures. the power OF keeping
TO himself the weight OF the anXieties
besetting his path. a man who conf
manded not only the confidence but the
affection Of his companions-a hero in
the fullest sense Of the word.
But beside the dominating figure OF
this hero there stalks through these
pages a greater power still-the polar
region itself Here was an expedition
planned with infinite forethought. based
upon the experiences of an earlier vent
ure. It's equipment was probably un
precedented in it's thoroughness and
completeness and yet defeat-not fail
ure-Was the end. because, for once,
the Antarctic summer was of incalcula
BILE severity. A blizzard. out of season
a. that particular period of the yea- in
the Antarctic, sufiiced 10 snuff out the
lives of five brave men. and to turn
England's rejoicing into mourning.
one wonders if Captain Scott believed
in luck; certain II is that almost from
the first his diaries are dotted with Ell
tries OF misfortunes encountered-of
storms at sea, Of delays caused by fo.s,
of difficulties of landing that forced a
change of base lest further delays
should have serious results of the loss
of motor sledge through the ice De-
fore IT had even been tried. The death
of five Of the Siberian ponies struck
Scott so severely that he confided to
his diary, "it bids fair to wreck the cx-
petition" The ponies indeed or,
rather their succumbing to the hard