Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
38
Figure 2.6. From the sum-
mit of Observation Hill,
Castle Rock, the highest
outcrop on Hut Point
Peninsula, aims like the
sight on a rifle toward
the shoulder of steaming
Mount Erebus. The white
gap between the dark seg-
ments of ridgeline closer
in from Castle Rock is the
saddle where Vince slipped
and plunged down Arrival
Heights on the far side of
the ridge.
these flaring cones are mantled completely in white. To the south of the island is a snow
field that even at this distance gives the appearance of a soft blanket. The party last fall,
when Vince was lost, had attempted to reach Cape Crozier on the far side of Mount Ter-
ror, to leave a message for the support ship Morning in the “mailbox.” They were seriously
bogged down by the deep snow of this reentrant, which appears never to feel the force of
winds. Had they made better time, they might have outrun the blizzard that caught them
on Arrival Heights and swept Vince away.
If you were to jump over to the ridgeline to the north, you would see a narrow, elon-
gate ice tongue issuing into the bay where Hut Point Peninsula meets the mountain. Its
proportions and jagged outline remind one of the snout of a sawfish. It is now locked
tight in the winter freeze, but last fall it floated freely in the lapis waters that opened
northward and westward from the tip of the peninsula, with only the languid drift of
loose pack to pattern its placid surface (Fig. 2.7).
Look to the bottom of the hill you are standing on. There in the little bay behind the
point is Discovery, home to the explorers for the past seven months, and beyond her in the
little saddle up from the cape is the square hut that served as storage all winter. There is
warmth and shelter, there is food. Now sit back, dissolve into the scene, feel the distance
and the silence, feel the cold.
The winter passed comfortably enough for Scott's party. Everyone was busy overhauling
gear that proved woefully inadequate in the early forays the previous fall. Sledges, har-
nesses for the dogs, clothing, and food bags were all reconstructed. The group held regu-
lar theatrical performances, printed a small newspaper, and always celebrated holidays
with special food and toasts.
Scott carefully laid plans for major sledge journeys to the south and to the west. He
would lead the southern party, which would use all nineteen surviving dogs and would
 
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