One last adventure The last voyage of Robert Falcon Scott

Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale.

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Scott
• Oates
• Bowers
• Evans
• Wilson
• Crean

[swmsalem]

True Character.... sadly it seems in short supply these days

[Tyne56]

Ermm .. Sorry but the pics were of Earnest Shackleton and the 28 men trapped on Elephant Island which did not leave the u.k. until 3 years after R.F.Scotts ill fated expedition to the South Pole in 1911 . ( 22 men actually, 6 inluding Shackleton navigated 800 miles to South Georgia to seek help)

[cochranexyz]

Those who have gotten all pissed off at Roland Huntford's expose of Scott can't take the truth. He busted a myth, a big myth. Good for him.

[TheMythOfRescue]

@mjwquinn Funny how the dogs were no problem for Amundsen. In fact, they were decisive.

[TheMythOfRescue]

@mjwquinn Where I live, the temperature over the course of a year can vary between 100F and -20F or lower. I've supported Amundsen since childhood. I've done a good deal of research as to Amundsen and Scott. Facts are, Amundsen knew what he was doing, Scott with equivalent experience didn't. To my knowledge, the Scott apologists are exclusively British. I may have found an exception.

[TheMythOfRescue]

@mjwquinn I am using my brain. If Amundsen had encountered that blizzard that kept Scott in his tent for 2-4 days (as per Solomon), the dogs would have enabled him to keep going. Amundsen was managing 13+ miles per days even in blizzards.

[mjwquinn]

@TheMythOfRescue PS scott did identify a problem "the dogs" which is why he didn't take them! and if i was leaving tomorrow id take my new bombardier not my old polaris and if i died id still be happier i left it at home because it really pisses me off! so there human nature

[mjwquinn]

@TheMythOfRescue further more once again, I judge explorers by my own experience of living and working in northern canada with almost a 100 degree temperature change, i know what its like to have frostbite and be stuck in the middle of nowhere! And I say to you that if big oil cant get supply and transportation right today how do you by watching youtube videos and reading wikipedia earn any credibility to criticise early 20th century explorers.

[mjwquinn]

@TheMythOfRescue Like I said Use your own Brain, the dogs comment was quite clearly a reference to scott being stuck during his last days where Amudson would, if he hit that weather, been in the same position. You do not need to quote facts like knowledge because ive seen all the videos and information you have so plagierism is not needed here. My point to you is explorers use there own personal experiences and technology advancement to decide how they conduct their expeditions - not hindsight!

[oysterjoe]

@TheMythOfRescue The British love debacles. They're still talking about Dunkirk. It's my opinion that they should concern themselves with the enemy they've imported. The next Dunkirk might be in Dover.

I was raised to hate the Russkies. That has faded to extreme dislike. They're asian in thought and deed.

Scott was an egotist convinced of his own infallability [much life Obama].

I prefer guys like Richard Francis Burton. His journal of his trip to Mecca is fascinating.