沮丧的斯科特探险队于1912年1月19日踏上返回营地的1300公里的旅途,斯科特在日记中写到:“这次返程恐怕将十分劳累且无聊透顶”。尽管回程中天气恶劣,探险队仍在2月7日之前完成了500公里左右南极点高原部分的旅程,随后的几天探险队沿比尔德摩尔冰川下降,行进了100公里,在这段行进中,埃德加·埃文斯的身体情况严重下降,2月4日埃文斯的一次跌倒使他“行动困难”,2月17日的又一次跌倒后,埃文斯在冰川脚下死去。
这时探险队前面还有670公里的旅途,恶劣天气、冻伤、雪盲、饥饿和劳累消耗着斯科特探险队的毅力,他们挣扎着向北行进。之后奥茨的身体状况因为战时受的老伤而急转直下,奥茨在3月17日早上留下著名的一句話:「我要去外边走走,可能稍久一點。(I am just going outside and may be some time.)」后走出了营帐走向死亡,屍骨今未尋獲。余下三个人又向前行进了32公里之后,于3月19日在主给养补给点前18公里(越过原计划补给点位置38公里后)扎下了最后的营地。第二天席卷而来的暴风雪阻挡了探险队的脚步,在随后的9天中,探险队消耗了所有的给养。尽管他在3月23日时已停止记录日记,斯科特还是在3月29日写下了他的遗言,他写道:“最後,老天保佑我的夥伴”。斯科特给包括威尔森的母亲、鲍威尔的母亲、他之前指挥官、他自己的母亲和他的妻子写了信,斯科特还写了一封给公众的信,这封信中他对探险行动做了辩护,并将探险的失败归结为恶劣天气和其他不幸,结尾斯科特留下了一段感人至深的话:[49]
我们很清楚自己冒了险,天不隨人意,因而没什么可抱怨的,只能背负着天意努力到最后……如果我们能幸存,我将向世人讲述我的同伴是多麼堅毅、进取、勇敢,以激励每一个英国人。我们的遗骸和这些便条必将讲述这些故事。我们富强的祖国一定、一定会证明,我們對得起那些支持著我们的人的信心。 We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last […] 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, but surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for. — 罗伯特·斯科特, Scott's Message to the Public, L. Huxley, Vol I pp. 605–07
^Scott 1905,vol 1, p. 170. sfn error: no target: CITEREFScott1905 (help)
^"The dog-team is invested with a capacity of work which is beyond the emulation of party of men ... This method of using dogs is one which can only be adopted with reluctance. One cannot calmly contemplate the murder of animals which possess such intelligence and individuality" RF Scott The Voyage of the Discovery Vol I, Smith Elder & Co, London 1905, p. 465.
^Scott 1905,第211–227頁. sfn error: no target: CITEREFScott1905 (help)
^Crane 2005,第161–167頁. sfn error: no target: CITEREFCrane2005 (help)
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Huxley, Leonard (编). Scott's Last Expedition, Volume I: Being the Journals of Captain R.F. Scott, R.N., C.V.O.. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1913. OCLC 1522514.
Huxley, Leonard (编). Scott's Last Expedition, Volume II: Being the reports of the journeys and the scientific work undertaken by Dr. E.A. Wilson and the surviving members of the expedition. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1913. OCLC 1522514.
Pound, Reginald. Scott of the Antarctic. London: Cassell & Company. 1966.
Preston, Diana. A First Rate Tragedy: Captain Scott's Antarctic Expeditions paperback. London: Constable. 1999. ISBN 978-0-09-479530-3. OCLC 59395617.
Riffenburgh, Beau. Nimrod: Ernest Shackleton and the Extraordinary Story of the 1907–09 British Antarctic Expedition paperback. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 2005. ISBN 978-0-7475-7253-4. OCLC 56659120.
Scott, Robert Falcon. The Voyage of the Discovery. London: Nelson. 1905.
Dennis Rawlins (2002), "Scott's Navigational Math", DIO(页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆), volume 2, number 2, pages 74ff. (Refutes the charges that Scott's navigation was inferior to or essentially differed from Amundsen's.)