-
The Coldest Place on Earth
Chapter 1 Two Ships
The race began in the
summer of 1910
．
On June
lst
，
in
London
，
a black
ship
，
the Terra
Nova
，
went down
the river Thames
to the
sea
．
Thousands of people
stood by the river to watch
it
．
They were all excited and
happy
．
On
the
Terra
Nova
，
Captain
Robert
Falcon
Scott
smiled
quietly
．
It
was
a
very
important
day
for
him
．
He
was
a
strong
man
，
not
very
tall
，
in
the
blue
clothes
of
a
captain
．
He was
forty-one years old
，
but he
had a young face
，
like a
boy
．
His eyes were dark
and quiet
．
One man on the
ship
，
Titus
Oates
，
smiled at
Scott
．
'What an exciting day
，
Captain
！
'he
said
．
'Look at those
people
！
I feel like an
important
man'
Scott
laughed
．
'You are important
，
Titus
，
'
he said
．
'And you're going to
be famous
，
too
．
We all are
．
Do you
see this flag
？
'He looked at
the big British flag at the back of the
ship
，
and smiled
at Oates
．
'That flag is
coming with us
，
'he
said
．
'In the
Antarctic
，
I'm going to carry
it under my clothes
．
We're going to be the first
men at the South
Pole
，
and that flag is going
to be first
，
too
！<
/p>
'
Five days
later
，
on June
6th
，
a man opened the door of
his wooden house in
Norway
．
He was a tall
man
，
with a long
face
．
He waited outside the
house for a
minute
．
Everything was very
quiet
．
He could
see no
houses
，
only mountains
，
trees
，
and
wa-ter
．
It was nearly
dark
．
The sky was black over
the
mountains
．
The man
smiled
，
and walked quickly
away from the house
，
down to
the sea
．
In the
water
，
a big
wooden ship waited for
him
．
The man got onto the
ship
，
and talked and laughed
quietly with his
friends
．
The ship's name was
Fram
，
and the man was Roald
Amundsen
．
The Fram was the
most beautiful ship on
earth
，
Amundsen
thought
．
His
friends were the best skiers on earth
，<
/p>
too
．
One of
them
，
Olav
Bjaaland
，
smiled at
him
．
'North
Pole
，
here we come
，
Captain
，
'he
said
．
'Yes
．
'Amundsen
said
．
His friends could not
see his face in the
dark
．
'Fram is going to
the Arctic
．
'
Everyone on the
Fram was ready to go to the
North
Pole
，
to the
Arctic
．
Amundsen wanted to go
there
，
too
．
But first he wanted to go
south
．
His friends
didn't know that
．
At midnight on
June 6th
，
the Fram moved
quietly away from Amundsen's
house
，
out to
sea
．
Chapter 2 The Race
The Fram went to an island
in the south of Norway
．
It
was a very little
island
，
with
only
one small wooden house
，
two
trees
—
and nearly a hundred
dogs
．
'Look at
that
！
'Bjaaland
said
．
'It's an island of
dogs
！
There are dogs in the
water
，
near
the
trees
，
on the
house
—
dogs
everywhere
！
'
Two men came out of the hou
se
．
'Hassel
！
Lindstrom
！
'Amundsen
said
．
'It's good to see
you
！
How many dogs
do you have for me
？
'
1
'Ninety-nine
，
Roal
d
，
'said
Hassel
．
'The best ninety-nine
dogs from Greenland
．
And
they're
very
happy
！
They
don't
work
；
they
just
eat
and
play
all
day
！
They're
having
a
won-
derful summer here
！
'
'Good
，
good
．
'Amundsen
laughed
．
'But that's finished
now
．
Hey
，
Bjaaland
！
Stop
laughing
—
come
down here and help me
．
Let's
get all these dogs onto the
ship
！
'
It
was
not
easy
．
The
dogs
were
fat
and
strong
，
and
they
didn't
want
to
go
on
the
ship
．
But at
last
，
after three hours'hard
work
，
all ninety-nine were on
the ship
，
and the Fram
went out to sea
again
．
The men were not
happy
．
The weather was
bad
，
the dogs were
dirty
，
and some of the
men were ill
．
They
began to ask questions
．
'Why
are
we
bringing
dogs
witn
us
？
'asked
one
man
，
Jo-
hansen
．
'We're
going
thousands of
kilometres south
，
past Cape
Horn
，
and then north to
Alaska
．
Why not
wait
，
and get dogs in
Alaska
？
'
'Don't ask
me
，
'said his
friend
，
Helmer
Hanssen
，
'I don't
understand it
．
'
The men talked
for a long time
．
Then
< br>，
on September
9th
，
Amundsen
called everyone
to the back of the
ship
．
He stood quietly and
looked at them
．
Behind him
was a big map
．
It
was not a map of the
Arctic
．
It was a map of
Antarctica
．
Bjaaland looked at Helmer
Hanssen
，
and
laughed
．
Then Amundsen began
to speak
．
'Boys
，
'he
said
．
'I know you are
unhappy
．
You
often
ask me difficult
questions
，
and I don't answer
．
Well
，
I'm going to an-swer all those
questions now
，
tod
ay
．
We began to work for this journey two
years ago
．
Then
，
we wanted to be the first men
at the North
Pole
．
But last year
，
Peary
，
an
American
，
found the North
Pole
．
So America
was first to the North
Pole
，
not
Norway
．
We're going
there
，
but we're too
late
．
'
'I don't understand
this
，
'Bjaaland
thought
．
'Why is Amundsen
talking about the North
Pole
，
with a map
of Antarctica behind him
？
'
Amundsen
stopped
for
a
minute
，
and
looked
at
all
the
men
slowly
．
No
one
said
anything
．
'We
have
to
go
a
long
way
south
before
we
get
to
Alaska
，
'he
said
．
'Very
near
Antarctica
，
you
know
．
And Captain
Scott
，
the
Englishman
，
is going to the
South Pole this
year
．
He wants to
put his British flag
there
．
An American flag at
the North Pole
，
a British
flag at the South
Pole
．
'
Bjaaland began to
understand
．
He started to
smile and couldn't stop
．
He
was warm and
excited
．
'Well
，
boys
，
'Amundsen
said slowly
．
'Do we want the
British to put their flag at the
South
Pole first
？
How fast can we
travel
？
We have a lot of
dogs
，
and some of the most
won-derful
skiers
on
earth
—
Bjaaland
here
is
the
best
in
Norway
！
So
I
have
an
idea
，
boys
．
Let's go to the South
Pole
，
and put the Norwegian
flag there before the
British
！
What
do
you say
？
'
For a minute or two it was
very quiet
．
Amundsen
waited
，
and the men watched
him
and
thought
．
Then
Bjaalandlaughed
．
'Yes
！
'he
said
．
'Why
not
？
It's
a
ski
race
，
isn't
it
，
and
the English
can't
ski
！
It's
a
wonderful
idea
，
of
course
！
Let's
go
！
'
Chapter 3
The Ponies
On
October 27th
，
the Terra Nova
arrived in Wellington
，
New
Zealand
．
When Scott
came off the
ship
，
a newspa-per man walked
up to him
．
2
'Captain
Scott
！
Captain
Scott
！
Can I talk to you
，
please
！
'he
said
．
Scott stopped and smiled
．
'Yes
，
of
course
，
'he
said
．
'What do you want to
know
？
'
'Are you going to
win
？
'the man asked
．
'Win
？
'Scott
asked
．
'Win
what
？
'
'Win the
race to the South Pole
，
of
course
，
'the newspaper man
said
．
'It's a
race between you and Amundsen
，
now
．
Look at
this
！
'He gave a newspaper to
Scott
．
Scott
looked at it
．
It
said
：
Scott's
face went white
．
'Give me
that
！
'he
said
．
He took the newspaper
and read it
carefully
．
The
newspaper man watched
him
，
and waited
．
'Well
，
Captain
Scott
，
'he said at
last
．
'Who's going
to win this race
？
Tell me
that
！
'
Scott looked at him
angrily
．
'This is
stupid
！
'he
said
．
'It's not a
race
！
I came here to learn
about the Antarctic
—
I'm not
interested
in
Amundsen
，
or in
races
！
'Then he walked back
on-to his ship
，
with the
newspaper in his
hand
．
Later that
day
，
he talked to his
men
．
He gave them the
newspaper
，
and
laughed
．
'It doesn't
matter
，
'he
said
．
'We're in front of
Amundsen
，
and we have more
men
，
and
more
money
．
He has only eight
men
，
and a lot of
dogs
．
I know about
dogs
—
they don't work
in
the
Antarctic
．
We
have
sixteen
men
and
the
new
motor
sledges
—
they
are
much
better
．
And
tomorrow the ponies are
coming
．
We need
ponies
，
motor
sledges
，
and good
strong British
men
—
that's
all
．
Forget about
Amundsen
！
He's not
important
！
'
Scott asked Oates to look
after the ponies
，
but he did
not let Oates buy them
．
When
Oates first saw the
ponies
，
in New
Zealand
，
he was very
unhappy
．
Most of the ponies
were
old
，
and some
of them were ill
．
'They're
beautiful
ponies
，
Titus
，
'Scott
said
．
'They
come
from
China
—
they're
wonderful
ponies
！
'
Oates looked at them
angrily
，
and said
nothing
．
Then he
asked
：
'Where is their food
，
Captain
？
'
'Here
！
'Scott
opened a door
．
Oates looked
inside
．
He thought for a
minute
．
'We need more food
than this
，
Captain
Scott
！
These
ponies
are
going
to
work
in
the
coldest
place
on
earth
—
they
need
a
lot
of
food
—
more than
this
！
'
Scott
smiled quietly
．
'We can't
take more food on this ship
，
Titus
．
Where can we put
it
？
But it doesn't
matter
，
old
boy
．
They're very strong
ponies
，
you
know
．
The best ponies
on earth
．
'
Later that
night
，
Oates wrote a letter
to his mother
．
There are
nineteen ponies on the
Terra Nova
now
，
he
wrote
．
All the penies are in
a small room at the front of the
ship
．
We
eat our
food in the room under the
ponies
，
so our table is often
wet and dirty
．
Scott makes a
lot of mistakes
，
I
think
，
and Antarc-tica is a
very dangerous place
．
Chapter 4 Food Depots
The two
ships
，
Terra Nova and
fram
，
arrived in
Antarctica
，
in January
1911
，
at the end
of summer
．
The
Englishmen and the Norwegians wanted to stay on
the ice all winter
．
They
wanted to be ready to go to the South
Pole at the beglnning of the next Antarctic
summer
．
The dogs pulled the
Norwegians'sledges
．
They ran
quickly over the snow and pulled
the
big sledges from the ship onto the
ice
．
The men ran beside them
on skis
．
They put a big wooden house
on the ice
．
The house was
full of food
，
and
skis
，
and
sledges
．
They
called it Framheim
．
Out-side
the house
，
the dogs lived in
holes under the
snow
．
When the
house was ready
，
the men made
their first journey south
．
3
Before the
winter
，
they wanted to take a
lot of food south
，
and leave
it in depots
．
For
the long journey to the
Pole
，
they needed a lot of
food
，
and they couldn't carry
it all with
them
．
On February
10th
，
five
men
，
three
sledges
，
eighteen
dogs
，
and half a tonne of
food
left Framheim and went
south
．
It
was
easy
．
The
weather
was
warm
for
the
Antarctic
，
be-twee
n
—
7°
Centigrade
and
—
17°
C
entigrade
．
The snow was
good
，
and the dogs and skis
went fast
．
They went fifty
or sixty kilometres every
day
．
After four days they
reached
80°
South
，
and made
the first
depot
．
Amundsen made
his depot very carefully
．
It
was very im-portant to find it
again
，
next
summer
．
So
he
put
a
big
black
flag
on
top
．
Then
he
put
ten
flags
to
the
east
of
the
depot
—
each flag
half a kilometre from the
next
—
and ten flags to the
west
．
So there
were flags for five kilometres to the left of the
depot
，
and five kilometres to
the right
．
Then
they
went
back
to
Framheim
，
and
took
some
more
food
south
，
this
time
to
82°
South
．
This time it was
harder
．
The temperature was
sometimes
－
40°
Cen
tigrade
，
and there
were strong winds with a lot of
snow
．
The dogs and men were
very tired
，
and the tents and
boots were bad
．
At
the second depot
，
they put
out sixty flags
，
to help them
find it again
．
They
came
back
to
Framheim
on
March
23rd
．
It
was
nearly
winter
in
the
Antarctic
．
Their
ship Fram was far away
now
，
near South
America
．
They were alone on
the
ice
．
Oates went with
Scott to make the first British
depot
．
They left Cape Evans
on January 25th
．
There
were thirteen
men
，
eight
ponies
，
and twenty-six
dogs
．
The dogs were faster
than the ponies
—
they ran
quickly over the top of the
snow
，
but the ponies'feet
went through it
．
Every
morning the ponies started
first
，
and the
dogs started two hours
later
，
because they ran
faster
．
At
night
，
the dogs made warm
holes
under the
snow
，
but the ponies stood on
top of the snow
．
It was
－
20°
Centigrade
< br>．
After fifteen days Oates talked to
Scott
．
There was a strong
wind
，
and the two men's
faces were white with
snow
．
'Three of these ponies are
ill
，
Captain
，
'Oates said
．
'They
can't go on
．
'
'Don't be stupid
，
Oates
，
'Scott
answered
．
'They're good
strong animals
—
the best
ponies
on earth
．
'
'Not these
three
，
'Oates
said
．
'They're
ill
，
and
unhappy
，
and now they can't
walk
．
Let's
kill
them
，
and leave the meat
here
，
in the
snow
．
We can eat
it
，
or the dogs
can
．
'
'Of course
not
！
'Scott said
angrily
．
'These ponies are
our friends
，
they work hard
for
us
．
I don't
kill my friends
！
'
Three days
later
，
two of the ponies were
dead
．
Scott's
men
were
slower
than
Amundsen's
；
it
took
them
twenty-
four
days
to
get
to
80°
South
．
They made a big depot
there
，
and put one large
black flag on top of it
．
Then
they
went back
to Cape
Evans
．
Their camp was on an island in the
ice
，
and the sea ice moved
sometimes
．
There were
holes in the
ice
，
and black sea water
under it
．
One day seven
ponies went through the ice
into the
sea
，
and
died
．
One motor sledge also
went into the sea
．
Chapter 5 A Long Cold Winter
It was dark for
four months
．
Outside the
wooden house at Framheim
，
it
was often
－
60°
Cen
tigrade
．
The
dogs
lived
in
warm
holes
under
the
snow
．
The
men
stayed
in
the
4
house
，
and worked
in their rooms under the
snow
．
The skis and sledges came
from the best shops in
Norway
，
but Bjaaland wasn't
happy
with
them
．
He
changed
a
lot
of
things
on
the
skis
and
sledges
．
Soon
the
sledges
were
stronger than
before
．
The skis were better
and faster
，
too
．
All
the Norwegians worked
hard
．
They looked after their
dogs
，
and worked on their
equipment
—
the sle
dges
，
skis
，
tents
．
Every day they
thought about their journey to the
Pole
，
and talked about
it
．
And every
day
，
Amundsen thought about
Scott
．
One
day
，
in
midwinter
，
he talked to his
men
．
'Let's start
early
，
before
Scott
，
'Amundsen
said
．
'Remem-
ber
，
Scott has more men than
us
，
and he has
motor sledges
，
too
．
Perhaps they can go faster than
us
．
'
Bjaaland
laughed
．
'Oh
no
，
they can't go faster than
me
，
'he
said
．
'On
snow
，
nothing
can
go faster than a good man on
skis
．
'
'We don't
know
，
'Amundsen
said
．
'You're the best skier
in Norway
，
but you get
tired
，
and dogs get tired
，
too
．
Motor
sledges don't get tired
．
They
can go all day and all
night
．
'
Johansen laughed
angrily
．
'That's
stupid
，
'he
said
．
'Perhaps the motor
sledges can go
all
night
，
but the Englishmen
can't
．
The English can't win<
/p>
，
Roald
—
they don't understand
snow
，
but we
do
．
And they're too
slow
．
'
'Perhaps
，
'Amundsen said
．
'But I
want to win this race
．
So
we're going to start
early
！
Do you
understand
？
'
It was quiet and warm inside
Framheim
．
Bjaaland looked at
Amundsen
，
and thought
about the
long
，
cold journey in front
of him
．
He thought about the
dogs in their holes under
the
snow
，
and listened to the
wind over the house
．
'When
，
Roald
？
'h
e said quietly
．
'On August
24th
．
The sun comes back on
that day
．
We start
then
．
'
'But we
can't
！
'Johansen
said
．
He looked
angry
，
and un-
happy
．
'That's too
early
！
We can't start
then
—
it's danger-ous and
stupid
！
'
Amundsen looked at Johansen
coldly
．
'You're
wrong
，
Jo-
hansen
，
'he
said
．
'We want
to
win
，
remember
？
So we start on August
24th
．
'
Bjaaland listened to the
winter wind outside
．
In Scott's
camp
，
at Cape
Evans
，
no one talked about
Amundsen and no one worked
hard
．
They
had
good
food
，
and
they
played
football
on
the
snow
．
They
wrote
a
newspaper
—
The
south Polar Times
—
and read
books
．
No one learnt to
ski
，
no one worked
on the motor sledges
．
Twice
，
men went for long
jour-neys across the
snow
．
They
walked
，
and pulled the
sledges themselves
．
Oates
stayed at Cape Evans and looked after his
ponies
．
Over the window in Cape
Evans
，
Scott put a map of
Antarc-tica
．
With a
pen
，
he made
a
line from Cape Evans to the South
Pole
，
and he put a little
Britisn Flag at the
Pole
．
Under
the
map
，
Scott wrote the day for
the start of their journey
．
We start on
November 3rd
，
he
wrote
．
Chapter 6
A Bad Start
On
August 23rd
，
the
Norwegians'sledges were
ready
．
They took them
outside
，
and the
dogs pulled them across me
ice
．
The sun came up for half
an hour
，
but it was too cold<
/p>
：
－
46°
Ce
ntigrade
．
They could not
travel in that weather
．
They
went back to Framheim and
waited
．
They
waited
two
weeks
，
until
September
8th
．
Then
，
with
the
temperature
a
t
－
37°
Centigrade
，
they
started
．
They ran happily
across the snow to the
south
—
eight
men
，
seven
sledges
，
and
eighty-six
dogs
．<
/p>
Only
Lindstrom
，
the
cook
，
stayed
behind
in
Framheim
．
5
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