Hoosh, Dogs and Seal Meat: The Role of Food in the Race to
the South Pole.
Diana Noyce
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The fate of nations depends on the way they eat.
Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin. The Physiology of Taste.1823
Antarctica, the southernmost continent is a vast wilderness of ice and mountains. It is
the coldest, driest, windiest, and most isolated continent on Earth encompassing the
South Pole—the last frontier to be conquered. At 3pm December 14, 1911, Roald
Amundsen planted the Norwegian flag at the geographic South Pole. The Polar
quest was not just exploration, a journey of discovery. It was a race to be the first at
Norwegian and British. The British had
planted the first flag on the Antarctic continent (the Southern Cross Expedition 18981900). And it was expected that Robert Falcon Scott would plant the British flag at
the South Pole—Britain was likely to win the race.
For the privilege of being the first to tread this inhospitable yet so desirable
spot, both Amundsen and Scott were prepared to drag themselves 1,600 miles
(2,575km) across a frozen wilderness, and face any extremity of suffering and
danger. What most people know of the conquest of the South Pole is that Captain
Scott got there and then died heroically on the return journey. For the victorious
Norwegian many regarded his achievement as just plain good luck, as well as a little
devious. But was it good luck that Amundsen was victorious or was he better
prepared?
I may say that this is the greatest factor–the way in which the expedition is equipped–the way
in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it.
Victory awaits him who has everything in order–luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him
who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck.
The reasons for Roald Amundsen's success and the reason for Robert Falcon
Scott's failure in returning from the simultaneous Terra Nova Expedition to the Pole
have always been the subject of discussion and controversy. The contrasting fates of
the two teams seeking the same prize at the same time invite comparison. As 2011
marks the centenary of conquering the South Pole, comparisons are called for once
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again. Was it Norway‘s fate to be first at the Pole because Amundsen was better
prepared and better fed than Scott?
Exploration of the southern region
To answer that question it is necessary firstly to give an overview of the history of
Antarctic exploration. Exploration and exploitation of the southern regions dates back
to the eighteenth century. The earliest ventures were those of sealers and whalers,
who were motivated by visions of quick profits rather than by any sense of
geographic curiosity. However, by the late 19th century, Antarctica was the last
unexplored continent on earth. The geographical prize was the South Pole - the most
remote spot on earth. Its conquest would bring prestige to both individuals and
nations.
In the closing years of the nineteenth century; a little-known expedition named
the Belgica Expedition sailed from Belgium with the first truly multi-national group of
officers, scientists and crew. Among the members of the expedition was the ship‘s
doctor, an American Frederick A. Cook soon to be embroiled in an infamous
controversy with Robert Peary over the discovery of the North Pole; and the
Norwegian Roald Amundsen, soon to be first at the South Pole. The Belgica
expedition to Antarctica began the flurry of exploration which became known as the
Heroic Age.
The Heroic age was prompted by an announcement at the Sixth International
Geographic Congress in 1895 which proclaimed:
The exploration of the Antarctic Regions [was] the greatest piece of geographical exploration
still to be undertaken. That in view of the additions to knowledge in almost every branch of
science which would result from such a scientific exploration the Congress recommends that
the scientific societies throughout the world should urge in whatever way seems to them most
effective, that this work should be undertaken before the close of the century.
Scientific societies and organisations around the world began to organise scientific
and geographic expeditions to Antarctica. This intense period of geographic
exploration which began with the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897-1899), ended
with the death of Sir Ernest Shackleton (1922) on his fourth and final Antarctic
expedition. Between the Belgica expedition and Shackleton‘s British expedition, the
Germans, Swedes, Scots, French, Norwegians, Japanese as well as the Australians
joined the retinue of Antarctic exploration. Men who went south represented their
nation, sought excitement and carried desires for the heroic status then accorded
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explorers. It was characterised by men who were regarded as having Herculean
strength, endurance and courage and who were tested to their physical and mental
limits, and sometimes beyond. They may have travelled to the southernmost
continent in wooden ships but the men themselves were made of iron. Territorial
claims were an essential motive for expeditions. Claims were made on coasts and
wherever explorers reached the extent of their journeys. Science, exploration and
politics have driven men south to the white continent ever since.
However, the prestige of men and nations crystallised in the race for the last
great geographical achievement, the South Pole. No longer an abstract spot on the
map, it became a goal of heroic struggle. But, it was not merely a geographical race,
it had strong nationalistic overtones. Exploration had long been a tool of colonial
expansion and of imperial prestige. Scientist were part of the South Polar
expeditions sent from these countries in the period which followed, said Stephen
Martin, but in the public eyes—and in those of expedition promoters–the South Pole
remained the principal objective, exploration's last great prize. ―The main object of
this Expedition is to reach the South Pole, and to secure for The British Empire the
honour of this achievement‖, said Scott in a 1909 public appeal for funding the Terra
Nova Expedition.
Antarctica was like no other continent. Unlike previous continental exploration,
once an exploring party passed the coast there was nothing to stand between it and
the purely physical systems that comprised Antarctica. Unlike the Arctic there was no
ecosystem to sustain an explorer, no native culture or permanent human societies
that could guide, inform or assist. No guides to direct overland parties, or native
technology to rely on. No indigenous hunters who could inform them of geography
and educate them in survival skills in a harsh environment. Only along the coast
were there organisms that could sustain life, once crossed there was only ice and
more ice. However, writes the environmental historian Stephen Pyne, the explorers
and the civilisations that sent them did not discover ‗The Ice‘ so much as ‗The Ice‘
allowed them to discover themselves. The ineffable whiteness of Antarctica ―became
a vast imperfect mirror that reflected back the character of the person and the
civilization that gazed upon it‖.
A great deal is known today about the requirements for the most basic
survival in extreme conditions in terms of what food and clothing is required. Much of
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this knowledge was discovered the hard way, by men suffering from cold, starvation
and nutritional deficiencies while exploring the Arctic or Antarctic. Two things were
found out very early on in Antarctic exploration–that extreme cold makes people feel
very hungry and added hard work such as that involved in travelling by dog sledge,
or especially by manhauling uses a great deal of energy. Like a machine, man
requires fuel, the more work his does, the more fuel is required. Unfortunately the
early explorers didn't eat enough and suffered as a consequence.
Moreover, explorers require a balanced diet which includes all of the seven
food groups required by humans in sufficient quantities, these are: carbohydrates,
fats and proteins–to supply energy; and vitamins, minerals, fibre and water–to
ensure the body runs smoothly. The main sources of energy are carbohydrates and
fats, protein is required for the efficient functioning of the body, and can also be used
for energy too, so it spans the two groups. Moreover, a diet that is balanced depends
on the individual—how big they are, how old they are, what sex they are and how
much activity they engage in. Food was fundamental to the success of Antarctic
exploration. However, over and over again, the explorers during the Heroic Age
underestimated the amount of food that was needed which left the men on many
occasions intensely and fiercely hungry. The plethora of personal diaries written
during the period reveals frequent and disproportionate attention to their food and in
particular their sledging rations.
The ramifications of an insufficient diet were severely felt on the Belgica
Expedition, the first to endure (albeit inadvertently) an Antarctic winter. Locked in the
ice of the Bellingshausen Sea for over a year, the ship became a virtual laboratory of
human endurance for its 19-member crew. ―It was a new human experience in a new
inhuman experience of ice‖, wrote Frederick Cook. The soul despairing darkness,
the isolation, the tinned foods, low temperatures and increasing storms reduced ―our
systems‖ to what Cook described as ―polar anaemia‖, whereby the skin became pale
with a greenish hue.
Scurvy
There was a shortage of food on the Belgica, and what there was lacked in variety
and in particular nutrients such as vitamin C–signs of scurvy began to show in a
number of the men. The ship‘s captain Georges Lecointe, and the expedition leader
Adrien de Gerlache both became ill with scurvy. Scurvy is a deficiency disease
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caused by lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). It was a common complaint on sailing
ships before about 1900. Insufficient vitamin C affects the body's production of
collagen–a protein in connective tissue that surrounds body structures and holds
them together. When someone has scurvy, collagen is still produced, but it is
unstable and causes small blood vessels to become weak and wounds to be poorly
held together. Haemorrhages can occur anywhere in the body, but are most obvious
in the skin where they cause widespread bruising. Bleeding from the gums and
loosening of teeth is common. Bleeding into muscles and joints also occurs causing
pain, tiredness and disorientation. If no vitamin C is available then eventually death
is caused usually by bleeding into and around the brain. (This could have been the
cause of Petty Officer Evans death).
Humans are one of the few animals (along with monkeys and guinea pigs)
that are unable to make vitamin C from other components of the diet. We have to
consume it ready made in our food. And the body can only store enough vitamin C
for about three months. Vitamin C is found in a whole range of foods, but especially
fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables are not common in
Antarctica even today. So for early explorers in particular, scurvy was a very real
problem.
On the Belgica the problem was exacerbated by de Gerlache's dislike of the
only local source of this vital nutrient–fresh penguin and seal meat that the crew had
killed and stored before the onset of winter. Nutritional analysis confirms that seal
meat is a reasonably good source of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), providing 2 milligrams
per one hundred grams of meat; seal liver provides nearly ten times that amount (for
men, ages 19+ need a minimum of 90mg daily). Such was the expedition leader‘s
hatred of these meats, that he forbad his men from eating it. Cook and Amundsen
took command of the Belgica when de Gerlache and Lecointe became so infirmed
they were unable to fulfil their duties. Cook in particular reversed their fortunes by
retrieving the frozen penguin and seal meat and forced the men to eat a diet of raw
seal meat. Amundsen never forgot the effect that the scourge of scurvy had on the
men. It had such a profound effect upon him that he ensured on his own expedition
to the South Pole that his men would never suffer from scurvy.
Attempts to reach the South Pole
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As the South Pole is inland, away from the coast where the only source of food can
be found in Antarctica, and as the distance to the Pole was great, food had to be
transported and carried by the expedition members. It was on the sledging journeys
to the South Pole where deficiencies in vitamins and calories or kilojoules were most
apparent.
The Southern Cross expedition (1898-1900), a British expedition led by the
Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink, was the first to make an attempt at the Pole.
However, the party of three, the first to use dogs and sledges, left rather late in the
season but managed to ascend the Barrier surface, and then journeyed a few
kilometres south to a point which they calculated as 78°50'S, a new Farthest South
record.
The Southern Cross expedition was followed by the National Antarctic
Expedition (1901-1904), commonly known as the Discovery Expedition led by Robert
Falcon Scott. Sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society Scott, Dr. Edward
Wilson (Bill), and Ernest Shackleton set out with nineteen dogs, five sledges, and
supporting parties in November 1902 with a goal "to get as far south in a straight line
on the Barrier ice as we can, reach the Pole if possible, or find some new land".
Scott and Shackleton had firstly surveyed there intended direction by ascending in a
balloon, the first balloon ascent in Antarctica.
However, the British were inexperienced in handling dogs and the lack of skill
with dogs was soon evident, and progress was slow. Moreover, the dog‘s food,
Norwegian stockfish, which had been brought through the tropics, was tainted. The
dogs sickened and grew weaker, making them fractious and even more difficult to
handle. Some dogs died in their tracks and Wilson was forced to kill the weakest
dogs as food for the others. The men, too, were struggling, afflicted by snow
blindness, frostbite and symptoms of early scurvy were evident by Christmas Eve,
but they continued southwards in line with the mountains to the west. Christmas Day
was celebrated with double rations, and a Christmas pudding that Shackleton had
kept for the occasion, hidden with his socks. The shortage of food, however, forced
them to turn back but they set a new Furthest South record of 82°17'S. Troubles
multiplied on the home journey, as the remaining dogs died and Shackleton
collapsed with scurvy. Wilson's diary entry for 14 January 1903, acknowledged that
"we all have slight, though definite symptoms of scurvy". Scott and Wilson struggled
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on, with Shackleton, who was unable to pull, walking alongside and occasionally
carried on the sledge. The party eventually reached the Discovery on 3 February
1903. Scott admitted that ―food, clothing, everything was wrong, the whole system
was bad‖. Several other members of the ship's crew and expedition members on the
Discovery also showed symptoms of scurvy. A daily dose of lime juice was taken by
the men, but lime juice is not a good source of vitamin C as it contains only about a
quarter that of lemons. Moreover, vitamin C if stored breaks down over time
rendering it ineffective.
Antagonism developed between Scott and Shackleton on the trek, which led
to the two men subsequently mounting separate expeditions.
In 1907, Ernest Shackleton and the British Antarctic Expedition set sail in the
Nimrod for the Ross Sea. Their goal: to trek with the aid of ponies to the South Pole
along what became known as the Great Beardmore Glacier. Shackleton, with
Jameson Adams, Frank Wild, and Eric Marshall, set a record for the farthest south,
reaching 88º23'S. After the disastrous experience with dogs on the Discovery
expedition, Shackleton was intent on not repeating the experience, hence the use of
ponies. Shackleton earned the admiration of generations of explorers by making the
agonizing decision to turn back within 97 miles (180km) of the Pole rather than risk
the lives of his men. It was the hardest decision of Shackleton's life, telling his wife
Emily later: "I thought you'd rather have a live donkey than a dead lion." Why did he
turn back? Again, the amount of food that would be required to make such a journey
was underestimated. Although Shackleton was aware from the outset of the ―need
for fatty and farinaceous (carbohydrates) foods in fairly large quantities,‖
Shackleton‘s narrative of the journey reveals a different story. The men were starving
and became obsessed with food. As the men were, intensely, fiercely hungry, ―we
thought of food most of the time‖, said Shackleton. Hunger propelled them: ―Our food
lies ahead, and death stalks us from behind‖, wrote Shackleton.
Wracked with hunger the men daydreamed constantly of sumptuous meals, a
clear sign of calorie shortage. When people are starving their bodies crave the
nutrients they lack. The proximity of the pole, the glory of the mountains was nothing
to the next meal, or vividly imagined meal, recounted Shackleton. The ‗virtual meal‘
became an obsession. Food fantasies, sumptuous banquets and fantastic dishes
were dreamed and imagined. A five-course dinner would keep the men arguing for
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hours, and ―no French chef ever devoted more thought to the invention of new
dishes than we did‖, boasted Shackleton. Meals of stupendous fattiness and
sweetness were invented. The acknowledged height of gastronomic luxury amongst
Shackleton‘s returning party was dreamed up by Frank Wild and became known at
over 80º south as the ‗Wild Roll‘. Take a supply of well-seasoned minced meat, wrap
it in rashers of fat bacon, and place it around the whole an outer covering of rich
pastry so that it takes the form of a big sausage roll. Now fry it in plenty of fat.
Shackleton and his men were certainly lascivious–not with thoughts of sex, food took
the place of sex—and it was anticipated with salivating eagerness and savoured to
the last lick.
The South Pole attained
Shackleton failed in his attempt to reach the Pole, but he showed the way and
proved that it was possible providing there were adequate provisions. Three more
expeditions were launched virtually at exactly the same time without the other
knowing.
Fired by his previous failure to capture the Pole, Scott launched the British
Antarctic Expedition in 1910. Scott's expedition set out from Cardiff, Wales, on 15
June 1910, with a crew of 65 aboard the Terra Nova, a former whaling ship. On
board the ship were four motor sledges, nineteen ponies, thirty-three dogs and a
player piano or pianola, as well as materials to build a hut and provisions.
The Norwegian Antarctic Expedition 1910-1912, led by Roald Amundsen, an
experienced professional explorer, had since the Belgica expedition discovered in
1903-06 the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Amundsen departed
from Oslo on 9 August 1910; eight weeks after Scott had left Cardiff, with a crew of
18 aboard the Fram. Amundsen‘s only intention was to reach the South Pole,
science was a side issue. On board were 97 Greenland dogs, along with a prefabricated wooden hut and provisions for two years in the Antarctic. The provisions
included live pigs, fowls, and sheep which were killed within the Antarctic Circle and
then frozen in the Antarctic ice. Amundsen initial intention was to go to the North
Pole. But when news came the North Pole had been conquered, Amundsen secretly
turned his focus to the South Pole. The crew set sail thinking they were bound for the
North Pole. Amundsen didn't inform his crew until October 1910, when they reached
Madeira that he planned to go south instead of north. Shortly thereafter, Scott who
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thought he had the south all to himself received a courtesy telegram from
Amundsen‘s brother: "Beg leave inform you proceeding Antarctica." Greatly
concerned by his now rival, and perhaps to console himself, Scott stated his
intention for the expedition was, ―entirely for scientific research‖, and the ―Pole was
only a side issue.‖ However, this is misleading and contradicts his previous
statement mentioned earlier. The achievement of the Pole was the reason for most
of the public support and much of the financial backing of Scott‘s expedition.
Nevertheless, the race was on.
Base Camp
To reach the South Pole meant that expeditions had to establish bases on the
continent and to winter over to carry out preparations for the trek to the South Pole in
the summer months. Scott established his base at Cape Evans with a wonderful
view of Mount Erebus.
Amundsen landed at the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea about 400 miles
(644km) from Scott's base at Cape Evans, and 70 miles (113km) closer to the Pole.
Amundsen‘s team erected their small hut where nine men spent the winter. The hut
was named ‗Framheim‘ (home of Fram) after their ship.
.
After the construction of the huts it was time to lay depots along the individual
routes to be taken to the Pole by Scott and Amundsen. The aim of the first season's
depot-laying for Scott‘s party was to place a series of depots on the Barrier from its
edge (Safety Camp) down to 80°S for use on the polar journey, which would begin
the following spring. The final depot would be the largest, and would be known as
One Ton Depot. They did this so that they would not have to carry all the supplies for
the entire journey. However, Scott decided to lay One Ton Depot at 79°29'S, more
than 35 miles (56km) north of its intended location. It was to be a fatal tactical error.
Amundsen laid 3 tons of provisions, including 22 hundredweight of seal meat. In
Antarctica winter lasts from around April to September, so after the depot laying
trips, they had about five months to wait before they could start off for the South
Pole.
During winter both Scott and Amundsen made further preparations for the trek
south. Equipment such as sledges, tents, clothing and skis, had to be prepared as
well as the sorting and packing of sledging rations. As Scott intended to manhaul the
sledges to the South Pole he spent a lot of time throughout the winter making
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calculation in an attempt to minimize weight. Scott's calculations were based on a
number of expeditions: by members of his own team (Edward Wilson's trip with
Henry Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard to the Emperor penguin colony at Cape
Crozier with each man on a different type of experimental ration), and by those of
Shackleton‘s expedition.
At Framheim, Amundsen built an ice cave which became a workshop to
prepare sledges and skis. The men nicknamed the workshop the ‗Crystal Palace‘.
Expedition members also carried out work such as sewing clothing and tents in the
hut itself. They constructed a sauna to keep themselves clean. As well, the men had
to prepare themselves physically for the journey south. That meant maintaining an
exercise regime, as well as building up their body reserves of nutrients to sustain
them on their journey south. On the Belgica expedition, Amundsen had learned the
misery bad cooking caused, and hence that the most important single member of a
Polar expedition was probably the cook. The expedition cook was an overweight and
jolly man named Adolf Lindström. Lindström would rise each morning at 6:00 am to
prepare a breakfast of hot buckwheat cakes spread with whortleberry preserve (like
blueberries only smaller and grow in subarctic regions), plus wholemeal bread
enriched with wheat germ, and leavened by fresh yeast which Lindström contrived to
brew, as well as butter and cheese. Amundsen said Lindström‘s cakes (which he
had learned to make in the States), "slipped down with fabulous rapidity." This
provided the vitamin B complex, the importance of which in Polar history has been
overshadowed by the more spectacular vitamin C deficiency. As for lunch, various
meals were prepared from fresh or frozen seal meat, lightly cooked, as we know
now, preserved most of the vitamin C. A thick, black seal soup made with potatoes,
carrots, cabbage, turnips, peas, celery, prunes, and apples was one of Lindstrom‘s
signature dishes.
Before the winter set in, Amundsen had 60 tons of seal meat in their winter
quarters; which Amundsen thought was enough for themselves and 110 dogs (some
pups had been born on the journey south). Amundsen‘s men referred to the seal
meat as ―crocodile beef‖—seal meat by another name must have made it taste
sweater. At winter‘s end, seal meat was supplemented with tinned meats.
For dessert, they ate green plums, tinned California fruits, as well as
cloudberries, a golden-yellow, soft and juicy berry, rich in vitamin C, which grows
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wild in Norway and is similar in appearance to raspberries. Tarts, pudding, pies and
pastries, all made by Lindström, were also served. Supper was seal steak, bread
with butter, whortleberry or cloudberry jam and cheese. Coffee was the staple
beverage although there were supplies of brandy, bottled punch, gin and Norwegian
aquavit which, translates as ‗the water of life,‘ and were served on Saturday
evenings, birthdays and holidays. Seal meat, brown bread, hot cakes and berries,
were the main food of the Norwegians, a simple natural and nutritious diet. Today,
the nutritional benefits of the key ingredients of the Nordic diet are well known. They
ensure low obesity and high longevity levels, thanks to specific elements such as
raw and smoked fish (rich in Omega 3), rye breads, raw salads, a heavy reliance on
fruit and vegetables and a distinct lack of processing. All through the winter then,
Amundsen‘s men were building up their stock of vitamin C and vitamin B complex.
Their defences against scurvy were as high as they could make them.
By contrast, at Cape Evans there was white bread, not brown; much tinned
food was used, poor in vitamin C. Seal meat was not served daily, only twice a week,
and then overdone. Moreover, while the expedition team was making preparations at
Cape Evans, Dr Ralph Atkinson gave a lecture (18 August, 1911) on current thought
as to the causes of scurvy. Although the British navy had known the benefits of fresh
food and citrus fruit since the eighteenth century, early twentieth century thought was
that ptomaine poisoning from tainted tinned meat was the cause of scurvy. Indeed,
Dr Wilson recorded on the Discovery expedition, the day tinned meat was served
was called ―scurvy day‖. Atkinson acknowledged that fresh vegetables are the best
curative, but was doubtful of fresh meat. More attention was paid therefore to the
quality of the tinned food, each can when opened examined for contamination, rather
than its nutritional content. Such then, was the way each expedition was building up
their bodily reserves for the coming race to the Pole. Fate was sitting at the dinner
table.
On the other hand, if the food at Cape Evans was not very nutritious, it was
certainly more sumptuous than at Framheim. The delicacies of civilisation were not
far away.
Scott‘s 43rd birthday feast which was held on 6 June 1911, comprised a menu
of seal soup, roast mutton and red currant jelly, asparagus, as well as peas, followed
by tinned fruit salad and chocolates. For drink, they had cider cup, sherry and a
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liqueur. And then there was the midwinter celebration. Today, for those who winter
over in Antarctica, the celebration of Midwinter Day is the most important day in the
polar calendar. It is a holiday unique to Antarctica and has become an integral part of
Antarctic culture. It marks a turning point in the time of waiting and preparation for
the active summer season, with the dark days beginning their progressive recession
as the sun makes its return journey. Scott on the Discovery expedition was the first
to initiate such an elaborate celebration of midwinter‘s day. It is an occasion to put
out decorations, send greetings, and plan, prepare and consume a special feast- the
Antarctic Midwinter Dinner. The dinner is followed by speeches and entertainment in
the form of games, music, drama or sketches.
Scott writes:
At seven o‘clock we sat down to an extravagant bill of fare as compared with our usual simple
diet. Beginning on seal soup, by common consent the best decoction that our cook produces,
we went to roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, fried potatoes and Brussel sprouts. Then
following a flaming plum- pudding and excellent mince pies, and thereafter a dainty savoury of
anchovy and cod‘s roe, wrote Scott.
Menu Midwinter Day Feast 22nd June 1911
Consomme of Seal
Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding.
Horseradish Sauce.
Potatoes à la mode and Brussels Sprouts.
Plum Pudding
Mince Pies
Caviare Antarctic
Crystallised fruits.
Chocolate Bonbons
Butter Bonbons
Walnut Toffee
Almonds and Raisins
Wines
Sherry, Champagne, Brandy Punch, Liqueur.
Cigars, Cigarettes, and Tobacco
Snapdragon*
Pineapple Custard
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Raspberry Jellies
Buszard‘s Cake
God save the King
*Snapdragon is a game played with raisins and heated brandy in a bowl. The brandy is lit and the raisins are then snatched out
of the burning brandy and popped into the mouth. Presumably the person, who eats the most raisins, wins.
Herbert Ponting, the Expedition photographer wrote, ―Those who have never been
deprived of it (roast beef and Yorkshire pudding) for many months have never
relished the national dish of Old England as we did that day. It was food for the
gods‖. Thomas Clissold was the cook who prepared the meal. Edward Wilson
compiled the menu.
Overview of the Journey to the South Pole
Amundsen first set out for the South Pole on 8 September 1911, with an eight-man
team on four sledges pulled by four teams of thirteen dogs each. However, due to
freezing temperatures and the men severely affected by frostbite they returned to
base. They set out again on 20 October, less three men with provisions for four
months in addition to what had been stockpiled in the three depots which they had
laid the previous summer.
By contrast, the British set off on 24 October with a support party of 16 men,
12 sledges and two experimental motorized sledges. They had just 22 dogs and 10
ponies. The British expedition was plagued from the start. The men were only 51
miles (82km) from base camp when the motors on their sledges started to fail and
had to be abandoned. Travel was difficult as the ponies sank in the snow and also
suffered terribly from the cold. They shot the first pony for food on day 24; and ate
the last one on day 39. Some of the meat was cached for the return journey. Three
ponies had already died of cold and hunger during the winter. Two others fell through
the ice and were eaten by killer whales. Though dogs did not suffer from the harsh
conditions, Scott did not appreciate their advantage over ponies and were not to be
taken to the Pole. Although dogs ate dogs on the Discovery expedition, Scott now
disowned the idea that dogs could eat dogs, and especially that men could eat dogs.
The Discovery experience with dogs, greatly and understandably disturbed Scott and
he did not want to repeat the experience. Scott favoured instead manhauling, pulling
sledges themselves–it was the British way. However, Scott wrote in his diary that he
was concerned about the Norwegians' superior dog handling. He was right.
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Scott joined the cavalcade on 1 November to follow the Beardmore Glacier
route, trail blazed by Shackleton to make the long trek to the South Pole.
Exquisitely organized and well-trained in skiing and dog-driving, Amundsen's
five-man team covered at times as many as 20 miles (32km) per day and arrived at
the Pole on 14 December with seventeen dogs remaining and three sledges without
privation or illness. Amundsen recorded they had no cravings for fat or sugar, an
indication that the calorie content of their rations was sufficient. At the Pole
Amundsen set up camp and for three days made calculation to make sure that they
were really at the South Pole. Then ―five weather-beaten, frost-bitten fists,‖ planted
the Norwegian flag as the first at the geographical South Pole. They left a tent with a
letter for Scott and a few supplies.
It was Amundsen‘s intention from the start to kill the dogs along the way to
provide fresh meat for the men, as well as to feed the remaining dogs. Dogs
synthesize their own vitamin C, which helped to maintain vitamin C levels in both the
dogs and the men. Having lived amongst the Intuits in the Arctic whilst on his Gjøa
North West passage expedition of 1905, Amundsen learnt the art of survival in a
harsh environment. One important lesson was that in eating dog meat the dog‘s liver
was to be avoided at all cost. The dogs themselves do not consume the liver.
Douglas Mawson on his Aurora expedition (1911-1913) learnt this lesson the hard
way. After consuming the dog‘s liver Mawson developed a condition known as
hypervitaminosis whereby an overdose of vitamin A, which is very concentrated in a
dog‘s liver, caused his skin to literally slough away. Mawson lost the soles of his feet.
Amundsen‘s healthy team returned from their 1,500 mile (2,414km) journey
an astonishing 10 days earlier than anticipated, with two sledges and eleven dogs
and were greeted with champagne by the cook Lindström, who had slept with the
bottles to prevent them from freezing.
Meanwhile, by the middle of December, Scott‘s sledging parties were all
starting to suffer from food fantasies, dreaming of sumptuous banquets, and they
were getting noticeably thin. Moreover, Captain Lawrence Oates was beginning to
limp from a war wound he sustained to his upper thigh. A particularly gruesome
symptom of scurvy is that old wounds re-open. Wounds are kept closed by scar
tissue with a high proportion of collagen; this collagen is continually replaced in the
healthy body. With scurvy, the replacement collagen is defective and so wounds
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from decades beforehand can re-open and bleed once again. Oates wound on his
leg from the Boar War was beginning to open.
Meanwhile, the sledging parties enjoyed such a plentiful Christmas supper
wrote Scott, that they had eaten too much.
I must write a word of our supper last night. We had four courses. The first, pemmican, full
whack, with slices of horse meat flavoured with onion and curry powder and thickened with
biscuits; then an arrowroot, cocoa and biscuit hoosh sweetened; then a plum pudding; then
cocoa and raisins and finally desert of caramels and ginger. After the feast it was difficult to
move. Wilson and I could not finish our plates of plum-pudding. We have all slept splendidly
and feel thoroughly warm–such is the effect of full feeding.
Scott‘s Christmas supper was concocted from their sledging rations.
Sledging rations of Scott and Amundsen
The standard sledging ration in Antarctica for the first half of the twentieth century
consisted of pemmican, biscuits, butter, cocoa, sugar, tea and powdered milk, with
various optional additions such as oatmeal, chocolate, cheese and raisins.
Scott's Polar ration, called the S (Summit) ration was based on Apsley CherryGarrards sledging ration to the Emperor penguins at Cape Crozier. Each man‘s
ration was: 450g biscuit, 340g pemmican, 85g sugar, 57g butter, 20g tea, 24g cocoa,
20g tea. This ration contains about 4500 calories (sledging requires 6500) and no
vitamin C.
By contrast Amundsen‘s Polar rations were: 400g biscuits, 75g dried milk,
125g chocolate and 375g pemmican. Although Amundsen‘s rations were only four
items in number, the individual foodstuffs were more nutritious than Scott‘s.
Pemmican, the time-honoured Polar sledging ration originated among the
Cree Indians of North America. The pemmican that Antarctic explorers came to know
was finely ground dried beef with 60% added beef fats (suet) and a little seasoning,
and it was packaged in cans or square cakes—it was greasy and rich, and valued for
its compressed nourishment. Until the advent of dehydrated food, it was the most
concentrated nourishment available.
Scott's tinned pemmican made by J.D. Beauvais of Denmark was a meat/fat
only type. Amundsen mistrusted the commercial product. He had previously
organised to have the pemmican made to his requirements under the supervision of
Professor Sophus Torup, who held the chair of physiology at Christiania University.
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Amundsen believed the pemmican he chose for his team made a crucial difference
to their success. It included both dried vegetables and oatmeal (the later particularly
containing the necessary B-complex vitamins).
As far as the biscuits are concerned, Scott‘s ‗Captain‘ biscuits made by the
British company Huntley & Palmer were apparently cooked to a secret recipe
devised by Dr Wilson and the firm‘s chemist. Looking at Scott‘s daily sledging rations
we can see that the biscuits constituted a significant proportion of Scott‘s sledging
diet. Historians and biochemist have analysed the Huntley and Palmer biscuits and
found they contained soluble milk protein, white flour which made them low in
vitamin B, and sodium bicarbonate. The presence of sodium bicarbonate could have
lowered the contents of some of the vitamins on baking, possibly destroying all of the
thiamine. Because the biscuits were for Scott‘s party such a crucial source of
thiamine, this may have been a critical deficiency. A lack of thiamine can lead to
beriberi, a disease which is not unlike scurvy. Amundsen‘s biscuits made with
oatmeal, sugar and dried milk were based on wholemeal flour and crude rolled oats
with yeast as the leavening agent.
From these rations are meal was prepared. The standard sledging meal was
a hot, thick stew or soup which the explorers called Hoosh. It was made of crushed
pemmican boiled up with water, thickened with biscuit or oatmeal, and perhaps
garnished with curry powder. Any meat was also added to the stew. Antarctica is the
only place where the word ‗hoosh‘ has been recorded; its first use was in Scott‘s
Discovery Expedition.
The Hoosh was cooked in a Nansen cooker. Made of aluminium it consisted
of five parts—a shallow dish, in which the primus lamp stood, two pots in which the
water is heated and the meals cooked, one of which is ring shaped and fits around
the other; a lid of thin sheet aluminium which covers these two; and, finally, an outer
cover, which is lowered gently over the whole concern in order to keep in as much of
the heat of the lamp as possible. Mugs (divided into two sections–one to hold
pemmican, the other used for cocoa or tea), spoons and a tea strainer were stored
inside the apparatus. Amundsen, however, used the Nansen cooker only on the
depot laying journey. He considered it too big for use on the Pole trek. Instead he
used a small primus.
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The Nansen cooker was named after its inventor Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg
Nansen (1861–1930). He was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat,
humanitarian and Nobel laureate who planned the expatriation of thousands of
refugees who were without identification papers after the WWI. Nansen was
considered an oracle by all would-be explorers of the north and south Polar Regions.
Many Polar explorers consulted him, as well as giving advice to Scott on polar
equipment and transport, prior to the 1901–04 Discovery Expedition. Nansen's
advice that dogs provided the best means of polar travel was politely ignored by
Scott on his second Polar journey. He also released the Fram to his fellowNorwegian Roald Amundsen, whom he thought was planning a North Pole
expedition. When Amundsen made his controversial change of plan and set out for
the South Pole, Nansen stood by him.
Despite an apparent abundance of food served at Scott‘s Christmas supper,
Lt Henry Bowers noted they were not only getting noticeably thinner but food was
becoming an obsession. Manhauling sledges uses per day 6,500 calories or (27,300
Kj) and travelling by dog sledge uses per day 5,000 calories (21,000 Kj). Scott‘s
sledging teams; manhauling were only receiving 4,500 calories per day. As early as
1922, expedition member Apsley Cherry-Garrard surmised that the rations were
inadequate and simply didn't provide enough energy.
Added to this, when the final return party that had helped bring and set up
depots left, Scott made another fatal decision to increase his group going to the Pole
from four to five. Scott had not originally planned to include "Birdie" Bowers in his
polar party. But on 4 January 1912, Bowers was assigned to the polar party. Some
commentators have argued that this seems to have been an impulsive decision by
Scott. Only a few days earlier, he had ordered the support team to depot their skis,
so that Bowers had to travel on foot to the Pole while the others were still on skis.
Moreover, adding a fifth man to the party meant squeezing another person into a tent
made for four, and having to split up rations that were packed in units for four men.
The most likely motivation for Scott to add Bowers to the polar party was a
realisation that he needed another experienced navigator to confirm their position at
the South Pole to avoid controversy such as that surrounding the claims of Frederick
Cook and Robert Peary at the North Pole.
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The Sledging party for the final assault on the South Pole included Scott, Dr
Wilson, Captain Lawrence E. G Oates, Lt Henry Bowers, and Seaman Edgar Evans.
At this point they were all manhauling, four on skis and one walking. The party
arrived at the Pole on January 17, 1912 only to discover Amundsen‘s tent and the
Norwegian flag planted there by Roald Amundsen just one month before.
Reaching the Pole after Amundsen was a dispiriting experience, and they
turned wearily for home on 25 January. With five men sharing rations meant for four,
and manhauling, the party was already ravaged by starvation and malnutrition,
snowblindness, exhaustion, and injury. It was now getting late in the season and the
return journey became one of sheer survival. Terrible fatalities began to occur.
The first was the death of Seaman Edgar Evans who joined Scott on both the
Discovery and Terra Nova expeditions. He was a former Royal Navy gymnastics
instructor, well-built, and weighing over 180lbs (81.6kg). Despite Evans great
strength he may have been the first to be affected by privations because of his size.
Evans complained on the trek that he received the same ration as the rest of them
but his body required more. As we now know his complaints were well founded. Big
men require more calories than small wiry men. As well, he had cut his hand badly
which refused to heal. Severe cold and lack of vitamin C was the likely cause. He
finally lagged behind the group, collapsed off the trail, and died.
Lawrence Oates then began to fail badly, particularly with very bad feet, and the
open wound on his thigh–he was the next fatality. On 16 March, Oates marched out
of the tent, and allegedly declared, ―I am just going outside and may be some time‖.
All knew where he was going. He was walking to his death. By this time the
remaining three, Scott, Wilson and Bowers were also suffering in various ways, but
particularly from lack of food. On 20 March, and extreme blizzard stopped all
progress. They were within 11 miles (17km) of ‗one ton depot,‘ which had been laid
the previous summer 35 miles (56km) further north than planned and were unable to
reach it because of the severe weather and the poor condition of the men. If the
depot had been laid in the correct location, the men would have had access to the
badly needed rations and fuel.
On 29 March, Scott made his last diary entry and in a weakened state gave a
reason for the expedition‘s failure. He explained how the expedition's disaster was
not due to poor planning, but by bad weather and bad luck. It was no one's fault:
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But for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can
endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the
past. 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 .
Even at the very end Scott felt comfortable with his decisions and felt a need to
defend that position when he wrote, "Every detail of our food supplies, clothing
and depots...worked out to perfection...We have missed getting through by a
narrow margin which was justifiably within the risk of such a journey".
Death, to Scott, was not a failure since they had reached their goal
the
South Pole. He hoped he had set an example of courage and loyalty to all those
left behind when he wrote to Sir Francis Bridgeman, "After all we are setting a
good example to our countrymen, if not by getting into a tight place, by facing it
like men when we were there".
Not only did Scott‘s final party end in their tragic nutritional condition, but
his last supporting party, on their return, likewise encountered scurvy and other
serious deficiencies in nutrition. Lt Edward Evans developed scurvy and had to
be carried the last ten days of the trip and was reported to have almost died.
The bodies of Bowers, Scott and Wilson were discovered by a relief party
nearly eight months later on 12 November, 1912. It was also discovered that
Scott's team was carrying 30 pounds (14kg) of geological samples when they
died. Manhauling, the extra weight of rocks would have put an extra strain on the
already depleted calorie intake. The remains of Oates and Evans were never
found.
There have been many analyses of Scott‘s expedition and reasons why they
did not make it back. The weak link in the end was food and nutrition. This failure
was not entirely Scott‘s fault, because the knowledge of nutrition at that time was
insufficient to formulate the diet properly. But the calorie deficiency should not have
occurred, particularly as both Scott and Wilson had known first hand from the
Discovery expedition and that of Shackleton‘s expedition, that the diet lacked
sufficient calories. A carefully planned 2006 re-enactment of both Amundsen's and
Scott's travels, sponsored by the BBC, confirmed that Scott and his team were
starving. The British team had eventually to abort their tour due to the severe weight
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loss of all members. Not only did the expedition members loose body fat but also
muscle. The experts hinted that Scott's reports of unusually bad surfaces and
weather conditions might in part have been due to their exhausted state and muscle
wasting which made them feel the sledge weights and the chill more severely. You
can watch this re-enactment on DVD – it is titled Blizzard: The Race to the South
Pole.
I mentioned earlier that there were three expeditions in Antarctica in 1911.
While the race to the Pole between Scott‘s unwieldy expedition and Amundsen‘s
sleek Norwegian team was already working itself out, deep in the interior of the
continent, they were not the only ones in Antarctica. Unbeknown to Scott and
Amundsen, a Japanese Antarctic Expedition led by Nobu Shirase was making a
dash for the Pole. Shirase‘s aim was to reach the South Pole as well as to explore
the Antarctic seas of its ―inexhaustible wealth.‖ But he declared to the New Zealand
and Australian press where they stopped for supplies that the expedition was purely
scientific–something the Japanese whalers like to stress today.
In late January 1912, however, Shirase made a ―dash‖ for the Pole venturing
160 miles (257km) south with dogs and sledges, reaching 80º5′S. The men stuck a
Japanese flag, on a bamboo pole, into the ice and saluted the Empire with a
threefold Banzai before burying a copper case containing a record of their journey.
At this time Shirase made the wise decision to turn back for the ship. The expedition
spent approximately 34 days on the continent itself, making its winter base at
Parsley Bay, Sydney and not in Antarctica itself. The Shirase expedition received
little attention in the western world but a crowd of fifty thousand people turned out in
the rain when the Japanese Antarctic Expedition sailed home in 1912. Shirase died
of malnutrition after WW2 at the age of 85, almost completely forgotten.
In summary, food played a vital role in the race to the South Pole. A mere
glance at Scott‘s diet reveals that it was inadequate, completely lacking in vitamins
and low on calories. Even before Scott‘s party set out for the trip to the South Pole
their diet was in adequate and a quick comparison with the diet consumed by
Amundsen‘s men reveal all. Scott‘s men ate white bread. Amundsen‘s team ate
brown bread fortified with wheat germ and leavened with fresh yeast, as well as
Lindström‘s buckwheat cakes, all good sources of B vitamins. Amundsen‘s men ate
fresh or frozen seal meat every day, lightly cooked, along with berry preserves. Scott
20 | P a g e
had regulation pemmican; Amundsen made his own pemmican with added
vegetables. Amundsen had decreased his party from eight to five members, though
his depots contained food for eight. Scott increased his party from four to five,
though his depots contained food for only four. Scott ran out of food; Amundsen
brought back provisions from the polar journey as souvenirs for his suppliers.
Scott also had to struggle with a shortage of fuel due to leakage from stored
fuel cans sealed with leather washers. This was a known phenomenon that had
been noticed previously by other expeditions, but Scott took no measures to prevent
it. Amundsen, by contrast, had learned the lesson and had his fuel cans soldered
closed. A fuel depot he left on Betty's Knoll was found 50 years later still full.
Dehydration may also have been a factor in Scott‘s death. Scott‘s fuel shortage
meant that he was unable to melt as much drinking water as Amundsen.
Furthermore, Scott was convinced that scurvy was caused by contaminated
canned meat and not necessarily a lack of citrus and vegetables in their diet.
Moreover, being Norwegians, Amundsen and his men were more inured to the
climate, both physically and mentally, as well as the long months of winter darkness,
and the long summer days. Skiing was second nature to them. Some commentators
have argued that Scott‘s Polar clothing was inadequate. However, it has been
recently proven that Scott‘s woollen and Burberry clothing was suitable for
manhauling. The fur anoraks that Amundsen‘s men wore and which was suitable for
sledging, would have been too hot for Scott‘s manhauling team. In the end it was the
dogs that Amundsen took to the Pole that contributed to his success. They were not
only their means of fast and efficient transport, but they also provided companionship
for the men, as well as providing fresh meat, a valuable source of nutrition.
The South Pole is no longer an abstract spot on the map, or a goal of heroic
struggle, but a posting for scientist, maintenance and construction workers who live
in permanent quarters known as the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. If
Amundsen and Scott arrived at the South Pole today they would find something
resembling a small town. They would also find a plentiful supply of fresh vegetables.
At McMurdo station and the Amundsen- Scott South Pole station sealed and
insulated greenhouses provide hydroponic vegetables grown under high intensity
discharge lamps. The Antarctic treaty forbids the import of soil or similar materials to
Antarctica because of the possibility of introducing non-native insects, fungi or
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bacteria. The greenhouses grow a variety of vegetables such as lettuce, spinach,
chard, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, capsicums, silver beet, spring onions, snow
peas, radishes, butter beans, and numerous herbs such basil, chives, marjoram, dill,
sage and mint, and even flowers are grown. The hothouses are mainly used for the
winter crew as during the summer months fresh vegetables are flown in from New
Zealand.
Furthermore, intrepid gourmets are no longer able to sample the wild foods of
Antarctica, as the Antarctic Treaty‘s 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection
prohibits even ―disturbing‖ any wildlife, except in case of life-threatening emergency,
let alone eating them. The seal and penguin meat that Scott and Amundsen
expedition members consumed now would not be tolerated.
In conclusion, to quote Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the 16th century adventurer,
explorer and soldier—He is not worthy to live at all, who for fear and danger of death
shunneth his country’s service or his own honour, since death is inevitable and the
fame of virtue immortal—were these words on Scott‘s mind as he lay dying in his
tent with his two companions? Was his immortality assured by dying, rather than
returning home a defeated man? He certainly knew of these words as they are to be
found in his journal.
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