Finally, with a gasp we got the
last poor creature on to firm snow. We had recovered eleven of the
thirteen."[117]
The dogs had been dangling for over an hour, and some of them showed
signs of internal injuries. Meanwhile the two remaining dogs were lying
down the crevasse on a snow-ledge. Scott proposed going down on the
Alpine rope to get them; all his instincts of kindness were aroused, as
well as the thought of the loss of two of the team. Wilson thought it was
a mad idea and very dangerous, and said so, asking however whether he
might not go down instead of Scott if anybody had to go. Scott insisted,
and we paid down the 90-foot Alpine rope to test the distance. The ledge
was about 65 feet below. We lowered Scott, who stood on the ledge while
we hauled up the two dogs in turn. They were glad to see him, and little
wonder!
But the rescued dogs which were necessarily running about loose on the
Barrier, in their mangled harnesses, chose this moment to start a free
fight with the other team. With a hurried shout down the crevasse we had
to rush off to separate them. Nougis I. had been considerably mauled
before this was done--also, incidentally, my heel! But at last we
separated them, and hauled Scott to the surface. It was all three of us
could do and our fingers were frost-bitten towards the end.
Scott's interest in the incident, apart from the recovery of the dogs,
was scientific.
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