I may not have proved a great explorer, but we have done the greatest march ever made and come very near to great success.

Each man in his way is a treasure.

To wait idly is the worst of conditions.

We are weak, writing is difficult, 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.

The events of the day’s march are now becoming so dreary and dispiriting that one longs to forget them when we camp; it is an effort even to record them in a diary.

I can imagine few things more trying to the patience than the long wasted days of waiting.

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.

I fear we have shot our bolt – but we have been to Pole and done the longest journey on record.

The dog lives for the day, the hour, even the moment.

The dog is almost human in its demand for living interest, yet fatally less than human in its inability to foresee.

But if we have been willing to give our lives to this enterprise, which is for the honour of our country, I appeal to our countrymen to see that those who depend on us are properly cared for.

Certainly dog driving is the most terrible work one has to face in this sort of business.

Slowly but surely the sea is freezing over.

We are showing that Englishmen can still die with a bold spirit, fighting it out to the end.

Every day some new fact comes to light – some new obstacle which threatens the gravest obstruction. I suppose this is the reason which makes the game so well worth playing.

We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more. For God’s sake, look after our people.

As one looks across the barren stretches of the pack, it is sometimes difficult to realise what teeming life exists immediately beneath its surface.

But we have been to the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen. I regret only for the women we leave behind.

Hunger and fear are the only realities in dog life: an empty stomach makes a fierce dog.

I may not have proved a great explorer, but we have done the greatest march ever made and come very near to great success.

We are very near the end, but have not and will not lose our good cheer.

But take comfort in that I die at peace with the world and myself – not afraid.