 In the following days, as the party made the 100 mile (161 km) descent of the Beardmore Glacier, the physical condition of Edgar Evans, which Scott had noted with concern as early as 23 January, declined sharply.A fall on 4 February had left Evans "dull and incapable," and on 17 February, after another fall, he died near the glacier foot.With 400 miles (644 km) still to travel across the Ross Ice Shelf, Scott's party's prospects steadily worsened as, with deteriorating weather, a puzzling lack of fuel in the depots, hunger and exhaustion, they struggled northward.