text: In 1910 British polar explorer Robert Scott hoped to be the first to reach the South Pole, but was beaten by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. On foot, the expedition trudged through the frozen deserts of the Antarctic, marching for caches of food and kerosene deposited on the way. In early 1912, at the first cache, there was no kerosene; the cans – soldered with tin – were empty. The cause of the empty tins could have been related to tin pest. The tin cans were recovered and no tin pest was found when analyzed by the Tin Research Institute. Some observers blame poor quality soldering, as tin cans over 80 years old have been discovered in Antarctic buildings with the soldering in good condition.