Sir Douglas Mawson was one of Australia's greatest explorers,noted primarily for his extensive work in Antarctica. His exploration of the continent spanned the years between 1907 and 1931.

Mawson's expedition team was selected primarily from Australian and New Zealand universities.

The expedition vessel, The Aurora, came from the Newfoundland sealing fleet. The hull was made of stout oak planks, sheathed with greenheart and lined with fir. The bow was a mass of solid wood re-enforced with steel-plated armour. Six large steel tanks were built into the bottom of the hold for storage of fresh water. On the deck was a deck-house, comprising the cook's galley, steward's pantry and two laboratories. Forward from this area was storage for kerosene, lamps and other supplies.

The chief objective of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition was to investigate, as far as possible, the stretch of essentially unknown Antarctic coast extending between the farthest west of the Terra Nova Expedition and the farthest east of the Gauss Expedition.

 

Mawson and his three-man party left Main Base on November 10, 1912. For three days, from December 6 to the 9th, the party remained trapped by a 70 mph blizzard.

On the 9th the dogs and sledges were dug out of the snow and the men proceeded on.

On December 13 one of the sledges was discarded and on the 14th, Dr. Xavier Mertz, ahead on skis, signaled that he had spotted another snow-covered crevasse. Mawson made it across easily but Mertz cried out as Ninnis suddenly disappeared.

Mawson turned around and was horrified to see Ninnis, the sledge and all the dogs gone. Rushing to the edge of the crevasse, the men stared down into a deep, gaping hole where, on a ridge some 150 feet below, was a dog, whining, its back apparently broken.

Beneath that was only the abyss. Mertz and Mawson called into the depths for over three hours. They gathered all the rope they had but still could not even reach as far as the dog.

They were in serious trouble as Ninnis's sledge, pulled by the six fittest dogs, had carried most of the indispensable supplies, including the tent, most of the food and spare clothing.

The remaining sledge carried only 10 days of rations for the two men and nothing for the six dogs...they were 315 miles from Main Base.

They still had a spare tent cover, the cooker and some kerosene.

They made it back to the discarded sledge, picked up a few items and then disposed of everything not essential. A crude tent was devised by draping the remaining tent cover over skis and sledge struts.

The dogs were fed worn-out finnesko, mitts and rawhide straps.

On December 15 the weakest dog was killed to feed to the others and the men. This pattern was continued over the next 10 days until the final dog collapsed.

Although the meat was tough and stringy, every scrap was eaten,including the paws which were stewed. By Christmas Day they were still 160 miles from Main Base.

Douglas Mawson's face appears on the old Australian hundred dollar note.

Most days they covered only 6 miles but on December 30 they managed 15. The next day Mertz asked to come off the dog-meat diet and try a small portion of their remaining sledging rations.

On January 1, 1913, he developed stomach pains and the next day his strength was nearly gone. They rested on January 5 and the next day they tried to forge on.

Dr. Mertz finally agreed to be hauled on the sledge by Mawson...by this time Mertz even had to be helped in and out of his sleeping bag.

One hundred miles southeast of Main Base, on January 7, Mertz became delirious and died.

Mawson wrote, "For hours I lay in the bag, rolling over in my mind all that lay behind and the chance of the future. I seemed to stand alone on the wide shores of the world...My physical condition was such that I felt I might collapse at any moment...Several of my toes commenced to blacken and fester near the tips and the nails worked loose. There appeared to be little hope...It was easy to sleep on in the bag, and the weather was cruel outside".

Then on January 17 Mawson found himself dangling in a crevasse at the end of his 14-foot harness. Delirious and exhausted, Mawson struggled to pull himself out, only to reach the lip and fall back in.

By now it was taking Mawson two hours to set up camp at the end of each day. On January 27 a blizzard brought him to his knees but on the 29th, his food nearly gone, he spotted a snow cairn.(An ice hut built by other explorers, with rations )

The cairn was only a few hours old as Mawson consumed the food and read an attached note declaring the Aurora was waiting and Aladdin's Cave was only 23 miles distant.

Mawson arrived at the cave at 7 p.m. on February 1, but the weather closed in and trapped him for another week.

Eventually, he set out in spite of the conditions and reached Cape Denison in time to see a departing speck on the horizon...the Aurora.

However, Mawson was greeted as though back from the dead by six men left behind to continue the search. The Aurora was immediately recalled by radio but ice conditions prohibited the ship from returning.

At Cape Denison, the seven men reconciled themselves to another winter of blizzards and confinement. But, they were well stocked with supplies and the repaired radio antenna survived all the spectacular blizzards.

Mawson, Madigan and Hodgeman made a sledge trip in late November and on December 12 the Aurora returned. By December 24, 1913, their two-year expedition was over and on February 5, 1914, after more than a month of sailing along the Antarctic coast, Captain John Davis steered the ship northward.

The Aurora entered Gulf St. Vincent on February 26. Mawson wrote, "The welcome home, the voices of innumerable strangers--the hand-grips of many friends--it chokes me--it cannot be uttered!"   He died in 1958, aged 76 years.

 

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