Twisting around, Mawson realized that Ninnis and his sledge and dogs had vanished. Mawson and Mertz hurried back a quarter-mile to where they had crossed the crevasse, praying that their companion had been lost to view behind a rise in the ground. Instead they discovered a yawning chasm in the snow 11 feet across. Crawling forward on his stomach and peering into the void, Mawson dimly made out a narrow ledge far below him.
He saw two dogs lying on it: one dead, the other moaning and writhing. Below the ledge, the walls of the crevasse plunged down into darkness. Nothing came back but the echo. Using a knotted fishing line, he sounded the depth to the ice ledge and found it to be feet—too far to climb down to.
He and Mertz took turns calling for their companion for more than five hours, hoping that he had merely been stunned. Eventually, giving up, they pondered the mystery of why Ninnis had plunged into a crevasse that the others had crossed safely. With his weight concentrated on just a few square inches of snow, Ninnis had exceeded the load that the crevasse lid would bear.
Mawson and Mertz read the burial service at the lip of the void and paused to take stock. Their situation was clearly desperate. All that remained was sleeping bags and food to last a week and a half. May God help us. Lieutenant Ninnis running alongside his sledge, a habit that would cost him his life—and risk those of the two companions he left behind.
There he and Mertz recovered the sledge they had abandoned, and Mawson used his pocket knife to hack its runners into poles for some spare canvas. Now they had shelter, but there was still the matter of deciding how to attempt the return journey. Mawson selected the latter course. He and Mertz killed the weakest of their remaining dogs, ate what they could of its stringy flesh and liver, and fed what was left to the other huskies.
For the first few days they made good time, but soon Mawson went snow-blind. The men had to harness themselves to the sled to continue. Thus a tasty soup was prepared as well as a supply of edible meat in which the muscular tissue and the gristle were reduced to the consistency of a jelly. The paws took longest of all to cook, but, treated to lengthy stewing, they became quite digestible.
Click to view in higher resolution. His heart seems to have gone. It is very hard for me—to be within m of the Hut and in such a position is awful.
On his return to Australia in , Mawson achieved public acclaim for his achievements, and received a knighthood. Mawson also received great recognition in the scientific community. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society of London in , a foundation fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and president of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science from to In recognition of his achievements in Antarctica, Mawson station , established in , was named after him.
Why live in Antarctica? How many people? Scientific advances were made in oceanography and biology, with results published in 13 volumes. A month later, kilometres from Cape Denison, Ninnis fell into a crevasse at least 50 metres deep, taking his sledge and most of their supplies and huskies with him. Peering into the crevasse, Mawson and Mertz could see little trace of Ninnis, and their calls went unanswered. The rope they had with them was not long enough to mount any effective rescue attempt.
We could do nothing, really nothing. This was our only consolation, the last honouring we could do for our beloved friend Ninnis. After nine hours Mawson and Mertz began their return to base with only ten days of food for a journey that would take at least As they retraced their steps they were forced to eat their dogs. Mawson recorded in his journal:. That night we ate George.
He was a very poor sample; chiefly sinews with a very undesirable taste. It was a happy relief when the liver appeared which, if little else could be said in its favour, could be easily chewed and digested. It is thought that this contributed to the deterioration of both men, particularly Mertz. Outside the bowl of chaos was brimming with drift-snow and as I lay in the sleeping-bag beside my dead companion I wondered how, in such conditions, I would manage to break and pitch camp single-handed.
There appeared to be little hope of reaching the Hut, still miles away. Mawson cut his sledge in half and loaded it with the barest minimum of equipment. Nonetheless it took another 30 days to man-haul the sledge to base, his survival only made possible by stumbling across small food depots left by a search party.
But he was falling apart physically. At one point, a blizzard trapped Mawson in an ice cave for a week. On another occasion, he fell into a crevasse and was only saved by the sledge getting stuck in a snowdrift.
He managed to climb five metres of rope to safety despite exhaustion, sickness and near starvation. Mawson knew that the Aurora would have arrived to relieve the base at Commonwealth Bay. His main worry was getting back before the ship was forced to leave in time to pick up the men at the Western Base before the winter pack ice closed in. His concerns were well founded. Davis had delayed his departure for as long as possible but as Mawson staggered towards the base he was greeted with the demoralising sight of the Aurora sailing off into the distance.
Mawson then glimpsed the six men who had chosen to remain behind in the hope that his party might return. In any case, they needed to get back to Commonwealth Bay by mid January , to join the Aurora and sail back to Australia. It wasn't long before they ran out of food, and had to resort to eating their dogs. On the whole it was voted good though it had a strong, musty taste and was so stringy that it could not be properly chewed.
Their mugs and eating utensils had been lost with Ninnis's sledge, so Mawson and Mertz used the small tins into which they had packed their supplies and carved makeshift spoons from bits of broken sledge. What they could not have realised was that they had been slowly poisoning themselves — dogs' livers contain toxic levels of vitamin A. Mawson and Mertz suffered extreme exhaustion and their hair started falling out. By 7 January, Mertz was too ill to eat or drink without help.
He suffered violent seizures and bouts of insanity. Soon after, he fell into a fever and died in his sleep. Mawson continued alone. A hundred miles from Commonwealth Bay, he fell down a crevasse. Fortunately he was tied to a sledge, which became pinned to the wall as he slid several metres down through the ice. After several attempts he managed to crawl out, and ate some chocolate to build up some strength.
He made a rope ladder and tied himself to it in case he fell down another crevasse. Which he did, several times. The extreme cold literally tore strips off Mawson's body.
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