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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australasian Antarctic Expedition | 3/8 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_Antarctic_Expedition | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:36:55.277031+00:00 | kb-cron |
On 28 July 1911, Aurora – her deck teeming with the 48 dogs that had survived the trip from Greenland, laden with sledges and with more than 3,000 cases of stores on board – left London for Cardiff, where she loaded 500 tons of coal briquettes. She left Cardiff on 4 August, and arrived at Queens Wharf, Hobart, on 4 November, after a three-month voyage. In a flurry of activity, additional fuel, stores and equipment were taken aboard. Mawson chartered a steamer, SS Toroa, to carry part of the burden as far as Macquarie Island. After a series of farewell ceremonies and functions, Aurora was given a tumultuous dockside send-off from Hobart on 2 December. The passage to Macquarie Island was rough: waves repeatedly overwhelmed the ship, half-drowning the dogs and soaking the men. Part of Aurora's bridge was washed away, and the cargo stored above deck suffered damage. The bad weather finally abated, and they reached Macquarie Island on 13 December, where they were joined by Toroa soon afterwards. When Ainsworth's party and its equipment were established on land, Toroa returned to Hobart, and on 24 December, after carrying out survey work, Aurora sailed on south. Mawson's hopes of finding a suitable coastline to the west of Cape Adare were soon dashed. The coast remained hidden behind impenetrable ice, and the land reported by Wilkes in 1840 appeared to be non-existent. As the ship sailed further west, Mawson decided to reduce his land bases from three to two, by consolidating the proposed central base with the main base and placing Wild in charge of a single western base. On 8 January 1912, rounding a large glacier, they sailed into a gulf which Mawson later named Commonwealth Bay, and on further exploration they discovered a long sheltered inlet which they dubbed Boat Harbour. Here, a reconnaissance party found a rocky spot at a location which they named Cape Denison, after Hugh Denison, one of the expedition's early sponsors, and Mawson decided to establish the main base there. The work of unloading the ship, frequently interrupted by storms and winds, continued until 18 January. The next day, with time running short before the onset of winter, Aurora sailed away to find a suitable site for Wild's western base.
=== Cape Denison ===
==== First season: winter 1912 ====
The main base quarters provided a spacious living space, 7.3 by 7.3 metres (24 by 24 ft), with an attached workshop and a wide verandah for storage and housing the dogs. Away from the main huts were smaller structures, used for magnetic observations. The party quickly discovered that their chosen location was an exceptionally windy spot; powerful katabatic winds swept down to the bay from the ice sheet, storms frequently pummelled the coast, and intense localised whirlwinds battered the men and equipment. Carsten Borchgrevink, wintering at Cape Adare in 1899–1900, had reported frequent wind speeds in excess of 64 kilometres per hour (40 mph), and in one 12-hour period winds averaged above 130 kilometres per hour (80 mph), with gusts estimated to exceed 164 kilometres per hour (102 mph). They had unknowingly settled in one of the windiest sites in Antarctica; Mawson frequently recorded gusts between 240 kilometres per hour (150 mph) and 290 kilometres per hour (180 mph) at Cape Denison. Mawson had planned, before winter closed in, to carry out some experimental sledging work, and on 1 March, he, Madigan and Bob Bage managed a journey of 8 kilometres (5 mi), before depositing a sledge and stores and returning to the hut. For the next five months, life was largely concentrated in the hut and centred on various scientific activities. Some outside work was unavoidable; the meteorologists and the magneticians made their daily readings regardless of conditions. In rare lulls, efforts were made to erect the wireless masts and establish contact with Macquarie Island, but after repeated failures, these attempts were temporarily abandoned at the end of April.
The general routine of hut life was enlivened by elaborate celebrations of birthdays, often concluding with improvised concerts. When there was a shortage of birthdays, other occasions were eulogised; Mawson records that even the anniversary of the "First Lighting of London by Gas" was observed "with extraordinary éclat". Much use was made of the expedition's library, especially the books that brought, as Mawson put it, "the sudden breath of a world of warmth and colour, richness and vivacity". On 9 August, Ninnis and Mertz ventured out to carry stores up to the five-mile depot established in March. They named this spot "Aladdin's Cave". The beginning of September saw a break in the weather, which allowed work on the wireless masts to be completed. They began transmitting to Macquarie Island but received nothing back. Several sledging journeys were possible in September before the weather closed in again; on 9 October a particularly violent wind brought the recently erected wireless masts crashing down.
==== Sledging, 1912–1913 ====
===== General plan ===== On 27 October 1912, Mawson announced his plans for the sledging season ahead. A Southern Party led by Bage would head south, towards the Magnetic Pole, making magnetic observations along the way. An Eastern Coastal Party, under Madigan, would explore and map the coastline to the east of Cape Denison. At the same time, a Western Party under Frank Bickerton would take the motorised sledge to explore the plateau to the west. The longest journey would be undertaken by a Far Eastern Party, consisting of Mertz, Ninnis and Mawson, which would take the dogs and attempt to reach Oates Land, some 560 kilometres (350 mi) distant in the vicinity of Cape Adare. Other groups would form support parties for the main journeys. All parties would be required to return to base by 15 January 1913, when Aurora was expected to retrieve them.
===== Far Eastern Party =====