Far Eastern Party

Far Eastern Party
The Far Eastern Party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition set out with sled dogs in November 1912 to collect specimens, map the coast, and claim territory. Douglas Mawson (pictured), Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz had covered 311 miles (501 km) when Ninnis and a sled broke through the snow lid of a crevasse and were lost. With few supplies left, Mawson and Mertz made for the main base at Cape Denison, eating the remaining sled dogs one by one. Mertz became sick, and died within a week. For almost a month, Mawson pulled his sled alone across snow and ice despite an illness that increasingly weakened him. He reached the comparative safety of Aladdin's Cave—a food depot 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the main base—on 1 February, only to be trapped there for a week while a blizzard raged outside. He arrived at the main base just hours after the expedition ship, SY Aurora, sailed for Australia, fleeing the encroaching ice. With a relief party, Mawson remained at Cape Denison until the ship returned the next summer, 10 months later. In 1976 Sir Edmund Hillary described Mawson's journey as "probably the greatest story of lone survival in Polar exploration".