A FAMOUS EXPLORER

Hokitika Guardian, 18 July 1929, Page 8

A FAMOUS EXPLORER

SIR DOUGLAS MAWSON. Sir " Douglas Mawson, the famous Australian explorer, stalls on his second Antarctic trip in September, when lie will sail from Cape Town in that well-known old ship the Discovery. Sir Douglas Mawson was born at Bradford, Yorkshire, in May, 18S2, but went with his parents to Australia at an early age. He was educated at Sydney University, graduating as Bachelor of Mining Engineering in 1904. In the following year he was appointed Demonstrator of-Chem-istry there. In 1903 lie went on a geological expedition to the New Hebrides. He was appointed a Lecturer in Mineralogy at Adelaide University in 1905. His polar experience began in 1907, when he joined the Shaekleton Antarctic Expedition as one of the scientists. He made the ascent of Mount Erebus and took part in the journey to the Magnetic Pole. In 1909 he was awarded the Antarctic Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. In December ,1911, he set out as leader of ail Australian expedition to investigate the. regions south of Australia. A base was established at Macquarie Island and the rest of the explorers sailed south. The main party was put ashore in Adelie Land, which has the worst climate known with gales up to one hundred miles an hour, the average being fifty. The ship went on westwards and found a territory which they named Wilkes Land, and beyond it they came to i great floating ice formation like the Ross Barrier, occupying many thousand square miles. For the first time in the Antarctic the two camps were able to communicate by wireless. In November five. parties set out, adding a great area of land to the man. and Mawson had a terrible experience. With Lieutenant Ninnis and Dr Mertz he went cast. Ninnis eventually disappeared down a crevasse with a part of the equipment, and later, owing to the appealing conditions, Mertz became delirious and died in his sleep,-Mawson being left to find his way back alone and making sometimes only two to 1 five miles a day against the gale. He once nearly perished in a crevasse, but on January 29, 1913, when he had only two pounds of food left, he found a cairn with a good stock, and two days later reached the base, only to find that the Aurora had sailed leaving a few of the party to search for their leader. Another year,had to ho.spent in the Antarctic before they were relieved. In 1914 Mawson, lectured to the British Association., in Australia on the results of ,thq expedition, whose experiences he recounted in “The Home of the Blizzqrd. The surveys aggregated over, 2400 miles at Mawson ? base and more than 800 at Wild’s. The weather . reports sent from Maequaris Island, proved very valuable in Australia. In 1914 he was knighted. He was appointed Professor of Geoology and Mineralogy at Adelaide in 1920, and 1 !n. : ,1923 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.