THRILLING NARRATIVE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 24 April 1914, Page 3

THRILLING NARRATIVE.

DR. MAWSON'S EXPERIENCES

At a complimentary dinner tendered to him in Melbourne, Dr. Mawson gave the most detailed account he has yet given of his experiences oix the sledge journey with Lieutenant Ninnis ana Dr. Mertss, from which he alone returned alive. It was realised by those at the dinner that they were listening to a man who had probably been nearer to death than any Arctic or Antarctic explorer who had managed to come through alive. After mentioning that he and his two companions left the base in Adele Land about the beginning of November, 1912, he proceeded: "We found ourselves on December 12, 300 miles from the hut. That day, 1 remember, was bright and clear —one of the best days we had had on the march. On December 13, the day before the accident happened, we decided to break up one of the three sledges we have taken with us, and to go on with two. I suggested to Mertz that he should go on about three-quarters of a mile, and from there see if he could get a shot at the meridian sun. He was very cheerful —we all were, as it was such a bright day—and was singing all- the time. He had gone on about a quarter of a mile, while Ninnis a little way back was attending to one of the sledges. Presently I saw Mertz looking over his shoulder. He looked again, and it struck me that something was behind us. THE DEATH OF NINNIS. "I looked round—and I could see nothing. There was just the absolute plain. I went back. It had dawned on me in the moment what was the cause. I could see a big, gaping hole in the snow; he must have gone straight down into the blackness below. Mertz came hurrying back when he heard me shouting, and we investigated with a rope, but could see nothing, and there was no response. Getting accustomed to the darkness as we looked down, we could just make out a ledge, and saw one dog lying dead there,-while another was barely moving, and moaning. But we could get no response from Ninnis; he may have just struck the ledge and fallen right down into the blackness." Dr, Mawson then spoke of the journey of Dr. Mertz and himself back to the hut, in the course of which his companion died. They were in severe straits for food, dogs and men alike suffering. "On the average," said Dr. Mawson, "one dog died each day. When this happened we ate the dog; but as it had died from starvation there was not much nutriment in it. I did better on this diet than Mertz, because I, as an Australian, had been used to eating meat; he had not been so used to it, and it did not seem to do him much good. Then Mertz showed signs of getting weaker; he died quite suddenly at midnight on January 17. He had been bad for only 24 hours before. I don't think he felt very much; in a case like that, with starvation the main trouble, you would not have much sense of pain. Probably peritonitis was the determinating cause in the end, and to prevent that I -used to avoid lying on the same side when I was preparing to sleep. SITUATION FULL OF INTEREST. "When Mertz died things looked about all out. But I did not worry. The end was such a foregone conclusion that it did not seem worthy worrying about. Perhaps it was because 1 felt like that, and had got past the stage of worrying, that I am here now. I just went on, and wondered how far I would get towards the hut before j I started exploring" another country, and a stranger one than any met with in the Antarctic. The situation was full of interest—l say that now, looking back—and the more so because I was right out of this world. There was very little food, and every day it Ivas getting less. I had not much strength,-as you can imagine, but yet it seemed to hold out longer than 1 had expected. Once I fell down a crevasse; and do you know what 1 thought when I was falling? I thought what a fool I had been not to eat the food I had with me, instead of saving it up to be wasted when I was dead. (Laughter.) By some extraordinary slice of good luck that crevasse was not the end of me; I did not go very far down, and I managed to work my way out. But the effort left me pretty well exhausted, and for an hour or two I could not walk at all. And then before I could get to- the base I had long miles to go, and an ice mountain in front of me rising 3000 feet." In conclusion, Dr. Mawson mentioned how he had stumbled on some food left by one of the parties that had come out to look for Trim. He was then at the last gasp, but this gave him strength to struggle on and i each the hut.