Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration

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by David Roberts


  115 On one windy day: Ibid., 43.

  115 Still the wind increased: Ibid., 43–44.

  115 “I feel that I have not an officer”: Crossley, Trial by Ice, 22.

  115 “It is his one hobby”: Gray, diary, January 23, 1912.

  116 “They are beautiful birds”: McLean, diary, January 14, 1912.

  116 “I shall be glad now”: Gray, diary, January 5, 1912.

  116 The unloading proceeded: HOB, 44.

  116 “We have been quite”: Crossley, Trial by Ice, 23.

  116 “a great assortment of material”: HOB, 44.

  117 the first crossing: Rosove, Let Heroes Speak, 56.

  117 “long purple stockings”: McLean, diary, January 19, 1912.

  117 The men sang “Auld Lang Syne”: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 121.

  117 Last to leave was Mawson: Davis, High Latitude, 170.

  117 “rather a pull”: Laseron, diary, January 19, 1912.

  117 “we steamed away”: Mills, Wild, 139.

  117 “The whole thing impressed me”: Gray, diary, January 20, 1912.

  117 “I could have wept”: Ninnis, diary, January 19, 1912, quoted in Riffenburgh, Aurora, 121.

  118 “They are a fine party”: Crossley, Trial by Ice, 24.

  118 As the Aurora steamed away: Wild, Memoirs, 123.

  118 Once again Davis fumed: Crossley, Trial by Ice, 24.

  118 “I only wish that our observations”: Ibid., 25.

  119 “We have still about 200 tons”: Ibid., 26–29.

  119 “At 8. o’clock last night”: Gray, diary, February 5, 1912.

  120 “We have just got enough”: Ibid.

  120 “but there is such a crowd”: Ibid.

  120 “I am feeling very low”: Crossley, Trial by Ice, 30–31.

  120 “I do not know that”: Ibid., 31.

  121 “I had hoped that”: Ibid., 32–33.

  121 “Wild . . . reported that the land”: Ibid., 32.

  122 The day after Wild: Wild, Memoirs, 125–26.

  122 Knowing, however, that this desperate: Ibid., 126.

  122 There followed a frenzy: Ibid.

  122 “The party themselves do not seem to be”: Crossley, Trial by Ice, 35.

  123 “I am a very poor hand”: Mills, Wild, 142.

  123 “In the event of the Aurora”: Davis, High Latitude, 223.

  123 “Wild’s party is camped”: Wild, Memoirs, 126.

  124 Back at Cape Denison: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 37.

  124 “My first experience of a sleeping bag”: Hunter, diary, January 16, 1912.

  124 “Come on, Joe”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 40.

  125 The prefabricated hut: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 121–23.

  125 “Not a very big room,” Laseron observed: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 37.

  125 Since the Aurora had brought: HOB, 55.

  125 “We, who were inexperienced”: Hurley, Argonauts, 47.

  127 “Doctor Mertz was sitting”: Ibid., 47–48.

  127 On January 30, for the first time: HOB, 58.

  127 Frank Bickerton, the twenty-two-year-old: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 125.

  127 “By the light of the ruby lamp”: Hurley, Argonauts, 49.

  128 “Hannam is our ‘Ring Snorer’ ”: Hunter, diary, February 16, 1912.

  128 “The first day that the stove”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 43.

  128 As the months wore on: Ibid., 45.

  129 “The rest [of the poems]”: McLean, diary, February 18, 1912.

  129 Another of Mawson’s favorite works: Hunter, diary, May 14, 1912.

  129 The small library: List of books, AAE.

  129 “I have always thought”: Hunter, diary, January 30, 1912.

  130 Some were mere shorthand: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 53.

  130 Other nicknames for the physician: Hunter, diary, March 22, 1912.

  130 Hurley became Hoyle: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 47.

  130 The architect Alfred Hodgeman: Hunter, diary, March 22, 1912.

  130 Bob Bage, a twenty-three-year-old: Ibid., April 17, 1912.

  130 The overweight Walter Hannam: Ibid., April 24, 1912.

  130 Leslie Whetter, clumsy and inclined: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 53.

  130 “Close was a great reader”: Ibid., 52–53.

  130 Of the thirty-eight huskies: HOB, 61.

  131 “Basilisk was the king”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 46.

  131 By early autumn: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 126–27.

  131 Much closer to the huts: Ibid., 158–59.

  132 “On the very first night”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 41.

  132 The stove inside the hut: HOB, 71.

  133 “One evening, when we”: Ibid., 65.

  133 “The Doctor says”: Hannam, diary, March 15, 1912.

  133 “I had to go on all fours”: MAD, 60–61.

  133 “To illustrate the pace”: Hurley, Argonauts, 57.

  134 “Then with practice”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 55.

  134 “Day by day throughout March”: Ibid.

  134 “for a sustained velocity”: Ibid.

  134 “In such a position”: HOB, 69.

  135 “No sooner would one”: Ibid.

  135 During the first month and a half: Ibid., 70.

  135 “Articles of value”: Ibid., 80–81.

  135 “whirlwinds of a few yards”: Ibid., 77–79.

  136 “On such occasions”: Ibid., 77.

  136 On February 29, he took: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 128.

  136 “Heavy pulling, drift”: MAD, 60.

  137 “I have never met”: Eric Webb to A. G. E. Jones, May 20, 1980, quoted in Riffenburgh, Aurora, 128.

  137 “I had just erected”: Hurley, Argonauts, 58–59.

  138 “Leaving the door”: HOB, 84–85.

  138 “Poor Hodgeman”: Laseron, diary, April 5, 1912.

  138 “no doubt disgusted”: HOB, 72.

  139 “We dwelt on the fringe”: Ibid., 88.

  139 Eighty-five years later: Wendler, et al., “On the Extraordinary Katabatic Winds of Adélie Land,” 4473.

  139 Every morning precisely: Mawson, “Report of Main Base.”

  140 “The nightwatchman is to sift”: Mawson, “Instructions to Night Watchman.”

  140 “A final duty is that of emptying”: Mawson, “Messman’s Duties.”

  140 “The ‘pièce de résistance’ ”: Mawson, “Cook’s Notices.”

  140 “No unnecessary refinements”: HOB, 59.

  141 “To our sweethearts and wives”: Harrisson, diary, n.d.

  141 “Dinner is ready”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 68–69.

  141 The monthly issue: Hunter, diary, June 29, 1912.

  141 The most spirited wagers: Ibid., May 1, 1912.

  141 “No one washes”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 65.

  142 “Three months without a bath”: Hunter, diary, March 15, 1912.

  142 “Tonight I have had”: Hannam, diary, February 14, 1912.

  142 John Hunter recorded: Hunter, diary, July 14, 1912.

  142 “the life and soul”: Laseron, diary, February 16, 1912.

  142 “Hurley caused some amusement”: Hunter, diary, March 18, 1912.

  142 “On February 17, after dinner”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 47.

  143 “At dinner Hurley”: Hunter, diary, March 10, 1912.

  143 Thirty-two years old, from an affluent: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 89.

  143 What Mawson probably did not know: Watson, The Spy Who Loved Children; Rossiter, Lady Spy, Gentleman Explorer.

  143 “Herbert fidgets”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 70.

  144 Along with the gramophone: McLean, diary, June 6, 1912.

  144 “Today is best described”: Ibid., March 27, 1912

  144 “Breakfast, 9 am”: MAD, 94.

  145 “was a marvel”: HOB, 111–12.

  145 “ ‘Championship’ ”: Ibid., 100.

  145
“I don’t know what we should do”: Hunter, diary, April 9, 1912.

  145 Walter Hannam opened: Hannam, diary, passim.

  145 Mawson himself began: MAD, 77.

  146 “an exhilarating”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 57–58.

  146 “This adhered firmly”: HOB, 86.

  147 The masts had been shipped: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 158–59.

  147 “Given a few days”: Hannam, diary, April 21, 1912.

  147 In the wind, the construction project: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 159.

  147 “something over 17 stone”: Hannam, diary, July 6, 1912.

  147 Instead it fell: MAD, 102

  147 “Had a very bad turn”: Hannam, diary, March 25, 1912.

  147 His most oft-repeated: Ibid., passim.

  147 On May 15, Mawson told Hannam: Ibid., May 15, 1912.

  148 But on February 14, they established: HOB, 349.

  148 The linkage worked so well: George Ainsworth, “A Land of Storm and Mist,” in HOB, 381.

  148 It was not until September 12: Ibid., 377.

  148 On October 13, dubbed: MAD, 121–22.

  148 Between March and October: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 60

  149 In May 1912, for thirty-one: HOB, 94–95.

  149 “The day’s tasks are ended”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 62.

  149 “The whole world is asleep”: HOB, 104.

  150 “We have made a successful landing”: Flannery, This Everlasting Silence, 29.

  150 “I have concluded”: Ibid., 46.

  151 “It is one of the Doc’s”: Hunter, diary, September 30, 1912.

  151 “We now like”: Laseron, diary, February 18, 1912.

  151 Madigan’s decision to accept: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 90.

  151 It was Madigan who coined: Ninnis, diary, April 1, 1912, quoted in Riffenburgh, Aurora, 150.

  152 “Cecil had been ‘Maddy’ ”: D. Madigan, Vixere Fortes, 249.

  152 “with his usual clumsiness”: Ibid., 263.

  152 “was as loyal as”: Ibid., 265.

  152 “treated them like children”: Ibid., 266.

  152 “His temperament was naturally equable”: Ibid., 266.

  152 “irremediably prosaic”: Ibid., 266–67.

  153 “Hurricane gusty”: MAD, 60–61.

  154 “but I was sorry to see”: Ibid., 78.

  154 “First are the accomplished”: Ibid.

  154 “At breakfast Whetter”: Ibid., 88.

  154 The next day, Mawson observed: Ibid., 89.

  155 “Whetter was sick”: Ibid., 90.

  155 “We then had a long talk”: Ibid., 92.

  155 “Whetter has apparently drunk”: Ibid., 97.

  156 On the Belgica expedition: Cook, Through the First Antarctic Night, passim.

  156 “Whetter of course”: Hunter, diary, March 22, 1912.

  156 “Whetter is a conundrum”: Ibid., June 15, 1912.

  156 “Whetter was incurably lazy”: D. Madigan, Vixere Fortes, 268.

  157 “He appears to have changed”: Mawson, notes on Whetter.

  157 “At something to 4 pm”: MAD, 115.

  158 “I gave quite a long address”: Ibid., 116.

  158 According to historian Beau Riffenburgh: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 415.

  158 “Whetter cooks but”: MAD, 90.

  158 “Close has been laid up”: Ibid., 97.

  158 “Close has put in much time”: Ibid., 101.

  159 “He cannot yet read”: Hunter, diary, April 7, 1912.

  159 “his deep breathing exercises”: Ibid., May 3, 1912.

  159 “Poor old John Close”: Ibid., May 17, 1912.

  159 “little acetylene bombs”: Ibid., May 3, 1912.

  159 “There was one member”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 54–55.

  160 “rather vanished from sight”: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 415.

  5. THE PAINFUL SILENCE

  163 The prefabricated building: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 140.

  163 “Mr. Wild”: Mills, Wild, 143.

  163 “Mawson not only was driven”: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 194.

  163 Wild had grown up: Butler, Quest, 3.

  163 “As far back”: Wild, Memoirs, quoted ibid., 136.

  164 At the age of sixteen, Wild: Butler, Quest, 8.

  164 he would not marry: Ibid., 22.

  164 He stood only: Ibid., 3, 8–9.

  164 “It was more than affection”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 153–54.

  165 “refused to do any work”: Wild, Memoirs, quoted in Butler, Quest, 136.

  165 But on March 13, just as a prolonged: Ibid., 131–32.

  165 “This bad weather had its compensations”: Ibid., 131.

  165 The one serious oversight: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 141.

  166 “If we were to fall”: Morton Moyes, “There Was No Ship,” quoted in Riffenburgh, Aurora, 141.

  166 Instead of Mawson’s day-long program: Frank Wild, “Report on Operations,” quoted in Riffenburgh, Aurora, 194.

  166 “Two medals were struck”: Ibid., 197.

  166 “though diverting”: Sydney Jones, loose notes, June 30, 1912, quoted in Riffenburgh, Aurora, 197.

  166 Instead, Wild devised golf balls: Ibid.; Kennedy, diary, May 17, 1912.

  166 According to twenty-two-year-old: Kennedy, diary, April 8, 1912.

  166 Eager to make the best use: Wild, Memoirs, quoted in Butler, Quest, 132.

  167 “and we all had falls”: Ibid.

  167 “We crossed one”: Ibid.

  167 The weather was so fiendish: Ibid., 135.

  167 “When it is understood”: Ibid., 133.

  167 On the move again: Ibid.

  168 On March 21, a seven-day storm: Ibid.

  168 In the end, Wild’s team: Ibid., 134.

  168 “Unable to stand”: Kennedy, diary, April 5, 1912.

  169 The most persistent source of conflict: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 194–95.

  169 “Wondering when the buckets of kerosene”: Moyes, diary, August 11, 1912.

  171 November 6 was fixed: HOB, 136.

  171 “Should I or my party”: Douglas Mawson to J. K. Davis, loose note, Mawson Collection.

  171 “the most popular man of the party”: Hunter, diary, April 17, 1912.

  172 “What a God forsaken country”: Hunter, diary, and Laseron, diary, November 14, 1912, quoted in Riffenburgh, Aurora, 254.

  172 Sixty-seven and a half miles: Hurley, Argonauts, 71.

  172 Even before reaching Cape Denison: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 87.

  172 To vary the regimen: HOB, 142.

  172 The staple main course: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 87.

  173 “if the weather was good”: Ibid.

  173 Made of japara: Ibid., 85.

  173 the three-man tent combined: HOB, 140.

  173 The tent was supported: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 85–86.

  174 “First, enough large blocks”: Ibid., 86.

  174 “an amazing field of huge”: Hurley, Argonauts, 77.

  174 “suddenly I dropped through”: Ibid., 78–79.

  175 On December 12, at a spot: Bage, narrative, quoted in HOB, 214.

  175 They called it the Lucky Depot: Hurley, Argonauts, 81.

  175 Finally, on December 21, the men knew: Bage, narrative, quoted in HOB, 216; Hurley, Argonauts, 80.

  175 “What a temptation to go on”: Hurley, Argonauts, 80–81.

  175 “It was . . . Midsummer Day”: Bage, narrative, quoted in HOB, 217.

  175 On December 27, they regained: Hurley, Argonauts, 81–82.

  176 “a record for man-hauling”: HOB, 219.

  176 But slowly the men’s optimism: Ibid., 219–20.

  176 On January 4, the men reached: Ibid., 220.

  176 By January 8, all the men had left: Bage, narrative, quoted in HOB, 220.

  176 “Matter of life and death”: Webb, diary, January 8–9, 1912.

  176 “I’ve dined in many places”: Hurley, Argonauts, 86–87.

&
nbsp; 177 “There was only one thing”: Bage, narrative, quoted in HOB, 220.

  177 “the worst day’s march”: Ibid., 221.

  177 Two days later, guessing: Ibid., 222.

  177 “The most memorable day”: Webb, diary, January 10, 1912.

  177 “Never had I seen the Antarctic appear”: Hurley, Argonauts, 93.

  177 “We three had never thought”: Bage, narrative, quoted in HOB, 223.

  178 “The information brought back”: HOB, 223.

  178 “A refuge from the hurricane”: Ibid., 120–21.

  179 On November 17, 25 miles out: Ibid., 224.

  180 “was quite a knife-edge”: Ibid., 226.

  180 “I cannot say”: Madigan, narrative, quoted in HOB, 227.

  180 Then, on December 2, the trio: Ibid., 229–31.

  180 Back on land on December 17: Ibid., 231–32.

  181 some 270 miles: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 143.

  181 “a narrow ridge of hard snow”: Madigan, narrative, quoted in HOB, 235.

  181 Like Bage’s party, Madigan’s: Ibid., 236–38.

  181 “by this I mean”: Davis, High Latitude, 196.

  181 It was only ten hours later: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 140.

  181 “We were laden with mail”: Davis, High Latitude, 197.

  182 Of the keenest interest: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 252.

  182 “Australia had lost”: Laseron, “South with Mawson,” 141.

  182 “Dr Mawson is out 66 days”: Crossley, Trial by Ice, 51.

  182 It was not until December 3: Haddelsey, Born Adventurer, 77.

  183 “Very soon the engine”: HOB, 243–44.

  183 “We were very sorry”: Frank Bickerton, “Western Sledging Journey,” quoted in Haddelsey, Born Adventurer, 78–79.

  183 “by lunch time I felt”: Bickerton, “A Log of the Western Journey,” December 5, 1912, quoted in Haddelsey, Born Adventurer, 79.

  183 Six miles out from Cathedral Grotto: Haddelsey, Born Adventurer, 79–80.

  184 “did not appear”: Bickerton, “Log,” December 5, 1912, quoted ibid., 80.

  184 The leader’s first guess: Ibid.

  184 Forty-nine years would elapse: Haddesley, Born Adventurer, 80.

  184 Since then, Antarctica: Riffenburgh, Aurora, 282.

  184 One of them, retrieved in 2003: http://www1.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/jul/HQ_04232_meteorite.html.

  184 “This is a dismal”: Bickerton, “Log,” quoted in Haddelsey, Born Adventurer, 86.

  184 During their first week: Haddelsey, Born Adventurer, 83.

  184 Then, on December 12, a mishap: Ibid., 86–87.

  185 On five successive days: Ibid., 90–91.

 

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