|
|
|
|
|
|||
The
Australian Association for the Advancement of Science gave
their stamp of approval to Mawsons' plans and pledged a
significant sum of money towards the cost of the expedition.
Finances were then raised by public subscription with
substantial contributions coming from the Commonwealth and
State Governments, the British Government and the Royal
Geographical Society. Professor Sir David Orme Masson, of
Melbourne, and Professor Sir Edgeworth David, of Sydney,
were the primary members of the A.A.A.S. appointed to
further the cause of the expedition and represent the
expedition in Australia. Mawson's
expedition team was selected primarily from Australian and
New Zealand universities. The expedition vessel came from
the Newfoundland sealing fleet. The Aurora, built in
Dundee, was still in relatively good condition despite her
old age. The hull was made of stout oak planks, sheathed
with greenheart and lined with fir. The bow was a mass of
solid wood re-enforced with steel-plated armor. The heavy
side frames were braced by two levels of horizontal oak
beams. The primary dimensions were 165 feet in length, 30
feet in width and 18 feet in depth, with a carrying capacity
of approximately 600 tons. The engines were compound,
supplied with steam from a single boiler. The Crew The
chief objective of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition was
to investigate, as far as possible, the stretch of
essentially unknown Antarctic coast extending between the
farthest west of the Terra Nova Expedition and the
farthest east of the Gauss
Expedition. Included in
the scientific program would be examination of Macquarie
Island lying 850 miles south-south-east of Hobart. In
addition to land-based work, extensive investigation of the
ocean and its floor between Australia and Antarctica was
planned. No plans were made to attain the South Pole. From
Hobart a course was to be set for Macquarie Island. A small
party would land with stores and a hut and proceed to
undertake scientific studies over the next year. After
leaving Macquarie Island the ship would proceed along the
meridian of 158°E longitude until reaching the ice
pack. From here every attempt would be made
to penetrate the ice to reach the continental mainland
whereby a main party, equipped for a year's effort of
scientific study and exploration, would be landed. A hut
would be built and a Main Base established to enable the men
extensive exploration opportunities over the Antarctic
summer. The ship would then proceed westward as far as
possible, before the end of the summer season, to establish
a Western Base party. Having landed several parties, the
Aurora would sail and steam her way back to Hobart.
The following summer she would return to conclude the
expedition and pick up the members of the land
parties. As
stated earlier, most of the crew was made up of young
graduates of Australian and New Zealand universities. Among
the exceptions was Frank Wild, who was appointed in charge
of one of the Antarctic wintering stations. Wild had already
distinguished himself in the South on both the Scott
and Shackleton expeditions. Also appointed in London were
Lieutenant B.E.S. Ninnis of the Royal Fusiliers, Dr. X.
Mertz, an expert Swiss mountaineer and F.H. Bickerton, in
charge of the air-tractor sledge. On
November 4, 1911, Captain Davis arrived at Hobart with the
Aurora after a voyage from London taking 100 days. At
4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, the Aurora
departed from Hobart for Macquarie Island. "God speed"
messages had been received from all over the world with kind
wishes for success coming from Queen Alexandra and His
Majesty the King. At dusk, the hills in the distance were
silhouetted against the sky as a tiny, sparkling lamp
glimmered from Signal Hill indicating a warm farewell. From
the Aurora the men flashed back, "Good-bye, all snug
on board". Onward they pressed into a shroud of darkness,
drawn to the undiscovered lands of the south. During
the night the wind and sea rose into a full gale. Anxieties
ran high as immense quantities of deck cargo began thrashing
about. The crew constantly worked at the lashings as a
thousand gallons of benzene, kerosene and spirits threatened
the men with a dousing of toxic vapors. Most of the men
passed through a phase of seasickness, but in most cases it
passed quickly. The plug in one of the fresh water tanks was
carried away allowing seawater to rush in. Thereafter, the
drinking supply had to be rationed. The wind increased and
on the morning of December 5 the ship was hit with a huge
wave which carried the starboard side of the bridge clean
away. By the morning of December 8 the seas had subsided to
the point where the Aurora could once again steer for
Macquarie Island. At daybreak on December 11 they sighted
the island. By noon they were along Caroline Cove
at which time a boat was lowered and a party rowed to shore.
Several hours were spent examining the area, Webb and
Kennedy took a set of magnetic observations while others
carried some cases of stores to a small, rocky hill to form
a depot as it was decided the northern area of the island
would be more suitable for a permanent base. They arrived
back on the Aurora that evening and Captain Davis set
a course for the northern end of the island. Dangerous reefs
could be seen with towering waterfalls falling hundreds of
feet from the highlands to the lowlands below. They arrived
at North-East Bay which lies on the eastern side of a low
spit which connects the bulk of the island with a
flat-topped hill--Wireless Hill--approximately
three-quarters of a mile farther north. Near the end of the
spit two small huts were spotted but no human life. Below
the huts, upon rocks rising above the surf, lay a small
schooner partly broken up. A mile south were fragments of
another wreck. Suddenly a human figured appeared in
front of one of the huts. He ran back into the hut and soon
a whole number of men could be seen jumping and waving at
them. One of the men signaled them with flags that the ship
on the rocks was the Clyde, that they had just
recently become marooned and that all hands were safe.
Besides the shipwrecked crew, some half-dozen men were
residents of the island during the summer months for the
purpose of collecting blubber. The sealers soon pushed a
small boat right across the spit and came out to meet them.
They were greatly relieved to hear that Mawson's auxiliary
vessel, the Toroa, would be arriving soon and could
take them back to civilization. My
radio contact with Macquarie Island At 4
p.m. on December 29 the cry of "Ice on the starboard bow!"
was heard for the first time. On January 7 a bay, which
Mawson named Commonwealth Bay, opened before them. On the
far side of the bay was a cape presumed to be Cape
Découverte, the most easterly extension of
Adélie Land seen by Dumont
d'Urville in 1840. At 4 p.m.
on January 8, 1912, a whale boat was lowered and rowed
towards shore. As land approached they found themselves
amongst a group of islets, later named the Mackellar Islets.
Weddell seals and Adélie penguins numbering in the
thousands rested upon the rocks. The men soon stepped
ashore, the first to set foot on the Antarctic continent
between Cape Adare and Gaussberg, a distance of
approximately 2000 miles. Cape Denison, as it was now
called, became Mawson's Main Base of operations. The
unloading was completed by January 19 and it came none to
soon. With January more than half over, the Aurora
struggled along the coast to drop the eight-man Western
Party, led by Frank Wild, on the Shackleton Ice Shelf at
Queen Mary Land some 1500 miles from Cape Denison.
Back at Cape Denison, the huts were
completed by January 30 with the 18 men sleeping inside. By
February the winds grew to a point that anything not tied
down would be lost. Additionally, anyone caught outside
without crampons would find himself in extreme danger. Calm
days were so rare that routine chores outside were conducted
in hurricane-force winds much of the time. Throughout March
and April the wind often gusted to more than 100 miles per
hour, occasionally peaking above 200 mph! The average
wind speed for every hour of every day in May was 60.7 mph
and on May 15 the wind averaged 90 mph over a
twenty-four-hour period. On one occasion the 335-pound lid
of the air-tractor case was blown 50 yards and, an hour
later, was tossed back! The wind dominated their lives
throughout the Antarctic winter. At the
end of February, despite dangerous weather conditions,
Mawson decided to risk a short sojourn to survey the area.
Cecil Madigan, the meteorologist, and Lt. R. Bage, the
astronomer, joined Mawson on the trek. They planted flags,
to guide the returning party, and managed to make 5.5 miles
before weather forced them to turn back. One of the most
important projects was to build two radio masts. Started on
April 4, the job was not completed until September 1. Some
of the work had to be done in 60 mph winds and on October 13
the whole system came crashing to the ground. However,
during the few weeks that the antenna system was
operational, messages transmitted to the Aurora and
Macquarie Island were received but nothing was received on
Mawson's end. Communication was not re-established until
February 13, when two-way communication between
Adélie Land and Macquarie Island was achieved for the
very first time. Bage
(L) & Mertz in Aladdin's Cave During October the weather was so bad
that no sledging was possible. In November the weather
improved as Mawson made plans for further sledging. Five
parties would head out with three traveling to the east, one
south to the magnetic pole and one to the west. Mawson
himself planned to lead the treacherous Far Eastern trek,
using the dogs. A combination of the Southern and Support
Party left Aladdin's Cave on November 10, heading in a
southerly direction in horrible weather conditions. Mawson
instructed all men to return no later than January 15 as the
Aurora was expected to be waiting for them. The
Southern Party, led by Bage, struck out in gale-force winds
as Webb took complicated magnetic readings to help guide
them towards the magnetic pole. On November 22, after
travelling 65 miles, the Support Party returned to Main Base
as the three men, comprising the Southern Party, continued
south on their 600-mile round trip. The temperatures were
still cold at night and were typically below -20°F.
They reached their farthest south on December 21 when time
and food were running short. Webb calculated they were about
50 miles short of the south magnetic pole. The Near and Eastern Coastal parties
had left Main Base on November 8 to rendezvous with Mawson's
Far Eastern Party 18 miles southeast of Aladdin's Cave. Part
of the Near Eastern Party's function was to provide support
for the other two. They then worked along the coast between
Cape Denison and the Mertz Glacier Tongue. Without a doubt,
the Eastern Coastal Party, led by Madigan, enjoyed the most
beautiful scenery of the expedition. By December 10 they had
crossed the hazardous Mertz Glacier and, with rations for
four weeks, tackled the Ninnis Glacier. The party's farthest
east camp, on a rocky cliff called Horn Bluff, was pitched
on December 18...they were 270 miles from Cape Denison. On
the return trip they were delayed by blizzards and deep,
soft snow while recrossing the Mertz Glacier. They finally
reached a food cache on Mt. Murchison after three days on
nothing more than a mug of penguin broth each. Vickers
REP air-tractor Mawson
and his three-man party left Main Base on November 10, 1912.
By the end of November they had made it across the heavily
crevassed Mertz Glacier and were now facing the "tumultuous
and broken" Ninnis Glacier where progress "amid rolling
waves of ice" was slow. For three days, from December 6 to
the 9th, the party remained trapped by a 70 mph blizzard. On
the 9th the dogs and sledges were dug out of the snow and
the men proceeded on. On December 13 one of the sledges was
discarded and on the 14th, Dr. Xavier Mertz, ahead on skis,
signaled that he had spotted another snow-covered crevasse.
Mawson made it across easily but Mertz cried out as Ninnis
suddenly disappeared. Mawson turned around and was horrified
to see Ninnis, the sledge and all the dogs gone. Rushing to the edge of the crevasse,
the men stared down into a deep, gaping hole where, on a
ridge some 150 feet below, was a dog, whining, its back
apparently broken. Beneath that was only the abyss. Mertz
and Mawson called into the depths for over three hours. They
gathered all the rope they had but still could not even
reach as far as the dog. They were in serious trouble as
Ninnis's sledge, pulled by the six fittest dogs, had carried
most of the indispensable supplies, including the tent, most
of the food and spare clothing. The remaining sledge carried
only 10 days of rations for the two men and nothing for the
six dogs...they were 315 miles from Main Base. By Christmas Day they were still 160
miles from Main Base. Most days they covered only 6 miles
but on December 30 they managed 15. The next day Mertz asked
to come off the dog-meat diet and try a small portion of
their remaining sledging rations. On January 1, 1913, he
developed stomach pains and the next day his strength was
nearly gone. They rested on January 5 and the next day they
tried to forge on. Dr. Mertz finally agreed to be hauled on
the sledge by Mawson...by this time Mertz even had to be
helped in and out of his sleeping bag. One hundred miles
southeast of Main Base, on January 7, Mertz became delirious
and died. Mawson wrote, "For hours I lay in the bag, rolling
over in my mind all that lay behind and the chance of the
future. I seemed to stand alone on the wide shores of the
world...My physical condition was such that I felt I might
collapse at any moment...Several of my toes commenced to
blacken and fester near the tips and the nails worked loose.
There appeared to be little hope...It was easy to sleep on
in the bag, and the weather was cruel outside". Then on January 17 Mawson found
himself dangling in a crevasse at the end of his 14-foot
harness. Delirious and exhausted, Mawson struggled to pull
himself out, only to reach the lip and fall back in. Mawson
wrote, "My strength was ebbing fast; in a few moments it
would be too late. The struggle occupied some time, but by a
miracle I rose slowly to the surface. This time I emerged
feet first...and pushed myself out...Then came the reaction,
and I could do nothing for quite and hour". By now it was
taking Mawson two hours to set up camp at the end of each
day. On January 27 a blizzard brought him to his knees but
on the 29th, his food nearly gone, he spotted a snow cairn.
It had been built by McLean, Hodgeman and Hurley who had
been out searching for the party. The cairn was only a few
hours old as Mawson consumed the food and read an attached
note declaring the Aurora was waiting and Aladdin's
Cave was only 23 miles distant. Mawson arrived at the cave
at 7 p.m. on February 1, but the weather closed in and
trapped him for another week. Eventually, he set out in
spite of the conditions and reached Cape Denison in time to
see a departing speck on the horizon...the
Aurora. However,
Mawson was greeted as though back from the dead by six men
left behind to continue the search. The Aurora was
immediately recalled by radio but ice conditions prohibited
the ship from returning. At Cape Denison, the seven men
reconciled themselves to another winter of blizzards and
confinement. But, they were well stocked with supplies and
the repaired radio antenna survived all the spectacular
blizzards. Mawson, Madigan and Hodgeman made a sledge trip
in late November and on December 12 the Aurora
returned. By December 24, 1913, their two-year expedition
was over and on February 5, 1914, after more than a month of
sailing along the Antarctic coast, Captain John Davis
steered the ship northward. The Aurora entered Gulf
St. Vincent on February 26. Mawson wrote, "The welcome home,
the voices of innumerable strangers--the hand-grips of many
friends--it chokes me--it cannot be uttered!" As for
the eight-man Western Party under Frank Wild, conditions
were severe but not nearly as difficult as those at Main
Base. The men settled into their hut, "The Grottoes",
towards the end of the 1912 sledging season. An early
disappointment was the destruction of the radio mast in the
first blizzard. Throughout the winter the men worked each
day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Winds blew up to 100 mph and
nearly buried the hut in snow. Depot-laying trips were still
made as early as August and sledge parties later explored
and mapped the nearby coastline. Wild's push to the east was
brought up short due to severe crevasses in the Denman
Glacier, 120 miles from base. The western team crossed the
Helen Glacier and discovered extensive penguin rookeries in
the process. By Christmas Day they reached Gaussberg,
discovered some ten years earlier by Erich
von Drygalski. The entire
party was picked up by the Aurora on February 23,
1913. The
decade after the end of the first World War in Europe saw
the beginning of the Mechanical Era which would completely
revolutionize Antarctic exploration and scientific research.
At an Imperial Conference held in London in 1926, the
importance of further exploration and scientific research in
the Antarctic quadrant claimed as British Territory, was
strongly stressed. It was pointed out that a vital need was
to continue and extend exploratory and scientific activities
to solidify Britain's territorial rights to what constituted
nearly one-third of the continent, extending between Enderby
Land at 45°E and King George V Land at 160°E
longitude, excluding Adélie Land. Following his
expedition in 1911-14, a strong desire remained with Mawson
to continue his work to the west beyond Enderby Land. In
July 1927, an Antarctic Committee was set up, supported by
the Australian National Research Council. After several
meetings it was determined that an Australian Antarctic
expedition be planned with Sir Douglas Mawson as leader. The
area defined for exploration was the entire coast of the
territory over which Britain claimed sovereignty. One of
the first major problems was to find a suitable ship. The
expedition was extremely fortunate in that the famous
Discovery was made available by the British
Government. Built in Dundee and launched in 1900, the ship
served Robert
Scott's British National
Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04. After the return of the
Scott expedition the vessel was sold to the Hudson Bay
Company for trading purposes. In 1922, she was purchased by
the British Government for oceanographic research in waters
around the Falkland Islands Dependencies. An aerial survey by S.A.C. Campbell
and E. Douglas on the last day of 1929 revealed indistinct
icescapes, probably continental, at latitude 68°11'S,
longitude 65°10'E. Mawson and Campbell flew on January
5, 1930, and confirmed an extensive new coast of ice cliffs
and rocky mountains. Mawson named the discovered area
MacRobertson Land. On January 13 a party landed on a steep
offshore island and named it Proclamation Island. The
British flag was raised and the claim to full sovereignty of
the territory, including Enderby Land, Kemp Land and
MacRobertson Land south of latitude 60°S and between
latitudes 47° and 73°E, was read to a small shore
party and a few penguins. Mawson wanted to stay longer but
since this was never intended to be anything other than a
summer expedition, Captain Davis insisted they head north
rather than run the risk of running short of coal and
becoming stuck in the ice. An attempt was made to obtain
additional coal from a South African factory ship but
inclement weather prohibited this so they sailed for
Australia, via Kerguelen. Final Proclamation at Cape Bruce, Feb
14, 1931 The ship then sailed along the
Adélie and Wilkes Land coasts to the Banzare Land
coast, Queen Mary Land, Princess Elizabeth Land and
MacRobertson Land, where they crossed the path made the
previous year. A number of flights and landings were made to
reinforce surveys taken from the Discovery. Following
the conclusion of the BANZARE, a British Order in Council,
of February 1933, affirmed the King's sovereignty over
Antarctic territory south of latitude 60°S and, apart
from Adélie Land, between longitudes 160°E and
45°E. The regions were placed under the control of the
Commonwealth of Australia, from the date of her acceptance.
The Acceptance Bill was proclaimed on August 24, 1936. The
scientific work of the expedition took many years to gather
and prepare and although much of it appeared in official
BANZARE scientific reports, some results are still
unpublished to this day. Douglas
Mawson was born in Yorkshire and came to Australia as a boy.
He studied geology under Edgeworth David at Sydney
University and was appointed a lecturer at Adelaide
University in 1905. He was appointed Professor of Geology in
1920. Mawson retired from the university in 1952 and died in
1958, the last leader from the heroic era.
After
Shackleton's
heroic effort to attain the South Pole, the whole world
stood by in anticipation as Scott
and Amundsen
announced their plans to conquer the extremes and grab the
prize at 90°S. As their bases were being established in
1911, Australian geologist Douglas Mawson was quietly
organizing an Australasian expedition to chart the 2000-mile
coastline directly south of Australia. The great span
between Cape Adare, lying to the south of New Zealand, and
Gauss Berg, lying south of the Indian Ocean, was virgin land
virtually unexplored. Mawsons' plans were first exposed
during a trip to Europe in February 1910 when discussions
were held with Robert Scott. Scott was eager to include
Mawson in the Terra
Nova Expedition as Mawson
had certainly proved his tenacity when he forced his way
along an unforgiving route to the South Magnetic Pole on
Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition . However, an
inclusion of Mawsons' plans was simply out of the question
as Scott's itinerary was already full. After speaking with
Shackleton, Mawson had to decline Scott's offer.
Six large steel tanks were built into the bottom of the hold
for storage of fresh water. On the deck was a deck-house,
comprising the cook's galley, steward's pantry and two
laboratories. Forward from this area was storage for
kerosene, lamps and other supplies. The fo'c'sle-head
accommodated the carpenters' stores while below it were the
quarters for a crew of sixteen men.
Captain of the ship and second
in command would be John King Davis, of Nimrod fame.
From the time the Aurora arrived in London for
refitting until her departure for Australia, the scene was
busy as alterations and replacements were hurried along in
order to fit her for future work in the Antarctic. Stores
and gear were purchased as donations rolled in from Europe
and Australia. Mawson left London on June 22, 1911, leaving
final instructions with Davis for completing the overhaul
and sailing her out to Hobart.
(Main Base)*
Dr. D. Mawson Commander of the Expedition
Lt. R. Bage Astronomer, Assistant Magnetician & Recorder of Tides
C.T. Madigan Meteorologist
Lt. B.E.S. Ninnis In charge of Greenland dogs
Dr. X. Mertz In charge of Greenland dogs
A.L. McLean Chief Medical Officer, Bacteriologist
F.H. Bickerton In charge of air-tractor sledge
A.J. Hodgeman Cartographer and Sketch Artist
J.F. Hurley Official Photographer
E.N. Webb Chief Magnetician
P.E. Correll Mechanic and Assistant Physicist
J.G. Hunter Biologist
C.F. Laseron Taxidermist & Biological Collector
F.L. Stillwell Geologist
H.D. Murphy In charge of Expedition stores
W. H. Hannam Wireless Operator and Mechanic
J.H. Close Assistant Collector
L.A. Whetter Surgeon
(Western Base)
F. Wild Leader, Sledge-master
A.D. Watson Geologist
S.E. Jones Medical Officer
C.T. Harrisson Biologist
M.H. Moyes Meteorologist
A.L. Kennedy Magnetician
C.A. Hadley Geologist
C. Dovers Cartographer
G.F. Ainsworth Leader: Meteorologist
L.R. Blake Cartographer and Geologist
H. Hamilton Biologist
C.A. Sandell Wireless Operator & Mechanic
A.J. Sawyer Wireless Operator
J.K. Davis Master of the S.Y. Aurora & Second in Command of the Expedition
J.H. Blair First Officer during the final Antarctic Cruise
P. Gray Second Officer
C.P. de la Motte Third Officer
F.J. Gillies Chief Engineer
* During
the second year of occupation the party at the Main Base was
reduced to seven: Bage, Madigan, Bickerton, Hodgeman and
Mawson, together with S.N. Jeffryes, who relieved Hannam
with wireless operations. Added to these officers were a
crew of 19, making a total of 24 in the ship's company. N.C.
Toucher and later F.D. Fletcher served during the earlier
voyages.
The
hut was eventually built in the shadow of a large rock at
the north end of the spit. After much discussion the
wireless station was built at the summit of Wireless Hill,
some three hundred and fifty feet high. By noon on December
13 all stores from the Aurora had been transferred
ashore with most of the provisions arriving with the
Toroa that afternoon. The provisions were quickly
unloaded and the Toroa departed for Hobart on the
morning of December 15. The final parting with the Macquarie
Island party took place on the beach at dusk on the evening
of December 23. The next morning they steamed down the west
coast, southward bound.
Typical to many Antarctic expeditions of the era, winter
months were filled with long periods of inactivity and
boredom. During the winter of 1912, games, concerts and
tomfoolery permeated the dark, cold days. After midwinter
celebrations, the expedition prepared for spring sledging
and on August 9 Mawson, Madigan and B.E.S. Ninnis headed
south into a 40 mph gale. After struggling 5.5 miles, the
men dug an ice shelter, which they named Aladdin's Cave, and
set up a supply depot. In September an unusual five straight
days of calm weather arrived. Several of the men sledged
food and equipment to Aladdin's Cave while three other
sledging parties tested equipment during the peaceful days.
Mawson gave instructions to each sledging party to limit
their respective travels to 14 days and 50 miles. Two of the
parties fought 80 mph winds, making little headway, while
another could only achieve 2.5 miles. The western party,
however, did manage to make it 50-miles out but returned
exhausted and frostbitten.
The
Western Party, led by Frank Bickerton, planned on crossing
the coastal highlands west of Cape Denison by using the
air-tractor. Stripped of its wings, fittings and covering,
the Vickers aeroplane was to be used as a tractor for towing
sledges. The machine cost £900. Unfortunately, the
engine could not withstand the extreme conditions and was
abandoned early in the trek. Soft and drifting snow hampered
their sledging with the team only making 31 miles in the
first seven days. However, an extraordinary discovery took
place as the first meteorite in Antarctica was discovered.
The farthest camp to the west was pitched on Christmas Day,
158 miles from Main Base. Meanwhile at Cape Denison
everyone, including the crew of the Aurora now
awaited the return of Mawson's overdue Far Eastern Party,
unaware that he would eventually stumble in, alone and
exhausted, with a story to tell that rivals any pertaining
to polar exploration.
They
still had a spare tent cover, the cooker and some kerosene.
But they had laid no depots on the outward journey as they
expected to take an easier route back to Main Base. They
made it back to the discarded sledge, picked up a few items
and then disposed of everything not essential. A crude tent
was devised by draping the remaining tent cover over skis
and sledge struts. The dogs were fed worn-out finnesko,
mitts and rawhide straps. On December 15 the weakest dog was
killed to feed to the others and the men. This pattern was
continued over the next 10 days until the final dog
collapsed. Although the meat was tough and stringy, every
scrap was eaten, including the paws which were stewed.
Plans and organization of the
expedition were completed by June 1929. Due to joint
interests and financial support, the expedition was to be
called the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic
Research Expedition, or BANZARE for short. The
Discovery, commanded by Mawson's old friend John K.
Davis (who was also second in command of the expedition),
sailed from Cardiff for Cape Town on August 18, 1929. Little
interest was created as only a handful of spectators stood
by the docks as the Discovery slipped away.
Nevertheless, the dock workers cheered and ships' sirens
screamed a farewell as she steamed out on her voyage to the
Cape. The ship sailed from Cape Town on October 29, 1929.
The Discovery stopped at Îles Crozets, Îles
Kerguelen and Heard Island before continuing south to the
Antarctic coastline. 
The
second half of the BANZARE, again under the command of Sir
Douglas Mawson, sailed from Hobart on November 22, 1930 and
returned on March 19, 1931. This time Captain K.N. MacKenzie
replaced Captain J.K. Davis as commander of the
Discovery but again there were problems of divided
command and short coal supplies. The Discovery first
called at Macquarie Island and then searched for the Royal
Company and Emerald Islands. Although these island groups
were noted by early whalers, it is now known that they never
existed. They continued on and reached Cape Denison on
January 4, 1931. Mawson stepped ashore at Commonwealth Bay
and once again visited his Main Base built in 1911. Magnetic
measurements were taken with the discovery that the magnetic
pole had moved a considerable distance since 1914.
