Chapter 5 - FIRST DAYS IN ADELIE LAND
The Home of the Blizzard By Douglas Mawson
Preface
Chapters:
1 - The Problem
and Preparations |
2 - The Last
Days of Hobart and the Voyage to Macquarie Island |
3 - From Macquarie
Island to Adelie Land |
4 - New Lands
| 5 - First
Days in Adelie Land |
6 - Autumn
Prospects |
7 - The Blizzard |
8 - Domestic
Life | 9
- Midwinter and its Work |
10 - The
Preparation of Sledging Equipment |
11 - Spring
Exploits |
12 - Across King George V Land |
13 - Toil
and Tribulation |
14 -
The Quest of the South Magnetic Pole
| 15
- Eastward Over the Sea-Ice |
16 - Horn
Bluff and Penguin Point |
17 - With
Stillwell's and Bickerton's Parties |
18 - The
Ship's Story |
19 - The
Western Base - Establishment and Early Adventures |
20 - The
Western base - Winter and Spring |
21 - The
Western Base - Blocked on the Shelf-Ice |
22 - The
Western base - Linking up with Kaiser Wilhelm II Land
| 23 - A
Second Winter |
24 - Nearing
the End |
25 - Life on Macquarie Island |
26 - A Land
of Storm and Mist |
27- Through
Another Year |
28 - The
Homeward Cruise
Appendices:
2 - Scientific Work
| 3 - An Historical
Summary | 4
- Glossary |
5 - Medical Reports |
6 - Finance
| 7 - Equipment
Summary (2 pages) of the
Australian Antarctic Expedition
| The
Men of the Expedition
CHAPTER V
FIRST DAYS IN ADELIE LAND
The overcrowded whale-boat disgorged its cargo at
10 P.M. on the ice-quay at Cape Denison. The only shelter was a
cluster of four tents and the Benzine Hut, so the first consideration
was the erection of a commodious living-hut.
While the majority
retired to rest to be ready for a fresh burst of work on the morrow,
a few of us discussed the preliminary details, and struck the first
blows in the laying of the foundations.
A site for the living-hut
was finally approved. This was a nearly flat piece of rocky ground
of just sufficient size, partially sheltered on the southern side
by a large upstanding rock. Other points to recommend it were, proximity
to the boat harbour and to a good sledging surface; the ice of the
glacier extending to the ``front door'' on the western side.
Several large rocks had to be shifted, and difficulty was anticipated
in the firm setting of the stumps. The latter were blocks of wood,
three feet in length, embedded in the ground, forming the foundation
of the structure. Unfortunately, no such thing as earth or gravel
existed in which to
sink these posts, and the rock being of
the variety known as gneiss, was more than ordinarily tough.
Since two parties had combined, there were two huts available,
and these were to be erected so that the smaller adjoined and was
in the lee of the larger. The latter was to be the living-room;
the former serving as a vestibule, a workshop and an engine-room
for the wireless plant. Slight modifications were made in the construction
of both huts, but these did not affect the framework. After the
completion of the living-hut, regular scientific observations were
to commence, and the smaller hut was then to be built as opportunity
offered.
Nothing has so far been said about the type of hut
adopted by our Antarctic stations. As the subject is important,
and we had expended much thought thereon before coming to a final
decision, a few remarks
will not be out of place.
Strength
to resist hurricanes, simplicity of construction, portability and
resistance to external cold were fundamental. My first idea was
to have the huts in the form of pyramids on a square base, to ensure
stability in heavy winds and with a large floor-area to reduce the
amount of timber used. The final type was designed at the expense
of floor-space, which would have been of little use because of the
low roof in the parts thus eliminated. In this form, the pyramid
extended to within five feet of the ground on the three windward
sides so as to include an outside veranda. That veranda, like the
motor-launch, was a wonderful convenience, and another of the many
things of which we made full use. It lent stability to the structure,
assisted to keep the hut warm, served as a store-house, physical
laboratory and a dogshelter.
Round the outside of the three
veranda walls boxes of stores were stacked, so as to continue the
roof-slope to the ground. Thus, the wind striking the hut met no
vertical face, but was partly deflected; the other force-component
tending to pin the building to the ground.
All three huts
were essentially of the same construction. The largest, on account
of its breadth, had four special supporting posts, symmetrically
placed near the centre, stretching from the ground to the roof framework.
The only subdivisions inside were a small vestibule, a photographic
darkroom and my own room. This rough idea I had handed over to Hodgeman,
leaving him to complete the details and to draw up the plans. The
frame timbers he employed were stronger than usual in a building
of the size, and were all securely bolted together. The walls and
roof, both inside and outside, were of tongued and grooved pine-boards,
made extra wind-proof by two courses of tarred paper. As rain was
not expected, this roofing was sufficient. There were four windows
in the roof, one on each side of the pyramid. We should thereby
get light even though almost buried in snow.
Plan of the hut, Adelie Land
The largest hut was presented by the timber merchants
of Sydney, and proved its astonishing strength during the winter
hurricanes. The smallest was purchased in Adelaide, the third was
built and presented by Messrs. Anthony of Melbourne.
On the
morning of January 20 all were at work betimes. As we were securely
isolated from a trades hall, our hours of labour ranged from 7 A.M.
till 11 P.M.
Dynamite was to be used for blasting out the
holes for the reception of the stumps, and so the steel rock-drills
were unpacked and boring commenced. This was easier than it appeared,
because the rock was much traversed by cracks. By the end of the
day a good deal of damage had been done to the rock, at the expense
of a few sore fingers and wrists caused by the sledge-hammers missing
the drills. The work was tedious, for water introduced into the
holes had a habit of freezing. The metal drills, too, tended to
be brittle in the cold and
required to be tempered softer than
usual. Hannam operated the forge, and picks and drills were sent
along for pointing; an outcrop of gneiss serving as an anvil.
Among other things it was found difficult to fire the charges, for, when frozen, dynamite is not readily exploded. This was overcome by carrying the sticks inside one's pocket until the last moment. In the absence of earth or clay, we had no tamping material until some one suggested guano from the penguin rookeries, which proved a great success.
Next day the stumps were in place; most of them
being fixed by wedges and other devices. Cement was tried, but it
is doubtful if any good came of it, for the low temperature did
not encourage it to set well. By the evening, the bottom plates
were laid on and bolted to the tops of the stumps, and everything
was ready for the superstructure.
On January 22, while some
were busy with the floor-joists and wall-frames, others carried
boulders from the neighbouring moraine, filling in the whole space
between the stumps. These were eventually embedded in a mass of
boulders, as much as three feet deep in places. By the time both
huts were erected, nearly fifty tons of stones had been used in
the foundations--a circumstance we did not regret at a later date.
Hodgeman was appointed clerk of works on the construction, and
was kept unusually busy selecting timber, patrolling among the workmen,
and searching for his foot-rule which had an unaccountable trick
of
vanishing in thin air.
Hannam had various occupations,
but one was to attend to the needs of the inner man, until the completion
of the hut. There is no doubt that he was regarded at this time
as the most important and popular member of the party, for our appetites
were abnormally good. About an hour before meals he was to be seen
rummaging amongst the cases of provisions, selecting tins of various
brands and hues from the great confusion. However remote their source
or diverse their colour, experience taught us that only one preparation
would emerge from the tent-kitchen. It was a multifarious stew.
Its good quality was undoubted, for a few minutes after the ``dinner-bell
rang'' there was not a particle left. The ``dinner-bell''
was a lusty shout from the master cook, which was re-echoed by the
brawny mob who rushed madly to the Benzine Hut. Plates and mugs
were seized and portions measured out, while the diners distributed
themselves on odd boxes lying about on the ice. Many who were accustomed
to restaurants built tables of kerosene cases and dined al fresco.
After the limited stew, the company fared on cocoa, biscuits--``hard
tack''--and jam, all ad libitum.
On those rare summer
days, the sun blazed down on the blue ice; skua gulls nestled in
groups on the snow; sly penguins waddled along to inspect the building
operations; seals basked in torpid slumber on the shore; out on
the sapphire bay the milk-white bergs floated in the swell. We can
all paint our own picture of the good times round the Benzine Hut.
We worked hard, ate heartily and enjoyed life.
By the evening
of January 24 the floor and outside walls were finished, and the
roof-frame was in position. Work on the roof was the coldest job
of all, for now there was rarely an hour free from a cold breeze,
at times reaching the velocity of a gale. This came directly down
from the plateau, and to sit with exposed fingers handling hammer
and nails was not an enviable job. To add to our troubles, the boards
were all badly warped from being continually wet with sea-water
on the voyage. However, by judicious ``gadgetting,'' as
the phrase went, they were got into place.
Sections across the hut, Adelie Land
The windward roof was up on January 25, and several
of us camped in sleeping-bags under its shelter. Already Hannam
had unpacked the large range and put the parts together in the kitchen.
Henceforth the cooking operations were simplified, for previously
a sledging-cooker had been used.
Mention of the stove recalls
a very cold episode. It happened that while our goods were being
lifted from the boats to the landing-stage, a case had fallen into
the harbour. When the parts of the stove were being assembled, several
important items were found to be missing, and it was thought that
they might compose the contents of the unknown case lying in the
kelp at the bottom of the bay.
Laseron and I went on board
the whale-boat one day at low water, and located the box with a
pole, but though we used several devices with hooks, we were unable
to get hold of it. At last I went in, and, standing on tip-toe,
could just reach it and keep my head above water. It took some time
to extricate from the kelp, following which I established a new
record for myself in dressing. The case turned out to be full of
jam, and we had to make a new search for the missing parts. I do
not think I looked very exhilarated after that bath, but strange
to say, a few days later Correll tried an early morning swim which
was the last voluntary dip attempted by any one.
The enthusiasm
of the builders rose to its highest pitch as the roof neared completion,
and we came in sight of a firm and solid habitation, secure from
the winds which harassed us daily. A dozen hammers worked at once,
each concentrated upon a specific job. The ardour with which those
engaged upon the ceiling inside the hut plied their nails resulted
in several minor casualties to those sitting on the roof, deeply
intent on the outer lining. A climax was reached when McLean, working
on the steeply inclined roof, lost his footing and, in passing,
seized hold of the wire-stay of the chimney as a last hope. Alas,
that was the only stay, and as he proceeded over the end of the
roof into a bank of snow, Ninnis, within the hut, convinced that
nothing less than a cyclone had struck the building, gallantly held
on to the lower hot section amidst a shower of soot.
Everybody
was in the best of spirits, and things went ahead merrily. On January
30 the main building was almost completed, and all slept under its
roof. Bunks had been constructed, forming a double tier around three
sides of the room. For the first time since coming ashore we retired
to sleep in blankets; fur sleeping-bags had been previously used.
That night the sky which had been clear for a fortnight banked up
with nimbus cloud, and Murphy, who was sleeping under a gap in the
roof, woke up next morning to find over him a fine counterpane of
snow. He received hearty congratulations all round.
Regular
meteorological observations began on February 1. The various instruments
had been unpacked as soon as the outer shell of the Hut was completed.
The barometer and barograph were kept running inside. Outside there
were two large screens for the reception of a number of the instruments.
It was important to erect these as near the Hut as possible. The
standard thermometer, thermograph and hygrograph were to occupy
one of the screens, a convenient site for which was chosen about
twenty yards to the east. Close by there was also a nephoscope for
determining the motion of clouds. The immediate vicinity of the
Hut, being a gully-like depression, was unsuitable for the wind
and sunshine recorders. A more distant site, on a rocky
ridge
to the east, was chosen for these. There were set up a recording
anemometer (wind-velocity meter), a sunshine-meter and the second
screen containing the anemograph (wind-direction recorder).
Madigan was to take charge of the meteorological observations
and he, assisted by Ninnis and Mertz, erected the two screens and
mounted the instruments. Special care was taken to secure the screens
against violent winds. Phosphor-bronze wire-stays, with a breaking
strength of one ton, were used, attached to billets of wood driven
into fissures in the rock. Strong as these wires were, several breakages
had to be replaced during the year.
Webb was busy with the
magnetic work. For this two huts were to be erected; the first for
``absolute'' determinations, the second for housing the
recording instruments--the magnetographs. Distant sites, away from
the magnetic disturbances of the Hut, were chosen. Webb and Stillwell
immediately set to work as soon as they could be spared from the
main building. For the ``absolute hut'' there were only
scrap materials available; the ``magnetograph house,'' alone,
had been brought complete. They had a chilly job, for as the days
went by the weather steadily became worse. Yet in a little over
a week there were only the finishing touches to make, and the first
observations were started.
It was now necessary to institute
a routine of nightwatchmen, cooks and messmen. The night-watchman's
duties included periodic meteorological observations, attention
to the fire in the range, and other miscellaneous duties arising
between the hours of 8 P.M. and 8 A. M. The cook prepared the meals,
and the messman of the day rendered any assistance necessary. A
rotation was adopted, so arranged that those most actively engaged
in scientific observations were least saddled with domestic duties.
Thus each contributed his equivalent share of work.
Whilst others were occupied finishing off the interior of the hut,
Whetter and Close sledged the cases of stores across from the landing-stage,
classified them and stacked them against the veranda walls. An additional
barricade was constructed of flour cases, in the form of a wall,
which increased the breadth of the rocky break-wind on the southern
side.
Murphy, who was in charge of all the stores, saw that
a good stock of food was accessible in the veranda. Here he put
up shelves and unpacked cases, so that samples of everything were
at hand on the shortest notice. Liquids liable to freeze and burst
their bottles were taken into the Hut.
The vicinity of the main base, Adelie Land
Already we had several times seized the opportunity
of a calm hour to take out the whale-boat and assist Hunter to set
traps and make a few hauls with the hand-dredge. Even in five fathoms,
bright red and brown star-fish had been caught in the trap, as well
as numerous specimens of a common Antarctic fish known as `Notothenia'.
In ten fathoms and over the results were better, though in no case
was the catch so abundant as one would expect from the amount of
life in the water. The luxuriant kelp probably interfered with the
proper
working of the traps. Fish of the same species as the
above were caught on a hand-line.
Hunter, our biologist,
was very unfortunate in crushing some of his fingers while carrying
a heavy case. This accident came at a time when he had just recovered
from a severe strain of the knee-joint which he suffered during
our activities in the Queen's Wharf shed at Hobart. Several
of us were just going out to the traps one afternoon when the casualty
occurred. Hunter was very anxious to go, so we waited until McLean
had sewn up a couple of his fingertips.
Weddell, and with
them occasional crab-eater seals, were at this time always to be
found in numbers sleeping on the ice-foot around the boat harbour.
It appeared as if we would have plenty of meat throughout the year,
so I waited until the building was completed before laying in a
stock. The penguins, however, were diminishing in numbers fast and
the young birds in the rookeries had grown very large and were beginning
to migrate to warmer regions. Several parties, therefore, raided
them and secured some hundreds for the winter.
Giant petrels
and skua gulls swarmed in flocks round the seals' and penguins'
carcases. These scavengers demolish an incredible amount of meat
and blubber in a short time. It is a diabolical sight to witness
a group of birds tearing out the viscera of a seal, dancing the
while with wings outspread.
During the afternoon of February
11 Webb came in with the news that a sea elephant was making its
way over the rocks near the shore. We rushed out in time to see
it standing over Johnson, one of the dogs, who, true to his name,
did not look abashed. Attracted by more formidable antagonists,
the monster left Johnson and came towards us. He was a fair-sized
male with a good skin, so we shot him before he had time to get
back into the sea. His measurements were seventeen feet six inches
in length and twelve feet in maximum circumference.
With
the temperature well below freezing-point, skinning is cold work
in the wind, and must be done before the animal has time to freeze
stiff. A number of us set to work flaying. In order to move the
mountain of flesh a Westing purchase and a ``handy-billy''
(rope and block purchase) had to be rigged. It was several hours
before everything was disposed of; the skin and skull for the biological
collection and the meat and blubber for the dogs. Ninnis and Mertz,
who were the wardens of the dogs, cut up about one ton of meat and
blubber, and stored it as a winter reserve for their charges.
It may be mentioned that sea elephants are sub-antarctic in
distribution, and only rarely have these animals been observed on
the shores of the Antarctic continent. As far as I am aware, the
only other occasion of such an occurrence was noted by Captain Scott
in MacMurdo Sound. Wilkes reported many of them on the pack-ice
to the north of the Balleny Islands, so possibly they have a stronghold
in that vicinity.
The dogs, ever since their arrival ashore,
had been chained up on the rocks be]ow the Hut. The continuous wind
worried them a good deal, but they had a substantial offset to the
cold in a plentiful supply of seal-meat. On the whole, they were
in a much better condition then when they left the `Aurora'.
Nineteen in all, they had an odd assemblage of names, which seemed
to grow into them until nothing else was so suitable: Basilisk,
Betli, Caruso, Castor, Franklin, Fusilier, Gadget, George, Ginger,
Ginger Bitch, Grandmother, Haldane, Jappy, John Bull, Johnson, Mary,
Pavlova, Scott and Shackleton. Grandmother would have been better
known as Grandfather. He was said to have a grandmotherly appearance;
that is why he received the former name. The head dog was Basilisk,
and next to him came Shackleton.
Early in February, after
having experienced nothing but a succession of gales for nearly
a month, I was driven to conclude that the average local weather
must be much more windy than in any other part of Antarctica. The
conditions were not at all favourable for sledging, which I had
hoped to commence as soon as the Hut was completed. Now that the
time had arrived and the weather was still adverse, it seemed clear
that our first duty was to see everything snug for the winter before
making an attempt.
Hannam, assisted by Bickerton, Madigan
and others, had laid heavy and firm foundations for the petrol-motor
and generator. The floor of the smaller room was then built around
these bed-plates, and last of all came the walls and roof. Murphy,
Bage and Hodgeman were chiefly responsible for the last-named, which
was practically completed by February 10. Minor additions and modifications
were added after that date. Meanwhile, Hannam continued to unpack
and mount the instruments forming the wireless plants. Along one
wall and portion of another, in the outer hut, a bench was built
for mechanical work and for scientific purposes. This was in future
to be the work-room.
Our home had attained to a stage of
complex perfection. To penetrate to the inside hut, the stranger
reverently steps through a hole in the snow to the veranda, then
by way of a vestibule with an inner and outer door he has invaded
the privacy of the work-room, from which with fear and trembling
he passes by a third door into the sanctum sanctorum. Later, when
the snow-tunnel system came into vogue, the place became another
Labyrinth of Minos.
The three doors were fitted with springs
to keep them shut unless they were jammed open for ventilation,
which was at once obtained by opening an aperture in the cooking-range
flue. A current of air would then circulate through the open doors.
The roof windows were immovable and sealed on the inside by a thick
accumulation of ice. An officer of public health, unacquainted with
the climate of Adelie Land, would be inclined to regard the absence
of more adequate ventilation as a serious omission. It would enlighten
him to know that much of our spare time, for a month after the completion
of the building, was spent in plugging off draughts which found
their way through most unexpected places, urged by a wind-pressure
from without
of many pounds to the square foot.
Excepting
the small portion used as an entrance-porch, the verandas were left
without any better flooring than well-trodden snow. In the boarded
floor of the porch was a trap-door which led down into a shallow
cellar extending under a portion of the work-room. The cellar was
a refrigerating chamber for fresh meat and contained fifteen carcases
of mutton, besides piles of seal-meat and penguins.
In preparation for our contemplated sledging, masts,
spars and sails were fitted to some of the sledges, rations were
prepared and alterations made to harness and clothing. Soon a sledge
stood packed,
ready to set out on the first fine day.
For several days in succession, about the middle of February, the
otherwise continuous wind fell off to a calm for several hours in
the evening. On those occasions Mertz gave us some fine exhibitions
of skiing, of which art he was a consummate master. Skis had been
provided for every one, in case we should have to traverse a country
where the snow lay soft and deep. From the outset, there was little
chance of that being the case in wind-scoured Adelie Land. Nevertheless,
most of the men seized the few opportunities we had to become more
practiced in their use. My final opinion, however, was that if we
had all been experts like Mertz, we could have used them with advantage
from time to time.
The end of February approached. We were
fully prepared for sledging, and were looking forward to it with
great expectation. The wind still continued, often rising to the
force of a hurricane, and was mostly accompanied by snow.
One evening, when we were all at dinner, there was a sudden
noise which drowned the rush of the blizzard. It was found that
several sledges had been blown away from their position to the south
of the Hut, striking the building as they passed. They were all
rescued except one, which had already reached the sea and was travelling
rapidly toward Australia.
Mertz, Bage and I had taken advantage
of a lull to ascend the ice-slope to the south, and to erect a flag-pole
at a distance of two miles. Besides being a beacon for sledging
parties, it was used for ablation measurements. These were determinations
of the annual wasting of the ice-surface, whether by evaporation,
melting, or wind-abrasion.
Webb and Stillwell, assisted by
others, had commenced to build the Magnetograph House. Dr. Chree,
of the British National Physical Laboratory, had arranged that the
German Antarctic Expedition, several observatories in low latitudes
and our own Expedition, should take special ``quick runs,''
synchronously, twice each month. A ``quick run'' was a continuous,
careful observation made over a period of two hours, on a more searching
time-scale then usual. Until the Magnetograph House was established
this could not be done
efficiently, and so the construction of
this hut was pushed on as quickly as possible.
Many other
schemes required our attention, and there was not a spare moment
for any one. Though we chafed at the delay in sledging, there was
some consolation in the {act that the scientific programme was daily
becoming more and more complete.