The Far Eastern Party was a sledging component of the 1911–1914 Australasian Antarctic expedition, which investigated the previously unexplored coastal regions of Antarctica west of Cape Adare. Led by Douglas Mawson, the party aimed to explore the area far to the east of their main base in Adélie Land, pushing about 500 miles (800 km) towards Victoria Land. Accompanying Mawson were Belgrave Edward Ninnis, a lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers, and Swiss ski expert Xavier Mertz; the party used sledge dogs to increase their speed across the ice. Initially they made good progress, crossing two huge glaciers on their route south-east.
Last photo of the Far Eastern Party, 17 November 1912
Mawson at Aladdin's Cave during the outward journey
"We could do nothing," wrote Mertz in his diary after Ninnis' death. "We were standing, helplessly, next to a friend's grave, my best friend of the whole expedition."
Mertz at Cape Denison
Sir Douglas Mawson was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
Mawson in 1914
Mackay, David and Mawson raise the flag at the South Magnetic Pole on 16 January 1909
Mawson rests at the side of his sledge, Adelie Land, Antarctica, 1912.
Photo of Douglas Mawson's sledge
