Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14. Scientific Reports.

[Various dates]

Expeditions (Special Collections) Q115 A8 1911

[Sydney: Government Printer]

This scientific expedition to Antarctica was led by Australian Douglas Mawson (1882-1958) and was largely financed by the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Geographical Society of London. The expedition set off from London on 28th July, 1911 and subsequently sailed out of Tasmania on 2nd December, 1911. The expedition vessel, Aurora, was captained by John King Davis (1884-1967), a colleague of Mawson’s from Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition 1907-09. Inspired by his participation in that expedition, Douglas Mawson wrote that ‘one felt a great urge to go on and discover the limits of Antarctic land in that direction [towards the Magnetic Pole]’ (Mawson, Introduction, Series A, volume 1). Participants in this Australasian expedition included four New Zealanders.