The heroic age of polar exploration was marked by feats of personal endurance. Survival in this harsh and unpredictable environment required as much ingenuity and good fortune as it did preparation and physical prowess.
This wooden sledge is one of over 30 that Douglas Mawson and his team hauled across Antarctica’s icy surface, laden with food, equipment and scientific specimens. Lasting from 1911 to 1914, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition resulted in Australia’s claim to a large part of Antarctica. But Mawson’s focus was also scientific. His team of thirty scientists explored over 3000 kilometres of coastline and collected thousands of specimens.
Explorers often need to adapt to extreme circumstances. Magnetic compasses have limited value at the poles, so Mawson’s team made and attached sun compasses to their sledges to help them navigate across the ice. Sledgemeters – wheels connected to brass dials and gears – counted the distance travelled and were crucial for mapping and tracking progress.
To the left, a non-descript hunk of rock is in fact the first meteorite found in Antarctica. It was found in 1912 by Francis Howard Bickerton, leader of a team mapping areas west of the main base. The team reported it as ‘a highlight in an otherwise difficult outward journey’. The meteorite was later analysed and described. Because it was sliced, we can see its interior, speckled with small flecks of nickel-iron metal.
At the rear of the showcase, is a katana, or samurai sword. It was presented by Lieutenant Nobu Shirase, leader of the Japanese Antarctic expedition from 1910 to 1912, to Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer Sir Tannatt Edgeworth David. David had helped the Japanese acquire funding and supplies for their expedition, despite public opposition, while they were in Sydney making preparations.
The blade was made by Mutsu no Kami Kaneyasu, one of the highest-ranking swordsmiths of the 17th century. Shirase’s gift is incredibly valuable and a mark of the very high esteem in which he held Edgeworth David.