Starved, Poisoned,Stranded

　"Douglas Mawson was this mildmanneredperson who turned intosomeone incredibly hard to kill,"says veteran Antarctic guide DaveHahn. house Holiday Inflatables In the austral summer of1912, Mawson, a 30-year-old Australiangeologist and explorer, leda 25-man scientific team to easternAntarctica. From base camp, inCommonwealth Bay, Mawson setoff with a dog handler named BelgraveNinnis and world ski championXavier Mertz to explore theinterior. It was tough going. Aftersix weeks, the three men and 12remaining dogs had covered onlya quarter of the 1,200 miles they'dhoped to travel. The day they wereto turn back, Ninnis, their six strongestdogs, and the food sledgevanished into a crevasse. Mawsonand Mertz were left with a week'ssupply of food, no dog rations, anda five-week journey ahead of them.They set off, shooting the weakestdogs one by one for food. Unbeknownstto Mawson and Mertz,the huskies' livers were poisoningthem with toxic amounts of vitaminA, causing deep strips of theirskin to peel off. Three weeks later,Mertz was dead.Mawson pushed on. He made itto Aladdin's Cave, an outpost fiveand a half miles from base camp,where fierce winds stranded himfor a week. Finally, the weatherbroke, and Mawson made the stepto camp. As fate would have it, hewas too late: The ship sent to pickup his expedition had sailed awaysix hours before. But a small groupof men had waited in case Mawsonreturned, and they holed up inthe camp until the ship came backfor them – ten and a half monthslater.