The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Home of the Blizzard, by Douglas Mawson

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Title: The Home of the Blizzard

Author: Douglas Mawson

Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6137]
Posting Date: March 24, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOME OF THE BLIZZARD ***

Produced by Geoffrey Cowling

THE HOME OF THE BLIZZARD:

BEING THE STORY OF THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1911-1914;

By Sir Douglas Mawson, D.Sc., B.E.

ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR AND BLACK AND WHITE ALSO WITH MAPS

WITH 260 FULL-PAGE AND SMALLER ILLUSTRATIONS BY DR. E. A. WILSON AND
OTHER MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION, PHOTOGRAVURE FRONTISPIECES, 12 PLATES
IN FACSIMILE FROM DR. WILSON'S SKETCHES, PANORAMAS AND MAPS

TO THOSE WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE: THE SUBSCRIBERS AND CO-OPERATORS

TO THOSE WHO MADE IT A SUCCESS: MY COMRADES

AND TO THOSE WHO WAITED

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

The object of this book is to present a connected narrative of the
Expedition from a popular and general point of view. The field of work
is a very extensive one, and I feel that this account provides a record
inadequate to our endeavours. However, I am comforted by the fact that
the lasting reputation of the Expedition is founded upon the scientific
volumes which will appear in due course.

Allusion to the history of Antarctic exploration has been reduced to a
minimum, as the subject has been ably dealt with by previous writers.
This, and several other aspects of our subject, have been relegated
to special appendices in order to make the story more readable and
self-contained.

A glossary of technicalities is introduced for readers not familiar with
the terms. In the same place is given a list of animals referred to from
time to time. There, the common name is placed against the scientific
name, so rendering it unnecessary to repeat the latter in the text.

The reports handed to me by the leaders concerning the work of sledging
journeys and of the respective bases were in the main clearly and
popularly written. Still it was necessary to make extensive excisions so
as to preserve a "balance" of justice in all the accounts, and to keep
t