Douglas Mawson landed at Cape Denison on Commonwealth Bay and established a base camp. Mawson and two companions used sled dogs to explore the icecap in the vicinity of the South Magnetic Pole. One man fell in a crevasse, another died of starvation, and Mawson was forced to return to Cape Denison alone only to find his ship the Aurora had left without him. He was forced to spend a second winter over with six companions.
