Mawson, Mertz and the poisoned livers
On 8 January 1913 the Swiss skier Xavier Mertz died beside Douglas Mawson about 160 km from their base in Adélie Land, after weeks of eating their sled dogs; Mawson struggled on alone and survived.
1913 CE · -67.80, 145.00 · status: disputed
The account
Their companion Belgrave Ninnis had vanished into a crevasse with the best sledge on 14 December 1912. Mawson recorded Mertz's weakness and delirium. A 1969 study by John Cleland and Ronald Southcott suggested that both men suffered vitamin A poisoning from husky livers; others point to starvation, cold and stress. Mawson's lone march back became one of the great survival stories of the polar age. Position approximate.
The sceptical view
Hypervitaminosis A is the leading explanation but has never been proved; there is no suggestion of anything beyond extreme hardship.