From the note, Mawson learned he was south-east of Aladdin's Cave, and near two further food depots. The note also reported on the other parties of the expedition—all had returned to the hut safely—and on Roald Amundsen's attainment of the South Pole in December 1911. The cairn had been left there just six hours before, when the three men had returned to the hut. Struggling on his injured feet and lacking crampons—he had thrown his away after he crossed the Mertz Glacier—Mawson took three days to reach Aladdin's Cave.