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I finished recently a nonfictional historical book about the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton) regarding an early polar expedition that went terribly awry with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for several sunless Antarctic winters and I thought that the photographic supplement provided with the book was pretty neat and interesting, so I am sharing them with you.
Some context:
"In August 1897, thirty-one-year-old commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail aboard the Belgica, fueled by a profound sense of adventure and dreams of claiming glory for his native Belgium. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But the commandant's plans for a three-year expedition to reach the magnetic South Pole would be thwarted at each turn. Before the ship cleared South America, it had already broken down, run aground, and lost several key crew members, leaving behind a group with dubious experience for such an ambitious voyage.
As the ship progressed into the freezing waters, the captain had to make a choice: turn back and spare his men the potentially devastating consequences of getting stuck, or recklessly sail deeper into the ice pack to chase glory and fame. He sailed on, and the Belgica soon found itself stuck fast in the icy hold of the Antarctic continent. The ship would winter on the ice. Plagued by a mysterious, debilitating illness and besieged by the monotony of their days, the crew deteriorated as their confinement in suffocating close quarters wore on and their hope of escape dwindled daily. As winter approached the days grew shorter, until the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, condemning the ship's occupants to months of quarantine in an endless night.
Forged in fire and carved by ice, Antarctica proved a formidable opponent for the motley crew. Among them was Frederick Cook, an American doctor--part scientist, part adventurer, part P.T. Barnum--whose unorthodox methods delivered many of the crew from the gruesome symptoms of scurvy and whose relentless optimism buoyed their spirits through the long, dark polar night. Then there was Roald Amundsen, a young Norwegian who went on to become a storied polar explorer in his own right, exceeding de Gerlache's wildest dreams by leading the first expeditions to traverse the Northwest Passage and reach the South Pole."
Photos of the expedition and crew members:
The Belgica anchored at Antwerp, on the River Scheldt, before her August 1897 departure
Commandant Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery (Belgian)
Frederick Albert Cook, the expedition’s surgeon, ethnologist, and photographer (American)
The Belgica’s captain, Georges Lecointe (Belgian)
First mate Roald Amundsen (Norwegian)
The equator-crossing ceremony aboard the Belgica, on October 6, 1897. Albert Lemonnier (French), the expedition’s cook, wields a wooden “razor” to shave initiates
Three Ona women, photographed by Cook in Tierra del Fuego
Norwegian sailor Carl August Wiencke, age nineteen
The Belgica anchored in what would come to be known as the Gerlache Strait, in the first few weeks of 1898
The view from the foremast shows the pack ice tightening around the Belgica in February 1898
The Belgica caught in the Antarctic pack ice, 1898
Romanian naturalist Emile Racovitza
Polish geologist and meteorologist Henryk Arctowski
Second engineer Max Van Rysselberghe (Belgian) melts snow for drinking water under the shelter built amidships
Lecointe (Belgian) on wash day
De Gerlache (Belgian) and an emperor penguin captured on the pack ice
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