Through the First Antarctic Night, 1898-1899: A Narrative of the Voyage of the Belgica Among Newly Discovered Lands and Over an Unknown Sea about the (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781108076746)

In this illustrated 1900 publication, Frederick Cook (1865-1940) gives a detailed account of his experiences on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, the first to endure the harsh winter of the Antarctic. The goal of the expedition was scientific discovery, and Cook, the ship's doctor, tells an engaging story of 'new human experience in a new, inhuman world of ice'. Boarding the Belgica in Rio de Janeiro, he joined a crew that included Roald Amundsen, who would later lead a Norwegian expedition to the South Pole. Cook describes the challenging conditions in the Antarctic Circle, where the ship became ice-bound for almost a year, with over two months of total darkness. When crew members developed scurvy, Cook took over command from the Belgian naval officer Adrien de Gerlache. Notably, he helped save lives by promoting the consumption of penguin and seal meat at a time when Vitamin C had yet to be discovered.

Author: Frederick a. Cook
ISBN-10: 1108076742
ISBN-13: 9781108076746
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 01/01/2015
Pages: 658
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.81lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 1.45d