It was 1897 when The Belgica set sail from its home port on the Belgium coast. It was commanded by Adrien de Gerlache who had been trying to raise funds for this journey to Antarctica for years. He wanted an all-Belgian crew, but it’s not what he ended up with. The ship’s doctor, Frederick Cook, was American, his first mate, Roald Amundsen, Norwegian.
This was mainly a scientific expedition and on board was the Polish geophysicist and meteorologist Antoni Dobrowolski and the scientist Henryk Arctowski. From Romania was Emil Racoviță, a biologist and zoologist.
The ship sailed south and as they stopped along the way, Racov disembarked to collect animals and plants for scientific study. But Adrien de Gerlache was impatient. He had to allow the scientific study to appease those who funded the expedition, but he was eager to push further south before the ice floes began to thicken and freeze. Eventually The Belgica, originally a whaling ship, began to move in earnest through the icefloes, getting closer to de Gerlache’s goal.
de Gerlache knew that soon he would have to turn around otherwise they would have to winter on the ice. When a violent storm hit, de Gerlache took the decision to push The Belgica further into the floe. He knew what the result of that decision would be but his desire for the glory it would gain him upon their return ursurped the safety of his ship and crew. He pushed on.
Eventually the officers and crew realised it was too late to turn around. The Belgica became stuck fast in the ice. They would be forced to overwinter in the brutal Antarctic freeze.
Two of the officers on board would make the difference of survival or death for the crew.
Cook had previously travelled in the north pole and had invaluable experience in the Artic with the Inuits. His understanding of how to survive the cold was life-saving. He was a most inventive man, having made a tent that better stood up to the buffeting bitter winds, he could build ice shelters, he knew the dangers, and he would find solutions to the problems they faced. He found a cure to the life-threatening scurvy the crew suffered from, although the remedy was one that some could simply not stomach.
Roald Amundsen was always destined to be on the ice. He was a bear of a man already with some polar experience. The more he suffered in the cold, the more he felt he would be ready to make his dream come true. He aimed to be the first to reach the North Pole. He spent his time learning from Cook and was relentless in his drive to survive on the ice. His strength and skill, combined with Cook’s experience were invaluable to all. Amundsen would go on to be one of the greatest polar explorers of all time.
In Madhouse at the End of the Earth Sancton has drawn on diaries kept by the officers and crew, giving details and excerpts from those that describe in vivid detail the hopes of Cook as he works to ensure the crew stay positive; the guilt that de Gerlache feels as he realises that his actions have meant that lives will be lost; the constant winter darkness with its relentless repression wearing the men down one dark day after another; and finally, how their spirits lift as they plot to save themselves from another winter that would surely mean all their deaths.
The crew’s attempt to free the ship and to escape from the ice is one of true heroics and incredible stamina. It’s compelling reading and one that left me in awe of these men who sought adventure, and could somehow brave whatever was thrown at them.
A harrowing and thrilling story.
Reviewed by Rowena Morcom
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julian Sancton is a senior features editor at Departures magazine, where he writes about culture and travel. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, The New Yorker, Wired, and Playboy, among others. He spent most of his childhood in France and attended Harvard University, where he studied European history.
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