Usually the captain’s decisions are law, but when his health declined, some of the crew went ahead with their own ideas of survival. I liked this book since it went into detail of the dynamics between the captain and the crew. The hopes of the crew were dashed and one became insane and another one died. To make things worse, when the sun did finally return, the ice didn’t let the ship go, and it looked like it would remain that way through the next winter. The book details the decline of the crew’s physical as well as mental health as a result of the isolation, boredom, and lack of good nutrition. As luck would have it, they became stuck in the ice before reaching their goal and had to endure an entire winter trapped in the cold and dark. However, when the time came to either abandon the trip and head back north or continue, he decided to forge ahead so he could obtain the fame he sought (he lied to the crew about this). “…when the time came to either abandon the trip and head back north, or continue, decided to forge ahead so he could obtain the fame he sought…”
de Gerlache had hoped to reach the magnetic South Pole and return to Argentina before the sea froze over. This expedition was beset by problems from the start, so by the time they finally left Argentina, they were over a month behind schedule. When he was 28, he was able to put together an expedition under the guise that it would be a scientific endeavor, when in fact it was more for glory for Belgium as well as himself. Instead, de Gerlache had dreams of sailing the seas, which he had harbored since he was a child. His brother, father, grandfather, and a long line of de Gerlache men all had careers in the military, but he had no interest in a military career. The captain, Adrien de Gerlache, was from an aristocratic family of Belgium one of his ancestors was one of the founders of the Belgian nation. This book is the true story about the experiences of the crew of the Belgica in their attempt to be the first ship to reach the magnetic South Pole. Peter Matschek, Gold Mine Processing Associate, recommends Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton.
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