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 South Pole
Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration Series

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.

Introduction; 1. In and about Rio de Janeiro; 2. From Rio de Janeiro to Montevideo; 3. Organisation of the expedition; 4. The Belgica, her equipment, her comforts and discomforts; 5. Montevideo to Punta Arenas; 6. Punta Arenas, the southernmost town; 7. From Punta Arenas to Ushuaia, through the Fuegian Channels; 8. A race of Fuegian giants; 9. Discoveries in a new world of ice; 10. Discoveries in a new world of ice (continued); 11. From Dancoland to Alexander Islands; 12. Across the Antarctic Circle - first efforts to penetrate the pack; 13. Along the edge of the pack-ice; 14. Over unknown waters into the frozen sea; 15. Helpless in a hopeless sea of ice; 16. Bird's-eye view of the pack - autumnal tempests; 17. The fading days of the autumn; 18. The autumn (continued). Work and pastime; 19. The fading days of the autumn (continued); 20. The days of twilight preceding the long night; 21. The South Polar night - departure of the sun; 22. The South Polar night (continued). Days of discontentment; 23. The South Polar night (continued). The death of Danco; 24. The South Polar night (continued). Midnight to dawn; 25. Spring - sunrise - twilight of dawn; 26. The spring (continued). Return of light - a sledge journey; 27. Summer; 28. Summer (continued); 29. Freed from the ice-embraces - return to civilisation; Appendix.