INTRODUCTION 



taken, and that it should be resumed before the close of 

 the nineteenth century. 



The first result was the expedition of the Belgica under 

 the command of Lieutenant de Gerlache due to the 

 passionate enthusiasm of the commander, notably aided 

 by Henryk Arctowski, a Pole, whose ardour in the pur- 

 suit of physical science has never been surpassed. Dr. 

 Cook, an American, was surgeon to the expedition; the 

 second in command was Lieutenant Lecointe, a Belgian, 

 the mate, Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian, and the crew 

 were half Belgian and half Norwegian. The scientific 

 staff included besides Arctowski, the Belgian magnetician 

 Lieutenant Danco, the Rumanian Racovitza, and the Pole 

 Dobrowolski. The funds were meagre and raised by 

 public subscription with enormous difficulty, and the 

 equipment almost less than the minimum requirement. 

 The ship was small, only two hundred and fifty tons, but 

 in her this cosmopolitan gathering experienced first of 

 all men the long darkness of the Antarctic night. Much 

 valuable time was lost on the outward journey amongst 

 the Fuegian Islands, and much was occupied in the 

 archipelago into which the Belgica resolved Palmer Land, 

 between 64° and 65° South. It was February 12, 1898, 

 before the ship proceeded southward along the coast of 

 Graham Land. On the 15th she crossed the Antarctic 

 Circle, on the 16th, Alexander I Land was sighted, but 

 could not be approached within twenty miles on account 

 of the ice-pack. The equipment of the ship hardly seems 

 to have justified wintering ; prudence called for a speedy 

 retreat, but a gale came down of such severity that 

 Gerlache thrust the ship into the pack for shelter from 

 the heavy breakers on February 28, and finding wide lanes 

 opening under the influence of wind and swell, he pushed 

 southward against the advice of the scientific members 

 of the expedition, determined to make every effort to 



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