Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night

by Julian Sancton

There was too much work to do for the men to wallow long in resentment and anguish. In the rapidly diminishing daylight hours of March and April, the crew went about preparing the Belgica for winter. The sails were furled and stored away, the propeller was lifted out of the water to protect it from the pressures of the ice, and the fires of the engine were allowed to die down. Among the most urgent tasks was to build a massive snowbank around the ship to insulate her against the cold. This encasement, sloping up to the gunwales, kept the interior of the Belgica at a comfortable 50 degrees despite a precipitous drop in the mercury outside. In mid-March, the thermometer indicated an exterior temperature of −5 degrees. Ice formed around the ropes in the rigging, lending it the look of a silver spiderweb. At this latitude, by Lecointe’s calculations, the sun would set for good by mid-May and night would last almost three months. Temperatures were sure to drop further in the coming weeks, though nobody knew by how much, since no man had ever lived through winter this far south. All the expedition could do was prepare for the worst.