Feb. 2, 2026

Classic Scurvy: The Belgica Expedition

Classic Scurvy: The Belgica Expedition
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A wooden ship locked in Antarctic ice for 13 months. A captain who wouldn’t turn back. A doctor who broke the rules and saved the crew with the world’s least appetizing “medicine.” We tell the raw, human story of the Belgica—part survival epic, part scientific milestone, and a cautionary tale about leadership at the edge of the map.

We start with the chaotic launch and a crew stitched together from Belgium, Norway, and beyond. Storms slam the decks. A young sailor is swept into black water. Spirits lift at the Antarctic Circle, then crash as the pack ice clamps down and the sun disappears. Inside the Belgica, scurvy blooms and tempers fray. Dr. Frederick Cook recognizes the pattern from the Arctic, reframes penguin and seal as medicine, and forces a grim menu change that stops the bleeding—literally. Alongside first mate Roald Amundsen, he builds routines that keep minds from breaking: theater nights, mock card games, grooming, “fire baths,” and purposeful work.

The dark months take a toll. One man dies. Another falls into psychosomatic silence. A veteran sailor unravels into paranoia, “mailing” letters into snow as the crew gently humors him to keep everyone safe. When light returns, the ice refuses to let go. So the men do the unthinkable: cut a mile-long canal through feet-thick ice with saws, picks, and carefully rationed dynamite. It closes; they reopen it. Day by grinding day, fueled by “Antarctic beefsteak,” they force a passage until the engine finally turns and the ship creeps into open water.

This is a story about survival tactics that became polar best practice—fresh meat against scurvy, structure against despair, clear roles against drift. It also foreshadows Amundsen’s precision at the South Pole and highlights how fragile leadership can be when the plan is a gamble. If you’re into Antarctic history, extreme survival, expedition psychology, or the roots of polar exploration, you’ll want this one in your queue.

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00:00 - Cold Open And Beer Picks

02:30 - Meet Adrien De Gerlache And The Belgica

05:50 - A Chaotic Start And Crew Troubles

10:20 - Southward Push And A Sailor Lost

14:45 - Crossing The Antarctic Circle

16:25 - Trapped In Pack Ice

19:30 - Preparing For The Polar Night

23:10 - Scurvy, Short Tempers, And Isolation

27:30 - Death Of Emile Danco

30:30 - Polar Madness On Board

35:10 - Dr. Cook’s Hard Medicine: Eat Penguin

39:20 - Morale Hacks, Routines, And “Fire Baths”

43:20 - The Long Wait For Thaw

47:00 - Carving A Mile-Long Ice Canal

51:00 - Setbacks, Dynamite, And Stubborn Ice

55:00 - Breaking Free After 13 Months

58:30 - Homecoming, Legacy, And Lessons

01:03:00 - Beers Recapped And Closing

WEBVTT

00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:16.640
Oh, hey there.

00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:17.600
Oh, hey there.

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How's it going today?

00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:19.760
I'm good.

00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:20.399
How are you?

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I am well.

00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:23.120
We are the history buffoons.

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I am Kate.

00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:25.199
I'm Bradley.

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And it's still winter.

00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:34.240
We was it that funny?

00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:44.719
I mean, it wasn't, but I mean, it is, you know, we are recording this on the second to last day of January, and here in Wisconsin, we've had what you would call quite the cold stretch.

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Yes, it's been very cold.

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It's getting fucking old.

00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:53.679
I like you know, I like colder weather, but this time of year is like, all right, fucking enough.

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Seriously, move on to spring.

00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:58.560
Anyways.

00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.640
Um, so what do we have for our drinks today?

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We have Polaner.

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Munchen.

00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:09.280
It's uh from Munich.

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I have a grapefruit rattler.

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I have three different beers.

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She chose to pick one.

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But she does a lot of talking, so sometimes it's hard for her to get through a beer, and these are 16.9 ounces, so they're a little bit more uh more to them, we'll say.

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But I have the I have the heavy vice.

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Don't know if you can see that one.

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I have the the Munich Lager, the Munchener Lager.

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And then I have the pills.

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So I used to sell this beer.

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Um I had it over in Germany when I went to Oktoberfest.

00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.519
So I thought you've never had these.

00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:55.920
So mine's a whole 2.5 um percent alcohol.

00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:57.760
Yeah, so they're rattler.

00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:02.879
I didn't I guess I never realized it was that light in terms of alcohol, but whatever.

00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:03.280
Yeah.

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It's about the flavors.

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I'm ready.

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Mine's already opened, so apologize.

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Cheers.

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Cheers.

00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:18.800
How is that compared to the other rattlers that we've had?

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It's very grapefruity.

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This one is.

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More grapefruity than the other ones?

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Yeah, but it's delicious.

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Okay, good.

00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:24.479
Yeah.

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I'm glad you like it.

00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:29.680
Okay, so this is a longer story, so I'm just gonna kind of get into it right away.

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Let's do it.

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Um, we're gonna talk about Adrian de Gerloche.

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Adrian de Gerloche.

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He's he's Belgian.

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Oh, well, fucking perfect.

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I know.

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Pretty close, right?

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Pretty close.

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Um, he was a 30-year-old Belgian um naval officer.

00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:55.360
Okay, and he was dying to explore okay.

00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:56.639
What year are we talking about?

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We are talking about 1895.

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Oh, that's a good year.

00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:08.400
And the Geographical Congress wants to explore Antarctica, and he put his name into the hat.

00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:11.280
Did they actually actually have a hat, do you think?

00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:13.280
I mean, that's an idiom, right?

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Put your name in the hat.

00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:16.000
Put your name in the hat.

00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.680
Um, you know, it was probably a giant salad bowl.

00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:24.800
That seems weird that they would say hat then, because I guess people might wear salad bowls as hats.

00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:26.639
Do you think that's how they cut their hair?

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They put the salad bowl on bowl cut.

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That's how you get the bowl cut.

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I'm gonna continue.

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I hope so.

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If you don't mind.

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I'd like you to stop me talking.

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So despite Belgium being more interested in colonizing Africa at the time, right?

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Um, he did raise nearly 300,000 francs.

00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:46.319
Wow.

00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:51.360
Um, lobbying, fundraising, and there was a subsidy from the government.

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Okay.

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Um, 300,000 francs back then, where it was about fifty-eight thousand dollars back then.

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Uh US dollars.

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US dollars, gotcha, which is equal to approximately 2.2 million today.

00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:04.960
Holy shit.

00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:06.319
Inflation, am I right?

00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:06.960
Yeah.

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So with that money, he bought a sturdy old Norwegian whaling ship called the Patr Patria.

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Patria.

00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:17.680
I feel like I've heard of that before.

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He renamed it to the Belgica.

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The Belgica?

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Yes.

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Interesting.

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So his goal was a true scientific expedition.

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He wanted to map uncharted coastlines, he wanted to study the weather, the biology.

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Right.

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Um, he did not have any seasoned polar sailors.

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Okay.

00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:43.759
Um, so Deja Lush uh built a an international team, if you will.

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So you said he was a naval officer, is that right?

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Yeah.

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How many years in the service did he have at this point?

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Because you said he was 30.

00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:53.120
Yes, I did not research that.

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That's okay.

00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:57.839
I'm just I would assume it's not like he was just joined up for the service.

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So he probably has at least, if I had to guess, eight to ten years minimum.

00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:02.560
Maybe.

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If I had to guess, and that's all I'm doing is guessing.

00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:15.680
But so he he is experienced, but he had to kind of put the put the band back together with different yeah.

00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.279
So he had a couple of scientists to do all the scientific stuff.

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He had a second in command, which was um Lieutenant George Lakwan.

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Lacquan?

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Mm-hmm.

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And he had a young Norwegian named Roald Amundsen.

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Okay.

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And he was taken on his first mate.

00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:40.800
And these people come up a little bit later, which is why some of them I'm just saying, they're a scientist, and then actually naming a couple.

00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:41.360
Yeah.

00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:45.839
Um in Rio, when they eventually get down there, they do pick up Dr.

00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:47.439
Frederick Cook as well.

00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.839
Okay, who was an American explorer.

00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:50.319
Oh.

00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.920
And he was a medical doctor, and he was pretty much the key to this story.

00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:56.720
Oh, really?

00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:57.120
Yeah.

00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:59.920
So this who is this story about then?

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.439
Is it about the naval officer guys?

00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.319
It's about um Adrian Degerlache.

00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:08.000
Which is let's call him Adrian, because I'm like, I'm gonna butcher his last name all the time.

00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:10.319
And the cook.

00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:16.399
And the story of the Belgica getting trapped in Antarctica.

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Is this where they find Megatron buried in the ice?

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Um, that's the next um exploration.

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Oh, wait, that was Whitwiki.

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My bad.

00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:26.399
Yeah, that was Witwiki.

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Sorry.

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Anyways, so this is this okay, I'm not saying I know this story, but I think I know a variation of it or a retelling that's you know, fictional about this.

00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.600
Well, it seems familiar that they get stuck in the ice, everything.

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Yeah.

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All right.

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So there's a couple expeditions, and this one's not as famous.

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All right.

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I would also like to just preempt by sorry, I have to blow my nose.

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My my right nostril is not cooperating, so I apologize in advance for if I have to do that.

00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.319
I was waiting for you to do it.

00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.639
Well now I'm gonna not into the mic.

00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.519
That sounded very stuck.

00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:17.199
It it is stuck.

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Maybe I should just do this.

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All right.

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No, what do you got?

00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:30.560
So um, before I continue, actually, I forgot to mention that um my dad actually gave me this story.

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Oh, did he?

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In he let me borrow his book Madhouse at the end of the earth.

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Oh, thanks, Dwayne.

00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:39.360
Yeah.

00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:50.000
So um, this is by Julian Sancton, and he just heard about um Adrian de Jurash and wanted to research it, and he wrote a book about it.

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So that's what this is based off of.

00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:52.639
So thanks, Dad.

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I'd also like to say I love how your your mom and dad's name rhyme.

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Anyways.

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Okay, so he has a 23-man crew.

00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:07.519
It was a mixed bag of Belgian, Norwegian, and others.

00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:15.759
And that includes him, or is that and um many of them were unvetted and ultimately not suited for this journey?

00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:21.600
Well, it sounds like he just kind of put it together like a rag tag group of like, hey man, I need I need bodies.

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I need people here.

00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.360
Yeah, so you you can walk, right?

00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:26.639
All right, get on.

00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:32.639
So the Belgica left Antwerp, Belgium on August 16th of 1897.

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Okay.

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Just 12 hours later, still on the coast of Belgium.

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Uh oh.

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They had to stop in Ostend for repairs.

00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:42.320
What happened?

00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:43.759
I just I don't know.

00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:50.320
Oh, just it's just funny because there was like a bunch of like quick little things that happened, and that was one of them.

00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:54.960
They're literally not even they're half day in on their journey and they have to stop.

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They stopped for repairs.

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Two men were got deserted right away.

00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:01.360
Not desert, like they chose to desert right away.

00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:02.000
Oh wow.

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Two got drunk and had to be dragged dragged back on board.

00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:06.559
Oh boy.

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One sailor refused to get out of bed during a near collision with another vessel.

00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:17.279
Um, so maybe he's like, someone's gotta go down with the ship.

00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:27.600
And then when they get to Montevideo, which is I think Argentina, um, their cook got into a brawl and then was fired.

00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:28.159
Oh.

00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:32.080
So they hired a Swedish sailor last minute as the cook.

00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.159
Do you think he made meatballs a lot?

00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:41.039
And then an engineer nearly caused a boiler explosion and was fired as well.

00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.799
So what you're telling me is they had a lot of turmoil early on.

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Early on.

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Holy shit.

00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.080
And that's before they even got their ship stuck.

00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:50.159
Good lord.

00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:51.120
Exactly.

00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:51.759
Okay.

00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:59.679
So by the time that they reached Punta Arenas, Chile, um, crew tensions were boiling over.

00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:01.600
Like the boiler, yeah.

00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:07.840
Um, De Gerlash even asked the Chilean Navy to stand by in case he needed backup.

00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:13.600
He ended up purging a few more offenders and then he left port in December with 19 men.

00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.000
So four down from his initial crew.

00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:16.879
Jesus.

00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:19.360
So the remaining crew were quieter.

00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:20.240
Well, that's good.

00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.159
But veterans like Amundsen and Cook, um, Dr.

00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:26.159
Cook, yeah, had a new concern.

00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:26.480
Okay.

00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:33.120
Oh boy.

00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:37.519
The ice was starting to close in and they haven't even tried to get there yet.

00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:43.279
Well, I mean, okay, it's relatively unexplored at this time, right?

00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:45.519
Yeah, there's been a couple of expeditions.

00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:46.159
Right.

00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.360
Relatively unexplored.

00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:47.840
Yes.

00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.919
So why the fuck would you leave on August 16th?

00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:01.759
I mean, that's like pretty late in the year, and it's not like you can take a flight down there and get there by the 18th.

00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.600
So they left Antwerp, Belgium.

00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:06.559
I understand that.

00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:07.360
In August.

00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:12.879
And so our winters is Antarctica summers.

00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:13.759
Okay.

00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:18.480
So they left um Chile in December.

00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:19.200
Yeah.

00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.679
So they're almost like halfway through summer.

00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:22.559
Right.

00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.240
So that that was the point.

00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.919
So they were thinking, was De Gerloche like planning to explore and then turn back quickly?

00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:30.240
Okay.

00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.320
Or was he gambling on staying through the polar winter?

00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:34.879
Right.

00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:36.480
So no one knew for sure.

00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:37.279
Well, right.

00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.519
But everyone kind of understood one thing.

00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:44.480
Pressing further south now meant crossing a line that they could not easily come back from.

00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:45.200
Right.

00:11:45.440 --> 00:12:02.720
So as the Belgian pushed into the um the high latitudes of the southern ocean, um, they met with some gale force winds, like 40s and 50 mile an hour winds and these monstrous waves on the way to Antarctica.

00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:05.440
And the ship was tossing violently left and right.

00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:13.919
And on January 22nd, 1898, a storm struck as they neared the Antarctic Peninsula.

00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:14.480
Okay.

00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:18.799
Icy rain and salt spray all over the decks.

00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:30.399
And in the chaos, a young Norwegian sailor named Carl Venka was out on the deck trying to secure some equipment when a massive wave slammed over the bow.

00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:31.440
Took them over.

00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:36.000
There was a sudden scream and a desperate cry.

00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:39.519
And the cre the crew looked around in confusion, and Dr.

00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:43.600
Cook ran to the stern and saw that Venka was in the freezing water.

00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:44.320
Oh boy.

00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.519
Struggling and being pulled away by foaming waves.

00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:48.240
Sure.

00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:55.440
Venka had been swept overboard, and the crew threw a line, which Venka managed to grab in the surge.

00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:55.919
Yeah.

00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:05.200
And Captain Lequant volunteered to be tied to a rope and lowered into the sea to save his crewmen.

00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:05.919
Okay.

00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:19.120
So if you can imagine this in the middle of like an Arctic gale with the ship heaving to and fro, literally like being dipped like a, I don't know, worm on a hook, I guess.

00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:20.879
Excuse me.

00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:21.759
No worries.

00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:22.960
Oh my.

00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:24.559
Oh dear.

00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:25.840
That's my pearls.

00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:27.519
I do declare.

00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:35.120
Um, but tragically, um, his heroism was not enough, and Laquant himself was nearly lost in the attempt.

00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.519
Um, Venka lost his grip and disappeared into the sea.

00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:40.639
Oh, that's sad.

00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:44.240
The crew hauled uh Laquant back, shivering and empty-handed.

00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:51.840
Uh, Venka was gone, and the men were really heartbroken by this, and this actually set quite a bit quite a precedent for them.

00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:52.720
Set the tone.

00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:54.559
It set the tone big time.

00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:55.200
Okay.

00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:56.000
Yeah.

00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:00.000
Um, this Venka was really, really well liked.

00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:01.679
He was in his 20s.

00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:08.879
Um, so De Gerloche later named a small island on the Antarctic coast called Venka Island.

00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:10.480
Is it still named that today?

00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:11.840
You know, I didn't look that up.

00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:12.879
You don't have to right now.

00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:14.159
I was just curious if you knew.

00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:18.159
So it was the expedition's first loss of life.

00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:19.360
That's crazy.

00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:20.559
That that would be tough.

00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:21.039
Yeah.

00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:22.159
I mean, way to start.

00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:28.240
They already had a really fucked up start, and then uh once they finally are on their way and they lose a guy, that sucks.

00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:45.360
So the Belgium sailed on, and within a day the storm abated, and on January 23rd of 1898, the crew sighted the barren icy coast of Graham Land, the Antarctic peninsula, which is the northernmost finger of the continent.

00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:45.759
Okay.

00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:49.519
So it's like, I don't know, it's a big circle with a little doink.

00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:51.200
With a little doink.

00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:52.240
With a little doink.

00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.519
Oh, he's like, Yeah, I'm sorry, it's cold.

00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:56.879
Jesus.

00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:02.720
So this was the first human contact with that coast in over half a century.

00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:03.279
Wow.

00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:03.840
Yeah.

00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:10.080
And then over the next couple of weeks, the Belgica threaded through like a maze of a bunch of like little islands along the peninsula.

00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:10.559
Oh, okay.

00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:14.399
And they like would get out and like try to find scientific things.

00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:15.039
Stuff.

00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:15.519
Yeah.

00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:17.200
They just found a lot of ice?

00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:22.080
They found a lot of ice, but there was like random like Arctic worms and shit.

00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.240
Did they run into any penguins?

00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:25.200
They did.

00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:28.480
Did they eat oh they did?

00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:29.600
Oh boy.

00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:35.120
On February 15th, 1898, they achieved one more major goal.

00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:35.519
Okay.

00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:38.399
The Belgica crossed the Antarctic Circle.

00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:39.360
Oh, sure.

00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:43.919
So there is an actual like invisible line around Antarctica.

00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:45.919
The peninsula is just outside that line.

00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.360
So they reach the Arctic Circle.

00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:48.000
Gotcha.

00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:50.480
Or excuse me, the Antarctic Circle.

00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:51.120
Yes.

00:15:51.440 --> 00:16:02.480
Um, so the men celebrated this milestone, but they also knew it meant that from this point on, the sun would soon start to vanish for the winter.

00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:03.039
Right.

00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:08.960
Time was running out to head back north, and yet Desjaloche was not turning back.

00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.679
No, he's like, we just started, boys.

00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:12.399
Yeah.

00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:19.919
So as February continued on, the Belgica pushed deeper south and west into the sea ice.

00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:20.080
Okay.

00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:25.759
And on February 28th, 1898, the ship became wedged in a pack of ice.

00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:27.519
Was that a leap year?

00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:29.200
Bradley.

00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:33.120
Well, I want to know if what happened on February 29th, if it's there.

00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:36.799
I mean, I think it's a valid question.

00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:38.960
What?

00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:41.279
Alright, continue.

00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.519
I need to be drunk for the rest of this.

00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.519
Um you're not gonna get enough of that.

00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:50.399
I know.

00:16:52.879 --> 00:17:00.559
Okay, so the Belgique was trapped, and the crew worked furiously for days to break the ship free.

00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:02.480
But it was no use.

00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:04.720
Summer's end had basically sealed them in.

00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:09.359
So how would they have like what would they have done to do to try and break loose?

00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:13.119
Because I mean, I would imagine like they have ice saws and stuff.

00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:19.759
Oh, do they imagine because if they weren't power tools, could you imagine just oh dude, I am tired.

00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:20.079
Yeah.

00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:20.880
Holy boss.

00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:21.839
Oh, just wait.

00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:22.799
I'm sure.

00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.039
They don't eat each other, do they?

00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:25.839
Oh, just wait.

00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:26.799
Oh, jeez.

00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:27.759
Okay.

00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:28.799
I'm kidding, they don't.

00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:29.519
Oh, good.

00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:41.440
By March 2nd, De Gerloche gathered his men and informed them of the very desperate truth that they were gonna have to spend the winter in Antarctica, whether they liked it or not.

00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.640
Well, I mean, there's really nothing they can do about it now.

00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:45.519
They are stuck.

00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:47.200
Nature made the decision for them.

00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.200
It's like, hey, we want you guys here.

00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:49.680
Yeah, really.

00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:50.640
Celebrate with us.

00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:53.839
So this is already in March, though.

00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:54.559
Yeah.

00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:59.440
And you said the winter is the summer months here, correct?

00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.160
So they're just getting into like actual winter.

00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:02.799
Winter.

00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:03.599
Oh boy.

00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:04.160
Yeah.

00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:04.799
Wow.

00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:05.440
All right.

00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:11.039
So some of the crew suspected that this was Deja Losh's plan all along.

00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:12.559
Why would he have wanted that?

00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:19.599
Because they would be the first crew to spend Antarctica over winter.

00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:21.039
Okay.

00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:28.880
That seems like a sh I mean, I don't know, obviously, but why would you want that to be like a thing, I guess?

00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:29.359
Yeah.

00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.960
Hey man, we froze our asses off first for a whole winter.

00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:33.759
Exactly.

00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:34.319
Cool.

00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:35.200
Good for you.

00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:45.200
So for the next few days, Tacum and the crew suggested that DeJerlosh intentionally trapped them in the ice, but whether or not it was deliberate, the reality was still the same.

00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:46.559
Can you resay deliberate?

00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:47.200
Deliberate.

00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:47.839
Thank you.

00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:52.000
They were now prisoners of the ice for an entire year or more.

00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.400
Ahead of them lay oh dear.

00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:55.200
Oh dear.

00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:56.480
Oh dear.

00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.200
The foam on that.

00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:00.480
Holy balls.

00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:02.319
I dripped on my shirt.

00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.160
Gotta turn it all.

00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:06.160
Heavens to Betsy.

00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:08.079
My pearls.

00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:09.759
Oh.

00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:13.759
Well, I do declare I lost some of my beer.

00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:14.640
You good?

00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:15.759
I don't know.

00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:17.519
Shit.

00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:18.880
Okay, let me continue.

00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.039
I'm sorry, that wasn't intended.

00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:22.880
Wow.

00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:23.440
Wow.

00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:25.039
I didn't even shake it.

00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.000
Okay, so the crew prepared for winter the best that they could.

00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:35.279
They reinforced the Belgica against the ice, banked snow along the hull for insulation.

00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:42.559
And built a small shack on the ice, kind of part science lab part like break room.

00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:43.519
Break room.

00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:45.839
I mean, I need to get away from everybody.

00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:46.880
We're in a small ship.

00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.799
Like get away from everybody, go to the shack.

00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:49.440
Yeah.

00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:55.039
You just see like smoke coming out of the little shack chimney, like people having a cigarette or something.

00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:57.039
So every scraping their pipe.

00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:01.519
Yeah, every scrap was used, sails became insulation, coal was rationed.

00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:03.200
Coal was rationed, you said?

00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:03.759
Coal.

00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:04.240
Okay.

00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:05.279
So at first.

00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:06.720
At first I heard cold.

00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.559
I'm like, there's plenty of it to go around.

00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:09.680
Doesn't have to be rationed.

00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.039
Doesn't have to be rationed at all.

00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.519
So at first the morale was fairly optimistic.

00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:19.119
Well, that's nice that they I mean, you would hope so.

00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:23.279
Yeah, I mean, they just had that death and then being stuck in the ice.

00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:31.759
And yeah, so for being optimistic after everything that started the vert the journey and then losing a person, that's that's a good start, at least.

00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:33.680
But yeah, I don't know.

00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:41.119
Well, the March and April were getting cold and really monotonous, and there was still like a twilight during the day.

00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:41.599
Okay.

00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.680
So the crew still tried to manage some routine.

00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.880
So they kept busy by oh, I feel like I was ahead of my microphone there.

00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:51.599
Oh.

00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:55.359
Um they kept busy with scientific observations.

00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:02.640
They would make small trips onto the ice and they would try to make the ship's interior a little bit more cozy.

00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:04.799
Um I wonder how they did that.

00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:07.279
Like, because you only have so much on a ship.

00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:18.160
Yeah, they they played a lot of games, they told a lot of stories, well, especially and just kind of made it like more of a tavern type feel, maybe?

00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:18.960
Maybe.

00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:21.519
I mean, a bunch of dudes hanging out telling stories.

00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:21.839
Yeah.

00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:24.000
Sounds like a an old timey tavern.

00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:25.680
I mean, we're talking about 1898.

00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:26.160
Yeah.

00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:31.920
I mean, I guess that's the way the feel I would think it would be, but I obviously I never experienced it, so I don't know.

00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:32.400
Yeah.

00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.000
But yeah, I mean, you can only do so much to make it cozy.

00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:37.359
Um, Dr.

00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:46.160
Cook, the American, yeah, set up improvised theater nights and encouraged the men to like do mock card games.

00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:50.720
So all the the money that they would bet would be um imaginary.

00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:55.279
Oh, so they just like I'd raise you twenty fifth dollars or whatever.

00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:56.079
Exactly.

00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.759
So it r really helped with the boredom and the dread um of.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.880
The day.

00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:13.599
Um, but time started weighing heavily on them, and then by like March 21st, yeah, the sun's like little arc over the horizon just kept getting lower and lower and lower.

00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:14.400
Yeah.

00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.640
On May 17th, the sun finally dipped below the horizon.

00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.240
So this is a period of time where it's completely dark.

00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:22.559
Yes.

00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:24.319
Like no daylight at all.

00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:24.720
No.

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:30.160
Oh and that happens I don't know what time of year, but that that's what happens in Alaska, right?

00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:30.559
Yes.

00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:30.960
Okay.

00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:31.759
Yeah.

00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.079
Um, Alaska pretty much, I think they have the same winter as we do.

00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:37.039
It's just longer.

00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:40.720
Did you ever see the the movie 60 Days and 60 Nights?

00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:44.400
Um what's his name?

00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:46.240
Oh, Josh Hartnett, right?

00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:47.839
That's 40 Days and 40 Nights.

00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.000
Is that for I'm sorry, I said 60, right?

00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:51.680
Um have you seen that?

00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:52.240
Yeah.

00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.480
Okay, so you haven't seen the sequel, 60 minutes.

00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:55.599
I have not seen the sequel.

00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.839
I'm sorry, it is 40 days and 40 nights.

00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:58.640
My apologies.

00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:00.720
I watched that when I was in Germany.

00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:01.359
Yeah.

00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:04.319
It's one of the few American movies that they had on.

00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:06.400
And I watched Sex in the City too.

00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:08.240
I've mentioned this before, but anyways.

00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:09.039
All right, sorry.

00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:11.039
Not 60, 40.

00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:12.640
My apologies.

00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:16.480
So inside the ship, conditions deteriorated.

00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:17.119
Right.

00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:24.319
The Bel Belgica had been um provisioned with canned foods, dried meats, and biscuits to last two years.

00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.039
Oh, wow.

00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:28.880
But the diet was monotonous and deficient in crucial nutrients.

00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:29.599
Of course.

00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:36.079
They ate the same salted um canned meatballs and tinned peas every day.

00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:37.599
Yeah.

00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:43.519
They did manage to hunt for penguins and seals back before they got stuck.

00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:44.000
Okay.

00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:49.519
So they were actually storing this meat on deck, because I mean it's frozen.

00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.519
Well, yeah, it's cold, cold enough.

00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:52.559
You don't need a freezer.

00:23:52.880 --> 00:24:04.079
But Commander Des Girlash disliked the taste of these animals so much that he forbade the men from eating the penguin and seal meat.

00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.640
But what what if they didn't mind it?

00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:11.759
Well, they were all like, okay, you're the commander.

00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:12.799
We'll we'll do it.

00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:13.359
Okay.

00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:15.119
Yeah, they all fell in line.

00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:21.680
I get that, but like, just because you don't like it, there might have been somebody who's like, man, have you had penguin fin?

00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.599
It's fucking delicious.

00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:24.559
Oh.

00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:31.599
So naturally, without all these nutrients, the men's gums began to bleed.

00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:33.359
Is that is that scurvy?

00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:34.240
It's scurvy.

00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:34.480
Yeah.

00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.920
Their joints ached, purple blotches appeared on their skin.

00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:38.880
Oh dear.

00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:40.640
Classic scurvy.

00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:42.640
Classic scurvy scurvy.

00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:44.160
Classic scurvy.

00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:48.559
That's got a that's a contender for a fucking for a title.

00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:56.160
If no one knows what, if anyone doesn't know what scurvy is, it is um a vitamin C deficiency disease.

00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:56.720
Yeah.

00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:57.519
Yeah.

00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:03.599
And 1898, no one really knew what that was.

00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:04.640
What that was.

00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:08.240
So it's not like, oh boys, your gums are all bleeding.

00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:08.480
Yeah.

00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:09.920
Get you some vitamin C.

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.480
Like, where would they even have gotten vitamin C at that point?

00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:15.119
Penguin and seal meat.

00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:17.920
Would that have been rich with vitamin C?

00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:18.799
Really?

00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:19.839
So oranges.

00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:21.599
Maybe not rich, but better.

00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:24.720
But so oranges or penguin meat.

00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:27.680
You make the call.

00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:28.240
Oh.

00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:29.519
So Dr.

00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:36.640
Cook, the American, he he has been on an expedition before and he actually has seen scurvy before.

00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:42.240
Not knowing exactly what it was, but he's he recognizes the symptoms like I've seen this before.

00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:43.279
We need to fix this.

00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:49.519
And he knew that fresh meat and um raw foods could help manage this.

00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:56.000
Um, of course, they were surrounded by ice and no fruit and vegetables at the local vestibule or whatever.

00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:56.720
Bodega.

00:25:57.200 --> 00:25:58.400
There wasn't a Whole Foods there?

00:25:58.559 --> 00:25:58.799
No.

00:25:59.039 --> 00:25:59.440
Fuck.

00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.559
For thousands of miles, let alone just a hundred.

00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.119
Let alone just a you know, a hundred years.

00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:11.599
But deja lush's ban on the penguin and the seal meat meant much of that meat just sat there.

00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:13.759
Couldn't he like, dude?

00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:14.799
I get it.

00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:15.839
You don't like it.

00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:18.400
But our our men are suffering here.

00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:19.599
We need this.

00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:21.119
They do eventually.

00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:21.680
Okay.

00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:22.480
Yeah.

00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:28.640
So by May, there was muscle spasms and lethargy that were plaguing the men.

00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.799
They were exhausted and irritable.

00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:31.359
Yeah.

00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:35.039
Um, minor disagreements would blow up into huge arguments.

00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:36.160
Fights, I would imagine.

00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:39.279
And of course, these were multilingual crew.

00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:42.720
So many of them did not speak the same language.

00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:45.039
So there was lots of communication problems.

00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:50.720
When you put a rag type crew together from different areas, you're gonna get language barriers, obviously.

00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:56.720
And then they were sick of each other, and there's they're in this tiny tin can of a space.

00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:57.039
Yeah.

00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.279
So they were getting claustrophobia as well.

00:26:59.440 --> 00:26:59.759
Yeah.

00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:03.119
They were trapped not only in the ice, but in the ship.

00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:04.160
In the ship.

00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:10.799
Even those little call them expeditions out to their little break room or whatever we call it before.

00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.279
That's not enough time away.

00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:15.359
That's you're you're gonna be.

00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:17.599
It's like, I just saw you.

00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:20.880
Even if it's like I saw you just saw you 12 hours ago.

00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:22.319
You're still fucking here.

00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:23.839
You're still ugly.

00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:26.079
Same got the same.

00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:32.400
Well, you know they aren't getting the uh the the you know the uh shaven down.

00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:33.599
What's the word?

00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.839
I don't know what you're going for here.

00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.240
Their their hygiene isn't on point at this point.

00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:40.000
No, I can't clearly not.

00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:42.799
On point at this point, anyway.

00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:44.400
Wow, that was redundant.

00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:45.680
Yeah, but I like that.

00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:46.720
Let's continue.

00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:55.119
All right, their clothing was inadequate, they hadn't expected to be there over winter, so not everyone had proper gear.

00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:57.759
But they had provisions for two years.

00:27:58.000 --> 00:27:58.559
They did.

00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:05.519
It seems weird that they wouldn't have enough gear or the proper gear, but yet they had the provisions for two freaking years.

00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:06.400
That seems weird.

00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:06.960
Yeah.

00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:07.519
Okay.

00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:16.559
And it was probably two years worth of with the 24 men that they originally started with, perhaps, not the 19 that they had.

00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:17.680
Well, 18 now.

00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.119
Maybe they had two years and four months now.

00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:21.440
Yeah.

00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:26.000
I mean, I obviously don't didn't I didn't math it out that I also don't know the pounds.

00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:26.480
Yeah.

00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:32.960
So yeah, I suppose they technically would have had a little extra because four they got rid of four on the way, one died.

00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:34.960
So I mean they're they're five down already.

00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:37.519
I mean, that that's quite significant.

00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:42.480
I mean, that's what, uh almost 20% of the fucking crew.

00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:42.880
Yeah.

00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:49.440
So inside the ship, there was a small stove and it barely kept the chill at bay.

00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:56.960
Most of the time they shivered in their bunks, wrapped up in all the blankets they could find, constantly cold and damp.

00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:03.519
If they had been near land or shelter, um, they might have tried to desert the ship as well.

00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:08.960
Um, but out there on like the shifting ice, hundreds of miles, there was there was nowhere to go.

00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:11.279
They had to endure with each other.

00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:12.000
Right.

00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:25.599
So June arrived, yeah, and Emile Danko, a 23-year-old Belgian geophysicist, oh wow, had been weak for weeks.

00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:31.200
Weak W E A K for W E multiple weeks, yeah.

00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:31.680
Wow.

00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:34.160
Danko suffered from a heart condition.

00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:34.880
Oh shit.

00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:38.960
And the extreme cold and scurvy was making it worse.

00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:42.880
Did he know about do you have any idea if he knew about this heart condition?

00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:44.079
I think he did.

00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:44.640
Yeah.

00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:50.160
Um, his crewmates did what they cur could, but medical science at the time had like little to offer, of course.

00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:52.079
Well, you know, even on a ship.

00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:52.559
Right.

00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:54.000
Um especially on a ship.

00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:54.400
Yeah.

00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:58.799
No amount of care for Danko would help his failing heart.

00:29:58.960 --> 00:29:59.119
Right.

00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:02.960
And on June 5th of 1898, Emile Danko died.

00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:04.240
Fresh meat.

00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:05.519
No.

00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:07.599
Well, it helps scurvy.

00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:13.599
How did uh did the did they have to like bury him in the ice or something for like a funeral?

00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:15.039
They did take him out, yeah.

00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:15.599
I don't know.

00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:18.079
No, they were they didn't bury him in the ice.

00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:22.400
They actually they might have like tried to cut a hole or something and put him in the water.

00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:24.960
Oh, so a burillette sea in a way kind of thing.

00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:25.599
Yeah.

00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:26.079
Okay.

00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:33.279
Um, so the crew was already physically weakened and mentally frayed, and now they lost one of their own.

00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:34.960
So now they're down to 17.

00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:36.000
Yeah, exactly.

00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:36.640
Wow.

00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:37.440
Yes.

00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:43.359
So Danko's death left the crew demoralized and terrified.

00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:44.079
Yeah.

00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:52.960
And at the this was a low point, and several men started verging on like a complete breakdown.

00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:56.079
Were they were they going towards a mutiny here or something?

00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:56.720
Not quite.

00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:57.759
No, not a mutiny.

00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:00.400
Because I don't know what they would really do even if they took over.

00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:01.920
You're still stuck in the ice.

00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:03.519
Yeah, there was not a mutiny.

00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:03.920
Good.

00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:10.559
These were actually fairly um respect respectful gentlemen.

00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:11.119
Yeah.

00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:15.039
And they cared about the higher ups and you know, and that chain of command.

00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:16.319
Well, that's good at least.

00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:21.759
So one one Belgian sailor, Jan sorry, Jan van Mierlo.

00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:22.480
Jan.

00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:24.000
I think it's Jan.

00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:24.960
I'm sure it's Jan.

00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:25.279
Yeah.

00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:25.680
Yeah.

00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:29.119
Um, he suffered what the ship's doctor, Dr.

00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:33.680
Cook, recognized as a hysterical affliction.

00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:34.799
Oh boy.

00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:39.680
Van Mirlo awoke one day claiming that he could not hear or speak.

00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:41.279
I don't know how you can claim.

00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:41.839
Yeah.

00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:43.039
But I wrote that anyway.

00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:45.119
Did he did he blink Morris code?

00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:45.839
I think so.

00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:47.440
That that's gotta be it.

00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:48.240
Yeah.

00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:51.519
Or he like wrote it in the sand or the ice.

00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:53.759
I'm like, there's he wrote it in the ice.

00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:55.839
Hey, we gotta go to the beach real quick.

00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:57.039
I gotta write something in it.

00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:59.119
He went up to a window and went, ha.

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:01.680
Drew Drew a heart.

00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:04.160
Jesus.

00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:06.000
Can't speak.

00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:12.319
It was psychosomatic deafness and muteness, which was a reaction to extreme stress.

00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:12.799
Okay.

00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:13.440
So Dr.

00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:16.079
Cook examined him and found nothing physically wrong.

00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:16.559
Right.

00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:17.519
It's all mental.

00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:18.880
It was all a mental strength.

00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:19.279
Yeah.

00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:23.440
And so for a week he was practically cataconic.

00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:27.279
Well, at least that week went by pretty quick for him.

00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:35.119
When he finally recovered the ability to talk, the first thing that he said was that he intended to murder an officer.

00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:35.920
Wow.

00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:40.079
The ship's chief engineer, Henry Summers, at the first opportunity.

00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:42.799
Of course, everyone was like, Wait a minute.

00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:43.759
What the fuck?

00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:48.640
Did they have a like a brig type or uh my nose is dripping?

00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:50.880
Yeah, it was.

00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:54.160
Did they have a brig type thing or like a brig.

00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:56.880
It's like a it's a a jail on a boat, basically.

00:32:57.920 --> 00:32:59.039
Throw them in the brig.

00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:00.240
You've never heard that before?

00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:00.799
Uh-uh.

00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:02.559
Oh man, you're young.

00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:08.400
Um I mean, most places most places, most boats at least, you know.

00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:13.440
Even in like you've watched Pirates of the Caribbean or Caribbean, depending on where you're from.

00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:13.759
Yeah.

00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:18.480
And um Jack Sparrow was thrown in the brig.

00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:20.160
So I don't know.

00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:20.720
Okay.

00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:27.200
Well, I mean, I just it's not that type of chip, so I don't know if it would have that, obviously.

00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.000
Yeah, I don't know.

00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:29.359
But um, it's just curious.

00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:29.519
Yeah.

00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:35.119
Because like shit, if you all of a sudden wake up from this delirium and be like, I'm gonna kill an officer.

00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:35.440
Right.

00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:36.559
What the fuck?

00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:44.480
So, of course, Captain Lequant says if he sh if he said he would murder Summers, what was gonna stop him from killing someone else?

00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:45.119
Right.

00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:58.160
So um the shipmates began discreetly watching Van Murlo on like rotating shifts even at night to ensure that he didn't hurt anyone or himself.

00:33:58.480 --> 00:33:59.039
Did he?

00:33:59.279 --> 00:33:59.599
No.

00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:00.400
Okay, good.

00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:06.880
No, so he was probably still actually just delirious waking up and I'm gonna kill you.

00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:12.719
And it subsided because he finally fully woke up, we'll call it.

00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:15.119
I don't know what to better say there, but yeah, okay.

00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:23.679
Yeah, so well, Van Meyerlowe's was outwardly um suffering, others were quietly suffering.

00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:24.239
Sure.

00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:29.519
Um, the weeks after Danko's death were probably the darkest period for the Belgica.

00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:32.880
Physically, men were ill with scurvy.

00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:33.280
Yeah.

00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:40.480
Um, and Adrian de Gerlache himself um had resisted eating the penguin meat for as long as he could.

00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:46.559
And by early July, he was bedridden, his joints were swollen, gums were spongy, teeth were loose.

00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:47.360
Oh, gross.

00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:48.639
Classic scurvy.

00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:49.840
Classic scurvy.

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:51.840
Yeah, and he could hardly stand.

00:34:51.920 --> 00:35:00.719
So both De Gerlash and his um second in compan command, Lequan, were so sick they each actually wrote out each other's will.

00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:02.960
Sorry, they they wrote their will.

00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:04.880
Oh, not each other's.

00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:05.679
No.

00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:07.280
They each wrote out their own will.

00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:08.159
Yes, gotcha.

00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:08.719
Yeah.

00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:15.519
I mean, that's so please tell me the revelation of having to write out his will.

00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:17.440
Did you be like, we should probably eat that?

00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:19.280
Not quite yet, but we're getting close.

00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:21.360
We're getting close.

00:35:21.679 --> 00:35:22.639
So, Dr.

00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:26.400
Frederick Cook finally rose to the occasion.

00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:28.880
Not finally, but like he was the one that did.

00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:29.280
Yeah.

00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:32.800
Coco was one of the few who had still some energy left.

00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:33.840
Good for him.

00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:34.480
Yes.

00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:38.000
He had been quietly eating penguin meat.

00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:39.679
On the on the DL.

00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:41.199
Oh shit.

00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:46.400
And he was keeping off the biggest bouts of the scurvy.

00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:47.599
Of the scurvy.

00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:49.679
Biggest bouts of the scurvy.

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:57.519
So was he still having some symptoms of it, but not as much because he was secretly eating this penguin meat?

00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:01.440
Yeah, and he has also had experience up in the Arctic.

00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:02.000
Right.

00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:04.480
So, and he saw what scurvy did.

00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:08.719
So I think he was just like, I'm just gonna eat a little bit.

00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:10.639
Well, I mean, good good on him.

00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:17.280
Yeah, at least someone had some sensibility, and you know, obviously being a doctor, good that he was the one that did that.

00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:17.840
Right.

00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:22.079
Because then at least, could you imagine what would have happened if Dr.

00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:28.559
Cook succumbed to all this nonsense and woke up and I'm gonna kill the captain or whatever.

00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:31.039
They would all be dead because exactly.

00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:32.480
Cook literally saved them.

00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:33.440
That's my point.

00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:44.079
So Cook and the other veteran explorer, um Almundson, yeah, the first mate, they officially took charge of like daily affairs.

00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:47.119
Because the captain was down for the calibre.

00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:47.760
Okay.

00:36:48.079 --> 00:36:55.920
So Cook's top priority was to save the men's lives, and he made the taboo decision of eating penguin meat.

00:36:56.159 --> 00:37:01.920
We're gonna eat penguin and we're gonna eat seal, and it's you're gonna eat it whether you like it or not.

00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:08.159
So even raw, they'll cook it, they'll eat it raw, whatever it takes to get it down.

00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:11.360
If you eat penguin meat raw, is it sushi?

00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:13.039
Because they go in the water.

00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:15.360
But they're not considered fish, I don't think.

00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:17.280
No, they're you don't think?

00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:19.119
No, they're definitely not considered fish.

00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:20.239
They're not fish.

00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:30.000
So it's you like sushi, would you eat penguin sushi I would probably try it cooked first, which is what I did with sushi when I first started.

00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:33.360
I feel like the fact that you would try penguin at all makes you a terrible person.

00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:34.400
I'm just kidding.

00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:36.320
Hey, I'm dying of scurvy, okay?

00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:37.280
I'm gonna eat it.

00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:40.159
I'm not talking about you dying of scurvy.

00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:43.280
I would eat it if I was dying of scurvy too.

00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:45.760
I'm joking around, obviously.

00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:47.440
Um well, good.

00:37:47.519 --> 00:37:58.559
I mean, at least so did they have to catch fresh penguins at this point, or do they st are they still going off because I would imagine that'd be frozen, so it's not fresh meat, like which was what they needed.

00:37:58.880 --> 00:38:06.079
So they would um, so this is based off of um other accounts that I've read, and I did not put it in the story.

00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:06.880
That's fine.

00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:11.840
But they would try to catch penguins by playing music.

00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:12.880
Really?

00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:13.599
Uh-huh.

00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:16.239
Because penguins are like, dude, it's silent out here.

00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:16.880
What is that?

00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:18.159
Let's check it out, boys.

00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:21.519
I mean, okay.

00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:22.239
Exactly.

00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:23.760
And they would catch penguins that way.

00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:27.039
They would actually put them on like a rope and like a leash.

00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:31.039
Um, so they would- They would put a penguin on a leash?

00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:31.920
Wow.

00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:38.079
They would, so they would still like catch penguins throughout the fresh penguins, if you will.

00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:38.400
Okay.

00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:43.360
Like they would catch like five to eight at a time for a not at a time, but like for a week.

00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:47.199
Could you imagine like alright, kill it?

00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:50.559
Like, no, it's like penguins.

00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:51.679
I know it.

00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:54.000
Did you see the way it waddled to us?

00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:56.159
He wants, he just wants to hear music.

00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:58.320
Yeah, he's he's a maestro.

00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:09.199
But um, they also, I don't know how exactly they caught the seals, but um, eventually it it they became kind of non-existent, like they wouldn't come around anymore, obviously.

00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:12.800
Because you're like, every time my friend Joe would get up on the ice, he'd disappear.

00:39:13.039 --> 00:39:14.400
Have you seen Brent?

00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:15.360
Yeah.

00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:16.239
Who?

00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:16.719
Who?

00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:18.159
You know, my friend Brent.

00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:18.880
Brent.

00:39:19.119 --> 00:39:19.679
We grew up together.

00:39:20.079 --> 00:39:20.480
Yeah, we're sort of.

00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:22.159
Oh, I haven't seen him in weeks.

00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:24.480
I don't know why I picked Brent.

00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:25.199
Okay.

00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:26.719
I was gonna say Brock.

00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:29.760
I actually worked with a guy named Brock once.

00:39:30.239 --> 00:39:31.039
Anyways.

00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:37.280
Okay, so he had seen um so um Dr.

00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:41.280
Cook had seen Inuit in the Arctic.

00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:44.239
There there's natives there?

00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:46.159
Yeah, there's a couple.

00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:46.639
Really?

00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:47.760
It's like five.

00:39:48.400 --> 00:39:49.199
Maybe six.

00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:56.079
They probably had a kid by now, but but they would have a diet of fresh game, and that prevented scurvy.

00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:56.559
Right.

00:39:56.800 --> 00:39:59.440
So he convinced the crew.

00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:00.800
Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait.

00:40:00.960 --> 00:40:02.559
Repeat the Inuit thing.

00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:04.079
Where did he see them?

00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:05.599
In the Arctic.

00:40:05.920 --> 00:40:06.880
My bad.

00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:08.480
Oh, you're thinking Antarctica.

00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:09.199
No, the Arctic.

00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:10.320
That's okay.

00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:11.039
I I've got to be a big thing.

00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:11.920
That's why I pointed.

00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:13.440
Well, no, I got that.

00:40:13.599 --> 00:40:14.880
I got that, I get that now.

00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:15.119
Yeah.

00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:15.760
My bad.

00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:17.519
I I'm like, wait, what?

00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:17.920
Yeah.

00:40:18.159 --> 00:40:19.519
But that's on his other expedition.

00:40:19.760 --> 00:40:20.000
Yes.

00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:21.280
I I mixed them together.

00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:21.920
That's okay.

00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:22.719
Sorry about that.

00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:27.840
So so he had to convince these new these rec recruits really to recruits.

00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:29.599
To freaking eat the penguins.

00:40:29.679 --> 00:40:30.880
So crew members.

00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:33.039
Of course they resisted at first.

00:40:33.199 --> 00:40:35.840
Um Yeah, because they're so fucking adorable.

00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:43.679
So um they described penguin as black, oily, and tough.

00:40:43.760 --> 00:40:44.320
Like oily.

00:40:45.039 --> 00:40:46.320
I'm sure it's not.

00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:47.360
Yeah.

00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:48.159
So Dr.

00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:49.440
Dr.

00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:53.280
Cook said, quote, imagine a piece of beef.

00:40:53.519 --> 00:40:54.079
Oh boy.

00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:56.800
An odoriferous codfish.

00:40:57.280 --> 00:40:57.440
Oh.

00:40:57.840 --> 00:41:07.039
And a canvas back dock roasted in a pot with blood and cod liver oil for sauce, and you have the taste of penguin.

00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:12.639
Do you know what Peter Pan called Cap uh Captain Hook?

00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:13.440
Codfish.

00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:13.760
Yeah.

00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:14.960
Codfish.

00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:19.920
So remember the cook?

00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:23.360
I don't know if it was in Chile or Uruguay or Argentina.

00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:24.960
The new one they picked up?

00:41:25.199 --> 00:41:26.719
Yes, the new one that they picked up.

00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:27.280
Yeah.

00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:31.519
Um he was inexperienced.

00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:32.639
Oh, of course.

00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:39.280
And he tried to make penguin stew, but it was so foul that the men gagged and refused to eat it.

00:41:39.519 --> 00:41:40.079
Oh, yeah.

00:41:40.320 --> 00:41:40.880
So Dr.

00:41:41.039 --> 00:41:43.519
Cook was like, all right, now we're gonna play hardball.

00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:44.880
They force fed him.

00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:50.400
Cook went to the weekend commander de Garlog and appealed to him to set an example.

00:41:50.559 --> 00:41:50.960
Yeah.

00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:53.840
He said I'll be honest, I'm sorry to interrupt you.

00:41:53.920 --> 00:41:58.000
It sounded like he said the weekend commander, not the weekend.

00:41:58.239 --> 00:41:58.960
I'm like, wait.

00:41:59.199 --> 00:41:59.519
Weekend.

00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:02.719
There was one that was just in charge on the weekends.

00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:03.599
I'm sorry.

00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:04.239
That's okay.

00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:06.320
That's my shitty hearing coming in.

00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:07.599
So Dr.

00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:10.480
Cook said, consider this meat as medicine.

00:42:10.639 --> 00:42:14.159
If you, the leader, start eating it, others will follow.

00:42:14.239 --> 00:42:14.400
Yeah.

00:42:14.639 --> 00:42:15.760
Because they're good crewmen.

00:42:15.920 --> 00:42:16.800
Please tell me you didn't go.

00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:17.840
I'm vegan.

00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:24.960
Um, Dager Losh was like finally ready to like, okay, yeah, I'm really sick.

00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:25.840
Yeah.

00:42:26.320 --> 00:42:27.360
Did he still refuse?

00:42:27.599 --> 00:42:27.760
No.

00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:28.559
Oh, thank God.

00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:28.960
Dr.

00:42:29.119 --> 00:42:32.159
Cook said, ignore the taste, swallow it down as a duty.

00:42:32.320 --> 00:42:35.039
Hold your nose, choke it down, or we all die.

00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:40.400
Pretty much just yeah, put it in your mouth, swig some whatever they had to drink at this time.

00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:42.079
What did they have to drink on this?

00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:43.679
Is it just water?

00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:45.119
Like, did they melt snow?

00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:47.920
I mean, what did they do for I didn't look into that?

00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:48.559
It's okay.

00:42:48.719 --> 00:42:51.280
But I want to say they might have had a little liquor as well.

00:42:51.599 --> 00:42:52.559
Well, you wouldn't.

00:42:52.719 --> 00:42:55.920
But they would like try to I'm sure that was honestly back then.

00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:57.760
I could see that being part of their provisions.

00:42:57.920 --> 00:43:00.000
I mean, let's just melt some ice water.

00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:01.199
Well, that too.

00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:05.760
But um, I just curious because like that.

00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:11.679
They have I mean, I would imagine they eventually melted some ice, snow, whatever.

00:43:11.840 --> 00:43:15.199
Hopefully they didn't get the yellow stuff, but or worms.

00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:17.679
Bring back the worms again.

00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:18.639
Yeah, okay.

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:29.840
So Dagerlosh, sorry, De Gerlosh, yeah, who once cursed that meat, finally choked it down, and one by one his crew followed.

00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:37.440
So they even coined the new name for the seal and penguin dishes as Antarctic beefsteak.

00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:44.079
Should we should we go to a restaurant, a random restaurant, be like, Do you have any Antarctic beef steak?

00:43:44.320 --> 00:43:45.199
They'll be like, What?

00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:47.039
You know, penguins at sale.

00:43:47.440 --> 00:43:57.599
So at first the men curse and complained at every meal this stuff was so greasy and fishy, but eventually their gums stopped bleeding and they began to heal.

00:43:57.840 --> 00:43:59.440
And they're like, Oh shit.

00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:00.480
Mm-hmm.

00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:04.559
So vitamin C in the fresh meat, though they didn't realize it was starting to save their lives.

00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:10.079
And even De uh Gerlash regained some vigor to his own surprise.

00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:14.320
And Cook also set up a routine of fire baths, which fire baths.

00:44:14.719 --> 00:44:29.519
Yeah, people would basically he would allow like a root um a rotating shift schedule of people like just um cuddling up to the warm stove for like an hour or so.

00:44:29.760 --> 00:44:30.639
Were they in the water?

00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:34.320
No, they're still in the in the ship, but it's so cold, they only have one little stove.

00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:36.000
So they call it a firebath?

00:44:36.159 --> 00:44:37.679
Yeah, just to that's so weird.

00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:40.400
Just to soak themselves in the heat in warmth.

00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:40.719
Yeah.

00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:40.880
Yeah.

00:44:41.039 --> 00:44:41.840
No, I'm okay.

00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:42.480
I mean, I get it.

00:44:42.559 --> 00:44:46.079
I just my my brain went to like, were they heating some water?

00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:47.039
I mean, okay.

00:44:47.360 --> 00:45:18.559
So he organized more card games and tournaments, and there was a big provision of like magazines, and they would like cut out these actresses and athletes and pinups, pinups, and they there was over like 500 pictures or something, and they made like a um it's kind of like an animation thing where they're like no, they they made like a challenge to figure out who was like the hottest or something.

00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:20.719
Oh, okay, like a tournament that way.

00:45:20.960 --> 00:45:24.880
So they had like a voting contest, whatever you want to call it, type thing.

00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:25.360
Okay.

00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:33.280
So for the for a while the Belgi Belgica felt like a cramped, icy casino with all these women on the walls.

00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:34.400
Oh, nice.

00:45:34.559 --> 00:45:35.199
Yeah.

00:45:35.440 --> 00:45:42.079
Um, Cook encouraged them to keep regular routines with grooming, cleaning the ship, even though it seemed kind of pointless.

00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:44.239
Yeah, but I mean, again, routine.

00:45:44.480 --> 00:45:48.000
And idle minds would sink into despair, basically.

00:45:48.320 --> 00:45:51.840
Well, do you know what idle hands are the devil's playground?

00:45:52.079 --> 00:45:52.480
Yeah.

00:45:52.719 --> 00:45:55.280
So did you ever see the movie Idle Hands?

00:45:56.079 --> 00:45:57.280
It's actually decent.

00:45:57.599 --> 00:46:01.840
So through June and early the and early July, the crew's health stabilized.

00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:02.400
Okay.

00:46:03.199 --> 00:46:04.800
Um, so proof that Dr.

00:46:04.960 --> 00:46:08.480
Cook um his measures were working.

00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:18.159
So it it took about two months for them to really kind of get back to their yeah, I don't want to say their selves, but enough strength to be like, we got you, boys.

00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:18.639
Yes.

00:46:18.880 --> 00:46:19.119
Okay.

00:46:19.360 --> 00:46:19.920
Yes.

00:46:20.159 --> 00:46:20.559
Wow.

00:46:20.800 --> 00:46:29.039
So on July 23rd, 1898, after 63 days of total darkness, someone spotted a faint glow on the horizon.

00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:31.039
Look, boys, it's the sun.

00:46:31.599 --> 00:46:33.199
It was still twilight.

00:46:33.280 --> 00:46:37.039
It was not over the horizon yet, but they saw the glow.

00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:39.760
So if it was still twilight, was this breaking dawn?

00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:41.280
It was breaking dawn.

00:46:41.679 --> 00:46:44.079
I don't remember the other books off the top of my head.

00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:45.840
What are the other books?

00:46:46.800 --> 00:46:49.679
Twilight, Breaking Dawn, New Moon, that's right.

00:46:49.920 --> 00:46:53.119
Um, Breaking Dawn, I think it was the last oh, Eclipse was the third one.

00:46:53.360 --> 00:46:54.239
That's right, okay.

00:46:54.480 --> 00:46:54.800
Yeah.

00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:56.800
I'm sorry I even brought that up to be honest.

00:46:57.039 --> 00:46:57.440
Yeah, I know.

00:46:57.599 --> 00:46:58.079
Rude.

00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:10.639
So the fucking so the uh race to escape was finally on through late 1989.

00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:11.519
Nope.

00:47:11.760 --> 00:47:12.639
1898.

00:47:13.679 --> 00:47:14.480
Dyslexic.

00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:20.239
The Belgica stayed locked in ice despite longer days and slightly warmer temperatures.

00:47:20.480 --> 00:47:25.440
Yeah, the crew um hoped spring would kind of set them free, but the ice wasn't budging.

00:47:25.599 --> 00:47:25.920
Okay.

00:47:26.079 --> 00:47:30.880
The ship drifted like like just with the ice pack.

00:47:31.119 --> 00:47:31.280
Yeah.

00:47:31.519 --> 00:47:32.000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:34.400
And it would bob west with the current.

00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:41.360
Well, you remember you've seen National Treasure in the very beginning when they go look for the um the Charlotte.

00:47:42.480 --> 00:47:47.920
They found it by doing meth and all that stuff and whatever because it was constantly moving.

00:47:48.079 --> 00:47:48.320
Yeah.

00:47:48.480 --> 00:47:50.000
So because it's in the ice, yeah.

00:47:50.159 --> 00:47:51.519
Yeah, so the ice is floating.

00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:53.760
It's not in the ground, it's in ice.

00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:54.400
Exactly.

00:47:54.480 --> 00:47:58.800
So that ice floats and moves and temperature changes and so on.

00:47:58.880 --> 00:48:03.599
So yeah, I mean, it makes sense that they would have been moving with the ice at that point.

00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:04.559
So, okay.

00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:10.719
So sometimes open water would be present, but then it would just shut just as quickly.

00:48:11.039 --> 00:48:11.920
Oh shit, really?

00:48:12.159 --> 00:48:13.760
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:18.400
So they started noticing that there were some puddles of water on top of the ice.

00:48:18.559 --> 00:48:21.119
Oh, but then a cold snap would come through and refresh them.

00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:21.599
Freeze them.

00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:22.400
Okay, gotcha.

00:48:22.719 --> 00:48:26.320
So it was like a roller coaster of hope and disappointment.

00:48:26.559 --> 00:48:27.360
And dismay.

00:48:27.519 --> 00:48:28.159
Yeah.

00:48:28.480 --> 00:48:36.800
So over a year in, the mental strain was starting to break them, even though they're starting to see these glimpses of spring and summer.

00:48:37.199 --> 00:48:39.280
Year in, so they're in August already.

00:48:40.400 --> 00:48:42.719
No, they they left Belgian.

00:48:43.360 --> 00:48:47.119
They got they got um stuck in March.

00:48:47.440 --> 00:48:48.079
Right.

00:48:49.119 --> 00:48:49.760
Right?

00:48:50.800 --> 00:48:51.440
Yeah.

00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:55.199
I mean, they were there before that, they got but then they got stuck.

00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:55.599
Yeah.

00:48:55.760 --> 00:48:58.159
I'm just saying you're year long for the trip.

00:48:58.400 --> 00:48:59.599
Yes, is what I meant.

00:48:59.840 --> 00:49:00.159
I'm sorry.

00:49:00.559 --> 00:49:01.920
Yes, year long for the trip.

00:49:02.079 --> 00:49:02.559
Yeah.

00:49:02.800 --> 00:49:08.960
So November of 1898, one of the toughest men on board, because they haven't been in the ice for a year.

00:49:09.039 --> 00:49:11.119
So yeah, it's when they've left Belgium.

00:49:12.559 --> 00:49:18.000
Um, a Norwegian named Adam Tol Tolfsen began to unravel.

00:49:18.239 --> 00:49:19.039
Oh dear.

00:49:19.280 --> 00:49:27.280
He had been one of the most reliable sailors as he had lots of experience in Arctic seas.

00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:28.000
Okay.

00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:38.320
And Almundsen um noted um that Tolfson was showing very strange symptoms indicative of insanity.

00:49:38.559 --> 00:49:39.280
Oh shit.

00:49:39.599 --> 00:49:44.480
Tolson asked Amundsen one night, are we really on the Belgica?

00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:46.159
Oh boy.

00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:46.559
Yeah.

00:49:46.719 --> 00:49:51.280
Tollofson frowned and confessed that he had no memory of ever boarding the ship.

00:49:51.519 --> 00:50:02.320
And the next day, Tolfson was seen pacing nervously with his eyes like protruding and darting at every noise of the ice cracking.

00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:02.960
Okay.

00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:06.239
And he was starting to get like insane headaches.

00:50:06.559 --> 00:50:07.199
Well, yeah.

00:50:07.519 --> 00:50:11.280
So he started avoiding the rest of the crew, hiding in the dark corners of the ship.

00:50:11.440 --> 00:50:14.800
He refused to sleep in the communal uh places.

00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:15.360
Right.

00:50:15.519 --> 00:50:21.199
Um, he would creep into like a like a freezing hold in the in the in the ship at night.

00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:22.639
Um sounds terrible.

00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:24.559
Yeah, he would sleep with the rats.

00:50:24.719 --> 00:50:25.039
Yeah.

00:50:25.360 --> 00:50:26.320
There are still rats?

00:50:26.719 --> 00:50:27.840
Why didn't they eat those?

00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:30.719
I don't know if they would have caught them.

00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:31.840
There's not much there.

00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:32.960
There's not much meat there.

00:50:33.039 --> 00:50:34.079
Have you seen a rat?

00:50:34.880 --> 00:50:36.480
But less oily.

00:50:36.960 --> 00:50:37.360
Yeah.

00:50:37.760 --> 00:50:39.519
I mean, I'm not saying it would be good.

00:50:39.840 --> 00:50:47.519
Yeah, so Tolfson would flinch in cower as if expecting expecting a blow whenever anyone would approach.

00:50:47.760 --> 00:50:48.239
Oh, really?

00:50:48.480 --> 00:50:48.639
Yeah.

00:50:48.719 --> 00:51:01.679
So Captain Lequant recorded that the man's quote spirit is troubled by delusions of grandeur and mad terrors, noting that Tollifson had become paranoid that others were plotting against him.

00:51:01.920 --> 00:51:02.639
Oh boy.

00:51:03.199 --> 00:51:03.679
Yes.

00:51:03.920 --> 00:51:07.840
Tollofson became fixated on a French word he kept hearing.

00:51:08.320 --> 00:51:08.639
Okay.

00:51:09.119 --> 00:51:10.639
And I'm sorry I'm not French.

00:51:10.880 --> 00:51:11.679
You're definitely not.

00:51:11.920 --> 00:51:13.519
It's written like the word chose.

00:51:14.320 --> 00:51:14.639
Chose?

00:51:15.039 --> 00:51:15.360
Yeah.

00:51:15.679 --> 00:51:15.920
Chose?

00:51:16.559 --> 00:51:16.960
Chose.

00:51:17.360 --> 00:51:17.760
Chosa.

00:51:18.079 --> 00:51:18.559
Something like that.

00:51:18.800 --> 00:51:19.039
Okay.

00:51:19.199 --> 00:51:20.480
And it means thing.

00:51:20.719 --> 00:51:21.119
Thing.

00:51:21.280 --> 00:51:22.559
Like that thing over there.

00:51:22.960 --> 00:51:25.280
Did you ever see the movie The Thing with Kurt Russell?

00:51:25.519 --> 00:51:29.440
It was in the I want to say 82 fuck 82?

00:51:29.840 --> 00:51:30.559
We should watch that.

00:51:30.639 --> 00:51:31.679
It's a really good movie.

00:51:32.159 --> 00:51:36.480
It's actually I I I haven't watched it in years, but it's really good.

00:51:37.199 --> 00:51:37.920
So anyways.

00:51:38.239 --> 00:51:45.920
Tollipson didn't speak French and somehow still convinced himself that the word Chosa meant kill.

00:51:46.800 --> 00:51:47.840
Not thing.

00:51:50.639 --> 00:51:51.440
He didn't know French.

00:51:51.760 --> 00:51:52.480
No, no, no, I know.

00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:53.440
That's my point.

00:51:53.519 --> 00:51:53.920
Oh yeah.

00:51:54.559 --> 00:52:01.760
So every time the crew would say the word, he thought that they were signaling a plan to execute him.

00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:03.920
So they know look at that thing.

00:52:04.079 --> 00:52:04.320
Yeah.

00:52:04.559 --> 00:52:05.119
Oh dear.

00:52:05.440 --> 00:52:09.920
So he took a physic he took to physically lunging at anyone who said choose up.

00:52:10.159 --> 00:52:10.880
Oh, Jesus.

00:52:11.119 --> 00:52:14.079
Attacking them to preempt his imagined murder.

00:52:14.960 --> 00:52:16.320
And it reached the point where Dr.

00:52:16.480 --> 00:52:22.000
Cook and the others had to watch Tollifson constantly in case he would hurt someone else or himself.

00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:23.039
Oh boy.

00:52:23.280 --> 00:52:32.719
Now the only person that Tollison seemed to trust was Jan Van Mirlo, the same um soldier who had suffered his own breakdown earlier.

00:52:32.880 --> 00:52:33.199
Yeah.

00:52:33.440 --> 00:52:41.920
So Van Mirlo, having recovered from his hysterical bout, volunteer volunteered to act as Tollison's caretaker.

00:52:42.239 --> 00:52:46.079
At least he took on that duty because clearly he went through it.

00:52:46.239 --> 00:52:49.360
I don't know what he remembers from it, but hey, I got you, buddy.

00:52:49.519 --> 00:52:49.760
Yeah.

00:52:49.920 --> 00:52:50.239
Okay.

00:52:50.559 --> 00:52:57.599
So um Van Mirlo later recalled that Tolfson's decline truly began after Danko's death back in June.

00:52:57.920 --> 00:52:58.800
Oh, gotcha.

00:52:59.039 --> 00:53:02.719
And that was like a broken spirit in this Norwegian.

00:53:02.960 --> 00:53:03.280
Right.

00:53:03.519 --> 00:53:14.079
So Tollifson would spend hours writing letters to his sweetheart, a woman named Agnes back home pouring out his misery and his parapho paranoid fantasies.

00:53:14.320 --> 00:53:14.719
Sure.

00:53:14.880 --> 00:53:16.960
He had no way to actually send these letters.

00:53:17.199 --> 00:53:17.760
Well, of course.

00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:18.239
Yes.

00:53:18.400 --> 00:53:20.079
But But it's almost kind of like journaling.

00:53:20.159 --> 00:53:21.119
That's it's a good thing.

00:53:21.360 --> 00:53:24.079
Well, he would go out onto the ice and mail them.

00:53:24.320 --> 00:53:24.719
Oh dear.

00:53:24.960 --> 00:53:27.360
He would actually place them in a snow mound.

00:53:27.679 --> 00:53:28.639
Oh dear.

00:53:29.119 --> 00:53:30.480
Thinking it was a mailbox.

00:53:30.559 --> 00:53:32.480
And the crew actually played along.

00:53:32.719 --> 00:53:37.519
They would go out and retrieve the letters and then tell Tollifson that they were on their their way to the side.

00:53:37.760 --> 00:53:38.480
I was just gonna ask.

00:53:38.559 --> 00:53:39.039
Okay, good.

00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:39.599
Yeah.

00:53:39.920 --> 00:53:41.440
So I know, like.

00:53:42.239 --> 00:53:42.960
No, I know.

00:53:43.119 --> 00:53:44.559
It it's it's kind.

00:53:45.039 --> 00:53:45.360
It is.

00:53:45.599 --> 00:53:48.559
I mean, at that point, it's like, yeah, yeah, we'll play along.

00:53:48.719 --> 00:53:48.960
Yeah.

00:53:49.119 --> 00:53:49.199
Okay.

00:53:49.760 --> 00:53:53.599
So Tollifson's condition worsened as November turned to December.

00:53:53.679 --> 00:53:55.440
He stopped speaking altogether.

00:53:55.679 --> 00:53:57.920
His eyes would become vacant.

00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:00.159
Um he wasn't fully there.

00:54:00.400 --> 00:54:00.639
Right.

00:54:00.800 --> 00:54:07.840
The only test that he could do was scrape seal hides, kind of a mindless repetitive work.

00:54:08.159 --> 00:54:08.480
Sure.

00:54:08.719 --> 00:54:11.920
And he did that pretty um ineffectively.

00:54:12.159 --> 00:54:12.480
Okay.

00:54:12.639 --> 00:54:16.159
He would drop the tool and then he would like stare in his face for a while.

00:54:16.320 --> 00:54:16.639
Yeah.

00:54:16.960 --> 00:54:20.559
Um, the others would find him muttering or whimpering in corners.

00:54:20.800 --> 00:54:21.599
Oh dear.

00:54:21.840 --> 00:54:28.559
And again, when anyone would come near, Tolfson cringed and bowed his head as if awaiting like a blow to the head.

00:54:28.880 --> 00:54:29.760
Jesus Christ.

00:54:29.840 --> 00:54:30.239
Yeah.

00:54:30.800 --> 00:54:32.800
Although no one ever No.

00:54:33.599 --> 00:54:33.840
No.

00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:34.320
All right.

00:54:34.400 --> 00:54:34.639
Wow.

00:54:34.880 --> 00:54:35.119
Nope.

00:54:35.199 --> 00:54:36.000
He was just paranoid.

00:54:36.320 --> 00:54:36.639
Sure.

00:54:36.800 --> 00:54:39.119
He was almost going like schizophrenic.

00:54:39.360 --> 00:54:39.679
Yeah.

00:54:39.920 --> 00:54:42.320
I don't know if that's the right word, but you know what I mean.

00:54:42.800 --> 00:54:51.599
By January of 1899, nearly a year trapped in the ice, the Belgica was still sealed in by seven feet of packed ice.

00:54:51.840 --> 00:54:52.639
Holy fuck.

00:54:52.880 --> 00:54:58.239
Summer was slipping away, and if they didn't break free soon, a second winter would most certainly kill them.

00:54:58.639 --> 00:55:03.920
Well I mean, if the winter didn't kill them, they would kill each other at this point.

00:55:04.079 --> 00:55:06.639
So and then there's that mutiny we were talking about.

00:55:07.280 --> 00:55:08.800
Mutiny and the bounty.

00:55:09.119 --> 00:55:15.199
So supplies were low, scurvy was always kind of lurking, um, and desperation was rising.

00:55:15.280 --> 00:55:21.119
Now Degur Gerloche, who was now mostly recovered, met with Cook and Amundsen.

00:55:21.440 --> 00:55:21.599
Okay.

00:55:21.760 --> 00:55:25.039
And they spotted open water maybe half a mile away.

00:55:25.519 --> 00:55:27.840
So they're like, let's break our way to it?

00:55:28.079 --> 00:55:28.239
Yes.

00:55:28.400 --> 00:55:28.639
Okay.

00:55:28.800 --> 00:55:34.480
So Cook prov uh proposed that they carve a canal through the ice by hand all the way to freedom.

00:55:34.639 --> 00:55:35.280
Oh my god.

00:55:35.599 --> 00:55:41.280
Hand saws, pickaxes, chisels, and a little bit of dynamite.

00:55:42.159 --> 00:55:42.960
Oh shit.

00:55:43.280 --> 00:55:48.079
Yes, and they would work under these 24-hour daylights, because it's fully day now.

00:55:48.239 --> 00:55:48.960
Like daylight now.

00:55:49.360 --> 00:55:50.239
Yeah, yep, yep, yep.

00:55:50.400 --> 00:55:55.760
They chipped and blasted through thick, stubborn ice, gaining just a few yards per day.

00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:56.880
Oh boy.

00:55:57.119 --> 00:56:01.599
Now, their unlikely fuel was penguin meat.

00:56:01.840 --> 00:56:03.280
Penguin meat.

00:56:03.920 --> 00:56:05.199
Fuel for the people?

00:56:06.480 --> 00:56:06.719
No.

00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:10.480
Yes, because it was eaten in bulk now.

00:56:10.800 --> 00:56:11.119
Oh.

00:56:12.079 --> 00:56:16.960
And the vitamin C was being provided for them now.

00:56:17.199 --> 00:56:17.519
Yeah.

00:56:17.760 --> 00:56:21.920
And so now they're becoming strong enough to actually dig their way out.

00:56:22.159 --> 00:56:23.039
Oh, okay.

00:56:23.280 --> 00:56:23.679
Yes.

00:56:23.920 --> 00:56:24.480
Gotcha.

00:56:24.639 --> 00:56:32.719
So for leaks weeks the labor continued, and by the end of January 1899, they had sought a channel over a mile long through the ice.

00:56:33.280 --> 00:56:33.519
Three.

00:56:34.400 --> 00:56:36.880
Three feet thick at minimum.

00:56:37.280 --> 00:56:39.760
Like three feet wide or thick.

00:56:39.920 --> 00:56:40.719
Like water.

00:56:41.119 --> 00:56:42.639
No, the ice is three feet.

00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:43.920
Oh my God.

00:56:44.079 --> 00:56:44.400
Yeah.

00:56:44.639 --> 00:56:45.599
Holy balls.

00:56:45.840 --> 00:56:48.719
So with every foot gain, Morel would inch up a little bit.

00:56:48.880 --> 00:56:50.639
They could see the progress.

00:56:50.880 --> 00:56:56.639
The a little dark ribb ribbon of water would extend behind them where there once was solid ice.

00:56:56.880 --> 00:56:58.639
So I don't know if you came across this.

00:56:58.719 --> 00:57:00.320
I apologize if you haven't.

00:57:01.199 --> 00:57:09.519
When they're cutting this channel, whatever you want to call it, were they moving forward as they went with the ship?

00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:10.719
They were.

00:57:10.960 --> 00:57:13.519
So they were cutting at like angles.

00:57:13.760 --> 00:57:14.079
Yeah.

00:57:14.400 --> 00:57:20.960
They would cut at angles and like those would like push out and then would push out and then push out and then push out.

00:57:21.199 --> 00:57:24.079
So the ship would push out or they would push that out.

00:57:24.239 --> 00:57:25.280
I think they would push that out.

00:57:25.519 --> 00:57:31.440
So how did because like I I'm sure I'm just not mentally thinking of this properly.

00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:33.519
Because I've never had to go through this.

00:57:33.679 --> 00:57:34.079
I know.

00:57:34.480 --> 00:57:40.480
But like having that the the the hull of the ship stuck in ice, right?

00:57:40.880 --> 00:57:43.360
You would have to chip that away too, correct?

00:57:43.599 --> 00:57:44.559
You would, yes.

00:57:44.719 --> 00:57:46.960
So like you would have to make it wide enough.

00:57:47.119 --> 00:57:49.679
Not only is it three feet fucking deep of ice.

00:57:50.079 --> 00:57:51.519
So I don't know if you can see this.

00:57:51.760 --> 00:57:52.400
Yeah.

00:57:53.440 --> 00:57:53.760
Okay.

00:57:54.159 --> 00:57:58.000
But that's like what the channel would look like while it's being cut.

00:57:58.239 --> 00:57:58.800
Wow.

00:57:59.039 --> 00:57:59.360
Yeah.

00:57:59.599 --> 00:57:59.920
That's weird.

00:58:00.320 --> 00:58:01.440
Is that on the camera?

00:58:01.760 --> 00:58:02.000
Yeah.

00:58:02.239 --> 00:58:02.639
You can.

00:58:02.960 --> 00:58:08.079
I'll I'll try and zoom in on it when we when we uh get to that point.

00:58:08.239 --> 00:58:11.360
But man, that because if fuck, that would be tough as shit.

00:58:11.519 --> 00:58:11.760
Yeah.

00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:23.199
And you would think they would keep moving the ship as they're doing this, because otherwise it's like, all right, go and do this mile long or however long it was stretch, then we'll move the boat.

00:58:23.360 --> 00:58:24.800
No, keep fucking moving the boat closer.

00:58:25.119 --> 00:58:25.360
Yeah.

00:58:25.519 --> 00:58:27.440
But we're also working with currents here, too.

00:58:27.760 --> 00:58:30.960
Well, right, of course, because the ice is moving, the water's moving.

00:58:31.360 --> 00:58:34.960
I just hit my nose and that was weird.

00:58:35.840 --> 00:58:36.719
I'm sorry.

00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:42.000
But yeah, no, currents, ice, everything is against them at this point.

00:58:42.159 --> 00:58:42.880
So okay.

00:58:43.199 --> 00:58:43.760
Yeah.

00:58:44.239 --> 00:58:44.880
Wow.

00:58:45.440 --> 00:58:51.679
Okay, so just as they would near completion, a sudden shift of winds.

00:58:52.800 --> 00:58:56.480
And current in early February caused the pack ice to press in again.

00:58:57.119 --> 00:58:58.000
Come on.

00:58:58.320 --> 00:59:00.960
And their cut channel had was closed up again.

00:59:01.199 --> 00:59:01.920
Like completely?

00:59:02.559 --> 00:59:03.599
Oh fuck.

00:59:03.840 --> 00:59:04.400
Yes.

00:59:04.719 --> 00:59:05.039
Okay.

00:59:05.920 --> 00:59:08.079
Some men wanted to give up right then and there.

00:59:08.239 --> 00:59:09.360
Well, can you blame them?

00:59:09.440 --> 00:59:09.599
No.

00:59:09.840 --> 00:59:15.519
They literally just spent all this time and energy, even though they're, you know, fueled by fucking penguin meat.

00:59:15.840 --> 00:59:18.400
And then it's like, nope, JK.

00:59:19.039 --> 00:59:19.440
Yeah.

00:59:19.760 --> 00:59:20.400
Wow.

00:59:21.519 --> 00:59:34.800
So one diary entry hinted that they even discussed the possibility of abandoning ship and trying to sled north to safety, but obviously that was a little bit suicidal.

00:59:35.039 --> 00:59:36.000
Well, where would you go?

00:59:36.239 --> 00:59:36.800
Exactly.

00:59:37.039 --> 00:59:39.599
I mean, you yeah, you can go north to the water.

00:59:39.840 --> 00:59:41.599
Belgica was their only lifeline.

00:59:41.840 --> 00:59:43.920
Yeah, because otherwise you're fucked.

00:59:44.079 --> 00:59:47.199
You can't get off this ice continent.

00:59:47.360 --> 00:59:47.599
Yeah.

00:59:47.760 --> 00:59:48.079
Right?

00:59:48.239 --> 00:59:53.440
I mean so they decided we're gonna try again.

00:59:53.760 --> 00:59:54.880
Dynamite.

00:59:56.480 --> 01:00:00.239
They would save the dynamite for really, really thick pieces.

01:00:00.559 --> 01:00:01.760
Sure, makes sense, yeah.

01:00:02.320 --> 01:00:10.880
So they would re-clear the channel, constantly keeping it open by patrolling for new ice formation, and by now it was February, which was the last month of summer.

01:00:11.039 --> 01:00:15.119
Yeah, the weather would soon turn, and any chance of escape would have vanished.

01:00:15.280 --> 01:00:17.119
And like you said, they probably would have died.

01:00:17.440 --> 01:00:17.679
Yes.

01:00:17.840 --> 01:00:18.480
So okay.

01:00:18.639 --> 01:00:24.639
So in the pre-dawn hours of February 15th, 1899, around 2 a.m., it's probably still light out.

01:00:24.719 --> 01:00:25.039
Yep.

01:00:25.280 --> 01:00:28.480
A sailor on watch poked his head above deck and saw something.

01:00:28.719 --> 01:00:29.440
What did he see?

01:00:29.599 --> 01:00:32.000
The channel was finally free of ice.

01:00:32.320 --> 01:00:35.280
Like it just started like just open water just happened.

01:00:35.519 --> 01:00:35.920
Right.

01:00:36.079 --> 01:00:36.719
Yeah.

01:00:37.119 --> 01:00:37.440
Okay.

01:00:37.920 --> 01:00:43.039
The winds or currents had shifted in their favor this time, breaking the last of the barriers.

01:00:43.199 --> 01:00:43.760
Oh wow.

01:00:44.000 --> 01:00:49.519
And Dave uh Gerloche was sleeping in his cabin and was awoken with the good news.

01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:50.800
Like, hey cap.

01:00:51.519 --> 01:00:56.239
Um, for the first time in over a year, since March 2nd of the previous year.

01:00:56.480 --> 01:00:57.679
Oh my god, that's a long time.

01:00:58.000 --> 01:01:01.840
The Belgica's engines were engaged and her propeller began to turn.

01:01:02.079 --> 01:01:03.039
Oh, they actually had engines.

01:01:03.440 --> 01:01:05.920
Was it a coal like that was fueled by coal?

01:01:06.239 --> 01:01:06.400
Okay.

01:01:06.800 --> 01:01:09.119
But they had not run it for a year.

01:01:09.519 --> 01:01:10.639
Almost a year, yeah.

01:01:10.960 --> 01:01:14.639
Slowly the ship shuttered and began to move under her own power.

01:01:14.800 --> 01:01:15.199
Wow.

01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:18.320
Um, gliding into the the channel of water.

01:01:18.639 --> 01:01:24.960
It took them nearly a month to actually escape the pack.

01:01:25.280 --> 01:01:26.239
Holy shit.

01:01:26.320 --> 01:01:31.119
So they're already like mid-March, later a little bit past mid-March.

01:01:31.360 --> 01:01:32.400
Oh my God.

01:01:32.800 --> 01:01:38.960
The channel would start to close up behind them, and at times they had to stop and recut or wait wait for another breakup.

01:01:39.199 --> 01:01:39.679
Jesus.

01:01:39.920 --> 01:01:44.239
They inched along, covering only seven miles in those weeks.

01:01:44.800 --> 01:01:45.920
God, that sucks.

01:01:46.880 --> 01:01:51.360
Men were stationed at the bow with long poles to push like stray flows away.

01:01:51.519 --> 01:01:52.159
Yep, yep, yep.

01:01:52.320 --> 01:01:57.920
They navigated pressure ridges and dense flow fields, and finally they pushed forward through the ice.

01:01:58.079 --> 01:02:05.760
And then at last, on March 14th of 1899, they sighted clear, open ocean ahead.

01:02:05.920 --> 01:02:11.760
The Belgica broke into free water and left the last of the flows behind them.

01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:18.000
They were finally clear of the ice pack exactly 13 months after becoming trapped.

01:02:18.320 --> 01:02:22.880
Do you think when they're going through they're like free at last, free at last?

01:02:23.119 --> 01:02:24.480
I don't remember the quote.

01:02:24.880 --> 01:02:25.679
Blah, blah, blah.

01:02:25.840 --> 01:02:26.480
We're free at last.

01:02:26.800 --> 01:02:27.119
I don't remember.

01:02:27.360 --> 01:02:28.559
I don't know what that is.

01:02:28.880 --> 01:02:30.960
I'll have to look that up because I see don't.

01:02:32.800 --> 01:02:33.440
I hate it.

01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:34.880
Excuse you.

01:02:35.679 --> 01:02:36.639
Jesus.

01:02:37.360 --> 01:02:42.000
So Wow, so 13 months trapped in the ice.

01:02:42.239 --> 01:02:42.719
Yes.

01:02:43.039 --> 01:02:44.000
Holy fuck.

01:02:44.239 --> 01:02:46.239
They had saved it themselves.

01:02:46.880 --> 01:02:49.679
Their ordeal was essentially over.

01:02:49.840 --> 01:02:54.079
Like, well, no additional hiccups on the way home.

01:02:54.320 --> 01:02:54.719
None?

01:02:54.960 --> 01:02:55.280
No.

01:02:56.159 --> 01:02:59.039
So they had all those hiccups on the way out.

01:02:59.199 --> 01:03:01.039
They lost a guy early on.

01:03:01.199 --> 01:03:03.519
They got frozen in the fucking ice for 13 months.

01:03:03.679 --> 01:03:05.039
Like, smooth sailing, boys.

01:03:05.519 --> 01:03:06.239
What the fuck?

01:03:06.559 --> 01:03:07.199
The Belgic.

01:03:07.599 --> 01:03:14.079
So the Belgica um almost obviously the overnight, the mood instantly arose and everything.

01:03:14.400 --> 01:03:15.039
Obviously.

01:03:15.199 --> 01:03:15.840
Yeah.

01:03:17.760 --> 01:03:21.679
It would still be many months before they like saw home.

01:03:22.639 --> 01:03:27.760
But it was it was happy and it was light and it wasn't entrapment.

01:03:28.079 --> 01:03:30.320
They're like, We got this, boys.

01:03:30.559 --> 01:03:30.800
Yeah.

01:03:30.960 --> 01:03:31.280
Yeah.

01:03:31.599 --> 01:03:35.440
So they stopped at Punta Arenas, Chile.

01:03:35.920 --> 01:03:38.239
And the locals, this is where they started from.

01:03:38.480 --> 01:03:39.199
That's right, yes.

01:03:39.360 --> 01:03:39.599
Okay.

01:03:39.760 --> 01:03:42.960
So the locals were like, oh shit, we thought you guys were dead.

01:03:43.599 --> 01:03:44.800
Holy crap.

01:03:45.199 --> 01:03:46.159
You're still alive?

01:03:46.400 --> 01:03:46.639
Yeah.

01:03:46.719 --> 01:03:56.639
So Roald Amundsen and two other Norwegian crew members jumped off there and ended up catching like a male boat back to Europe.

01:03:56.880 --> 01:03:58.639
I'm sure they were like, get me out of this ship.

01:03:58.800 --> 01:03:59.920
Is that full of men?

01:04:00.239 --> 01:04:01.280
A male boat?

01:04:01.519 --> 01:04:02.159
Yeah.

01:04:03.760 --> 01:04:05.679
Well, they're probably like, get me out of this ship.

01:04:05.840 --> 01:04:06.400
I don't care.

01:04:06.719 --> 01:04:08.320
I would have hopped on the female boat.

01:04:08.480 --> 01:04:08.800
Well.

01:04:09.119 --> 01:04:09.679
Anyways.

01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:20.320
So the rest returned home on the Belgica, arriving in Antwerp, Belgium, on November 5th, 1899, over two years after they had left.

01:04:20.880 --> 01:04:22.079
November 5th.

01:04:22.239 --> 01:04:25.119
So remember, remember the 5th of Antwerp.

01:04:25.519 --> 01:04:30.639
Um so Jesus, two years and just under three months.

01:04:31.440 --> 01:04:32.880
Holy fuck.

01:04:33.119 --> 01:04:33.440
Yes.

01:04:33.679 --> 01:04:36.800
And it's honestly everything you've said.

01:04:38.000 --> 01:04:39.039
That's it.

01:04:40.159 --> 01:04:46.159
You know, it feels like it should have been like fucking seven years that they were gone, but holy crap.

01:04:46.480 --> 01:04:59.280
So their welcome was full of brass bands and church bells and speeches and decorations, and every crew member received the order of Leopold, um, which was uh an honor, I guess.

01:04:59.519 --> 01:05:00.400
It was like a high honor.

01:05:00.639 --> 01:05:01.119
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:05:01.360 --> 01:05:06.159
Their names were etched into Antwerp's book of heroes.

01:05:06.320 --> 01:05:06.559
I don't know.

01:05:06.880 --> 01:05:07.760
Of Antwerp's.

01:05:09.039 --> 01:05:16.880
Um, excuse me, they were pioneers who brought scientific glory to a young nation.

01:05:17.039 --> 01:05:32.000
So they um collected a lot of meteorologic, um, meteorological meteorological, scientific data, magnetic data, I don't know if I got it right, biological data, all of that.

01:05:32.320 --> 01:05:32.800
Right.

01:05:33.039 --> 01:05:39.920
Um, most of the men regained their physical strength, but the psychology, the psychological effects kind of lingered on.

01:05:40.079 --> 01:05:42.400
Um I'd be shocked if they fucking didn't.

01:05:42.639 --> 01:05:43.679
Tollifson.

01:05:43.920 --> 01:05:48.079
The one that went crazy, he was institutionalized after returning home.

01:05:48.320 --> 01:05:49.199
Oh shit, really?

01:05:49.519 --> 01:05:51.039
He couldn't even make it through.

01:05:51.280 --> 01:05:53.039
Some others died young.

01:05:53.199 --> 01:05:54.400
Um, that's sad.

01:05:54.880 --> 01:05:59.760
Deja Losh um faced quite criticism for leading this.

01:06:00.159 --> 01:06:01.119
Into the ice in the first place.

01:06:01.440 --> 01:06:02.000
That's the captain.

01:06:02.719 --> 01:06:04.480
For some reason, I'm like, that's first mate.

01:06:04.559 --> 01:06:05.440
No, that's the captain.

01:06:05.519 --> 01:06:05.679
Okay.

01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:08.639
Well, he wanted to spend a winter.

01:06:08.880 --> 01:06:09.199
Yeah.

01:06:09.679 --> 01:06:14.239
I feel I still feel like that's not accurate, but I obviously don't know.

01:06:15.280 --> 01:06:16.400
So Amundsen.

01:06:17.920 --> 01:06:19.039
That's the first mate.

01:06:20.719 --> 01:06:21.119
Yes.

01:06:21.360 --> 01:06:23.760
He was the one that was a veteran from the Arctic.

01:06:23.920 --> 01:06:24.159
Yes.

01:06:24.320 --> 01:06:24.880
Yeah.

01:06:25.199 --> 01:06:29.280
So he found out that fresh meat prevents scurvy.

01:06:29.519 --> 01:06:30.000
Yes.

01:06:30.239 --> 01:06:34.000
Um, he went to the South Pole in 1911.

01:06:34.239 --> 01:06:34.559
Oh.

01:06:34.800 --> 01:06:37.280
So South Pole was different than where they were.

01:06:37.519 --> 01:06:37.840
Right.

01:06:38.000 --> 01:06:40.239
They were on the edge of the island.

01:06:40.400 --> 01:06:43.440
South Pole is like 800 plus miles inland.

01:06:43.920 --> 01:06:45.599
It's the bottom of the earth.

01:06:45.840 --> 01:06:46.480
It is the bottom of the earth.

01:06:46.559 --> 01:06:47.119
What year did you say?

01:06:47.199 --> 01:06:47.679
1911?

01:06:47.920 --> 01:06:48.559
1911.

01:06:48.800 --> 01:06:50.880
Oh, that's when Reagan was born.

01:06:51.039 --> 01:06:51.119
Oh.

01:06:51.599 --> 01:06:52.559
Baba Venga.

01:06:52.880 --> 01:06:53.519
Um, Dr.

01:06:53.599 --> 01:06:56.079
Frederick Cook, the savior.

01:06:57.519 --> 01:06:59.280
Is that what's on his tombstone?

01:06:59.840 --> 01:07:01.039
Oh, I'm sure.

01:07:01.519 --> 01:07:05.360
But he was the one that was credited with feeding and treating and rallying the crew.

01:07:05.599 --> 01:07:11.039
Well, he he made the captain be like, dude, yeah, you gotta Wow, I did not mean to hit that.

01:07:11.199 --> 01:07:12.320
You gotta do this, dude.

01:07:12.400 --> 01:07:12.559
Yeah.

01:07:12.800 --> 01:07:14.320
Because look at your gums.

01:07:14.639 --> 01:07:17.519
I can see your fucking roots of your teeth for the love of God.

01:07:17.599 --> 01:07:18.880
You're bleeding, your joints are.

01:07:19.360 --> 01:07:21.280
Some of their teeth just came out all together.

01:07:21.679 --> 01:07:22.559
I'm sure they did.

01:07:22.719 --> 01:07:28.400
So he, if it wasn't for Cook, they would have been cooked.

01:07:29.119 --> 01:07:30.239
Sorry, I couldn't resist.

01:07:30.320 --> 01:07:30.719
I'm sorry.

01:07:30.800 --> 01:07:32.719
That was really bad, and I intended it to be.

01:07:32.960 --> 01:07:44.079
So anyways, the polar madness, the phrase polar madness started gaining um traction because of the b uh this Belgica.

01:07:44.239 --> 01:07:44.559
Yeah.

01:07:45.119 --> 01:07:46.800
Future expeditions took note.

01:07:46.960 --> 01:07:50.239
There were better crews, fresher food, more structured routines.

01:07:50.800 --> 01:07:51.679
Less scurvy.

01:07:52.880 --> 01:08:07.599
The men were hailed as heroes, but carry memories like Emile Danko's death, um, the endless nights, the crewmates unraveling, and this had seen like the limits of sanity survival and had survived all of this.

01:08:07.920 --> 01:08:08.480
That's crazy.

01:08:08.719 --> 01:08:12.559
Now, at the very beginning, you had mentioned that you think you've heard of this story.

01:08:12.719 --> 01:08:14.480
Is that the story that you've heard?

01:08:14.800 --> 01:08:16.000
Not exactly.

01:08:16.319 --> 01:08:29.439
So the Belgica's legacy is huge because it was the first overwinter expedition, but it's often overshadowed by Ernest Shackleton's endurance expedition.

01:08:29.680 --> 01:08:32.399
That might be the one in 1914 to 1917.

01:08:32.640 --> 01:08:32.960
Okay.

01:08:33.279 --> 01:08:35.119
So that might be the one I'm thinking of.

01:08:35.279 --> 01:08:35.520
Yeah.

01:08:35.680 --> 01:08:39.119
So um he set out to cross Antarctica via the South Pole.

01:08:39.199 --> 01:08:39.439
Yeah.

01:08:39.600 --> 01:08:45.920
His ship, the Endurance, got trapped and eventually crushed by pack ice before they even reached the continent.

01:08:46.079 --> 01:08:46.319
Right.

01:08:46.479 --> 01:09:02.000
And stranded with no way forward, Shackleton led his 27-man crew through an a survival saga, camping on ice flows, sailing lifeboats across brutal seas, and eventually hiking across South Georgia Island to get help.

01:09:02.239 --> 01:09:05.039
Miraculously, not a single man died.

01:09:05.359 --> 01:09:06.079
That's crazy.

01:09:06.239 --> 01:09:06.479
Yes.

01:09:06.720 --> 01:09:07.760
Maybe that's what I was thinking of.

01:09:08.159 --> 01:09:12.640
Many, yeah, many people who know of an Antarctica explorer is it's about the endurance.

01:09:13.439 --> 01:09:13.680
Okay.

01:09:13.840 --> 01:09:19.600
Maybe that's what I was thinking of, but I mean, obviously, similarities, but not the same, but okay.

01:09:20.000 --> 01:09:26.239
Um all this information is in the Madhouse at the end of the Earth book, and this is by Julian Sancton.

01:09:26.399 --> 01:09:26.800
Nice.

01:09:27.039 --> 01:09:32.640
And um there are pictures in here as well, and I will put some of them up on our YouTube channel.

01:09:32.880 --> 01:09:33.600
Awesome.

01:09:33.840 --> 01:09:35.680
Yeah, so how was your beer?

01:09:36.000 --> 01:09:37.439
All three of them are delicious.

01:09:37.680 --> 01:09:39.279
I really like the grapefruit one.

01:09:39.520 --> 01:09:43.359
So you had said it's pretty grapefruity early on.

01:09:43.439 --> 01:09:46.000
How is it now that you've had you've even opened the second one?

01:09:46.239 --> 01:09:48.000
It's not as like pow in your face.

01:09:48.159 --> 01:09:48.479
Okay.

01:09:48.640 --> 01:09:49.680
It's definitely subtle now.

01:09:49.920 --> 01:09:54.800
So it was oh shoffen hype.

01:09:55.840 --> 01:09:57.199
I don't remember the goddamn name.

01:09:57.359 --> 01:09:57.760
Fuck.

01:09:57.840 --> 01:10:00.479
It's also an import.

01:10:01.920 --> 01:10:03.680
I pointed it out when we bought this.

01:10:03.840 --> 01:10:05.279
The bottles, whatever.

01:10:05.439 --> 01:10:08.319
And then we also have obviously the Domingo.

01:10:08.960 --> 01:10:09.920
What's your favorite?

01:10:10.159 --> 01:10:13.920
Oh, I probably couldn't tell you without one, two, three there to try.

01:10:14.319 --> 01:10:15.279
Domingo, but alright.

01:10:15.520 --> 01:10:15.600
Yeah.

01:10:15.760 --> 01:10:16.239
I hope that's the same.

01:10:16.960 --> 01:10:18.000
Domingo's the right answer.

01:10:18.239 --> 01:10:18.720
Yeah.

01:10:19.039 --> 01:10:19.600
Anyways.

01:10:19.760 --> 01:10:21.760
No, um, I've had.

01:10:22.880 --> 01:10:26.319
As you know, I'm not as big of a lager fan.

01:10:26.560 --> 01:10:29.520
Uh the pills was better than I expected.

01:10:29.680 --> 01:10:30.960
I've never had that one.

01:10:31.199 --> 01:10:36.960
I have had the Munich Lager, the Munchner lager, better than I remember.

01:10:37.119 --> 01:10:40.720
And the Heffy Not as good as I remember.

01:10:41.279 --> 01:10:44.239
I don't know if it's because if it's in a can, not on tap or something or other.

01:10:44.399 --> 01:10:44.560
Yeah.

01:10:44.720 --> 01:10:45.760
I'm not saying it's bad.

01:10:45.920 --> 01:10:46.239
Yeah.

01:10:46.479 --> 01:10:49.119
But like meh meh.

01:10:49.359 --> 01:10:50.560
But I like the others.

01:10:50.800 --> 01:10:53.439
I think you're gonna like the other two, so we'll have you try those as well.

01:10:54.000 --> 01:10:54.560
Sounds good.

01:10:54.800 --> 01:10:56.079
Well, I suppose.

01:10:56.399 --> 01:10:57.439
Alright, buffoons.

01:10:57.520 --> 01:10:58.800
That's it for today's episode.

01:10:59.119 --> 01:11:03.199
Buckle up because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you next time.

01:11:03.439 --> 01:11:05.600
Feeling hungry for more buffoonery?

01:11:05.760 --> 01:11:10.560
Or maybe you have a burning question or a wild historical theory for us to explore?

01:11:10.800 --> 01:11:12.159
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01:11:12.319 --> 01:11:17.039
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01:11:17.199 --> 01:11:21.520
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01:11:21.600 --> 01:11:24.640
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01:11:24.800 --> 01:11:29.520
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01:11:29.760 --> 01:11:33.039
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01:11:33.279 --> 01:11:35.920
Remember, the buffoonery never stops.