Maggs Bros.

“The exploration of the Antarctic regions is the greatest piece of geographical exploration still to be undertaken… this work should be undertaken before the close of the century” (resolution of the Sixth International Geographical Congress, 1895). Belgium rose to the challenge and announced an Antarctic expedition under the command of Adrien de Gerlach, with Amundsen serving as an unpaid officer, and Dr. Fredrick Cook, who had been with Peary on his 1892 expedition to Greenland, as ship’s doctor. Despite problems with scurvy during the Antarctic winter, the expedition produced a wealth of scientific information including the first complete meterological records for a full year.