I have read quite a few books on the Belgica Antarctic Expedition (1897-1899) and have taken extensive notes. It's surprising for me to find that each book I read, adds more details to the story of this expedition. Even after having read the books written by De Gerlache, Cook and Amundsen, as well as a few secondary sources on this expedition, this book written by second-in-command Georges Lecointe, adds more details that were yet unknown to me. As an example, Lecointe unveils that one night he nearly shot Frederik Cook show was sleeping out on the sea-ice, mistaking his fellow-explorer for a seal. Lecointe ended up deciding not to shoot the seal because he would have missed the astronomical observation that was important for the determination of their latitude. I was also surprised to read Lecointe slept with 160 cartridges of the explosive tonite in his bed, to avoid them of being frozen. There are quite a few of these funny details that Lecointe writes about.

Lecointe's acount of the expedition reads like a Tintin story. He tends to describe their achievements, especially his own, as quite heroic. They were all gentlement in Antarctica, a continent about which very little was known at that time. The men were all very young and inexperienced. Only Amundsen and Cook had polar experience. Most scientist and sailors suffered from physical (scurvy) and mental (halucinations) issues during the long Antarctic winter: the cold, the damp, the monotony and the lack of varied food had not been experienced before. But despite their hardships. these young men managed to return home.

The overall scan quality is sufficient, but the printing in my hardcopy of this book is much clearer. It's convenient to have an electronic copy of this book. In the PDF I downloaded I thought page 338 was missing, but somehow pages 338 and 339 are inversed, so 339 comes before 338.

The book is worth reading if you're into (early) exploration of Antarctica. For those who do not read French, Erskine Press has published an English translation of this book titled 'In The Land Of The Penguins - An account of the Voyage of the Belgica'.