Amundsen continued in his own relentless quest for experience, so next he volunteered to participate without pay, on a Belgian expedition to the Antarctic, which set sail in 1897. The Belgians at the time were not exactly what you would call a seafaring people, but in the colonial scramble for Africa they had done quite well to carve out a chunk of the Congo and with the sudden interest in Antarctica, they felt it was only fair that the Belgian flag should number among those laying claim to the frozen southern continent. So it was that an expedition quickly materialised – an eclectic, poorly thought out hodge-podge of scholars and sailors, drawn from a number of European countries. It might have seemed a romantic multi-national venture at the time, but few of the party had any arctic experience – save for a couple of Norwegian Sailors and the ships surgeon – American doctor, Frederick Cook. Now Dr Cook was a font of knowledge on the arctic, having accompanied Mathew Peary on his unsuccessful attempt at crossing Greenland in eighteen ninety two. But despite their failure, the two Americans later spent a great deal of time with the Inuit, learning about their clothing, transportation and most importantly, diet. You see, the good doctor was a thinker well ahead of his time. Vitamins, as I’ve mentioned, had yet to be discovered, but he was quick to realise that fresh meat – in particular offal (or internal organs) seemed to stave off the onset of scurvy in the eskimo- who were generally in excellent health, in an environment that European explorers were becoming sick in, and advocated the consumption of seal meat to supplement the diet of explorers. Amundsen knew a master when he saw one, and stuck to him like glue the two becoming close friends. The little Belgian boat eventually wound its way south past Cape Horn and entered dangerous Antarctic waters. The dodgy charts they possessed failed to prevent a near wreckage on a reef, and a sailor had been knocked overboard and lost in a storm. Despite this ominous start, miraculously they got through, and inched their way south into uncharted waters, discovering a passage that would eventually be named after the Captain – De Gerlache Sound. The team of resident scientists eagerly swarmed over islands and rock formations, dragging and man-hauling sleds over the icy crevasses and slippery slopes, collecting samples, all the time lumping heavy equipment ill-suited to the terrain, as they began surveying the newly discovered coastline. Amundsen saw first-hand the exhaustion and inefficiency of this method of transport, and was appalled at the waste of time and resources. While the scholars were busy doing their thing, he and Cook would take this idle time to ski and explore their surrounds, discussing their clothing, the environment, snow quality and comparison with the Arctic, half a world away. Indeed, Amundsen is credited with being the first ever to ski on Antarctica, and noted in his journal how easily he travelled compared to Cook, who was trudging laboriously on snow shoes. But his seal-skin clothing, and reindeer fur hood seemed to be much more comfortable than the gear Amundsen was wearing. He needed to learn more. The Captain had grand plans of navigating a third of the entire continent, but time was against him so he hatched the plan of overwintering there by getting his ship frozen in the ice and drifting south, mirroring what Nansen had done in the north just a short couple of years ago. The trouble was, that they had neither the supplies, nor the equipment to do so, and worse still, none of the crew had signed up for that. No preparation whatsoever – physical let alone psychological – had been made to select participants for such an isolated, dangerous and lonely undertaking in near darkness; so when he intentionally manoeuvred the ship into an ice flow which made the outcome inevitable, a terrible anxiety gripped the crew, which, as the months now dragged on became worsened by the spectre of scurvy that soon appeared. #bélgica #belgica #expedition #amundsen #degerlache #antarctica #antarctique #frederickcook #robertpeary #exploration You can watch the full video on Amundsen: The Quiet Conqueror of the Polar Regions here: https://youtu.be/RFVnzRTc84U If you enjoy my content, leave your suggestions and comments below, and please consider making a donation via PayPal or sign up as a Patreon supporter to help me continue making these unfunded educational videos: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4D958V58PAVDU https://www.patreon.com/heroesandlegends https://buymeacoffee.com/infoQh For resources, links to my other videos, merchandise, the latest social media posts and podcast links, please visit my Heroes and Legends Website: www.heroesandlegends.com.au ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeG_IBDfcmM

The Knights Hospitaller (Kinghts of St John of Jerusalem) and their defence of Rhodes in 1480 and 1522 cemented their reputation as ferocious defenders of Christendom, even after most other military had become obsolete or defunct. Their tenacious battle against the Ottoman empire gained them the respect of their enemies, and eventually a negotiated truce and honourable withdrawal from the Island. The hard learned lessons on Rhodes would go a long way to serve them in their later fortification of Malta, where they would become legendary for their unyielding resistance against overwhelming odds. This excerpt is part of a longer video on the Hospitallers, which you can view in its entirety here: https://youtu.be/wc-5BHm6ynI #knights #hospitallers #crusades #ottoman #christian #rhodes If you enjoy my content, leave your suggestions and comments below, and please consider making a donation via PayPal or sign up as a Patreon supporter to help me continue making these unfunded educational videos: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4D958V58PAVDU https://www.patreon.com/heroesandlegends https://buymeacoffee.com/infoQh For resources, links to my other videos, merchandise, the latest social media posts and podcast links, please visit my Heroes and Legends Website: www.heroesandlegends.com.au ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2L-a4DTu2Q