The Belgica & Beyond


amateur translations, scans, & assorted research by m.w.
actively under construction.

WRITTEN FROM THE BELGICA 1897-1899

  1. Racovitza’s cartoons 
  2. Racovitza’s shipboard diary
  3. Racovitza’s letters home
  4. Lecointe’s meeting notes

CORRESPONDENCE

  1. before
  2. after

    NEWS OF THE BELGICA 1896-1900

    1. coverage in the Belgian press, translated
    2. coverage in the British press
    3. coverage in the American press
    4. scientific lectures, translated
    5. list of Expedition publications
      6.        a) Lecointe on Danco’s contributions

    QUELQUES EXPÉDITIONS SUIVANTES

    1. de Gerlache & Charcot (the Français)
    2. de Gerlache & the Duke of Orléans (the Belgica in the Arctic)
    3. the failed Second Belgian Antarctic Expedition (Arctowski & Lecointe)
    4. the successful Second Belgian Antarctic Expedition (Gaston de Gerlache)
    5.  the Royal Belgian Observatory
    6. Georges Lecointe’s 20th Century

      MARRIAGES & OTHER LIFE EVENTS

      1. Lecointe Family
      2. Arctowski
      3. de Gerlache
      4. Racovitza
      5. van Mirlo
      6. van Rysselberghe

      ASSORTED BELGICA RESOURCES

      1. bibliography
      2. associated persons
      3. contemporary photographs


      the sailors of the Belgica performing a “starlight concert” on Sept. 26, 1897, from Johan Koren’s diary

      contact: packloafertranslations@gmail.com

      “plants and animals”


      Racovitza‘s full list of Selk’nam translations as published in the 1998 compilation edited by Alexandru Marinescu and translated by m.w. Raco’s vocabulary list was a mix of Spanish, French, and Portuguese words, with Latin terminology in brackets that seem to have been added by Marinescu. Some of these words were misspelled, some outdated, and some an interesting mixture of both. I decided to reproduce Raco’s list here with his misspellings and lack of specification intact, with italics indicating his use of non-French words in his diary. In the rightmost column I’ve provided the American English common name for these things, if it exists, with a link to the Wikipedia pages of the less common species. In many cases, I was only able to identify the plant or animal based on Marinescu’s Latin. 

      Racovitza was writing phonetically. If you’re interested in accurate translations, here is an updated Selk’nam dictionary and a present-day Selk’nam foundation. At the bottom of the page are my footnotes on Racovitza’s misspellings of borrowed words.

      Please contact me with any recommendations or corrections to scientific/locality-specific terminology, or any questions you have about this page.
      Racovitza’s word

      guanaco
      cururu1
      poux
      caballo
      ovejas
      vacos2
      veau
      toro
      boeuf
      gallina
      gallo
      gai-ken
      perro
      sorsales4
      cygne
      baleine
      lobos (1)
      lobos (2)
      zorro
      pato
      petit poisson (pejerry5)
      grand poisson (ropal6)
      mosquitos
      dauphin
      ibis
      roble
      leña dura
      calafate
      mata negra
      pasto
      piedro
      kelp
      agerillo7
      Voluta
      Murex
      moule
      Patella
      carrancho8
      sierra
      colline
      plaine
      plage
      mer
      eau douce
      forêt
      allons dans le forêt
      Racovitza’s Selk’nam

      hyowen
      apen
      haapen
      k’morrilé
      kmehh
      khosch-côt
      khosch-côt-koy
      khosch côt-kâhon
      khosch-côt kareikkhen
      ô-ô-ô
      ô-ô-ô kâhen
      hââr
      wish’ne
      khoolsch
      khômén
      otsche
      khore
      khpey
      ouâsch
      haâto
      tâpie
      hôrwn
      tè-al
      kâper’l
      kore-kheick
      wintchei
      haïko
      khore
      khôôr
      thaoué
      yar
      kam
      awen pemer-e-maches
      awen-kha
      tscha-witres
      tscham
      schioï
      khar-kaï
      kheoïe
      thei
      there’itcheïk
      tschawr
      khockhk
      tschach
      hereschk
      kaïn on herêschk
      American English

      guanaco
      tuco-tuco
      louse
      horse
      sheep
      cows
      calf
      bull
      ox
      hen
      rooster
      a species of sheldgoose
      dog3
      thrushes (probably austral)
      swan
      whale
      sea lion
      fur seal
      culpeo or Andean zorro
      duck
      pejerrey 
      Patagonian blennie
      mosquitos
      dolphin
      ibis
      beech
      hard log mayten
      Magellan barberry
      mata verde or fachine
      grass
      stone
      kelp
      littleleaf sumac
      sea snails
      rock snails
      mussel
      limpets
      crested caracara
      mountain 
      hill
      plain
      beach
      sea
      fresh water
      forest
      [we] go in the forest


      1. The cururu is a type of toad that lives in a completely different part of South America, but the Latin name Marinescu gives here is for the tuco-tuco rodent Raco’s mentioned a few times.

      2. Should be vacas, the Portuguese for cows.

      3. The dictionary lists two Selk’nam words for “dog.” I believe the one Racovitza listed might be the term for the Fuegian dog, a species that was entirely exterminated by colonists within the next 20 years specifically because it had been domesticated and bred by the Selk’nam people.

      4. Should be zorzales.

      5. Should be pejerrey.

      5. I believe this be róbalo, the Spanish for sea bass, but Marinescu provided Eleginops maclovinus as the Latin name, so the species may have been specified after Raco’s time.

      6. I believe Raco was trying to write agritos.

      7. Should be carancho. Marinescu provided Caracara plancus.


      At the time of the Belgica’s visit, the Reverend Thomas Bridges had been working on a dictionary of the Selk’nam language for a few decades. Dr. Frederick Cook offered to have the dictionary published in the U.S., and on his return from Antarctica, finding the Reverend had died, he acquired the notes from the Reverend’s son. And attempted to publish them as his own. He did so through the Royal Observatory of Belgium, presumably with the assistance of Georges Lecointe, who had become its director. The Bridges family eventually contacted the Observatory. Further information about this dictionary’s journey can be found in this digitzed version of the family’s 1998 edition of the Reverend’s work.