Darwin - The Voyage of the Beagle

I have stated in the preface to the first Edition of this work,and in the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, that it was inconsequence of a wish expressed by Captain Fitz Roy, of havingsome scientific person on board, accompanied by an offer fromhim of giving up part of his own accommodations, that Ivolunteered my services, which received, through the kindness ofthe hydrographer, Captain Beaufort, the sanction of the Lords ofthe Admiralty. As I feel that the opportunities which I enjoyedof studying the Natural History of the different countries wevisited, have been wholly due to Captain Fitz Roy, I hope I mayhere be permitted to repeat my expression of gratitude to him;and to add that, during the five years we were together, Ireceived from him the most cordial friendship and steadyassistance. Both to Captain Fitz Roy and to all the Officers ofthe Beagle I shall ever feel most thankful for theundeviating kindness with which I was treated during our longvoyage.

This volume contains, in the form of a Journal, a history ofour voyage, and a sketch of those observations in Natural Historyand Geology, which I think will possess some interest for thegeneral reader. I have in this edition largely condensed andcorrected some parts, and have added a little to others, in orderto render the volume more fitted for popular reading; but I trustthat naturalists will remember, that they must refer for detailsto the larger publications which comprise the scientific resultsof the Expedition. The Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagleincludes an account of the Fossil Mammalia, by Professor Owen;of the Living Mammalia, by Mr. Waterhouse; of the Birds, byMr. Gould; of the Fish, by the Rev. L. Jenyns; and of theReptiles, by Mr. Bell. I have appended to the descriptions ofeach species an account of its habits and range. These works,which I owe to the high talents and disinterested zeal of theabove distinguished authors, could not have been undertaken, hadit not been for the liberality of the Lords Commissioners of HerMajesty's Treasury, who, through the representation of the RightHonourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been pleasedto grant a sum of one thousand pounds towards defraying partof the expenses of publication.

I have myself published separate volumes on the 'Structureand Distribution of Coral Reefs;' on the 'Volcanic Islandsvisited during the Voyage of the Beagle;' and on the 'Geologyof South America.' The sixth volume of the 'GeologicalTransactions' contains two papers of mine on the ErraticBoulders and Volcanic Phenomena of South America. Messrs.Waterhouse, Walker, Newman, and White, have published severalable papers on the Insects which were collected, and I trustthat many others will hereafter follow. The plants from thesouthern parts of America will be given by Dr. J. Hooker, inhis great work on the Botany of the Southern Hemisphere. TheFlora of the Galapagos Archipelago is the subject of a separatememoir by him, in the 'Linnean Transactions.' The ReverendProfessor Henslow has published a list of the plants collectedby me at the Keeling Islands; and the Reverend J. M. Berkeleyhas described my cryptogamic plants.

I shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the great assistancewhich I have received from several other naturalists, in thecourse of this and my other works; but I must be here allowedto return my most sincere thanks to the Reverend ProfessorHenslow, who, when I was an undergraduate at Cambridge, wasone chief means of giving me a taste for Natural History, who, during my absence, took charge of the collections I senthome, and by his correspondence directed my endeavours, andwho, since my return, has constantly rendered me everyassistance which the kindest friend could offer.

DOWN, BROMLEY, KENT,June 9, 1845

Porto Praya Ribeira Grande Atmospheric Dust withInfusoria Habits of a Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish St.Paul's Rocks, non-volcanic Singular Incrustations Insects the first Colonists of Islands Fernando Noronha Bahia Burnished Rocks Habits of a Diodon PelagicConfervae and Infusoria Causes of discoloured Sea.

AFTER having been twice driven back by heavy southwesterngales, Her Majesty's ship Beagle, a ten-gunbrig, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R. N.,sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 1831. Theobject of the expedition was to complete the survey ofPatagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commenced under Captain Kingin 1826 to 1830, to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, andof some islands in the Pacific and to carry a chain ofchronometrical measurements round the World. On the 6thof January we reached Teneriffe, but were prevented landing,by fears of our bringing the cholera: the next morningwe saw the sun rise behind the rugged outline of the GrandCanary island, and suddenly illuminate the Peak of Teneriffe,whilst the lower parts were veiled in fleecy clouds. Thiswas the first of many delightful days never to be forgotten.On the 16th of January, 1832, we anchored at Porto Praya,in St. Jago, the chief island of the Cape de Verd archipelago.

The neighbourhood of Porto Praya, viewed from the sea,wears a desolate aspect. The volcanic fires of a past age,and the scorching heat of a tropical sun, have in most placesrendered the soil unfit for vegetation. The country rises insuccessive steps of table-land, interspersed with some truncateconical hills, and the horizon is bounded by an irregularchain of more lofty mountains. The scene, as beheld throughthe hazy atmosphere of this climate, is one of great interest;if, indeed, a person, fresh from sea, and who has justwalked, for the first time, in a grove of cocoa-nut trees, canbe a judge of anything but his own happiness. The islandwould generally be considered as very uninteresting, but toanyone accustomed only to an English landscape, the novelaspect of an utterly sterile land possesses a grandeur whichmore vegetation might spoil. A single green leaf canscarcely be discovered over wide tracts of the lava plains;yet flocks of goats, together with a few cows, contrive toexist. It rains very seldom, but during a short portion ofthe year heavy torrents fall, and immediately afterwards alight vegetation springs out of every crevice. This soonwithers; and upon such naturally formed hay the animalslive. It had not now rained for an entire year. When theisland was discovered, the immediate neighbourhood ofPorto Praya was clothed with trees, the recklessdestruction of which has caused here, as at St. Helena, andat some of the Canary islands, almost entire sterility. Thebroad, flat-bottomed valleys, many of which serve during afew days only in the season as water-courses, are clothedwith thickets of leafless bushes. Few living creatures inhabitthese valleys. The commonest bird is a kingfisher (DaceloIagoensis), which tamely sits on the branches of the castor-oil plant, and thence darts on grasshoppers and lizards. Itis brightly coloured, but not so beautiful as the Europeanspecies: in its flight, manners, and place of habitation,which is generally in the driest valley, there is also a widedifference.