All Aboard The Beagle!

Darwins voyage on the Beagle was a key turning point in his life, as he acknowledges in his Autobiography: The yoyage of the Beagle has been by far the most important event in my life, and has determined my whole career. Such is the importance of the Beagle voyage in the history of science it is remarkable now to look back at how it came about, and how very close it came to not happening! Getting On Board

Darwin had been geologising in Wales with one of his Cambridge mentors Adam Sedgwick in the summer of 1831. He came home to a letter from his great friend John Henslow. The letter contained exciting news; Capt. Robert FitzRoy was seeking a young naturalist to accompany him on a two year voyage to survey the coast of South America. Darwin was full of stories of the great Victorian travelling Naturalists, such as Alexander Von Humbolt, and was immediately keen to accept. Unfortunately for him his father, fearful that the voyage would be a distracting waste of time, squashed his dreams, unless that is he could find any man of common-sense who advises you to go. Deflated, Charles wrote declining the offer and went to the Wedgewoods estate to take out his disappointment on the local birds. But he carried with him a letter from his father to Uncle Jos asking what he made of the Beagle offer. Jos was much more in favour of the trip, thinking it an ideal opportunity for a man of enlarged curiosity such as Charles. Together they rushed back to Shrewsbury and persuaded Dr. Darwin of the trip's merits, who promised all the assistance in my powers. The trip was on. It turned out though that the offer had been misconstrued to Charles. The position had in fact been turned down by two of Darwins Cambridge crowd and at this stage Darwin was still

second choice to a friend of Capt. FitzRoy. On hearing he was still just a back up, Charles was again crushed and had entirely given it up. But his luck carried; FitzRoy called Darwin to visit him in London, his friend had refused. Despite FitzRoys fears that Charless nose signified a lack of energy and determination, Charles was offered the place. Darwin was back on the Beagle. The Beagle & Its Crew

The British Admiralty had begun surveying the South American coast in the 1820s: it was of great importance to the empire which was competing with Spain and the United States for the bounty of natural resources. The Beagles brief was to continue the task of mapping coastlines and sounding out harbours and channels. Darwins role was to be a private naturalist. He would have to pay his own way (or rather his father would) but would dine and socialise with the captain. FitzRoy had sought such a companion as he feared the isolation of command at sea would be costly. TheBeagles previous captain had shot himself while surveying in South America, FitzRoys family had a history of depression and his uncle has slit his own throat (a path FitzRoy himself would follow many years later). FitzRoy actually landed the job in as haphazard a way as Darwin gained his own place aboard. On a previous trip to Tierra del Fuego FitzRoy had captured some Fuegians. As an evangelical experiment he decided to bring them to England to teach them English... the plainer truths of Christianity and the use of common tools (they were named Fuegia Basket, York Minster and Jemmy Button). This done he sought to take them back as missionaries, but unable to find a ship to do so he was on the verge of setting sail at his own cost when his uncle persuaded the Admiralty to give him captaincy of the Beagle. The Beagle itself was a small vessel, only 90 feet long and 24 feet wide. She was being refitted for the journey when Darwin first set foot on board. He was stunned by how small it was, with only two cabins; the larger was to be Charles lodgings the poop cabin. It was 10 feet by 11 feet and home to a large chart table, he would have rights to a wall of drawers and the ships

library. He was to share it with the assistant surveyor John Lort Stokes (19) and possibly with the young Midshipman, Philip King (14). Charles would sleep in a hammock rigged up over the chart table. A cramped place to call home for what would turn out to be 5 years. Back To The Beagle Darwin packed his allotted space with clothes, books, scientific equipment and taxidermy tools and rushed around between relatives and friends saying farewell, and expert scientist picking up tips and advice on collecting and cataloguing specimens. He was all set to go, but was frustrated by the weather as the launch date was repeatedly pushed back. Finally on the 27th December the gales subsided and FitzRoy bellowed to his crew to hoist sails and weigh anchor. Hurling Across The Atlantic After almost two months of delays and several false starts they were off, Darwins great voyage had begun. He immediately succumbed to sea sickness, which was to plague him for the whole of the journey. He could keep nothing down and had to remain horizontal for the first weeks. He lay, miserable, in his hammock re-reading travel books and doubting whether he had made the right decision to join the voyage. Soon though, as the ship neared Tenerife, he was up and about and eager to get ashore. He had previously tried to arrange a trip to the island, but it fell through just before the Beagle letter arrived. He had read much about its flora and fauna, but was not to see it. On arrival the Beagle was ordered to be quarantined for 12 days due to a cholera outbreak and FitzRoy would not wait. The Seeds Of Gradualism

They pressed on. Darwin, keen to impress his shipmates set about doing what he thought a ships naturalist should do. He engineered a plankton net out of cloth and dragged it behind the ship, collecting and examining thousands of little creatures exquisite in their forms and rich colours. When not playing with his plankton, or riddled with seasickness Charles settled in to Lyells Principles of Geology. It was to be a most influential book, a gift from Henslow it

differed greatly from the cataclysmic geology of his Cambridge Professors, arguing that the earth is shaped over eons by the slow processes which we can observe today. It was his first lesson in gradualism. He didnt wait long to put it into practice either. On 16th January the Beagle docked at St. Jago, an island 300 miles off the African coast. While the crew set about their charts Darwin relished in the exotic plants and animals and set about collecting as much as he could. What struck him most however was a white layer of compressed shells and corals 30 feet above sea level. For Darwin, it confirmed the truth of Lyells new geology this rock was formed in the sea, but had been gradually raised to its current position. From here on Darwin viewed the earth and its processes in terms of gradual processes, culminating over millions of years; a pivotal development in his thinking. The Beagle set sail on 8th February and headed for the equator, Darwin laid flat most days with seasickness felt like he was being stewed in warm melted butter. Two weeks later they crossed the equator and reached St. Pauls Rocks where Charles was subject to the traditional initiation ceremony to mark his first crossing of the equator. He was brought before FitzRoy, dressed as Father Neptune (Greek God of the Sea), was blindfolded, tossed into a sail full of water and smothered in paint. Darwin was now in the southern hemisphere, heading for South America. A Chaos Of Delight

With Humbolts glorious descriptions of his South American voyage lingering heavily in his thoughts, Darwin could not wait to land. When, on 28th February he first set foot on Brazilian soil at Bahia his mind was a chaos of delight. The Beagle worked its way round the coast of South America over the next 3 years; 3 years which showed Darwin many wonders of nature, and many curiosities of men. But they started with a bang. Darwin was appalled at seeing how black slaves were treated by their owners; he always believed slavery to be evil. FitzRoy however was less troubled by it, and during one argument his temper (which was, as Darwin put it an unfortunate one) boiled over

and Darwin felt obliged to leave the ship. Thankfully the other officers explained FitzRoys penchant for over reacting and sure enough FitzRoy quickly apologised. From Bahia they sailed south towards Rio de Janeiro, where Charles rode hundreds of miles inland, into virgin rainforest, with some other British travellers. Here, in the thick jungle with all its millions of species, he was living a dream; in his diary he writes of being overcome by the beauty of nature, feeling a sublime devotion to her ways; Delight is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest to a person fond of natural history, such a day as this, brings with it a deeper pleasure than he ever can hope to experience again. He returned to Rio, and the Beagle set off back to Bahia to check its figures. Darwin stayed put, renting a cottage in Botafogo Bay and throwing himself into his work. He shot, trapped and preserved plant and animal specimens, took geological samples and made endless notes describing animal behaviour and what he saw: his first monkeys, parrots, hummingbirds and lizards. But amongst all this, Charles was captured by the undergrowth, flatworms and beetles, spiders, wasps and caterpillars. Writing home to Henslow he warned tell Entomologists to look out and have their pens ready for describing. When the Beagle returned it brought sad news, three of the crew had died and the surgeonnaturalist Robert McCormick had quit; peeved at the preference the captain and crew gave to Darwins collecting over his. Darwin was now the official naturalist, and doing a thorough job.

Onward And Downwards

Continuing on into the winter they landed at Montevideo, on the way treated to luminescent micro-organisms and lightning storms. In Montevideo the Beaglewas called upon to quell an insurrection against the local troops, Darwin joined the 52-man brigade in retaking the castle and town. Here he sent back to Cambridge the first of many crates of samples for inspection and further description. He was desperate that they were well received, but would hear little news on the matter for months to come. Moving south the ship arrived in Bahia Blanca. Worried about his reputation at home he discovered the French collector Alcide dOrbigny had been in the area for months , fearing all the notable specimens had been collected already he nonetheless scoured the land for fossils. What he found would make his name known in England; he discovered huge skulls of giant ground sloths calledMegatherium, cow size armadillos called Glyptodons, gigantic guinea pig like animals (the size of rhinoceroses) called Toxodonsand many other extinct fauna. These giant fossils were his most prized finds, they played a large part in getting his name known amongst scientists. They were also important for his intellectual development; Darwin was intrigued why the fossils he found in an area seemed so similar to the living animals there now. Why were fossils of giant sloths only found in regions where sloths live now? To help him find out he didnt just collect fossils but took detailed notes of the sediment they were buried in, trying to reconstruct the environment in which these giants lived. He also found fossils of horse teeth in the ancient rocks, yet no horses existed in the Americas that had not been brought there by westerners. Darwin was faced with the problems of extinction and species replacement, and thinking about his own solutions. Round The Bend

The journey continued to the most southerly part of South America; Teirra del Fuego. It was here that Darwin met his first wild, native Fuegians. They greatly intrigued Darwin and confirmed his

Victorian views of civilised man; how entire the difference between savage and civilised man is - it is greater than a wild and domesticated animal I believe if the world was searched, no lower grade of man could be found. But against this he looked at FitzRoys civilized natives these savage men could be civilised so what was the difference? Darwin was beginning to think about even people with a naturalists eye. The ship dropped off the missionary and FitzRoys Fuegians and continued on its way to the Falkland Islands. Darwin was not impressed with this cold and boisterous land but continued collecting and noting everything he saw. FitzRoy bought a second ship and the party sailed back North to Maldonado (near Buenos Aires) for it to be refitted. Here was Charles chance to explore the interior; equipped with guides he rode off into the endless green hills of the continent. He watched flocks of rheas and was intrigued by their sexual habits; the male incubates and protects the eggs and young of a multiple of females. On his return after 2 weeks and 200miles on horseback he continued collecting en masse. Any species he saw he would sample, enlisting the help of the local boys and hiring the Beagles oddjob man Syms Covington from FitzRoy as his assistant. Darwins exuberant collecting and note taking wasnt going unnoticed; the crew nicknamed him the philosopher and he was regarded by the captain as a very superior young man. Another crate of specimens went off to Cambridge and the Beagle and its newly equipped sister ship the Adventure set sail to Patagones. Rheas & Giants

At Patagones, Darwin left the ship to ride overland to their next scheduled stop. With permission from General Rosas (a striking Gaucho who captained an army which led a war of extermination against the Indians) he had free passage. He rode and naturalised by day, and at night slept under the stars, ate game he hunted, smoked cigars and drank Matte with his Gaucho companions. He struck upon another great fossil find; the complete skeleton of a horse-size anteater. Convington and Darwin lugged it back to Bahia to be collected by the ship but quickly set off again, riding 400 miles to Buenos Aires. The next leg of the journey took the two ships south down the Patagonian coast, calling in at Port Desire. Charles heard of a small species of rhea which dOrbigny had failed to obtain. Thinking he saw a chance to out manoeuvre the Frenchman Charles set about tracking the bird desperate to

triumph where dOrbigny failed. But, after a great deal of effort he too had no luck. That was until after one meal, cooked and prepared by a local gaucho, he realised he had just eaten one! He quickly rescued the head, neck, legs, one wing, and a few feathers'. Darwins luck was in, with his giant fossils and miniature rhea, his specimens would be well received at home. The rheas, like the giant fossils, also made a contribution to Darwins thinking. He was curious as to why the two rhea species, so similar but quite distinct, were found so close together both endemic to South America. Yet their ranges did not overlap. It seemed a strange thing for a creator to do! The environment did not seem to differ in their different ranges. Around this time they also picked up mail, Charles finally heard back from Henslow; his giant fossils were the talk of British science Darwin was on every scientists mind. He was exuberant; his collecting was going well, he was making a name for himself among respected men and was contributing to science. The Earth Shook

The Beagle continued its mission mapping the coastline and Darwin continued his, detailing the natural world around him. It was now 1835, they had been away for 4 years. But there were still wonders to see, including a volcanic eruption at Mount Osorno and, dramatically, an earthquake in Valdivia. Darwin had been resting on the floor of a forest when the quake started; it was so strong he couldnt stand. After two minutes of tremors, Charles rushed back to port where he took in the devastation and pondered the consequences of such a quake occurring in busy London. 200 miles north at Concepcion the devastation was worse still, the town resembling an ancient ruin. But amidst the chaos, Darwin kept his naturalist hat on and observed beds of muscles lifted above sea level by the earthquake the land had risen, here was the process. If the land rose a few feet in one earthquake, perhaps thousands of earthquakes over vast stretches of time had pushed up the great Andes! Later Darwin found muscle beds hundreds of feet of above sea level. Lyell had been right, the earth was shaped by gradual forces over millions of years. Darwin had seen the proof of this, and it was to have great bearing on his thoughts.

In spring 1835, Darwin trekked 13,000 feet up into the peaks of the Andes. He was overwhelmed at the views he saw, but even at this altitude he collected, pocketing fossil sea shells from the snow covered rock. They continued on through the Andes and discovered yet more fossil treasures; a petrified forest at 7,000 feet and enough other specimens to fill two crates. The voyage lurched on to Lima, Peru where still more beautiful sights awaited. This time it was the tapadas the local women that caught Darwins eye. They were more worth looking at than all the churches and buildings in Lima. The delicate politics of Peru left Darwin confined to the city for safety, and unable to collect he wrote up his geological notes on gradualism and fired letters home. Then came the end of the South American adventure, late summer saw them leaving across the Pacific heading for the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos The Galapagos holds a special place in the history of evolution, but the story of how the islands wildlife influenced Darwins thought is often misconstrued. Many people imagine the young Charles Darwin bounding off the Beagle, taking a good look at the animals and plants of the islands and suddenly leaping to an understanding of the process of Natural Selection. This isnt true, there was no Eureka! moment. It wasnt until after some hard work, by Darwin and other biologists he employed to help with theBeagle specimens, that he realised what he had observed. What Really Happened On The Galapagos?

The Galapagos islands sit 600 miles west of South America, on the equator. There are ten main islands, and some smaller ones, all formed from a volcanic rock called basalt. Darwin arrived on the 15th September 1835, the Beagle landing on Chatham Island. Over the next 5 weeks the crew passed through a number of Islands, Darwin doing his thing: collecting specimens, making notes and thinking about what he observed. The most famous fauna of the islands of course are the iguanas, giant tortoises and finches. On Charles Island, their second stop, Darwin was told by the local prisoners that each island had its own peculiar tortoise. These are huge beasts weighing up to and over 90kg, big enough for

Charles and others to ride like a horse, and the staple meat for the islanders and visitors alike. They seemed to live an age as well; he was informed that the old ones seem generally to die from accidents, as from falling down precipices and dead animals were never found without an evident cause. Darwin though let this local wisdom pass him by, thinking at the time that the tortoises were originally imported by man. Likewise he seemed little impressed by the iguanas, not realising these disgusting clumsy Lizards were unique to the island chain. But he observed their habits closely and his Journal of Researcheshas some lovely stories of what he saw: I watched one for a long time, till half its body was buried; I then walked up and pulled it by the tail; at this it was greatly astonished, and soon shuffled up to see what was the matter; and then stared me in the face, as much as to say, What made you pull my tail? The Finches That Dont Flinch

He also initially missed the evolutionary clues hidden in the Finches, finding them very hard to tell apart indeed he was not even aware that they were all finches at all the different species flock together when eating and drinking. He was more interested in how tame they were; they had obviously only recently encountered man, and didnt yet have the instinctive fear for people. Charles found he could even prod them with his gun and many would still sit still.

The mocking birds caught Darwins eye. He noticed that some of these were different on different islands, but also all similar to mocking birds of the mainland, and collected specimens from each island, labelling them separately. Although he collected many finches, unlike his usual thoroughness, he didnt label them by island. Fortunately for his later studies, FitzRoy and Syms Covington were keeping more meticulous records. On the final island they visited a local told Charles that many of the plants and trees, just like the tortoises, were uniq ue on each island

you can imagine he felt pretty disappointed with his poor labelling as after leaving the islands he seems to have put two and two together each variety (of mocking bird) is constant in its own island. This is a parallel fact to the one mentioned about the Tortoises. But still the significance of this find didnt sink in; he wrote in a later edition his Journal: I never dreaned that islands, abouty fifty or sixty miles apart, and most of them in sight of each other, formed of precisely the same rocks, placed under a similar climate, rising to a nearly equal height, would have been differently tenanted As the Beagle set sail for Tahiti, the crew ate their fill of tortoise meat, disposing of their shells overboard. On Second Thoughts

It was not until the Beagle returned to England, and Darwin set about sorting his specimens, that he figured things out. He needed help to classify all his many specimens and these experts often spotted what Darwin missed. From them he learned that each island had its own finch species. The iguanas too came in more than one form; there was a marine and a land iguana that were unique in the world. Darwin managed to decipher the marine iguanas unique ecology from his observations, correctly concluding (without ever witnessing) that they feed on seaweed at the bottom of the sea around the coast. Joseph Hooker confirmed much of the Galapagos plant life was unique to the island chain, and many species unique to individual islands. And then there were the birds. Their sorting was offered to John Gould. Gould concluded that, what Darwin thought were varieties of mockingbirds and finches were in fact individual species! After calling in Covingtons and FitzRoys more carefully labelled specimens he could see that each island had its own unique species, some endemic to particular islands, all with unique bill shapes and sizes. Darwin concluded in his Journal: Seeing this gradation and diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group of birds, one might really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified for different ends.

So much for species being fixed entities! Why so many closely related species, with highly similar ecologies? And why did they bare a wider similarity to South American Species? Darwin was beginning to formulate the answers. Coming Full Circle After years of naturalising with almost bottomless energy Darwin and the Beaglewere on their way home. But they still had a long way to go Polynesia The Beagle had turned its back on South America, mission complete, and was now beginning the voyage home. The 3200 mile journey to the Polynesian islands took only 3 weeks. Despite their natural beauty Darwin, now quite homesick, found them uninteresting. Although he enjoyed the tropical luxuriance and some long treks in the volcanic peaks, collecting samples and specimens as always, it seems the islands inhabitants that most caught his eye were the people. He noted their appearance; the women shaved the tops of their heads, why? it is the fashion & that is answer enough at Tahiti as well as Paris Darwin concluded. He was most impressed though by the response of the islanders to missionaries. It was part of Britains expanding empire to send out religious young men to educate and civilise native peoples. Darwin, with his Anglican upbringing, felt they were doing a splendid job in turning the reportedly savage locals to a more British way of life. He wrote then that the state of morality & religion is highly creditable and would in later years regularly give money to help fund the education work of missionaries. Down Under

Their next ports of call were New Zealand and Australia, where Darwin was again impressed by the missionaries and the local natives. Meeting with a group of aborigines, he was shown how to

throw boomerangs, fighting sticks and other aspects of the Aborigines tr aditions. In Australia, compared to his endless energy in South America, Darwin achieved little. Perhaps now longing for home his usual productivity dropped and much of his time was spent either being shocked by the rough ex-cons or dining with wealthy upstarts. Although Darwin would, many years later, make enquires as to the opportunities available for gentlemen in Australia at this time he was little impressed. As the Beagle left the Australian coast for the last time, Darwin penned in his diary: Farewell Australia, you are a rising in fact & doubtless someday will reign a great princess in the South; but you are too great an ambitious for affection, yet not great enough for respect; I leave your shores without sorrow or regret. The Beagle made a few further stops on the long trip home, most notably at the Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, where Darwin took the opportunity to study coral reefs. He would later write up his notes on corals and publish them as a book. His theory on how coral islands formed replaced then accepted alternatives and has since been proved to be wholly correct; this was Darwins first theoretical triumph! And Home... The Beagle landed back in England on 2nd October 1836. Darwin immediately set off for his family home, getting there at night; he found his family asleep and did not wake them. Next morning, oblivious to Darwins return his family were having breakfast; in walked a young man who had seen much of the world but whom they had not seen for 5 years. No doubt he had changed in appearance greatly, as his father remarked: Why, the shape of his head is quite altered. Darwin was not long home before he was back to work, sorting his specimens and arranging for them to be sent off to experts. He was pleasantly surprised too to find out that in his absence his old mentor John Henslow had been championing his name as a young, up-and-coming scientist and had published extracts of many of his letters and details of specimens Darwin had sent home. Thanks to this Darwins name was already known on his return and so he could begin editing his notes and diaries for publication, and digesting the lessons he had learned from his voyages.