Charles Darwin's Voyage on the Beagle

By Ana-Aly Ravji*
  • Period: to

    December 27,1831 Plymouth,England

    Charles Darwin, aged 22, embarks on the HMS Beagle voyage as the ship captain's assistant. 'The misery I endured from seasickness is far beyond what I ever guessed at.'

  • February 1832-Crossing the equator

    'We have crossed the Equator and I have undergone the revolting operation of being shaved the police blindfolded me and thus lead along,buckets of water were thundered everywhere;I was then put on a plank,which could be easily moved up into a large bath of water.The whole ship was a bath.'Captain FitzRoy writes:'The dreadful practice hinted has been permitted in most ships because allowed by time,and though many disapprove it as an absurd and dangerous place of folly,it has also many advocates.'

  • January 1832-Cape Verde Islands

    Darwin is exhilarated by his first observations. 'It then first dawned on me that I might perhaps write a book on the geology of the various countries visited, and this made me thrill with delight."

  • February 1832-Salvador,Brazil

    Darwin explores Brazilian rainforests for the first time. 'Here I first saw a tropical forest in all its sublime grandeur I never experienced such intense delight.' He is enraptured by the experience:' I have been wandering by myself in a Brazilian forest: amongst the multitude,it is hard to say what set of objects are most striking;the general luxuriance of the vegetation bears the victory,the elegance of the grasses,the novelty of the parasitical plants,the beauty of the flowers.'

  • September 1832-Punta Alta,Argentina

    Darwin is intrigued by the giant fossils he sees.' I have been wonderfully lucky with fossil bones. Some of the animals must have been of great dimensions! I am almost sure that many of them are quite new.'

  • December 1832-Tierra del Fuego,Argentina

    Captain Robert FitzRoy repatriates three native people he had brought to England on a previous voyage.FitzRoy attempts to start a Christian mission, which fails disastrously.

  • March 1833-Falkland Islands

    Darwin finds the barren, windswept Falkland Islands 'desolate and wretched.' But he perks up when he cracks open some 'primitive-looking rocks' and finds fossils. The Falklands were full of brachiopods two-shelled animals once among the most abundant organisms on Earth.

  • August 1833-Rio Negro,Argentina

    Darwin explores the fertile lowland areas, known as Pampas, with the local people or 'gauchos'.There is high enjoyment in the independence of the gaucho life to be able at any moment to pull up your horse.'

  • January-February 1835-Chiloé Island,Chile

    Darwin sees Mount Osorno erupt while on the island of Chiloé and experiences the earthquake in the woods near Valdivia. Seeing the aftermath of the earthquake affected him tremendously.' I believe this earthquake has done more in degrading or lessening the size of the island, than 100 years of ordinary wear and tear.'

  • September-October 1835-Galapagos Islands

    Darwin finds many species of plants,birds,and tortoises unique to the Galapagos Islands,but they seem mysteriously related to mainland species.He is particularly fascinated and amused by the 'immense' Galapagos tortoises.The tortoises were very large.
    Of the many iguanas,Darwin observes in the Galapagos Islands,the marine iguana is especially distinctive: No other iguana swims or feeds in the ocean.Intrigued,Darwin opens the stomachs of several and finds seaweed!

  • January 1836-Sydney,Australia

    On arrival in Sydney Cove,Darwin's first feeling was 'to congratulate myself that I was born an Englishman it is a fine town.'
    Marvelling at marsupials, Darwin wonders why there is a completely different set of mammals in Australia.

  • April 1836-Cocos Islands(Keeling Islands)

    Darwin studies coral reefs growing around islands to test his theory of atoll formation. 'I am glad we have visited these islands; such formations surely rank high amongst the wonderful objects of this world.'

  • May 1836-Mauritius

    'I took a quiet walk along the sea coast to the north of the town; the plain is there quite uncultivated, consisting of a field of black lava smoothed over with coarse grass and bushes, the greater part of which are mimosas,' observes Darwin.

  • June 1836-Cape Town,South Africa

    'The first object in Cape Town which strikes the eye of a stranger is the number of bullock wagons I have as yet not mentioned the well known Table Mountain; this great mass of horizontally stratified sandstone rises quite close behind the town to a height of 3,500 feet.'

  • August 1836-Bahia and Pernambuco,South America

    In the jungles of South America, Darwin discovers many incredible creatures. However, both homesick and seasick, he is dismayed when the Beagle makes an unscheduled detour to make additional longitude measurements.' This zig-zag manner of proceeding is very grievous I loathe, I abhor the sea and all ships which sail on it.'

  • October 2,1836-Falmouth,England

    'I reached home late last night. My head is quite confused with so much delight.'
    The Beagle ship was only 27m(90 feet) long and carried 74 people, and 22 clocks, in very close quarters!