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Plymouth, England
At 22, Charles 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.' -
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.' -
Crossing the equator
'We have crossed the equator, and I have undergone the disagreeable operation of being shaved...the constable blindfolded me and thus led along, buckets of water were thundered all around; I was then placed on a plank, which could be easily tilted up into a large bath of water...The whole ship was a shower bath.' Captain Fitzroy writes: 'The disagreeable practice alluded to has been permitted in most ships...and though many condemn it as...absurd and dangerous..., it has also many advocates.' -
Salvador, Brazil
Darwin explores Brazilian rainforests for the first time. 'Here I first saw a tropical rainforest 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 plant, the beauty of the flowers.' -
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.' -
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. -
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. -
Rio Negro, Argentina
Darwin explores the fertile lowland areas, known as Pampas, with the local people of 'gauchos'. 'There is high enjoyment in the independence of the gaucho life-to be able at any moment to pull up [your] horse.' -
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Chiloe Island, Chile
Darwin sees Mount Osorno erupt while on the island of Chiloe 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.' -
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Galapagos Islands
Darwin finds many species unique to the Galapagos Islands, but they seem related to mainland species. He was fascinated by the "immense Galapagos tortoises. The marine iguanas were distinctive. No other iguana swims or feeds in the ocean. Animals such as the blue-footed booby and Sally lightfoot crab did not follow the normal coloring of species on the islands, and had bright coloring. He was stunned to learn that all the birds he studied were finches, since he thought they were different. -
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.' -
Cococ Island(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 the world.' -
Mauritius
'I took a quiet 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,' observed Darwin. -
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.' -
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.' -
Falmouth, England
'I reach 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!