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Journal of
Researches
into the
Natural History and Geology
of the
countries visited during the voyage
round the world of H.M.S. Beagle
under
the command of Captain
Fitz Roy, R.N.
By
Charles Darwin, M.A.,
F.R.S.
AUTHOR
OF ‘ORIGIN OF SPECIES,’ ETC.
A new
edition
with
illustrations by R. T.
Pritchett
of places visited and objects described.
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1890
TO
CHARLES LYELL, ESQ.,
F.R.S.
This
second edition is dedicated with grateful pleasure, as an
acknowledgment that
the chief part of whatever scientific merit this journal and the other
works of
the author may possess, has been derived from studying the well-known
and
admirable
PRINCIPLES
OF GEOLOGY.
PREFATORY
NOTICE TO THE
ILLUSTRATED EDITION.
This work was described, on its
first appearance, by
a writer in the Quarterly Review as “One of the
most interesting
narratives of voyaging that it has fallen to our lot to take up, and
one which
must always occupy a distinguished place in the history of scientific
navigation."
This prophecy has been amply
verified by experience;
the extraordinary minuteness and accuracy of Mr. Darwin’s observations,
combined with the charm and simplicity of his descriptions, have
ensured the
popularity of this book with all classes of readers — and that
popularity has
even increased in recent years. No attempt, however, has hitherto been
made to
produce an illustrated edition of this valuable work: numberless places
and
objects are mentioned and described, but the difficulty of obtaining
authentic
and original representations of them drawn for the purpose has never
been
overcome until now.
Most of the views given in this
work are from
sketches made on the spot by Mr. Pritchett, with Mr. Darwin’s book by
his side.
Some few of the others are taken from engravings which Mr. Darwin had
himself
selected for their interest as illustrating his voyage, and which have
been
kindly lent by his son.
Mr. Pritchett’s name is well
known in connection with
the voyages of the Sunbeam and Wanderer,
and it is believed
that the illustrations, which have been chosen and verified with the
utmost
care and pains, will greatly add to the value and interest of the
“VOYAGE OF A
NATURALIST.”
JOHN
MURRAY.
Dec. 1889.
AUTHOR’S
PREFACE.
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
in consequence of a wish expressed by Captain Fitz Roy, of having some
scientific person on board, accompanied by an offer from him of giving
up part
of his own accommodations, that I volunteered my services, which
received,
through the kindness of the hydrographer, Captain Beaufort, the
sanction of the
Lords of the Admiralty. As I feel that the opportunities which I
enjoyed of
studying the Natural History of the different countries we visited have
been
wholly due to Captain Fitz Roy, I hope I may here be permitted to
repeat my
expression of gratitude to him; and to add that, during the five years
we were
together, I received from him the most cordial friendship and steady
assistance. Both to Captain Fitz Roy and to all the Officers of the Beagle1
I shall ever feel most thankful for the undeviating kindness with which
I was
treated during our long voyage.
This volume contains, in the
form of a Journal, a
history of our voyage, and a sketch of those observations in Natural
History
and Geology, which I think will possess some interest for the general
reader. I
have in this edition largely condensed and corrected some parts, and
have added
a little to others, in order to render the volume more fitted for
popular reading;
but I trust that naturalists will remember that they must refer for
details to
the larger publications which comprise the scientific results of the
Expedition. The Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle
includes an
account of the Fossil Mammalia, by Professor Owen; of the Living
Mammalia, by
Mr. Waterhouse; of the Birds, by Mr. Gould; of the Fish, by the
Reverend L.
Jenyns; and of the Reptiles, by Mr. Bell. I have appended to the
descriptions
of each species an account of its habits and range. These works, which
I owe to
the high talents and disinterested zeal of the above distinguished
authors,
could not have been undertaken had it not been for the liberality of
the Lords
Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, who, through the
representation of the
Right Honourable the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been pleased to
grant a
sum of one thousand pounds towards defraying part of the expenses of
publication.
I have myself published separate
volumes on the Structure
and Distribution of Coral Reefs; on the Volcanic
Islands visited
during the Voyage of the Beagle; and on the Geology
of South America.
The sixth volume of the Geological Transactions
contains two papers of
mine on the Erratic Boulders and Volcanic Phenomena of South America.
Messrs.
Waterhouse, Walker, Newman, and White, have published several able
papers on
the Insects which were collected, and I trust that many others will
hereafter
follow. The plants from the southern parts of America will be given by
Dr. J.
Hooker, in his great work on the Botany of the Southern Hemisphere. The
Flora
of the Galapagos Archipelago is the subject of a separate memoir by
him, in the
Linnean Transactions. The Reverend Professor
Henslow has published a
list of the plants collected by me at the Keeling Islands; and the
Reverend J.
M. Berkeley has described my cryptogamic plants.
I
shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the great assistance which I
have
received from several other naturalists in the course of this and my
other
works; but I must be here allowed to return my most sincere thanks to
the
Reverend Professor Henslow, who, when I was an undergraduate at
Cambridge, was
one chief means of giving me a taste for Natural History, — who, during
my
absence, took charge of the collections I sent home, and by his
correspondence
directed my endeavours, — and who, since my return, has constantly
rendered me
every assistance which the kindest friend could offer.
DOWN, BROMLEY,
KENT,
June 1845.
1. I must take this
opportunity of returning my sincere thanks to Mr. Bynoe, the surgeon of
the Beagle,
for his very kind attention to me when I was ill at Valparaiso.
Porto Praya — Ribeira
Grande — Atmospheric Dust with Infusoria — 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 — Pelagic
Confervæ and Infusoria — Causes of discoloured Sea.
Rio de Janeiro — Excursion
north of Cape Frio — Great Evaporation — Slavery — Botofogo Bay — Terrestrial
Planariae — Clouds on the Corcovado — Heavy Rain — Musical
Frogs — Phosphorescent
insects — Elater, springing powers of — Blue Haze — Noise made by a
Butterfly — Entomology — Ants — Wasp killing a Spider — Parasitical
Spider — Artifices of
an Epeira — Gregarious Spider — Spider with an unsymmetrical web.
Monte
Video — Maldonado — Excursion to R. Polanco — Lazo and
Bolas — Partridges — Absence of
trees — Deer — Capybara, or River Hog — Tucutuco — Molothrus, cuckoo-like
habits — Tyrant-flycatcher — Mocking-bird — Carrion Hawks — Tubes formed by
lightning — House struck.
Rio Negro — Estancias
attacked by the Indians — Salt-Lakes — Flamingoes — R. Negro to R.
Colorado — Sacred
Tree — Patagonian Hare — Indian Families — General Rosas — Proceed to Bahia
Blanca — Sand
Dunes — Negro Lieutenant — Bahia Blanca — Saline incrustations — Punta
Alta — Zorillo.
Bahia
Blanca — Geology — Numerous gigantic extinct Quadrupeds — Recent
Extinction — Longevity
of Species — Large Animals do not require a luxuriant vegetation — Southern
Africa — Siberian Fossils — Two Species of Ostrich — Habits of
Oven-bird — Armadilloes — Venomous Snake, Toad, Lizard — Hybernation of
Animals — Habits of Sea-Pen — Indian Wars and
Massacres — Arrowhead — Antiquarian
Relic.
Set out for Buenos
Ayres — Rio Sauce — Sierra Ventana — Third Posta — Driving
Horses — Bolas — Partridges and
Foxes — Features of the country — Long-legged
Plover — Teru-tero — Hail-storm — Natural
enclosures in the Sierra Tapalguen — Flesh of Puma — Meat Diet — Guardia del
Monte — Effects of cattle on the Vegetation — Cardoon — Buenos Ayres — Corral
where
cattle are slaughtered.
Excursion to St. Fé — Thistle
Beds — Habits of the Bizcacha — Little Owl — Saline streams — Level
plains — Mastodon — St.
Fé — Change in landscape — Geology — Tooth of extinct Horse — Relation of the
Fossil
and recent Quadrupeds of North and South America — Effects of a great
drought — Parana — Habits of the Jaguar — Scissor-beak — Kingfisher, Parrot,
and
Scissor-tail — Revolution — Buenos Ayres — State of Government.
Excursion to Colonia del
Sacramiento — Value of an Estancia — Cattle, how counted — Singular breed of
Oxen — Perforated pebbles — Shepherd-dogs — Horses broken-in, Gauchos
riding — Character of Inhabitants — Rio Plata — Flocks of
Butterflies — Aeronaut
Spiders — Phosphorescence of the Sea — Port Desire — Guanaco — Port St.
Julian — Geology
of Patagonia — Fossil gigantic Animal — Types of Organisation
constant — Change in
the Zoology of America — Causes of Extinction.
Santa Cruz — Expedition up
the River — Indians — Immense streams of basaltic lava — Fragments not
transported by
the river — Excavation of the valley — Condor, habits of — Cordillera — Erratic
boulders of great size — Indian relics — Return to the ship — Falkland
Islands — Wild
horses, cattle, rabbits — Wolf-like fox — Fire made of bones — Manner of
hunting wild
cattle — Geology — Streams of stones — Scenes of violence — Penguin — Geese — Eggs
of
Doris — Compound animals.
Tierra del Fuego, first
arrival — Good Success Bay — An account of the Fuegians on board — Interview
with the
savages — Scenery of the forests — Cape Horn — Wigwam Cove — Miserable
condition of the
savages — Famines — Cannibals — Matricide — Religious feelings — Great
Gale — Beagle
Channel — Ponsonby Sound — Build wigwams and settle the
Fuegians — Bifurcation of the
Beagle Channel — Glaciers — Return to the Ship — Second visit in the Ship to
the
Settlement — Equality of condition amongst the natives.
Strait of Magellan — Port
Famine — Ascent of Mount Tarn — Forests — Edible fungus — Zoology — Great
Seaweed — Leave
Tierra del Fuego — Climate — Fruit-trees and productions of the southern
coasts — Height of snow-line on the Cordillera — Descent of glaciers to the
sea — Icebergs formed — Transportal of boulders — Climate and productions of
the
Antarctic Islands — Preservation of frozen carcasses — Recapitulation.
Valparaiso — Excursion to the
foot of the Andes — Structure of the land — Ascend the Bell of
Quillota — Shattered
masses of greenstone — Immense valleys — Mines — State of
miners — Santiago — Hot-baths
of Cauquenes — Gold-mines — Grinding-mills — Perforated stones — Habits of the
Puma — El
Turco and Tapacolo — Humming-birds.
Chiloe — General aspect — Boat
excursion — Native Indians — Castro — Tame fox — Ascend San Pedro — Chonos
Archipelago — Peninsula of Tres Montes — Granitic range — Boat-wrecked
sailors — Low’s
Harbour — Wild potato — Formation of peat — Myopotamus, otter and
mice — Cheucau and
Barking-bird — Opetiorhynchus — Singular character of ornithology — Petrels.
San Carlos, Chiloe — Osorno
in eruption, contemporaneously with Aconcagua and Coseguina — Ride to
Cucao — Impenetrable forests — Valdivia — Indians — Earthquake — Concepcion — Great
earthquake — Rocks fissured — Appearance of the former towns — The sea black
and
boiling — Direction of the vibrations — Stones twisted round — Great
Wave — Permanent
Elevation of the land — Area of volcanic phenomena — The connection between
the
elevatory and eruptive forces — Cause of earthquakes — Slow elevation of
mountain-chains.
Valparaiso — Portillo Pass — Sagacity
of mules — Mountain-torrents — Mines, how discovered — Proofs of the gradual
elevation of the Cordillera — Effect of snow on rocks — Geological
structure of the
two main ranges, their distinct origin and upheaval — Great
subsidence — Red
snow — Winds — Pinnacles of snow — Dry and clear
atmosphere — Electricity — Pampas — Zoology of the opposite sides of the
Andes — Locusts — Great Bugs — Mendoza — Uspallata Pass — Silicified trees buried
as they
grew — Incas Bridge — Badness of the passes
exaggerated — Cumbre — Casuchas — Valparaiso.
Coast-road to
Coquimbo — Great loads carried by the
miners — Coquimbo — Earthquake — Step-formed
terraces — Absence of recent deposits — Contemporaneousness of the Tertiary
formations — Excursion up the valley — Road to Guasco — Deserts — Valley of
Copiap — Rain
and Earthquakes — Hydrophobia — The Despoblado — Indian ruins — Probable change
of
climate — River-bed arched by an earthquake — Cold gales of wind — Noises
from a
hill — Iquique — Salt alluvium — Nitrate of soda — Lima — Unhealthy country — Ruins
of
Callao, overthrown by an earthquake — Recent subsidence — Elevated shells
on San
Lorenzo, their decomposition — Plain with embedded shells and fragments
of
pottery — Antiquity of the Indian Race.
Galapagos Archipelago — The
whole group volcanic — Number of craters — Leafless bushes — Colony at
Charles
Island — James Island — Salt-lake in crater — Natural history of the
group — Ornithology, curious finches — Reptiles — Great tortoises, habits
of — Marine
lizard, feeds on seaweed — Terrestrial lizard, burrowing habits,
herbivorous — Importance of reptiles in the Archipelago — Fish, shells,
insects — Botany — American type of organisation — Differences in the species
or
races on different islands — Tameness of the birds — Fear of man an
acquired
instinct.
Pass through the Low
Archipelago — Tahiti — Aspect — Vegetation on the mountains — View of
Eimeo — Excursion
into the interior — Profound ravines — Succession of waterfalls — Number of
wild
useful plants — Temperance of the inhabitants — Their moral
state — Parliament
convened — New Zealand — Bay of Islands — Hippahs — Excursion to
Waimate — Missionary establishment — English
weeds now run wild — Waiomio — Funeral of a New Zealand woman — Sail for
Australia.
Sydney — Excursion to
Bathurst — Aspect of the woods — Party of natives — Gradual extinction of the
aborigines — Infection generated by associated men in health — Blue
Mountains — View
of the grand gulf-like valleys — Their origin and formation — Bathurst,
general
civility of the lower orders — State of Society — Van Diemen’s Land — Hobart
Town — Aborigines all banished — Mount Wellington — King George’s
Sound — Cheerless
aspect of the country — Bald Head, calcareous casts of branches of
trees — Party of
natives — Leave Australia.
Keeling Island — Singular
appearance — Scanty Flora — Transport of seeds — Birds and insects — Ebbing and
flowing
springs — Fields of dead coral — Stones transported in the roots of
trees — Great
crab — Stinging corals — Coral-eating fish — Coral formations — Lagoon islands
or
atolls — Depth at which reef-building corals can live — Vast areas
interspersed
with low coral islands — Subsidence of their
foundations — Barrier-reefs — Fringing-reefs — Conversion
of fringing-reefs into barrier-reefs, and into atolls — Evidence of
changes in
level — Breaches in barrier-reefs — Maldiva atolls, their peculiar
structure — Dead
and submerged reefs — Areas of subsidence and elevation — Distribution of
volcanoes — Subsidence
slow and vast in amount.
Mauritius, beautiful
appearance of — Great crateriform ring of mountains — Hindoos — St.
Helena — History of
the changes in the vegetation — Cause of the extinction of
land-shells — Ascension — Variation in the imported rats — Volcanic
bombs — Beds of
infusoria — Bahia, Brazil — Splendour of tropical
scenery — Pernambuco — Singular
reefs — Slavery — Return to England — Retrospect on our voyage.
List of
Illustrations
H.M.S. Beagle
in Straits of Magellan. Mt. Sarmiento in the distance.
H.M.S. Beagle under full sail,
view from astern.
H.M.S. Beagle: Middle section
fore and aft, upper deck, 1832.
Fernando Noronha.
Incrustation of shelly sand.
Diodon Maculatus (Distended and Contracted).
Pelagic Confervæ.
Catamaran (Bahia).
Botofogo Bay, Rio Janeiro.
Vampire Bat (Desmodus D’Orbigny).
Virgin Forest.
Cabbage Palm.
Mandioca or Cassava.
Rio Janeiro.
Darwin’s Papilio Feronia, 1833, now called Ageronia feronia, 1889.
Hydrochærus capybara or Water-hog.
Recado or Surcingle of Gaucho.
Halt at a Pulperia on the Pampas.
El Carmen, or Patagones, Rio Negro.
Brazilian whips.
Brazilian hobbles and spurs.
Bringing in a prisoner.
Irregular troops.
Skinning uji or water serpents.
Rhea Darwinii (Avestruz Petise).
Landing at Buenos Ayres.
Maté pots and bambillio.
Giant thistle of pampas.
Cynara Cardunculus or Cardoon.
Evening camp, Buenos Ayres.
Rozario.
Parana River.
Toxodon Platensis. (Found at Saladillo.)
Fossil tooth of horse. (From Bahia Blanca.)
Mylodon.
Head of Scissor-beak.
Rhynchops Nigra, or Scissor-beak.
Buenos Ayres bullock-waggons.
Fuegians and wigwams.
Opuntia Darwinii.
Raised beaches, Patagonia.
Ladies’ combs, banda oriental.
Condor (Sarcorhamphus gryphus).
Basaltic Glen, Santa Cruz.
Berkeley Sound, Falkland Islands.
York Minster (Bearing S. 66° east.)
Cape Horn.
Cape Horn (another view).
Bad weather, Magellan Straits.
Fuegian basket and bone weapons.
False Horn, Cape Horn.
Wollaston Island, Tierra del Fuego.
Patagonians from Cape Gregory.
Port Famine, Magellan.
Patagonian Bolas.
Patagonian Spurs and Pipe.
Cyttaria Darwinii.
Eyre Sound.
Glacier in Gulf of Penas.
Flora of Magellan.
Macrocystis Pyrifera, or Magellan Kelp.
Trochilus Forficatus.
Hacienda, condor, cactus, etc.
Chilian miner.
Cactus (Cereus Peruviana).
Cordilleras from Santiago de Chile.
Chilian spurs, stirrup, etc.
Old Church, Castro, Chiloe.
Inside Chonos Archipelago.
Gunnera Scabra, Chiloe.
Antuco Volcano, near Talcahuano.
Panoramic view of coast, Chiloe.
Inside Island of Chiloe. San Carlos.
Hide Bridge, Santiago de Chile.
Chilenos.
South American bit.
Bridge of the Incas, Uspallata Pass.
Lima and San Lorenzo.
Coquimbo, Chile.
Huacas, Peruvian pottery.
Testudo Abingdonii, Galapagos Islands.
Galapagos Archipelago.
Finches from Galapagos Archipelago.
Amblyrhynchus Cristatus.
Opuntia Galapageia.
Ava or Kava (Macropiper methysticum), Tahiti.
Eimeo and Barrier-Reef.
Fatahua Fall, Tahiti.
Tahitian.
Hippah, New Zealand.
Sydney, 1835.
Hobart Town and Mount Wellington.
Australian group of weapons and throwing sticks.
Inside an atoll, Keeling Island.
Whitsunday Island.
Barrier-reef, Bolabola.
Sections of barrier-reefs.
Section of coral-reef.
Section of coral-reef.
Bolabola Island.
Corals.
Birgos Latro, Keeling Island.
St. Louis, Mauritius.
St. Helena.
Cellular formation of volcanic bomb.
Cicada Homoptera.
Homeward bound.
Ascension. Terns and noddies.
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