The Voyage of the Beagle

Charles Darwin

Description

First published in 1839, “The Voyage of the Beagle” is the book written by Charles Darwin that chronicles his experience of the famous survey expedition of the ship HMS Beagle. Part travel memoir, part scientific field journal, it covers such topics as biology, anthropology, and geology, demonstrating Darwin's changing views and ideas while he was developing his theory of evolution. A book highly recommended for those with an interest in evolution and is not to be missed by collectors of important historical literature. Contents include: “St. Jago—Cape De Verd Islands”, “Rio De Janeiro”, “Maldonado”, “Rio Negro To Bahia Blanca”, “Bahia Blanca”, “Bahia Blanca To Buenos Ayres”, “Banda Oriental And Patagonia”, etc. Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882) was an English geologist, naturalist, and biologist most famous for his contributions to the science of evolution and his book “On the Origin of Species” (1859). This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

Sujets

• Special Interest
• Travel
• Adventure

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528789752
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
By
CHARLES DARWIN

First published in 1839


Copyright © 2020 Read & Co. Books
This edition is published by Read & Co. Books, an imprint of Read & Co.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing.
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Contents
Charles Darwin
PREFACE
CHAPTER I
ST. JAGO—CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS
CHAPTER II
RIO DE JANEIRO
CHAPTER III
MALDONADO
CHAPTER IV
RIO NEGRO TO BAHIA BLANCA
CHAPTER V
BAHIA BLANCA
CHAPTER VI
BAHIA BLANCA TO BUENOS AYRES
CHAPTER VII
BUENOS AYRES AND ST. FE
CHAPTER VIII
BANDA ORIENTAL AND PATAGONIA
CHAPTER IX
SANTA CRUZ, PATAGONIA, AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
CHAPTER X
TIERRA DEL FUEGO
CHAPTER XI
STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. CLIMATE OF THE SOUTHERN COASTS
CHAPTER XII
CENTRAL CHILE
CHAPTER XIII
CHILOE AND CHONOS ISLANDS
CHAPTER XIV
CHILOE AND CONCEPCION: GREAT EARTHQUAKE
CHAPTER XV
PASSAGE OF THE CORDILLERA
CHAPTER XVI
NORTHERN CHILE AND PERU
CHAPTER XVII
GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO
CHAPTER XVIII
TAHITI AND NEW ZEALAND
CHAPTER XIX
AUSTRALIA
CHAPTER XX
KEELING ISLAND: CORAL FORMATIONS
CHAPTER XXI
MAURITIUS TO ENGLAND





Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK. He is best known for his pioneering work in evolutionary theory; establishing that all species of life have descended from common ancestors through a process of ‘natural selection’. This theory of evolution was published in the 1859 book, On the Origin of Species, a text which has become a seminal work of modern science.
Darwin was the fifth of six children of the wealthy society doctor and financier Robert Darwin, and his wife Susannah Darwin ( née Wedgwood). He was the grandson of two prominent abolitionists: Erasmus Darwin on his father's side, and Josiah Wedgwood on his mother's side. Darwin spent his early education in the local Shrewsbury School as a boarder, before moving to Edinburgh in 1825 to study medicine at the University. Darwin’s early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical studies however. He found the medical lectures dull, and the surgery distressing. Instead, he helped investigate marine invertebrates in the Firth of Forth with Robert Edmond Grant. This neglect of medical studies annoyed his father, who sent Darwin to Christ's College, Cambridge , in order to undertake a Bachelor of Arts degree - as the first step towards becoming an Anglican parson. As Darwin was unqualified for the Tripos , he joined the ordinary degree course in January 1828. He successfully graduated in 1831, but continued his investigations into the natural world, particularly partaking in the popular craze for beetle collecting. On his graduation, Darwin was invited to join the voyage of the HMS Beagle, with Captain Robert FitzRoy - a journey which lasted almost five years and traversed the globe. The journal of this voyage on the HMS Beagle (published in 1839) established Darwin as a popular author; he detailed his time spent investigating geology and making natural history collections whilst on land. He kept careful notes of his observations and theoretical speculations, and at intervals during the voyage his specimens were sent to Cambridge University. When the Beagle reached Falmouth, Cornwall, on 2 October 1836, Darwin was already a celebrity in scientific circles. Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began detailed investigations in 1838 – leading to the conception of his theory of natural selection. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, Darwin needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was in the process of writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russell Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting the immediate joint publication of both of their papers.
Despite repeated bouts of illness during the last twenty-two years of his life, Darwin's work continued. Having published On the Origin of Species as an abstract of his theory in 1859, he pressed on with experiments, research, and the writing of what he saw as his magnum opus. The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication of 1868 was the first part of Darwin's planned ‘big book’, and included his unsuccessful hypothesis of pangenesis; an attempt to explain heredity. It was a moderate commercial success and was translated into many languages. This was followed by a second part, on natural selection, but it remained unpublished in his lifetime.
Darwin also examined human evolution in specific, and wrote on sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) . This text was shortly followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, and a series of books on botany, including Insectivorous Plants, The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom , and The Power of Movement in Plants . In his last book he returned to The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881). By this time, Darwin’s health was failing however, and in 1882, he was diagnosed with ‘angina pectoris’; a disease of the heart. Darwin died shortly after this diagnosis, at Down House, Kent, on 19 April 1882, and was honoured with a major ceremonial funeral. He is buried at Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton. As a result of his scientific work, Darwin has been described as one of the most influential thinkers in history.



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 Beagle [1] 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 Rev. 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 9, 1845
Footnote:
[1] I must take this opportunity of returning