The Voyage of the Beagle is a title
commonly given to the
book written by
Charles Darwin published in 1839 as his
Journal and Remarks, which brought him
considerable fame and respect.
The title refers to the second survey expedition of the
ship HMS Beagle, which set sail
from Plymouth
Sound
on 27 December 1831 under the command of captain
Robert FitzRoy.
While the expedition was originally planned to last two years, it
lasted almost five–the
Beagle did not return until 2
October 1836. Darwin spent most of this time exploring on land
(three years and three months on land; 18 months at sea).
The book, also known as Darwin's
Journal of
Researches, is a vivid and exciting travel memoir as
well as a detailed scientific field journal covering
biology,
geology, and
anthropology that demonstrates Darwin's
keen powers of observation, written at a time when
Western Europeans were exploring and charting
the whole world. Although Darwin revisited some areas during the
expedition, for clarity the chapters of the book are ordered by
reference to places and locations rather than chronologically.
Darwin's notes made during the voyage include comments illustrating
his changing views, and the book written at a time when he was
developing his theory of
evolution by
natural selection includes some
suggestions of his ideas, particularly in the second edition of
1845.
Publication of FitzRoy's narrative and Darwin's book
Darwin was invited by FitzRoy to contribute the natural history
section to the captain's account of the Beagle's voyage, and using
his field notes and the journal which he had been sending home for
his family to read, completed this section by September 1837. As
well as writing his own account of the voyage and the previous
expedition of two ships, FitzRoy had to edit the notes of the
previous captain of the Beagle. The account was completed and
published in May 1838 as the
Narrative of the Surveying
Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle
in four volumes. Volume one covers the first voyage under Commander
Phillip Parker King, volume two is FitzRoy's account of the second
voyage. Darwin's
Journal and Remarks,
1832—1835 forms the third volume, the fourth volume
being a lengthy appendix. FitzRoy's account includes
Remarks
with reference to the Deluge in which he recanted his earlier
interest in the geological writings of
Charles Lyell and his remarks to a Darwin
during the expedition that sedimentary features they saw "could
never have been effected by a forty days' flood", asserting his
renewed commitment to a literal reading of the Bible. He had
married on the ship's return, and his wife was very
religious.
Darwin's contribution proved remarkably popular and the publisher,
Henry Colburn of London, took it upon himself to reissue the same
text in August with a new title page as
Journal of
Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the various
countries visited by H.M.S.
Beagle apparently without seeking
Darwin's permission or paying him a fee.
Later editions: changing ideas on evolution
The book went through many editions, and was subsequently published
with several different titles. The best known was the second
edition of 1845 which incorporated extensive revisions in the light
of interpretation of the collections and developing ideas on
evolution. This edition was commissioned by the publisher
John Murray, who actually paid
Darwin a fee.
In the first edition regarding the similarity of Galápagos wildlife
to that on the South American continent, Darwin remarks "The
circumstance would be explained, according to the views of some
authors, by saying that the creative power had acted according to
the same law over a wide area" in a reference to
Charles Lyell's ideas of "centres of
creation". He notes the gradations in size of the beaks of species
of finches, suspects that species "are confined to different
islands", "But there is not space in this work, to enter into this
curious subject."
Later editions hint at his new ideas on evolution:
- "Considering the small size of these islands, we feel the more
astonished at the number of their aboriginal beings, and at their
confined range... within a period geologically recent the unbroken
ocean was here spread out. Hence, both in space and time, we seem
to be brought somewhat near to that great fact – that mystery of
mysteries – the first appearance of new beings on this earth."
Speaking of the finches with their gradations in size of beaks, he
writes "one might really fancy that from an original paucity of
birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified
for different ends."
Contents – where Darwin went
The book's list of contents outlines where Charles Darwin went (not
in exact chronological sequence). See
Second voyage of HMS Beagle for
a detailed synopsis of Darwin's travels.
- Santiago
– Cape
Verde
Islands
- Saint Peter and Paul Rocks
- Rio de Janeiro
- Maldonado
- Río Negro
to Bahia Blanca
- Bahia Blanca
- Bahia Blanca to Buenos Aires
- Buenos Aires
and St.
Fe
- Banda
Oriental
and Patagonia
- Santa Cruz
, Patagonia, and The Falkland Islands
- Tierra del Fuego
- Strait of Magellan
. – Climate of the Southern Coasts
- Central Chile
- Chiloe Island
and Chonos
Islands
- Concepcion
: Great Earthquake
- Passage of the Cordillera
- Northern Chile and Peru
- Galapagos Archipelago
- Tahiti
and New Zealand
- Australia
- Keeling Island
: – Coral Formations
- Mauritius
to England
Notes
- A very few Remarks with reference to the
Deluge., CHAPTER XXVIII of – See also Robert FitzRoy#HMS
Beagle's second voyage.
Sources
Bibliography of original publications
- Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Volume I –
Retrieved on 30 April 2007
- Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Volume II –
Retrieved on 15 December 2006
- Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Volume III –
(The Voyage of the Beagle) Retrieved on 30 April 2007
- Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Appendix –
Retrieved on 15 December 2006
- (The Voyage of the Beagle) Retrieved on 30 April
2007
External links
Full Texts
Other resources
See also
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