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
1913.
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
The Project
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Title: A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World
Title: The Voyage Of The Beagle
Author: Charles Darwin
The Project Gutenberg Etext The Voyage of the Beagle, by Charles Darwin Project Gutenberg Etext A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World by Darwin
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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.
December 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.
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