voyage of the hms beagle

HMS Beagle: Darwin’s Trip around the World

Charles Darwin sailed around the world from 1831–1836 as a naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle . His experiences and observations helped him develop the theory of evolution through natural selection.

Biology, Geography, Earth Science, Geology, Ecology

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Charles Darwin set sail on the ship HMS Beagle on December 27, 1831, from Plymouth, England. Darwin was 22 years old when he was hired to be the ship’s naturalist . Most of the trip was spent sailing around South America. There Darwin spent considerable time ashore collecting plants and animals. Darwin filled notebooks with his observations of plants, animals, and geology . The trip was an almost five-year adventure and the ship returned to Falmouth, England, on October 2, 1836.

Throughout South America, Darwin collected a variety of bird specimens . One key observation Darwin made occurred while he was studying the specimens from the Galapagos Islands. He noticed the finches on the island were similar to the finches from the mainland, but each showed certain characteristics that helped them to gather food more easily in their specific habitat. He collected many specimens of the finches on the Galapagos Islands. These specimens and his notebooks provided Darwin with a record of his observations as he developed the theory of evolution through natural selection .

Have students work in pairs to use the map and the resources in the explore more tab to create a social media feed that includes five dates and posts from the expedition. Students may need to conduct additional research to ensure their proposed posts are factual and something Darwin would have seen on the trip. Help students brainstorm ideas for their posts by asking: What types of animals would Darwin have seen? Are any of them extinct today? What types of plants did he note? What types of geology did he see? What would you imagine some of the hardships the explorers would have encountered on this voyage?

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Darwin's first—and only—trip around the world began a scientific revolution

The plants and animals encountered on the five-year voyage of the 'Beagle' provided the foundation for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

During August 1831 Charles Darwin , recently graduated from the University of Cambridge, was stuck at home on exactly the same principle, he complained, as a person would choose to remain in a debtors’ prison. At age 22, Darwin was fascinated by the natural world and inspired by the adventure stories of the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt , whose travels across Central and South America in the early 1800s was the basis of a series of extensive travelogues. Darwin was desperate to undertake a similar scientific odyssey. An attempt to organize an expedition to Tenerife in the Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa, had fallen through.

The awful necessity of earning his own living, probably as the vicar of a country parish, seemed inescapable. And then a letter arrived offering Darwin an amazing opportunity. The writer was one of Darwin’s former teachers, John Stevens Henslow, professor of botany at Cambridge. Henslow informed Darwin that he had recommended him to accompany Captain Robert FitzRoy on an expedition aboard the H.M.S. Beagle . He wrote: “I state this not on the supposition of yr. being a finished Naturalist, but as amply qualified for collecting, observing, & noting any thing worthy . . . in Natural History.”

Robert FitzRoy was an aristocratic but mercurial naval captain. In 1826 he had set off as a crew member on the Beagle to carry out a survey of South America. In the course of the voyage, he was placed in command of the expedition, from which he returned in 1830. The letter from Henslow to Darwin was written as FitzRoy was under instructions from the Admiralty to mount a second survey expedition to Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago at the tip of South America. The primary motive of the voyage was to chart the coast of South America. A secondary motive was scientific exploration. FitzRoy wanted a naturalist aboard, both to carry out scientific work and to keep him company.

Despite Henslow’s recommendation, however, Darwin’s place was not immediately assured. FitzRoy’s first impression of the young naturalist was not entirely favorable. Darwin’s father expressed skepticism at the expense and dangerous nature of the venture. The Beagle was the overcrowded home to a total crew of 74. Shipwreck was a common hazard, death through disease an even greater one, and much of South America was lawless. To try to convince his father, Darwin sought help from his mother’s brother, the industrialist Josiah Wedgwood II. Wedgwood’s daughter Emma had been a childhood friend of Darwin’s, and the two first cousins would later marry, in 1839.

Setting sail

In the end both FitzRoy and his father were persuaded that he should go, and on December 27, 1831, the Beagle sailed out of Plymouth with Darwin on board. Originally planned for two years, the voyage stretched to five, and took Darwin not only to South America but to Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and many of the Atlantic and Pacific islands in between. Darwin often left the ship to travel hundreds of miles on horseback.

Life aboard the Beagle

First launched in 1820, the Beagle started life as a brig (a swift two-masted vessel), 90 feet long and 25 feet wide. It was reconditioned as a three-masted bark in 1825, and later set off to South America under the command of Pringle Stokes. Stokes died during the mission, and Robert FitzRoy took command. On the Beagle’ s return in 1830, it was remodeled again for a second surveying expedition in which Darwin would participate (1831-36); the route would take the Beagle to South America and then make a circumnavigation of the globe.

The 74-person crew for this second voyage consisted of officers, midshipmen, sailors and porters, and marines, who all formed the naval crew; in addition, there were nine noncommissioned members, including Darwin. It was a large crew for a ship of such modest dimensions, as Darwin wrote: “The vessel is a very small one . . . but every body says it is the best sort for our work . . . The want of room is very bad, but we must make the best of it.”

Darwin spent most of his time in the stern where Captain FitzRoy’s cabin was located. Darwin’s cabin was outfitted with a folding bunk and bookshelves. He also had a chest in which to store the samples collected ashore. Darwin soon felt at ease on the Beagle. He wrote in February 1832: “I find to my great surprise that a ship is singularly comfortable for all sorts of work. Everything is so close at hand, & being cramped, make one so methodical, that in the end I have been a gainer. I already have got to look at going to sea as a regular quiet place, like going back to home after staying away from it.”

In the course of this extraordinary journey, he filled notebook after notebook with sketches and observations. Darwin shipped home barrels, boxes, and bottles by the dozen, filled with pressed plants, fossils, rocks, skins, and skeletons. He explored landscapes that ranged from the gray desolation of the Falklands to the glorious heights of the Andes, from the wild glaciated cliffs of the Beagle Channel to the beaches of Tahiti, from the tropical lushness of Rio to the dripping rainforest of southern Chile.

For Hungry Minds

Early observations.

First landfall was the volcanic island of St. Jago (now Santiago) in the Cape Verde Islands. After three weeks of seasickness, Darwin threw himself enthusiastically into his first independent fieldwork, identifying rock samples and recording a cross section of the volcanic strata. He had the best equipment he could buy: a microscope, a clinometer for measuring angles, geological hammers, and a vasculum (a container for botanical specimens), but he was still a novice. He boasted in a letter to his Cambridge teacher, John Stevens Henslow, that his discovery of a color-changing octopus “appears to be new.” It wasn’t, and Henslow gently disabused him. ( Here's how animals are able to manipulate their color. )

By February 15, 1832, they were resupplying on the remote rocky islets of St. Paul’s, and two weeks later, the Beagle crossed the Equator and reached the coast of Brazil. Darwin, however, injured in the final leg of the journey, was forced to stay on board, so it was April before he first set foot in South America, at Botafogo Bay near Rio de Janeiro.

For the next few months as the crew of the Beagle sailed up and down the coast checking and rechecking naval charts, Darwin stayed ashore, happily exploring the Corcovado mountains near Rio, shifting from geology to zoology and building an impressive collection of spiders and wasps .

A man of letters

During the Beagle ’s voyage, Darwin famously amassed a huge scientific collection of plants and animals, but another important legacy is his prolific and detailed correspondence with family and friends. The letters reflect Darwin’s mood over the five years of the voyage and—despite the ups and downs—suggest he was never disheartened. His words to his loved ones also expose the man behind the scientist. His humanity and personality quirks are on full display—from delighting in his private cabin on the ship to asking his sisters to mail him more “Prometheans,” or matches.

The ship went south again at the end of June. This time he went, too, encountering porpoises, whales, penguins, and seals. The expedition dropped anchor at the end of July at the mouth of the majestic Río de la Plata. Both Montevideo on the north bank, where they helped put down a revolt, and Buenos Aires on the south bank, where they were fired on as suspected cholera-carriers, were dangerous places. The flat and empty landscape seemed to Darwin a poor exchange for the lushness of the tropics. (Related: The tropics are home to 80 percent of the world's species, but they're losing wildlife fast. )

All the while, Darwin’s collections were annoying the ship’s purser who complained about the clutter. Darwin had already learned some taxidermy, and now experimented with other ways of preserving unfamiliar specimens using wax, spirits, and thin sheets of lead—with mixed results. ( See how one museum moved hundreds of taxidermy animals. )

Darwin's birds

The first letters from home brought criticism and advice from Henslow, on whose doorstep Darwin’s treasures were landing. It is another reminder of how Darwin's voyage was a learning experience: His labels weren’t securely fixed, beetles had been crushed, mice had gone moldy, and one mystery bottle looked like “the remains of an electric explosion, a mere mass of soot.”

By September 1832 they were surveying the coast of Argentina. Already a good shot, Darwin learned to use a bola (a weighted lasso) to bring down ostriches and took time off from “admiring the Spanish ladies” to discover his first large fossilized vertebrate—a Megatherium, an extinct species of giant ground sloth. Darwin’s curiosity was piqued by its similarity to a species of agouti, a rodent native to South America. In November he returned to Buenos Aires to restock for the voyage to Cape Horn.

A year after leaving home, the Beagle , like the Endeavour of Captain Cook and Joseph Banks before it, finally anchored in the Bay of Good Success on the coast of Tierra del Fuego. It was magnificent but inhospitable country. They spent Christmas on Hermit Island, just west of the cape, but were repeatedly beaten back by gales. One of their whaleboats was smashed against the ship in a storm, and Darwin lost notes and specimens.

After arriving at Ponsonby Sound, FitzRoy and some of the crew, including Darwin, headed off in two of the ship’s boats on a 300-mile round trip to chart the farther reaches of the Beagle Channel, named for FitzRoy’s first adventures there. It was spectacular country. Darwin’s letters home glitter with descriptions of the glaciers’ beauty. But they were dangerous as well: When a large sheet of ice crashed into the water sending a surge along the shore toward their boats, it was Darwin who led the desperate race to drag them to safety. FitzRoy named the place Darwin Sound in his honor.

Reptilian relationships

On April 18, 1835 Darwin wrote a long letter from Valparaíso (Chile) to his friend and former teacher, the botanist and geologist John Stevens Henslow. He described the local lizards and invited his colleagues’ opinions. Darwin's methodical approach to research and his generosity and openness to academic cooperation is on full display: “I also send a small bottle with 2 Lizards: one of them is Viviparous, as you will see by the accompanying notice.” Darwin had heard of a French scholar who had found a similar lizard, so he urged his friend to “hand over the Specimens to some good Lizardologist & Comparative Anatomist to publish an account of their internal structure.”

Foiled in their attempt to round the cape, they sailed east and on March 1, 1833, arrived at the Falkland Islands where the navy was keen to discover safe harbors. Concerned that the Beagle crew alone could not complete their mission, FitzRoy bought another boat: the Adventure. Both ships returned in April to Montevideo, where Darwin set off on his first long inland expedition, accompanied by the Beagle’ s cabin boy, Syms Covington, whom Darwin had hired as combined servant and research assistant. They did not rendezvous with the ship until September, in Buenos Aires.

Rounding the Cape

Both the Beagle and the Adventure headed south in December, retracing the route of the previous year as far as Tierra del Fuego. There, Darwin finally found something he had been looking for: a new species of rhea (originally named Rhea darwinii ), an ostrich-like bird—but only after half of it had been eaten for the crew’s dinner.

By March 1834 they were once again forced to head back to the Falklands without rounding the cape. The Beagle’ s keel had been badly damaged, so by the middle of April it was beached at the mouth of the Rio Santa Cruz for repairs. FitzRoy took advantage of the opportunity to mount an expedition upriver. They rowed and dragged the boats 140 miles through uncharted territory. It took three weeks to go up and three days to sail back down, Darwin all the while was adding to his observations. ( These scientists spent months exploring the Okavango delta. )

Darwin's fossils

After the Beagle was repaired, it made a third attempt to round the cape. Perhaps the third time was the charm, because this time they made it. In June 1834 the expedition finally reached the west coast of South America.

The next year was spent following the coastline of Chile and Peru in much the same manner as the previous two and a half years had been spent in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina: The Beagle followed a switchback course, surveying and resurveying the complex archipelago of the coastline.

Darwin loathed the incessantly dripping and impenetrable temperate rainforest of southern Chile, and was frequently absent organizing his own inland expeditions. He traveled southeast through the Andes from the colonial elegance of Valparaíso to Santiago. It was largely uncharted, so he relied on the help of locals who drew maps, advised on safe routes, and helped hire guides and horses. One looked after him for several weeks when he fell dangerously ill, probably with typhoid fever. Meanwhile FitzRoy felt isolated, overworked, and depressed. The Admiralty’s unwillingness to shoulder the cost of the Adventur e forced him to sell the ship, after which he threatened to resign. The future of the voyage hung in the balance.

Darwin made one more major land expedition, traveling 220 miles from Valparaíso through the Andes to Coquimbo and Copiapó, before rejoining the Beagle to sail to Iquique in Peru. From Lima they sailed west at the end of July 1835 and arrived at the Galápagos archipelago in mid-September.

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They spent five weeks exploring the islands, each with its own distinctive flora and fauna. Darwin, still months from forming even a rudimentary theory on how species might evolve over time, filed new facts away with each species he came across. Although the Galápagos, and their finches and great tortoises are closely connected in the popular imagination with the origins of his ideas about species change, Darwin did not conceive of his famous hypothesis on that visit. ( Turns out Galápagos tortoises migrate—just very slowly. )

Darwin’s observations on this trip led to a different grand, scientific theory. In the Andes, in the Uspallata Pass, he had noticed something curious: fossilized trees that he realized must once have been submerged in the sea. The question in Darwin’s mind was how had they been raised so high up in the mountains.

On January 19, 1835, while Darwin was exploring inland, the Beagle crew had witnessed the eruption of the Osorno Volcano in Chile. A month later, farther up the coast, an earthquake struck and caused a tidal wave. Darwin began to speculate that the events might be connected. FitzRoy reviewed earlier soundings and confirmed the height of the land had changed. Armed with this information, Darwin proposed a theory of continental-scale fall and uplift, with tiny changes working over eons to create dramatic landscapes like those in the Andes.

With this in mind, when they arrived in Tahiti and Darwin saw his first coral reef, he proposed a brilliant new solution to the mystery of how such reefs were formed. His letters describing his ideas were, unbeknownst to him, appearing in scientific journals, and he would return with an already established scientific reputation. But he wasn’t home yet. As they sailed west from the coast of Africa, FitzRoy had found errors in the very first charts they had made, and diverted across the Atlantic to resurvey the coast of Brazil.

The Beagle finally docked at Falmouth on October 2, 1836. Darwin never left Britain again, but he maintained a robust correspondence with his colleagues all over the world about the work done on the voyage. He went on to publish more than 20 articles from his notes and diaries written aboard the Beagle. He published books, became a best-selling travel writer, and a leading scientist.

Evolution of a theory

It is likely that during his trip aboard the Beagle Darwin may have already been beginning to sketch a first outline of his theory of evolution. Immediately after returning to London, he began to work on the theory in earnest, albeit secretly, in his private notebooks. He drafted a first brief treatise that he kept hidden for fear of the scandal it would provoke. As early as 1837 (a year after his return on the Bea- gle ), he drew a “tree of life” to illustrate the evolution—or “transmutation” as he then termed it—of species. It was not until 1859 that Darwin published the final version of his theory, spurred to do so by the publication of similar ideas by the English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace.

The work of identifying hundreds of specimens was parceled out to others, many of whom became lifelong friends and colleagues. Although not conceived during the voyage, Darwin’s ideas about species change were born not only out of his encounters with so many different plants and animals (including humans), but, most importantly, through the opportunity to see them in all the complexity of their shared habitats. Many years later, Darwin had no hesitation in declaring the voyage of the Beagle the single most important event of his life.

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Discover more about the ship that took Charles Darwin around the world

Beagle  was a Royal Navy ship, famed for taking English naturalist Charles Darwin on his first expedition around the world in 1831–36.

Beagle was launched at Woolwich Dockyard, London, in 1820. She was originally a 10-gun brig sloop, but as there was no immediate active use for her, she was refitted and allocated as a surveying vessel, under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy. Her most famous passenger was the English naturalist Charles Darwin, who wrote about his five-year expedition aboard her in his travel memoir, The Voyage of the Beagle .

What exploratory voyages did Beagle go on?

Beagle 's first voyage of exploration was to South America, surveying Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego between 1826–30. The second voyage (1831–36) took her to South America and then around the world. Darwin was on board during this voyage, which became one of the most famous and important voyages of exploration ever made. Beagle 's third and final voyage (1837–43) surveyed large parts of the Australian coast.

How big was Beagle ?

The Beagle measured just 27 metres long and seven metres wide, and weighed 235 tons. She underwent a number of improvements throughout her life on the seas. For example, her hull was reinforced and a mizzen-mast (a third mast) was added to make her more manoeuvrable in shallow coastal waters.

What scientific equipment did she carry?

The Beagle voyages under Captain Robert FitzRoy saw the use of scientific technology such as theodolites, chronometers and barometers used to provide accurate survey information for new charts and, equally important, meteorological data and weather forecasting.

The Darwin voyage was the first time the Beaufort wind scale was used for wind observations. The crew also undertook various experiments and, despite some disappointments, they produced useful results. They were especially successful in the measurement of earthquakes during experiments in 1835.

What happened to Beagle ?

She was transferred to the coastguard in 1845 and moored on the River Roach in Essex. She was renamed WV7 – Watch Vessel 7 – in 1859. In 1870 she was sold off to be broken up.

Discover more about Charles Darwin .

February 12, 2009

Charles Darwin's Travels on the HMS Beagle

When Darwin reached the Galapagos Islands in September 1835, he was certain that the archipelago had rather recently risen from the sea, and had become home to birds from the South American continent. The animals would have evolved over time and adapted themselves to their respective environmental conditions

By Christoph Marty

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On December 27, 1831, Charles Darwin went on board HMS Beagle in Devonport (Plymouth). For five years, the naturalist traveled around the world in the 90-foot- (27.4 meter-) long and 24-foot- (7.4-meter-) wide three-mast ship. On October 2, 1836, the ship reached English shores again. Originally, the Beagle had served the Royal Navy as a survey ship. However, it became famous through the expedition with Charles Darwin.

The exotic animal world of Australia fascinated Charles Darwin and baffled him: "Anyone who has faith in his own reasoning is sure to cry out: 'Surely there have been two creators at work here—one for Australia and one for the rest of the world.'" In summer 1833 Darwin came across rheas that looked very different from each other and asked himself why the Almighty had created two such closely related species, whose environments hardly differed. In his work The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Beagle Darwin described every single species of animal that he studied, such as these vampire bats.

Charles Darwin and His Voyage Aboard H.M.S. Beagle

The Young Naturalist Spent Five Years on a Royal Navy Research Ship

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

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The History of H.M.S. Beagle

Gentleman passenger, darwin invited to join the voyage in 1831, departs england on december 27, 1831, south america from february 1832, the galapagos islands, september 1835, circumnavigating the globe, back home october 2, 1836, organizing specimens and writing, the theory of evolution.

Charles Darwin’s five-year voyage in the early 1830s on H.M.S. Beagle has become legendary, as insights gained by the bright young scientist on his trip to exotic places greatly influenced his masterwork, the book " On the Origin of Species ."

Darwin didn’t actually formulate his theory of evolution while sailing around the world aboard the Royal Navy ship. But the exotic plants and animals he encountered challenged his thinking and led him to consider scientific evidence in new ways.

After returning to England from his five years at sea, Darwin began writing a multi-volume book on what he had seen. His writings on the Beagle voyage concluded in 1843, a full decade and a half before the publication of "On the Origin of Species."

H.M.S. Beagle is remembered today because of its association with Charles Darwin , but it had sailed on a lengthy scientific mission several years before Darwin came into the picture. The Beagle, a warship carrying ten cannons, sailed in 1826 to explore the coastline of South America. The ship had an unfortunate episode when its captain sank into a depression, perhaps caused by the isolation of the voyage, and committed suicide.

Lieutenant Robert FitzRoy assumed command of the Beagle, continued the voyage and returned the ship safely to England in 1830. FitzRoy was promoted to Captain and named to command the ship on a second voyage, which was to circumnavigate the globe while conducting explorations along the South American coastline and across the South Pacific.

FitzRoy came up with the idea of bringing along someone with a scientific background who could explore and record observations. Part of FitzRoy’s plan was that an educated civilian, referred to as a “gentleman passenger,” would be good company aboard ship and would help him avoid the loneliness that seemed to have doomed his predecessor.

Inquiries were made among professors at British universities, and a former professor of Darwin’s proposed him for the position aboard the Beagle.

After taking his final exams at Cambridge in 1831, Darwin spent a few weeks on a geological expedition to Wales. He had intended to return to Cambridge that fall for theological training, but a letter from a professor, John Steven Henslow, inviting him to join the Beagle, changed everything.

Darwin was excited to join the ship, but his father was against the idea, thinking it foolhardy. Other relatives convinced Darwin’s father otherwise, and during the fall of 1831, the 22-year-old Darwin made preparations to depart England for five years.

With its eager passenger aboard, the Beagle left England on December 27, 1831. The ship reached the Canary Islands in early January and continued onward to South America, which was reached by the end of February 1832.

During the explorations of South America, Darwin was able to spend considerable time on land, sometimes arranging for the ship to drop him off and pick him up at the end of an overland trip. He kept notebooks to record his observations, and during quiet times on board the Beagle, he would transcribe his notes into a journal.

In the summer of 1833, Darwin went inland with gauchos in Argentina. During his treks in South America, Darwin dug for bones and fossils and was also exposed to the horrors of enslavement and other human rights abuses.

After considerable explorations in South America, the Beagle reached the Galapagos Islands in September 1835. Darwin was fascinated by such oddities as volcanic rocks and giant tortoises. He later wrote about approaching tortoises, which would retreat into their shells. The young scientist would then climb on top, and attempt to ride the large reptile when it began moving again. He recalled that it was difficult to keep his balance.

While in the Galapagos Darwin collected samples of mockingbirds, and later observed that the birds were somewhat different on each island. This made him think that the birds had a common ancestor, but had followed varying evolutionary paths once they had become separated.

The Beagle left the Galapagos and arrived at Tahiti in November 1835, and then sailed onward to reach New Zealand in late December. In January 1836 the Beagle arrived in Australia, where Darwin was favorably impressed by the young city of Sydney.

After exploring coral reefs, the Beagle continued on its way, reaching the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa at the end of May 1836. Sailing back into the Atlantic Ocean, the Beagle, in July, reached St. Helena, the remote island where Napoleon Bonaparte had died in exile following his defeat at Waterloo. The Beagle also reached a British outpost on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, where Darwin received some very welcome letters from his sister in England.

The Beagle then sailed back to the coast of South America before returning to England, arriving at Falmouth on October 2, 1836. The entire voyage had taken nearly five years.

After landing in England, Darwin took a coach to meet his family, staying at his father’s house for a few weeks. But he was soon active, seeking advice from scientists on how to organize specimens, which included fossils and stuffed birds, he had brought home with him.

In the following few years, he wrote extensively about his experiences. A lavish five-volume set, "The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle," was published from 1839 to 1843.

And in 1839 Darwin published a classic book under its original title, "Journal of Researches." The book was later republished as " The Voyage of the Beagle ," and remains in print to this day. The book is a lively and charming account of Darwin’s travels, written with intelligence and occasional flashes of humor.

Darwin had been exposed to some thinking about evolution before embarking aboard H.M.S. Beagle. So a popular conception that Darwin’s voyage gave him the idea of evolution is not accurate.

Yet is it true that the years of travel and research focused Darwin's mind and sharpened his powers of observation. It can be argued that his trip on the Beagle gave him invaluable training, and the experience prepared him for the scientific inquiry that led to the publication of "On the Origin of Species" in 1859.

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• An Overview of the Galapagos Islands
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Discovering Galapagos

Charles Darwin 1/2: Voyage of the Beagle

Charles Darwin was a passenger on the HMS Beagle from 1832 to 1836, which had been chartered to survey the South American coast.

A voyage of discovery

Captain Robert FitzRoy had seen the need for a geologist during HMS Beagle’s second survey of the South American coast. It was Charles Darwin who was eventually suggested to accompany Fitzroy on this voyage. The Beagle reached the Galapagos Islands on 15 September 1835, nearly four years after setting off from Plymouth, England.

The visit to the Galapagos would prove the starting point from which Darwin would develop his theories on evolution and secure his enduring fame. Like many visitors to the Islands before him, Darwin considered them bleak and ugly. Darwin had 34 days to collect species and record observations around the Islands.

Painting of HMS Beagle by R.T. Pritchett in 1900

Although he was employed as a geologist, Darwin had also been an avid collector of fossils, animals and plants during his voyage and took extensive notes on all he observed. He described the natural history of Galapagos as “ very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself; the greater number of its inhabitants, both vegetable and animal, being found nowhere else.”

Darwin travelled around the Galapagos Islands for 5 weeks visiting:

• San Cristobal 17 -22 September 
• Floreana 24   – 27 September
• Isabela 29 September    –  02 October
• Santiago 08 – 17 October

You can find out more about the voyage of the HMS Beagle  here .

Next: Charles Darwin – Origin of Species: Darwin’s Impact

The Five Year Voyage

The voyage of the HMS Beagle took place during a time of exploration of uncharted waters and discovery of new lands. Charles Darwin was a passenger aboard the Beagle between 1832 to 1836. The crew of the Beagle had been given the objective of surveying the South American coast, which involved making maps and drawing accurate pictures as well as exploring! On these pages, you can discover all about this very important journey…

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Would you name it after yourself? Yes! No! vote

A journey into the unknown.

It was an exciting time to be an explorer! The huge, unexplored world meant lots of opportunities for mapping newly discovered places, cataloging new bizarre species found, and making sense of the world. The purpose of the Beagle’s voyage was to survey the coast of South America. Charles Darwin was invited on board as the Captain’s Companion and naturalist . In his time aboard the Beagle, Darwin would describe and collect many new types of animals and plants. Some would be used for research while others would sent to museums or acquired by individuals for private collections.

The Beagle was made entirely of wood, and had been converted from a warship to an exploratory ship with much care and to great expense. Weighing in at 235 tons, the ship was armed with seven guns and had been re-fitted with a new deck, under orders of Captain Fitzroy . The raised deck helped stabilise it in the water as this class of ship had a bad habit of sinking. In the Navy, they were often known as  coffin brigs ! I wonder if Darwin knew this before he agreed to embark on the voyage?

It was powered by sails, and was considered to be the fifth fastest vessel in England at the time! With between 60 and 73 crew on board the Beagle, living conditions were very cramped on the rather small vessel. Darwin had to sleep in the small poop cabin in a hammock he strung up every evening over the chart table…

I intend sleeping in my hammock, I did so last night and experienced a most ludicrous difficulty in getting into it; my great fault of jockeyship was in trying to put my legs in first. The hammock being suspended I thus only succeeded in pushing [it] away without making any progress in inserting my own body.

A cross section of HMS Beagle

The crew quarters on hms beagle, captain fitzroy, hm beagle laid ashore, stepping foot on galapagos.

The Beagle set off from Plymouth, England, reaching the Galapagos Islands on 15 September 1835, after nearly four years of travelling the world. The visit to the Galapagos would prove the starting point from which Darwin would begin to explore and develop ideas about the natural world, eventually leading to his revolutionary theory of evolution through natural selection. He would become one of the greatest scientific thinkers of his time.

Like many visitors to the Islands before him, Darwin considered them bleak and ugly. He had only 34 days to collect species and record observations around the Islands. Darwin was an avid collector of fossils, animals and plants, and during his voyage he took extensive notes on all he observed. He described the natural history of Galapagos as…

…very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself; the greater number of its inhabitants, both vegetable and animal, being found nowhere else.

Darwin travelled around the Galapagos Islands for 5 weeks visiting:

• San Cristobal 17 – 22 September
• Floreana 24 – 27 September
• Isabela 29 September – 02 October
• Santiago 08 – 17 October

Click on the buttons to discover more about what Darwin found on each of the Islands!

San Cristóbal | Isabela | Floreana | Santiago

• Introduction
• Charles Darwin

Voyage of the Beagle

• Preparation and departure
• South America
• The Gálapagos Islands
• The Publication
• On the Origin of Species
• The Descent of Man
• The Greatest Honour
• When Darwin came to Denmark
• About the Darwin Archive

Many of Darwin’s peers had similar social, cultural and educational backgrounds, but in one praticular aspect, his life was set apart from that of most of his fellow students in Edinburgh and Cambridge. In 1831, he was invited to join the British navy ship the HMS Beagle on a voyage around the world. The voyage lasted almost five years and became an experience of upmost importance to the young Englishman.

He saw more of the world than most other people; at the time he experienced the rain forest at close range, he dug up fossils, studied living nature, rode through desserts, saw ice bergs, penguins and giant turtles, lived through an earthquake and a storm, which had almost capsized the ship. Also, some of his experiences during the voyage strongly nourished his already existing loathing of slavery and any kind of cruelty.

Darwin left with an expectation of returning to a future life as a parson, but he returned home with a strong conviction to dedicate his life to science. Although he had experienced, studied and eagerly written about the amazing phenomena of nature, he himself had no doubt about which direction his future would take. Darwin wanted to become a geologist.

Peter C. Kjærgaard

Charles Darwin and   ‍ The Voyage Of The Beagle

a Scroll Storytelling

Beagle sailed 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—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).

Plymouth, U.K.

"Her Majesty's ship Beagle, a ten-gun brig, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R. N., sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 1831...to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego..."

Canary Islands

"On the 6th of January we reached Teneriffe but were prevented landing by fears of our bringing the cholera.  The next morning we saw the sun rise behind the rugged outline of the Grand Canary island and suddenly illuminate the Peak of Teneriffe whilst the lower parts were veiled in fleecy clouds."

"On the 16th of January, 1832, we anchored at Porto Praya, in St. Jago, the chief island of the Cape de Verd archipelago.  It then first dawned on me that I might perhaps write a book..."

Saint Peter and Paul Rocks

"In crossing the Atlantic we hove to the morning of February 16th close to the island of St Paul's. We found on St. Paul's only two kinds of birds—the booby and the noddy."

Fernando Noronha, Brazil

"The whole island is covered with wood; but from the dryness of the climate there is no appearance of luxuriance."

Salvador, Brazil

"The day has passed delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest."

Abrolhos Islets, Brazil

"...when not far distant from the Abrolhos Islets, my attention was called to a reddish-brown appearance in the sea. These are minute cylindrical confervae, in bundles or rafts of from twenty to sixty in each."

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

"During our stay at Brazil I made a large collection of insects."

Montevideo, Uruguay

"We anchored at Monte Video. The Beagle was employed in surveying the extreme southern and eastern coasts of America, south of the Plata, during the two succeeding years."

Bahía Blanca, Argentina

"We passed the night in Punta Alta, and I employed myself in searching for fossil bones; this point being a perfect catacomb for monsters of extinct races."

Port Desire, Argentina

"The guanaco, or wild llama, is the characteristic quadruped of the plains of Patagonia; it is the South American representative of the camel of the East. They are generally wild and extremely wary."

Tierra del Fuego

"In the morning the Captain sent a party to communicate with the Fuegians. When we came within hail, one of the four natives who were present advanced to receive us, and began to shout most vehemently, wishing to direct us where to land."

"I do not think that our Fuegians were much more superstitious than some of the sailors; for an old quartermaster firmly believed that the successive heavy gales, which we encountered off Cape Horn, were caused by our having the Fuegians on board."

York Minster

“…we fetched within a few miles of the great rugged mountain of York Minster (so called by Captain Cook), when a violent squall compelled us to shorten sail and stand out to sea.”

Falkland Islands

"An undulating land, with a desolate and wretched aspect, is everywhere covered by a peaty soil and wiry grass, of one monotonous brown colour."

Rio Negro, Argentina

"The country near the mouth of the river is wretched in the extreme: on the south side a long line of perpendicular cliffs commences, which exposes a section of the geological nature of the country."

Gregory Bay

Río santa cruz, argentina.

"...scarcely anything was known about this large river. Captain Fitz Roy now determined to follow its course as far as time would allow."

Valparaiso, Chile

"The Beagle anchored late at night in the bay of Valparaiso.  When morning came, everything appeared delightful. After Tierra del Fuego, the climate felt quite delicious. The view from the anchorage is very pretty."

Chiloé Island, Chile

"In the wooded island of Chiloe, which has an extremely humid climate, this little bird [Trochilus forficatus], skipping from side to side amidst the dripping foliage, is perhaps more abundant than almost any other kind."

Valdivia, Chile

"There is not much cleared land near Valdivia: after crossing a river at the distance of a few miles, we entered the forest, and then passed only one miserable hovel, before reaching our sleeping-place for the night."

Concepción, Chile

"The mayor-domo of the estate quickly rode down to tell me the terrible news of the great earthquake of the 20th:—'That not a house in Concepcion or Talcahuano (the port) was standing; that seventy villages were destroyed; and that a great wave had almost washed away the ruins of Talcahuano.'"

Iquique, Chile

"The town contains about a thousand inhabitants, and stands on a little plain of sand at the foot of a great wall of rock, 2000 feet in height, here forming the coast. The whole is utterly desert."

"Lima stands on a plain in a valley, formed during the gradual retreat of the sea. Steep barren hills rise like islands from the plain, which is divided, by straight mud-walls, into large green fields. In these scarcely a tree grows excepting a few willows, and an occasional clump of bananas and of oranges."

Galápagos, Equador

"As I was walking along I met two large tortoises, each of which must have weighed at least two hundred pounds: one was eating a piece of cactus, and as I approached, it stared at me and slowly walked away; the other gave a deep hiss, and drew in its head."

"The survey of the Galapagos Archipelago being concluded, we steered towards Tahiti and commenced our long passage of 3,200 miles."

Pahia, New Zeland

"New Zealand is favoured by one great natural advantage; namely, that the inhabitants can never perish from famine. The whole country abounds with fern: and the roots of this plant, if not very palatable, yet contain much nutriment."

Sydney, Australia

"At last we anchored within Sydney Cove. In the evening I walked through the town, and returned full of admiration at the whole scene. "

Hobart, Tasmania

"Late in the evening we anchored in the snug cove on the shores of which stands the capital of Tasmania. The first aspect of the place was very inferior to that of Sydney; the latter might be called a city, this is only a town. "

Cocos Islands

"The ring-formed reef of the lagoon-island is surmounted in the greater part of its length by linear islets. On entering, the scene was very curious and rather pretty; its beauty, however, entirely depended on the brilliancy of the surrounding colours."

"In the morning we passed round the northern end of Mauritius. From this point of view the aspect of the island equalled the expectations raised by the many well-known descriptions of its beautiful scenery."

Cape Town, South Africa

"With regard to the number of large quadrupeds, there certainly exists no quarter of the globe which will bear comparison with Southern Africa."

"This island, the forbidding aspect of which has been so often described, rises abruptly like a huge black castle from the ocean. Near the town, as if to complete nature's defence, small forts and guns fill up every gap in the rugged rocks."

Pernambuco, Brazil

"The flat swampy land on which Pernambuco stands is surrounded, at the distance of a few miles, by a semicircle of low hills, or rather by the edge of a country elevated perhaps two hundred feet above the sea."

"...thence we proceeded to the Azores, where we stayed six days."

Falmouth, U.K.

"On the 2nd of October we made the shores of England; and at Falmouth I left the Beagle, having lived on board the good little vessel nearly five years."

London, U.K.

23 years after Darwin's return, On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life is published by John Murray.

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Voyage of HMS Beagle (1831-1836)

Hudsonian godwit,  Limosa haemastica , from Captain FitzRoy’s collection.

Some of our most famous specimens were collected by Charles Darwin and Captain Robert FitzRoy during the round-the-world voyage of HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836.

Accepted on board as a gentlemanly companion for Captain Robert FitzRoy (1805-1865), Darwin carefully investigated the geology and zoology encountered during the long surveying mission, keeping detailed notebooks and also collecting specimens. 

Overall, he collected nearly 500 bird skins, together with further birds preserved in spirit, various bird parts and a small number of nests and eggs.

Allowed to dispose of them to the institution of his choice, Darwin gave the vast majority of his collection to the museum of the Zoological Society of London, where the specimens were examined by the renowned ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881). Thirty-nine new species and subspecies of bird were subsequently described, mostly by Gould.   

The most famous of the discovered species are undoubtedly the Galapagos finches, commonly known as Darwin’s finches. These are often credited as the inspiration that led to Darwin formulating his ideas on evolution. However, it was Gould that recognised that the finches were closely related; Darwin originally recorded them as being from a range of different bird families.   

The birds that did attract Darwin’s interest in the Galapagos were several new varieties of mockingbird, later confirmed by Gould as new species. It was the differences that Darwin noticed between the mockingbirds on different islands that were certainly a crucial part of the evidence that led him to the conclusion that species may change. 

Saffron cowled Blackbird collected by Captain FitzRoy

Type specimens of Galapagos mockingbirds, collected by Charles Darwin in 1835.

A line-up of Charles Darwin's finch specimens from the Galapagos Islands.

Moving collections

In 1855, the Zoological Society of London's museum was broken up and the collections sold. The then British Museum purchased a significant number of them, particularly type specimens, but Darwin’s Beagle bird specimens nevertheless were widely dispersed across many public and private collections.   

Over time, more specimens reached the Museum amongst donated private collections, making it the largest single collection of Darwin’s Beagle birds with nearly 200 specimens. The remainder of known specimens are spread across seven other collections, but nearly half the original collection remains unaccounted for. 

FitzRoy’s collection

Captain FitzRoy himself was tasked with gathering specimens and several other crew members were also involved in collecting, assisting both Darwin and FitzRoy. 

As a representative of the Royal Navy, FitzRoy’s collections were not considered his own to dispose of, and were consequently presented to the then British Museum. 

FitzRoy’s surviving bird collection also numbers nearly 200 specimens, but this represents almost the entire original collection. 

Research is presently underway in the Bird Group to trace the history of FitzRoy’s birds, in particular to link them back to surviving archives in order to restore their full data. It is fascinating to compare Darwin’s and FitzRoy’s collections and examine the similarities and differences between them. We hope eventually to understand the role that FitzRoy’s collection may have played in helping Darwin develop his revolutionary ideas. 

We are examining the similarities and differences between Darwin’s and FitzRoy’s collections to determine the role that FitzRoy’s collection may have played in helping Darwin develop his revolutionary ideas.

Looking for a specimen?

The bird collection is being digitised

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Senior curator, any questions .

If you would like to use any specimens for research

Contact the curator

Related information.

• Ornithological knowledge during the voyage of HMS  Beagle (Darwin Online)
• The story of Darwin’s Galapagos mockingbirds
• Full details of Charles Darwin’s bird collection from the voyage of the Beagle

Accessing the collections

Scientists and collections management specialists can visit the collections and borrow specimens for research.

Collections management

Our duty is to provide a safe and secure environment for all of our collections.

The second Voyage of the HMS Beagle

HMS Beagle in the seaways of Tierra del Fuego, painting by Conrad Martens

The HM.S. Beagle

The Cherokee-class of 10-gun brig-sloops was designed by Sir Henry Peake in 1807, and eventually over 100 were constructed. The Beagle’s keel was laid in June 1818, and the ship was launched on 11 May 1820. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review on the River Thames, celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom.

The First Voyage to South America

Captain Pringle Stokes was appointed captain of HMS Beagle on 7 September 1825 and led its first voyage, accompanying the larger ship HMS Adventure on a hydrographic survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego , under the overall command of the Australian Captain Phillip Parker King , Commander and Surveyor. Unfortunately, Captain Stokes became severely depressed during the journey and shot himself. Captain Parker King then replaced Stokes with the First Lieutenant of the Beagle, Lieutenant W.G. Skyring as commander. In Montevideo , the ship was put under the command of Flag Lieutenant Robert Fitz Roy . During the journey, the only 23-year-old aristocrat FitzRoy proved an able commander and meticulous surveyor. During this survey, the Beagle Channel was identified and named after the ship.

Tha Famous Second Voyage of the Beagle

The second voyage of the Beagle took place from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836. Its main purpose was to conduct a hydrographic survey of the coasts of the southern part of South America as a continuation and correction of the work of previous surveys, to produce nautical charts showing navigational and sea depth information for the navy and for commerce. On 27 June 1831 FitzRoy was commissioned as commander of the voyage, and Lieutenants John Clements Wickham and Bartholomew James Sulivan were appointed. The ship was one of the first to test the lightning conductor invented by William Snow Harris. FitzRoy obtained five examples of the Sympiesometer , a kind of mercury-free barometer patented by Alexander Adie and favoured by FitzRoy as giving the accurate readings required by the Admiralty.

FitzRoy was fully aware of the stress he would probably face during the journey as this was the first time, he had no commanding officer or second captain to consult. He felt the need for a gentleman companion who shared his scientific interests and could dine with him as an equal. The first person who was suggested to FitzRoy was Reverend Leonard Jenyns, however, he declined in the last minute. Soon, the 22-year-old Charles Darwin who had just completed the ordinary Bachelor of Arts degree which was a prerequisite for his intended career as a parson, and was on a geology field trip with Adam Sedgwick was suggested. However, this time FitzRoy responded to be strongly against Darwin joining the expedition. Still, Darwin traveled to London and was able to persuade FitzRoy. The geologist Charles Lyell asked FitzRoy to record observations on geological features such as erratic boulders.[ 7 ] Before they left England, FitzRoy gave Darwin a copy of the first volume of Lyell’s Principles of Geology which explained features as the outcome of a gradual process taking place over extremely long periods of time.

From Plymouth Sound to South America

On the morning of 27 December, the Beagle left its anchorage in the Barn Pool, under Mount Edgecumbe on the west side of Plymouth Sound and set out on its surveying expedition. On 6 January the expedition reached Tenerife in the Canary Islands, but was quarantined there because of cholera in England and they were denied landing. Their first landing turned out to be at Porto Praya on the volcanic island of St. Jago in the Cape Verde Islands . There, Darwin’s description in his published Journal begins. Darwin had a special position as guest and social equal of the captain, so junior officers called him “sir” until the captain dubbed Darwin Philos for ship’s philosopher , and this became his suitably respectful nickname.

The Galapagos Islands, New Zealand and Australia

In South America, Beagle carried out its survey work going along the coasts to allow careful measurement and rechecking. Darwin made long journeys inland with travelling companions from the locality. He spent much of the time away from the ship, returning by prearrangement when the Beagle returned to ports where mail could be received and Darwin’s notes, journals, and collections sent back to England. The crew reached the Galápagos Islands on 15 September 1835. He was disappointed that he did not see active volcanoes or find strata showing uplift as he had hoped, though one of the officers found broken oyster-shells high above the sea on one of the islands. Darwin industriously collected all the animals, plants, insects and reptiles, and speculated about finding “ from future comparison to what district or ‘centre of creation’ the organized beings of this archipelago must be attached. “

1846 “General Chart of Australia”, showing coasts examined by Beagle during the third voyage in red, from John Lort Stokes’ Discoveries in Australia

The expedition sailed on, dining on Galapagos tortoises, and passed the atoll of Honden Island on 9 November. They passed through the Low Islands archipelago, with Darwin remarking that they had “a very uninteresting appearance; a long brilliantly white beach is capped by a low bright line of green vegetation.” At Tahiti , Darwin found interest in luxuriant vegetation and the pleasant intelligent natives who showed the benefits of Christianity, refuting allegations he had read about tyrannical missionaries overturning indigenous cultures. They reached New Zealand in December and Australia in January 1836. They made contact with a group of aborigines who looked “good-humoured & pleasant & they appeared far from such utterly degraded beings as usually represented”. They gave him a display of spear throwing for a shilling, and he reflected sadly on how their numbers were rapidly decreasing.

In 1837 HMS Beagle set off on a survey of Australia, and is shown here in an 1841 watercolour by Captain Owen Stanley of Beagle’s sister ship HMS Britomart.

From the Indian Ocean back to England

On April 1, the crew arrived at Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, where Darwin found a coconut economy. At Mauritius , Darwin toured the island, examining its volcanic mountains and fringing coral reefs. Around 15 June Darwin and FitzRoy visited the noted astronomer Sir John Herschel . In his diary Darwin called this “ the most memorable event which, for a long period, I have had the good fortune to enjoy. ” On 23 July they set off again longing to reach home, but FitzRoy wanted to ensure the accuracy of his longitude measurements and so took the ship across the Atlantic back to Bahia in Brazil to take check readings. The Beagle departed for home on 17 August. After a stormy passage including a stop for supplies at the Azores, the Beagle finally reached Falmouth, Cornwall, England on 2 October 1836.

Darwin’s Diary

Back home, Darwin set to work reorganising and trimming his diary, and incorporating scientific material from his notes. He completed his Journal and Remarks (now commonly known as The Voyage of the Beagle ) in August 1837, but FitzRoy was slower and the three volumes were published in August 1839. Darwin had shown great ability as a collector and had done the best he could with the reference books he had on ship. It was now the province of recognised expert specialists to establish which specimens were unknown, and make their considered taxonomic decisions on defining and naming new species.

References and Further Reading:

• [1]  The Second Voyage of the HMS Beagle – Voyage Overview
• [2]  Charles Darwin’s diary of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle
• [3]  The HMS Beagle Voyage at AboutDarwin.com
• [4]  Robert FitzRoy – From Darwin’s famous voyage to Meteorology , SciHi Blog
• [5]  Charles Darwin and the Natural Selection , SciHi Blog
• [6]  Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’ , SciHi Blog
• [7]  Charles Lyell and the Principles of Geology , SciHi Blog
• [8] HMS Beagle at Wikidata
• [9]  Charles Darwin’s Beagle Diary, John van Wyhe , John van Wyhe @ youtube
• [10]  Darwin, Charles (1839).   Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty’s Ships   Adventure   and   Beagle   between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the   Beagle ‘s   circumnavigation of the globe. Journal and remarks. 1832–1836 . Vol. III. London: Henry Colburn.
• [11] FitzRoy, Robert  (1836).  “ Sketch of the Surveying Voyages of his Majesty’s Ships   Adventure   and   Beagle, 1825–1836. Commanded by Captains P. P. King, P. Stokes, and R. Fitz-Roy, Royal Navy. (Communicated by John Barrow)” .  Journal of the Geological Society of London .  6 : 311–343 .  
• [12]  FitzRoy, Robert   (1839).   Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle ‘s  circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831–36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N.   Vol. II. London: Henry Colburn.
• [13] Marquardt, Karl ,  HMS Beagle: Survey Ship Extraordinary   Conway Maritime Press , 2010. 
• [14] Timeline for the HMS Beagle, via Wikidata

Tabea Tietz

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The second voyage of HMS Beagle

The second voyage of HMS  Beagle  from 1831 to 1836 has become one of the most significant voyages of exploration in maritime history. Explore her route using our map. Click through to find out about some of the scientific observations made along the way. Note: to reduce repetition, the passage of HMS  Beagle  around South America has been simplified.

CAPE VERDE ISLANDS

January 1832

Darwin was excited by his first port of call, where he started making comprehensive notes, observations and collections on a wide range of environmental features despite the barren nature of the landscape. It was here that he first realised the opportunities that would be afforded to him by the voyage in terms of geology and natural history.

Darwin observed atmospheric dust in the Cape Verde Islands and considered its origins:

“the atmosphere is generally very hazy … chiefly due to an impalpable dust, which is constantly falling, even on vessels far out at sea. … It is produced, as I believe, from the wear and tear of volcanic rocks, and must come from the coast of Africa.”*

He also observed the habits of marine animals and collected many specimens. He wrote in detail about two molluscs — the sea slug Aplysia and cuttlefish (octopus). Both creatures have colourful defence mechanism, which Darwin observed and noted in detail. Sea slugs release a coloured fluid that stains the water around it. The cuttlefish has a similar defence mechanism, and are also known as the chameleons of the sea for their use of camouflage to avoid predators.

Find out about atmospheric science , ocean science and geology on our science pages.

*Darwin, C. R. Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle Vol. III. Journal and remarks. 1832–1836. (Henry Colburn, 1839); via van Wyhe, J. (ed.) The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online ( http://darwin-online.org.uk , 2002).

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The HMS Beagle Project is managed by the HMS Beagle Trust, a registered charity. Reg No: 1126192. Reg Office: Yelverton House, St John Street, Whitland, SA34 0AW, Wales. Website managed by WebAdept UK . Copyright © HMS Beagle Trust.

IMAGE CREDITS

Devonport, CC source: Nilfanion, Wikimedia Commons . Cape Verde, courtesy Melanie Hanvey. Fernando Noronho, CC source: Roberto Garrido, Wikimedia Commons . Salvador da Bahia, CC source: Toluaye, Wikimedia Commons . Ilha Redonda, Abrolhos, CC source: Amnemona (Marina C. Vinhal), Wikimedia Commons . Rio de Janeiro, CC source: Breogan67 at the German language Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons . Rio de la Plata, CC source: Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, Wikimedia Commons . Mount Hermoso, CC source: Simona.cerrato, Wikimedia Commons . Glacier Alley, Beagle Channel, CC source: Dianne Pike, Flickr . Falkland Islands, CC source: Apcbg, Wikimedia Commons . Maldonado, CC source: Hph at the German language Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons . Rio Negro, CC source: Gswarlus, Zhermen Salvatore, Wikimedia Commons . Sierra de la Ventana, CC source: Mauret, Wikimedia Commons . Rio Parana, CC source: Wikimedia Commons . Rio Uruguay, CC source: squeakymarmot, Wikimedia Commons . Rhea in Patagonia, CC source: Jeremy Vandel, Wikimedia Commons . Puerto San Julian, CC source: Msacla, Wikimedia Commons . Rio Santa Cruz, CC source: James Cadwell, Wikimedia Commons . Puerto Hambre, CC source: Pablomontt, Wikimedia Commons . Valparaiso, CC source: Pablo Trincado, Wikimedia Commons . Chiloe Island, CC source: Melinka, Wikimedia Commons . Valdivia, CC source: Joralt, Wikimedia Commons . Bahia de Concepcion, CC source: eutrophication&hypoxia, Wikimedia Commons . Andes, Mendoza Province, CC source: Alexis Lê-Quôc, Wikimedia Commons . Coquimbo, CC source: Ale1898, Wikimedia Commons Copiapo Valley, CC source: sergejf, Wikimedia Commons . San Lorenzo Island from Callao, CC source: David Almeida, Wikimedia Commons . Bartolome Island, Galapagos, courtesy Melanie Hanvey. Tahiti, French Polynesia, courtesy Melanie Hanvey. Bay of Islands, New Zealand, CC source: Fuadounet, Wikimedia Commons . Sydney Harbour, Australia, CC source: Peter from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wikimedia Commons . Mount Wellington, Tasmania, CC source: arctanx. tk, Wikimedia Commons . King George Sound, Albany, Australia, CC source: Hughesdarren, Wikimedia Commons . Cocos Islands, CC source: PalawanOz, Wikimedia Commons . Mauritius, CC source: Simisa, Wikimedia Commons . Cape Town, South Africa, CC source: Matthias Kniese, Wikimedia Commons . Jamestown, Saint Helena, CC source: Mejuto, Wikimedia Commons . View from Green Mountain, Ascension Island, CC source: LordHarris, Wikimedia Commons . Recife, Brazil, CC source: Wikimedia Commons . Pico Alto, Terceira, Azores, CC source: José Luís Ávila Silveira/Pedro Noronha e Costa, Wikimedia Commons . Falmouth Harbour, CC source: Thu Ya Win, Wikimedia Commons .