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Charles Darwin's Voyage

By Daniel Inciarte

  • HMS Beagle Voyage | Plymouth, England

    Charles Darwin embarks on the HMS Beagle voyage as the ship captain's assistant.

  • Cape Verde Islands

    Darwin is exhilarated by his first observations.

  • Crossing The Equator

    "We have crossed the Equator, and I have undergone the disagreeable operation of being shaved... the constable blindfolded me and thus lead along, buckets of water were thundered all around; I was then placed on a plank, which could be easily tilled up into a large bath of water... The whole ship was a shower bath"

  • Salvador, Brazil

    Darwin explores Brazilian rain forests for the first time. 'Here I first saw a tropical forest in all its sublime grandeur... I never experienced such intense delight; the general luxuriance of the vegetation bears the victory, the elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty off the flowers."

  • Punta Alta, Argentina

    Darwin is intrigued by the giant fossils he sees. 'I have been wonderfully lucky with fossil bones. Some of the animals must have been of great dimensions! I am almost sure that many of them are quite new.'

  • Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

    Captain Robert FitzRoy repatriates three native people he had brought to England on a previous voyage; He attempts to start a Christian mission, which fails disastrously.

  • Falkland Islands

    Darwin finds the barren, windswept Falkland Islands 'desolate and wretched.' But he perks up when he cracks open some 'primitive looking rocks' and finds fossils. The Falklands were full of branchiopods - two-shelled animals once among the most abundant organisms on Earth.

  • Rio Negro, Argentina

    Darwin explores the fertile lowland areas, known as Pampas, with the local people or 'gauchos'. 'There is high enjoyment in the independence of the gaucho like - to be able at any moment to pull up [your] house.'

  • Chiloe Island, Chile (Arrival)

    Darwin sees Mount Osorno erupt while on the island of Chiloe and experiences the earthquake in the woods near Valdivia. Seeing the aftermath of the earthquake affected him tremendously. 'I believe this earthquake has done more in degrading or lessening the of the island, than 100 years of ordinary wear and tear.'

  • Chiloe Island, Chile (Take off)

    Darwin sees Mount Osorno erupt while on the island of Chiloe and experiences the earthquake in the woods near Valdivia. Seeing the aftermath of the earthquake affected him tremendously. 'I believe this earthquake has done more in degrading or lessening the of the island, than 100 years of ordinary wear and tear.'

  • Galapagos Islands (Arrival)

    Darwin finds many species of plants, birds and tortoises unique to the Galapagos Islands, but they seem mysteriously related to mainland species. He is particularly fascinated by the 'immense' Galapagos tortoises, also many Galapagos animals were as strange as their surroundings, and their color often blended with lava around them; Named after 'foolish person", boobies are known for their complete absence of defensive behavior. Darwin was stunned to learn that many different birds were flinches.

  • Galapagos Islands (Take off)

    Darwin finds many species of plants, birds and tortoises unique to the Galapagos Islands, but they seem mysteriously related to mainland species. He is particularly fascinated by the 'immense' Galapagos tortoises, also many Galapagos animals were as strange as their surroundings, and their color often blended with lava around them; Named after 'foolish person", boobies are known for their complete absence of defensive behavior. Darwin was stunned to learn that many different birds were flinches.

  • Sydney, Australia

    Darwin wondered why there is a completely different set of mammals in Australia.

  • Cocos Islands (Keeling Islands)

    Darwin studies coral reefs growing around islands to test his theory of atoll formation. He was glad that he has visited those islands; that such information surely rank high among the wonderful objects of this world.

  • Mauritius

    Darwin: "I took a quiet walk along the sea coast to the north of the town; the plain is there quite uncultivated, consisting of a field of black lava smoothed over with grass and bushes, the greater part of which are mimosas"

  • Cape Town, South Africa

    Darwin: "The first object in _ which strikes the eye of a stranger is the number of bullock wagons... I have as yet not mentioned the well known Table Mountain; this great mass of horizontally stratified sandstone rises quite close behind the town to a height of 3,500 feet".

  • Bahia and Pernambuco, South America

    In the jungles of South America, Darwin discovers many incredible creatures. However, both homesick and seasick, he is dismayed when the Beagle makes an unscheduled detour to make additional longitude measurements. "This zigzag manner of proceeding is very grievous... I loathe; I abhor the sea".

  • Falmouth, England

    Darwin: " I reached home late last night, My head is quite confused with so much delight".