Charles Darwin

by Andrew Norman

  Here is an indication of the difference in approach between Fitzroy and Darwin, who was three years his junior. The captain, who was also interested in the natural world, asked not how naturally occurring phenomena could be explained, but how they could be explained within the context of Biblical teachings. Darwin, on the other hand, was inhibited by no such constraints.

  1 June 1834. We anchored [again] in the fine bay of Port Famine.

  10 June 1834. In the morning we made the best of our way into the open Pacific.61

  As Beagle voyaged northward along the west coast of Chile, Darwin observed that

  almost every arm of the sea, which penetrates to the interior higher chain [of mountains], not only in Tierra del Fuego, but on the coast for 650 miles northwards, is terminated by ‘tremendous and astonishing glaciers’.62

  In June/July, Darwin told Catherine, ‘I collect every living creature, which I have time to catch & preserve; also some plants’.63

  23 July 1834. The Beagle anchored late at night in the Bay of Valparaiso, the chief sea port of Chile.64

  Here, ship’s artist Martens left the ship and sailed for Australia. On that same day Darwin wrote to Charles T. Whitley, another friend from his Cambridge days (and John M. Herbert’s cousin) to say

  I have seen nothing, which more completely astonished me, than the first sight of a Savage; it was a native Fuegian [inhabitant of Tierra del Fuego] his long hair blowing about, his face besmeared with paint. There is in their countenances, an expression, which I believe to those who have not seen it, must be inconceivably wild.65

  At Valparaiso Darwin was able to admire the volcano of Aconcagua – 23,000 feet in height. On 14 August he

  set out on a riding excursion for the purpose of geologizing the basal parts of the Andes [and declared] The proofs of the elevation of this whole line of coast are unequivocal: at the height of a few hundred feet old-looking shells are numerous, and I found some at 1300 feet.66

  Darwin realized that the presence of sea shells in the foothills of the Andes mountains indicated that these foothills had once been at sea level. In that same month he told Caroline that

  The ultimate destination of all my collections will of course be to wherever they may be of most service to Natural History. But caeteris paribus [other things being equal] the British Museum [London, devoted to human history and culture], has the first claims, owing to my being on board a King’s Ship.67

  Darwin arrived at Santiago, capital of Chile, on 27 August. The following day he gleefully told Captain FitzRoy, ‘Altogether I am delighted with the Country of Chile … .’68 However, on 19 September he remarked, ‘During the day I felt very unwell, and from that time until the end of October did not recover’.69

  24 September 1834. Our course was now directed towards Valparaiso [Chile], which with great difficulty I reached on the 27th, and was there confined to my bed till the end of October.70

  Darwin summed up the nature of HMS Beagle’s captain thus

  Fitz-Roy’s character was a singular one, with very many noble features: he was devoted to his duty, generous to a fault, bold, determined, and indomitably energetic, and an ardent friend to all under his sway. He would undertake any sort of trouble to assist those whom he thought deserved assistance.71

  However, there was a negative side to the captain, for, said Darwin, his

  temper was a most unfortunate one. It was usually worst in the early morning, and with his eagle eye he could generally detect something amiss about the ship, and was then unsparing in his blame. He was very kind to me, but was a man very difficult to live with on the intimate terms which necessarily followed from our messing by ourselves in the same cabin.72

  This statement by Darwin is a tribute to his ability to ‘get along’ with his fellow human beings, even in the most trying of circumstances, bearing in mind the cramped confines of the ship.

  Writing from Valparaiso on 8 November, Darwin informed Catherine that FitzRoy had been ‘unwell’, largely through overwork.

  This was accompanied by a morbid depression of spirits, & a loss of all decision & resolution. The captain was afraid that his mind was becoming deranged (being aware of his hereditary predisposition).73

  Perhaps it was his uncle, politician Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, who had committed suicide in 1822, that Captain FitzRoy had in mind when he expressed these fears.

  10 November 1834. The Beagle sailed from Valparaiso to the south, for the purpose of surveying the southern part of Chile …74

  In a long letter, written between July and November 1834, Darwin informed Henslow that his notes, which were ‘becoming bulky’, comprised

  about 600 small quarto pages full; about half of this is Geology, the other imperfect descriptions of animals: with the latter I make it a rule only to describe those parts, or facts, which cannot be seen, in specimens [preserved] in spirits.

  Also, Darwin was anxious for Henslow to confirm the safe arrival of the head (i.e. skull) of a megatherium (giant sloth), which he had sent to him from Buenos Aires.75

  15 January 1835 … we sailed from Low’s Harbour, and three days afterwards anchored a second time in the Bay of S. Carlos in [the island of] Chiloe [off the coast of southern Chile].76

  Whereupon the indefatigable Darwin set off on a ‘twelve-league’ [approximately thirty-six-mile] excursion across the island.77 He had now, seemingly, fully recovered his health and strength.

  Catherine wrote to Darwin on 28 January to say that their father Robert – ‘Papa’ wishes to urge you to think of leaving the Beagle, and returning home, and to take warning by this one serious illness … [Darwin believed that he had fallen ill as a consequence of drinking ‘bad wine’. He] desires me to beg you to recollect that it will soon be four years since you left us, which surely is a long portion of your life to give up to Natural History. – If you wait till the Beagle returns home, it will be as many years again; the time of its voyage goes on lengthening & lengthening every time we hear of it; we are quite in despair about it.78

  Fortunately for posterity, Darwin ignored his father’s entreaties, HMS Beagle sailed from Chiloe on 4 February and reached Valdivia (Chile) on the night of the 8th.79 It was here, twelve days later, that Darwin experienced ‘the most severe earthquake’ to have occurred in the living memory of the inhabitants.80 The following month, Darwin described ‘the great Earthquake of 20th of February’ to Caroline.

  I suppose it certainly is the worst ever experienced in Chili [Chile]. It is no use attempting to describe the ruins – it is the most awful spectacle I ever beheld. The town of [Concepción] is now nothing more than piles & lines of bricks, tiles & timbers – it is absolutely true there is not one house left habitable … The force of the shock must have been immense, the ground is traversed by rents, the solid rocks are shivered, solid buttresses 6–10 feet thick are broken into fragments like biscuit.81

  According to Captain FitzRoy

  At ten in the morning of 20 February, very large flights of sea-fowl were noticed, passing over the city of Concepción, from the sea-coast, towards the interior: and some surprise was excited by so unusual and simultaneous a change in the habits of those birds, no signs of an approaching storm being visible.

  About eleven, the southerly breeze freshened up as usual – the sky was clear, and almost cloudless. At forty minutes after eleven the shock of an earthquake was felt, slightly at first, but increasing rapidly. During the first half minute many persons remained in their houses; but then the convulsive movements were so strong, that the alarm became general, and they all rushed into open spaces for safety. The horrid motion increased: people could hardly stand; buildings waved and tottered – suddenly an awful overpowering shock caused universal destruction – and in less than 6 seconds the city was in ruins.82

  The earthquake was followed by what would now be called a tsunami, described by Darwin thus

  Shortly after the shock, a great wave was seen from the distance of three or four miles, approaching
the middle of the bay with a smooth outline; along the shore it tore up cottages and trees as it swept onwards with irresistible force.83

  And by Captain FitzRoy as follows

  an enormous wave was seen forcing its way through the western passage which separates Quirquina Island from the mainland. This terrific swell passed rapidly along the western side of the Bay of Concepción, sweeping the steep shores of every thing movable within thirty feet from the high-water mark.84

  Darwin observed that ‘in almost every earthquake the neighbouring waters of the sea are said to have been greatly agitated’, and he pondered over why this should be so.85 He also observed that after the earthquake, ‘the land round the Bay of Concepción was raised two or three feet [and] at the island of S. Maria (about thirty miles distant) the elevation was greater …’.86 It was therefore his opinion that ‘successive small uprisings, such as that which had accompanied or caused the earthquake of this year …’ had caused the ‘great elevation’. This was the explanation, for example, for sea shells being ‘found at the height of 1300 feet’ at Valparaiso (Chile).87

  7 March 1835. We stayed three days at Concepción, and then sailed for Valparaiso.88

  From here, on 11 March, Darwin set out on an expedition to cross the Cordillera (mountain ranges)89

  Our first day’s journey was fourteen leagues [forty-two miles] to Estacado [Chile], and the second seventeen to [Luján] near Mendoza [Argentina, situated 200 miles east of Valparaiso]. We crossed the Luxan, which is a river of considerable size …90

  At night I experienced an attack (for it deserves no less a name) of the Benchuca, a species of Reduvius, the great black bug of the Pampas.91

  This incident, which will be discussed shortly, would prove to be of great significance. as far as Darwin’s health was concerned

  27 March 1835. We rode on to Mendoza.92 On the 10th we reached Santiago … . My excursion only cost me twenty-four days, and never did I more deeply enjoy an equal space of time.93

  On 18 April, writing from Valparaiso, Darwin told Henslow

  I have just returned from Mendosa, having crossed the Cordilleras [mountain ranges] by [way of] two passes. This trip has added much to my knowledge of the geology of the country.94

  Five days later, in a letter to his sister Susan, he elaborated further.

  Beside understanding to a certain extent, the description & manner of the force, which has elevated this great line of mountains, I can clearly demonstrate, that one part of the double line is of a age long posterior to [i.e. much older than] the other. In the more ancient line, which is the true chain of the Andes. I can describe the sort & order of the rocks which compose it.

  What is of much greater consequence, I have procured fossil shells (from an elevation of 12000 ft). I think an examination of these will give an approximate age to these mountains as compared to the Strata of Europe: In the other line of the Cordilleras there is a strong presumption (in my own mind conviction) that the enormous mass of mountains, the peaks of which rise to 13 & 14000 ft are so very modern as to be contemporaneous with the plains of Patagonia (or about [contemporaneous] with [the] upper strata of [the] Isle of Wight): If this result shall be considered as proved it is a very important fact in the theory of the formation of the world.95

  (It was Danish Catholic bishop and scientist Nicholas Steno, 1638–86, who was instrumental in defining the guiding principles of Stratigraphy – that branch of geology which is concerned with the order and relative position of strata and their relationship to the geological time scale.96 He argued that rock layers (or strata) are laid down in succession, and that each represents a ‘slice’ of time. He also formulated the law of superposition, which states that any given stratum is probably older than those above it and younger than those below it. This, of course, is a generalization, and takes no account of distortions to the Earth’s crust, which have taken place over time and continue to do so.)

  27 April 1835. I set out on a journey to Coquimbo [Chile], and thence through Guasco to Copiapo where Captain Fitz Roy kindly offered to pick me up in the Beagle. The distance in a straight line along the shore northward is only 420 miles; but my mode of travelling made it a very long journey.

  The journey was, as usual, undertaken on horseback, during the course of which Darwin and his party cooked their own meals and slept in the open air.97

  As if to demonstrate the ever-present danger of disease, FitzRoy describes how, on 25 May, near a village called Quiapo [Chile]

  When I stripped to bathe … I found myself so covered from head to foot with flea-bites, that I seemed to have a violent rash, or the scarlet fever.98

  Meanwhile, continued Darwin

  12 July 1835. We anchored off the port of Iquique …, on the coast of Peru.99

  19 July 1845. We anchored in the Bay of Callao, the seaport of Lima, the capital of Peru.100

  To Caroline in that same month, Darwin wrote from Lima to say, in eager anticipation

  I am very anxious for the Galapagos Islands, – I think both the Geology & Zoology cannot fail to be very interesting.101

  In August Darwin wrote to Fox to congratulate him on his recent marriage.

  You are a true Christian & return good for evil.- to send 2 letters to so a bad a Correspondent as I have been. God bless you for writing so kindly & affectionately …

  The voyage is terribly long. I do so earnestly desire to return, yet I dare hardly look forward to the future, for I do not know what will become of me. Your situation is above envy; I do not venture even to frame such happy vision. To a person fit to take the office, the life of a Clergyman is a type of all that is respectable & happy: & if he is a Naturalist & has the ‘Diamond Beetle’ [Curculio imperialis – a Brazilian beetle notable for its sparkling wing-cases – ‘elytra’], ave Maria … .102

  This letter to Fox begs the question: was Darwin debating in his mind whether he himself was ‘fit’ – i.e. suitable and suited, and whether he possessed the necessary conviction – which Fox undoubtedly did, to become a clergyman, as his father Robert, wished for him to be?

  On the 15th of that month, Darwin wrote from Lima to Henry Stephen Fox (British minister-plenipotentiary and envoy-extraordinary at Rio de Janeiro, and amateur geologist) to say

  I hope now to be able to give some sort of outline of the superposition of the strata & the structure of the mountains of [Chile]. It is very certain that the very idea of the Cordilleras being composed solely of Volcanic rocks is quite incorrect. [Also] There is one point in the Geology of S. America, in which I am much interested, it is the recent elevation of the land. That such has taken place & to a considerable amount on this coast I have abundant proofs. [He then enquires] Have you ever noticed on land elevated from 30 to 200 ft above the sea, any large beds of marine shells, & which did not appear carried there by man?103

  In September 1835 to Alexander Burns Usborne, naval officer aboard Beagle, Darwin declared of shells which had once lain on the sea bed

  I have frequently found such shells on the coast of Chili [sic] at a height from 20 – 400 ft. The oftener you can observe & record this class of facts, in different places, so much the better; for the evidence respecting the rise of land becomes cumulative.104

  HMS Beagle arrived at the Galapagos Islands on 15 September 1835.

  NOTES

  1. Darwin, Charles, The Voyage of the Beagle, p.15.

  2. Cor.1, p.553.

  3. Darwin to W. T. Preyer, 17 February [1870], Cor.18, pp.41–2.

  4. Cor.1, p. 130.

  5. Darwin, Charles, op cit., pp.15–16, 21.

  6. Darwin to R. W. Darwin, 10 February 1832, Cor.1, p.206.

  7. Darwin to R. W. Darwin, 8 February 1832, Cor.1, p.201.

  8. FitzRoy, Captain Robert, A Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, p.50.

  9. Darwin, Francis, op cit., p.35.

  10. Darwin, Charles, op cit., p.28.

  11. FitzRoy, op cit., p.77.

  12. Ibid, p.77.

  13. Ibi
d, p.77.

  14. Darwin, Charles, Beagle Diary, p. 173.

  15. Darwin to W. D. Fox, May 1832, Cor.1, p.232.

  16. Cor.1, p.171.

  17. Darwin to J. S. Henslow, 18 May – 16 June 1832, Cor.1, pp. 236–8.

  18. Darwin to Catherine Darwin, 5 July 1832, Cor.1, pp.246–7.

  19. Darwin, Charles, op cit., pp.64–5, 81.

  20. Darwin to J. S. Henslow, 23 July-15 August 1832, Cor.1, p.252.

  21. Darwin to J. S.Henslow, 26 October-24 November 1832, Cor.1, p.281.

  22. Darwin to Caroline Darwin, 24 October-24 November 1832, Cor.1, pp.276–8.

  23. Darwin, Charles, op cit., p.281.

  24. Ibid, pp.290–1.

  25. Henslow to Darwin, 15–21 January 1833, Cor.1, p.293.

  26. Darwin, Charles, op cit., p.260.

  27. Darwin to Caroline Darwin 15 March-12 April 1833, Cor.1, p.303.

  28. Darwin to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833, Cor.1, p.307.

  29. Darwin to Catherine Darwin, 22 May-14 July 1833. Cor.1, p.311.

  30. Darwin to J. S. Henslow, 18 July 1833, Cor.1, p.322.

  31. Darwin, Charles, The Voyage of the Beagle, pp.98–9.

  32. Ibid, p.151.

  33. Ibid, p. 100.

  34. Ibid, p. 112.

  35. Ibid, p. 119.

  36. Ibid, p. 119.

  37. Ibid, p. 120.

  38. Ibid, p.211.