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Plymouth, England
Charles Darwin, aged 22, embarks on the HMS Beagle Voyage as the ship captain's assistant. 'The misery I endured from seasickness is far beyond what I ever guessed at.' -
Cape Verdes Islands
Darwin is exhilarated by his first observations. 'It first dawned on me that I might perhaps write a book on the geology of the various countries visited, and this made me thrill with delight.' -
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 tilted up into a large bath of water... The whole ship was a shower bath.' -
Salvador, Brazil
Darwin explores Brazilian rainforests for the first time. "Here I first saw a tropical forest in all its sublime grandeur.. I never experienced such intense delight.' He is enraptured by the experience: 'I have been wandering by myself in a Brazilian forest: amongst the multitude, it is hard to say what set of objects are most striking; the general luxuriance of the vegetation bears the victory, the elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of 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. FitzRoy 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 brachipods -
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 life - to be able at any moment to pull up [your] horse.' -
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Chiloe Island, Chile
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 the earthquake has done more in degrading or lessening the size of the island, than 100 years of ordinary wear and tear.' -
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Galapagos Islands
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 and amused by the 'immense' Galapagos tortoises. They were so large that he could not resist climbing on top for a ride. -
Sydney, Australia
On arrival in Sydney Cove, Darwin's first feeling was 'to congratulate myself that I was born an Englishman... it is fine town.' Marvelling at marsupials, Darwin wonders 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. 'I am glad we have visited these islands; such formations surely rank high amongst the wonderful objects of this world.' -
Mauritius
'I took a quiet walk along the sea coast to the north of the town; the plain is there uncultivated, consisting of the field of the black lava smoothed over with coarse grass and bushes, the greater part of which are mimosas,' observes Darwin. -
Cape Town, South Africa
'The first object in Cape Town 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. 'The zig-zag manner of proceeding is very grievous... I loathe, I abhor the sea, and all ships which sail on it.' -
Falmouth, England
'I reached home late last night. My head is quite confused with so much delight.' The Beagle ship only 27m (90 feet) long carried 74 people, 22 clocks, in very close quarters!