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pubOne.info thank you for your continued support and wish to present you this new edition. 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 Beagle I shall ever feel most thankful for the undeviating kindness with which I was treated during our long voyage. (Preface/1. I must take this opportunity of returning my sincere thanks to Mr

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	23 octobre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819919834
Langue	English

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AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
I have stated in the preface to the first Edition ofthis work, and in the "Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle," thatit was in consequence of a wish expressed by Captain Fitz Roy, ofhaving some scientific person on board, accompanied by an offerfrom him of giving up part of his own accommodations, that Ivolunteered my services, which received, through the kindness ofthe hydrographer, Captain Beaufort, the sanction of the Lords ofthe Admiralty. As I feel that the opportunities which I enjoyed ofstudying the Natural History of the different countries we visitedhave been wholly due to Captain Fitz Roy, I hope I may here bepermitted to repeat my expression of gratitude to him; and to addthat, during the five years we were together, I received from himthe most cordial friendship and steady assistance. Both to CaptainFitz Roy and to all the Officers of the "Beagle" I shall ever feelmost thankful for the undeviating kindness with which I was treatedduring our long voyage. (Preface/1. I must take this opportunity ofreturning my sincere thanks to Mr. Bynoe, the surgeon of the"Beagle," for his very kind attention to me when I was ill atValparaiso.)
This volume contains, in the form of a Journal, ahistory of our voyage, and a sketch of those observations inNatural History and Geology, which I think will possess someinterest for the general reader. I have in this edition largelycondensed and corrected some parts, and have added a little toothers, in order to render the volume more fitted for popularreading; but I trust that naturalists will remember that they mustrefer for details to the larger publications which comprise thescientific results of the Expedition. The "Zoology of the Voyage ofthe 'Beagle'" includes an account of the Fossil Mammalia, byProfessor Owen; of the Living Mammalia, by Mr. Waterhouse; of theBirds, by Mr. Gould; of the Fish, by the Reverend L. Jenyns; and ofthe Reptiles, by Mr. Bell. I have appended to the descriptions ofeach species an account of its habits and range. These works, whichI owe to the high talents and disinterested zeal of the abovedistinguished authors, could not have been undertaken had it notbeen for the liberality of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty'sTreasury, who, through the representation of the Right Honourablethe Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been pleased to grant a sumof one thousand pounds towards defraying part of the expenses ofpublication.
I have myself published separate volumes on the"Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs"; on the "VolcanicIslands visited during the Voyage of the 'Beagle'"; and on the"Geology of South America." The sixth volume of the "GeologicalTransactions" contains two papers of mine on the Erratic Bouldersand Volcanic Phenomena of South America. Messrs. Waterhouse,Walker, Newman, and White, have published several able papers onthe Insects which were collected, and I trust that many others willhereafter follow. The plants from the southern parts of Americawill be given by Dr. J. Hooker, in his great work on the Botany ofthe Southern Hemisphere. The Flora of the Galapagos Archipelago isthe subject of a separate memoir by him, in the "LinneanTransactions." The Reverend Professor Henslow has published a listof the plants collected by me at the Keeling Islands; and theReverend J.M. Berkeley has described my cryptogamic plants.
I shall have the pleasure of acknowledging the greatassistance which I have received from several other naturalists inthe course of this and my other works; but I must be here allowedto return my most sincere thanks to the Reverend Professor Henslow,who, when I was an undergraduate at Cambridge, was one chief meansof giving me a taste for Natural History, – who, during my absence,took charge of the collections I sent home, and by hiscorrespondence directed my endeavours, – and who, since my return,has constantly rendered me every assistance which the kindestfriend could offer.
DOWN, BROMLEY, KENT, June 1845.
JOURNAL.
CHAPTER I.
Porto Praya. Ribeira Grande. Atmospheric Dust withInfusoria. Habits of a Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish. St. Paul's Rocks,non-volcanic. Singular Incrustations. Insects the first Colonistsof Islands. Fernando Noronha. Bahia. Burnished Rocks. Habits of aDiodon. Pelagic Confervae and Infusoria. Causes of discolouredSea.
ST. JAGO – CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS.
After having been twice driven back by heavysouth-western gales, Her Majesty's ship "Beagle," a ten-gun brig,under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R.N., sailed from Devonporton the 27th of December, 1831. The object of the expedition was tocomplete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commencedunder Captain King in 1826 to 1830 – to survey the shores of Chile,Peru, and of some islands in the Pacific – and to carry a chain ofchronometrical measurements round the World. On the 6th of Januarywe reached Teneriffe, but were prevented landing, by fears of ourbringing the cholera: the next morning we saw the sun rise behindthe rugged outline of the Grand Canary Island, and suddenlyillumine the Peak of Teneriffe, whilst the lower parts were veiledin fleecy clouds. This was the first of many delightful days neverto be forgotten. On the 16th of January 1832 we anchored at PortoPraya, in St. Jago, the chief island of the Cape de Verdarchipelago.
The neighbourhood of Porto Praya, viewed from thesea, wears a desolate aspect. The volcanic fires of a past age, andthe scorching heat of a tropical sun, have in most places renderedthe soil unfit for vegetation. The country rises in successivesteps of table-land, interspersed with some truncate conical hills,and the horizon is bounded by an irregular chain of more loftymountains. The scene, as beheld through the hazy atmosphere of thisclimate, is one of great interest; if, indeed, a person, fresh fromsea, and who has just walked, for the first time, in a grove ofcocoa-nut trees, can be a judge of anything but his own happiness.The island would generally be considered as very uninteresting, butto any one accustomed only to an English landscape, the novelaspect of an utterly sterile land possesses a grandeur which morevegetation might spoil. A single green leaf can scarcely bediscovered over wide tracts of the lava plains; yet flocks ofgoats, together with a few cows, contrive to exist. It rains veryseldom, but during a short portion of the year heavy torrents fall,and immediately afterwards a light vegetation springs out of everycrevice. This soon withers; and upon such naturally formed hay theanimals live. It had not now rained for an entire year. When theisland was discovered, the immediate neighbourhood of Porto Prayawas clothed with trees (1/1. I state this on the authority of Dr.E. Dieffenbach, in his German translation of the first edition ofthis Journal.), the reckless destruction of which has caused here,as at St. Helena, and at some of the Canary islands, almost entiresterility. The broad, flat-bottomed valleys, many of which serveduring a few days only in the season as watercourses, are clothedwith thickets of leafless bushes. Few living creatures inhabitthese valleys. The commonest bird is a kingfisher (DaceloIagoensis), which tamely sits on the branches of the castor-oilplant, and thence darts on grasshoppers and lizards. It is brightlycoloured, but not so beautiful as the European species: in itsflight, manners, and place of habitation, which is generally in thedriest valley, there is also a wide difference.
One day, two of the officers and myself rode toRibeira Grande, a village a few miles eastward of Porto Praya.Until we reached the valley of St. Martin, the country presentedits usual dull brown appearance; but here, a very small rill ofwater produces a most refreshing margin of luxuriant vegetation. Inthe course of an hour we arrived at Ribeira Grande, and weresurprised at the sight of a large ruined fort and cathedral. Thislittle town, before its harbour was filled up, was the principalplace in the island: it now presents a melancholy, but verypicturesque appearance. Having procured a black Padre for a guide,and a Spaniard who had served in the Peninsular war as aninterpreter, we visited a collection of buildings, of which anancient church formed the principal part. It is here the governorsand captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some of thetombstones recorded dates of the sixteenth century. (1/2. The Capede Verd Islands were discovered in 1449. There was a tombstone of abishop with the date of 1571; and a crest of a hand and dagger,dated 1497.) The heraldic ornaments were the only things in thisretired place that reminded us of Europe. The church or chapelformed one side of a quadrangle, in the middle of which a largeclump of bananas were growing. On another side was a hospital,containing about a dozen miserable-looking inmates.
We returned to the Vênda to eat our dinners. Aconsiderable number of men, women, and children, all as black asjet, collected to watch us. Our companions were extremely merry;and everything we said or did was followed by their heartylaughter. Before leaving the town we visited the cathedral. It doesnot appear so rich as the smaller church, but boasts of a littleorgan, which sent forth singularly inharmonious cries. We presentedthe black priest with a few shillings, and the Spaniard, pattinghim on the head, said, with much candour, he thought his colourmade no great difference. We then returned, as fast as the ponieswould go, to Porto Praya.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo,situated near the centre of the island. On a small plain which wecrossed, a few stunted acacias were growing; their tops had beenbent by the steady trade-wind, in a singular manner – some of themeven at right angles to their trunks. The direction of the brancheswas exactly north-east by north, and south-west by south, and thesenatural vanes must indicate the prevailing direction of the forceof the trade-wind. The travelling had ma