Beagle's Voyage

Apr 1, 1831 Beginning of the Voyage

1831

Darwin reads Alexander Von Humboldt's inspiring account of his expeditions through the rainforest. For 6 months, Darwin plans a trip to the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa.

Plymouth, England

Dec 27, 1831

Charles Darwin embarks on the HMS Beagle voyage with the Captain Robert FitzRoy, as his assistant.

Cape Verde Islands

Jan 1, 1832

Darwin is exhilarated by his first observations. He explores the volcanic island of St. Jago, which is only 450 miles off the coast of Africa.

Crossing the Equator

Feb 1, 1832

Darwin and Captain FitzRoy had crossed the equator while on the Beagle voyage.

Salvador, Brazil

Feb 20, 1832

Darwin explores the Brazilian rain forest for the first time.

Punta Alta, Argentina

Sep 1, 1832

Darwin is intrigued by all the giant fossils he sees. He dug up fossils of gigantic extinct mammals, such as the ground sloth or glyptodon.

Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Dec 1, 1832

Darwin camps near a Fuegian Village and considers the tribal people of Tierra del Fuego "savages." One of the goals of the Beagle voyage was to establish a Christian mission.

Falkland Islands

Mar 1, 1833

Darwin finds the barren, windswept Falkland Islands 'desolate and wretched.' However, he then encounters 'primitive lookng rocks' and finds them to be fossils.

Chiloe Island, Chile

Jan 1, 1835

Darwin sees Mount Osomo erupt while on the island of Chiloe and experiences the earthquake.The earthquake that Darwin experienced lifted the ocean floor 2.7 meters or 9 feet above sea level.

Galapagos Islands

Oct 1, 1835

Darwin was most fascinated by the enormous Galapagos tortoises and the marine iguana.He had thought included many different birds were actually all finches.

Sydney, Australia

1836

Once Darwin had arrived in Sydney Cove, he saw all the different variety of marsupials and began to wonder why there is a completely different set of mammals in Australia.

Mauritius

May 1, 1836

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 coarse grass and bushes, the greater part of which are mimosas," observes Darwin.

Bahia and Pernambuco, South America

Aug 1, 1836

In the jungles of South America, Darwin discovers many incredible creatures.Beagle makes an unscheduled detour to make additional longitudinal measurements.

The end of beagle voyage

Oct 1, 1836