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Plymouth, England
Charles Darwin, aged 22, embarks on the HMS Beagle voyage as the ship captain's assistant. -
January 1832, Cape Verde Islands
Darwin is exhilarated by his first observations. -
February 1832, Crossing The Equator
"We have crossed the Equator, and I have undergone the disagreeable operation of being shaved" - Charles Darwin -
February 1832, Salvador, Brazil
Darwin explores Brazilian Rain forests for the first time. -
1832 September, Punta Alta, Argentina
Darwin is intrigued by the giant fossils he sees. "I have been wonderfully lucky with fossil bones. -
December 1832, 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. -
March 1833 Falkland Islands
Darwin finds the barren, windswept Falkland Islands 'desolate and wretched' . -
August 1833, Rio Negro, Argentina
Darwin explores the fertile lowland areas, known as Pampas, with the local people or 'gauchos' . -
January-February 1835 Chiloe Island, Chile
Darwin sees Mount Osorno while on the island of Chiloe and experiences the earthquake in the woods near Valdivia. Seeing the aftermath of the earthquake affected him tremendously. -
September- October 1835 Galapagos Islands
Darwin finds many species of plants, birds, and tortoises unique to the Galapagos Islands,, but they seem mysteriously related to mainland species. -
January 1836 Sydney, Austrailia
On arrival in Sydney Cove, Darwin's first feeling was 'to congratulate myself that I was born an Englishman... it is a fine town. -
April 1836 Cocos Islands (Keeling Islands)
Darwin studies coral reefs to test his theory of atoll formation. -
May 1836 Mauritius
'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. -
June 1836
' 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; the great mass of horizontally stratified sandstone rises quite close behind the town to a height of 3,500 feet' . -
August 1836 Bahia and Pernambuco, South America
In the jungles of South America, Darwin discovers many incredible creatures. -
Falmouth , England
' I reached home late last night. My head is quite confused with so much delight. '