Second Voyage of HMS Beagle (1831–1836)

Aims of the expedition

When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, the Pax Britannica saw seafaring nations competing in colonisation and rapid industrialisation. The logistics of supply and growing commerce needed reliable information about sea routes, but existing nautical charts were incomplete and inaccurate. Spanish American wars of independence ended Spain's monopoly over trade, and the UK's 1825 commercial treaty with Argentina recognised its independence, increasing the naval and commercial significance of the east coast of South America. The Admiralty instructed Commander King to make an accurate hydrographic survey of "the Southern Coasts of the Peninsula of South America, from the southern entrance of the River Plata, round to Chilóe; and of Tierra del Fuego". As Darwin wrote of his voyage, "The object of the expedition was to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commenced under 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 of chronometrical measurements round the World." The expeditions also had diplomatic objectives, visiting disputed territories.

An Admiralty memorandum set out the detailed instructions. The first requirement was to resolve disagreements in the earlier surveys about the longitude of Rio de Janeiro, which was essential as the base point for meridian distances.

Context and preparations

The previous survey expedition to South America involved HMS Adventure and HMS Beagle under the overall command of the Australian Commander Phillip Parker King. During the survey, Beagle's captain, Pringle Stokes, committed suicide and command of the ship was given to the young aristocrat Robert FitzRoy, a nephew of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton. When a ship's boat was taken by the natives of Tierra del Fuego, FitzRoy tried taking some of them hostage, and after this failed he got occupants of a canoe to put another on the ship in exchange for buttons. He brought four of them back to England to be given a Christian education, with the idea that they could eventually become missionaries. One died of smallpox. After Beagle's return to Devonport dockyard on 14 October 1830, Captain King retired.

The 27-year-old FitzRoy had hopes of commanding a second expedition to continue the South American survey, but when he heard that the Lords of the Admiralty no longer supported this, he grew concerned about how to return the Fuegians. He made an agreement with the owner of a small merchant-vessel to take himself and five others back to South America, but a kind uncle heard of this and contacted the Admiralty. Soon afterwards, FitzRoy heard that he was to be appointed commander of HMS Chanticleer to go to Tierra del Fuego, but due to her poor condition, Beagle was substituted.

Voyage

Charles Darwin had been told that Beagle was expected to sail about the end of September 1831, but fitting out took longer. The Admiralty Instructions were received on 14 November, and on 23 November, she was moved to anchorage, ready to depart.

Beagle touched at Madeira for a confirmed position without stopping. Then on 6 January, it reached Tenerife in the Canary Islands but was quarantined there because of cholera in England.

In South America, Beagle carried out its survey work going to and fro along the coasts to allow careful measurement and rechecking.

Darwin made long journeys inland with travelling companions from the locality.

A week out of Lima, Beagle reached the Galápagos Islands on 15 September 1835. The next day Captain FitzRoy dropped anchor near where the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is now sited, at Chatham Island.

FitzRoy's instructions from the Admiralty required a detailed geological survey of a circular coral atoll to investigate how coral reefs formed, particularly whether they rose from the bottom of the sea or the summits of extinct volcanoes, and the effects of tides measured with specially constructed gauges.

Return

On the stormy night of 2 October 1836, immediately after arriving in Falmouth, Darwin set off on the Royal Mail coach from Fish Strand Hill (a plaque now marks the site) for the two-day journey to his family home, The Mount House in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. As he wrote to FitzRoy, the countryside they passed was "beautiful & cheerful", and though the "stupid people on the coach did not seem to think the fields one bit greener than usual", he now knew "that the wide world does not contain so happy a prospect as the rich cultivated land of England". In April 1835 Darwin had written that he was undecided whether to "sleep at the Lion, the first night," when he arrived by the daily Wonder coach, "or disturb you all in the dead of the night". He arrived late at night on 4 October 1836, and at breakfast the next morning greeted his family, to their delight and celebrations. His sisters assured him he did "not look the least different", but his father's first reaction was to tell them "Why, the shape of his head is quite altered." After time spent catching up with family, Darwin went on to Cambridge on 15 October and sought Henslow's advice on organising the description and cataloguing of his collections.

Darwin's father gave him an allowance that enabled him to put aside other careers.

Expert publications on Darwin's collections

Darwin was a collector and used the reference books he had on the ship. It was now the province of recognised expert specialists to establish which specimens were unknown, and make their considered taxonomic decisions on defining and naming new species.

Richard Owen had expertise in comparative anatomy, and his professional judgements revealed a succession of similar species in the same locality, giving Darwin insights which he would later recall as being central to his new views. Owen met Darwin on 29 October 1836 and quickly took on the task of describing these new fossils. At that time the only fully described fossil mammals from South America were three species of Mastodon and the gigantic Megatherium. On 9 November, Darwin wrote to his sister that "Some of them are turning out great treasures." The near-complete skeleton from Punta Alta was apparently very closely allied to anteaters, but of the extraordinary size of a small horse. The rhinoceros-sized head bought for two shillings near the city of Mercedes was not a megatherium, but "as far as they can guess, must have been a gnawing animal. Conceive a Rat or a Hare of such a size— What famous Cats they ought to have had in those days!"

Over the following years, Owen published descriptions of the most important fossils, naming several as new species.