THE
VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
Charles Darwin
PREFACE
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.
This volume contains, in the form of a Journal,
a history of our voyage, and a sketch of those observations
in Natural History and Geology, which I think will
possess some interest for the general reader. I
have in this edition largely condensed and
corrected some parts, and have added a little to
others, in order to render the volume more fitted
for popular reading; but I trust that naturalists
will remember, that they must refer for details
to the larger publications which comprise the scientific
results
of the Expedition. The Zoology of the Voyage of
the Beagle includes an account of the Fossil Mammalia,
by Professor Owen; of the Living Mammalia, by Mr.
Waterhouse; of the Birds, by Mr. Gould; of the Fish,
by the Rev. L. Jenyns; and of the Reptiles, by Mr.
Bell. I have appended to the descriptions of each
species an account of its habits and range. These
works, which I owe to the high talents and disinterested
zeal of the
above distinguished authors, could not have been
undertaken, had it not been for the liberality of
the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury,
who, through the representation of the Right Honourable
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been pleased
to grant a sum of one thousand pounds towards defraying
part of the expenses of publication.
I have myself published separate volumes on the
'Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs;' on
the 'Volcanic Islands visited during the Voyage
of the Beagle;' and on the 'Geology of South America.'
The sixth volume of the 'Geological Transactions'
contains two papers of mine on the Erratic Boulders
and Volcanic Phenomena of South America. Messrs.
Waterhouse, Walker, Newman, and White, have published
several able papers on the Insects which were collected,
and I trust that many others will hereafter follow.
The plants from the southern parts of America will
be given by Dr. J. Hooker, in his great work on
the Botany of the Southern Hemisphere. The Flora
of the Galapagos Archipelago is the subject of a
separate memoir by him, in the 'Linnean Transactions.'
The Reverend Professor Henslow has published a list
of the plants collected by me at the Keeling Islands;
and the Reverend J. M. Berkeley has described my
cryptogamic plants. |
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