Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, Vol. 3 [of 3] · Charles Darwin
PREFACE.
I have stated in the preface to the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, that it was in consequence of a wish expressed by Captain FitzRoy, 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 FitzRoy, I hope I may here be permitted to express my 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 FitzRoy and to all the Officers of the Beagle,[1] I shall ever feel most thankful for the undeviating kindness with which I was treated, during our long voyage.
The present volume contains in the form of a journal, a sketch of those observations in Geology and Natural History, which I thought would possess some general interest. As it was originally intended to have preceded any more detailed account, and as its publication has been unavoidably delayed, the briefness and imperfection of several parts, I hope, will be excused. I have given a list of those errata (partly caused by my absence from town when some of the sheets were in the press) which affect the sense; and have added an Appendix, containing some additional facts (especially on the theory of the transportation of erratic blocks) which I have accidentally met with during the past year. I hope shortly to publish my geological observations; the first Part of which will be on the Volcanic Islands of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and on Coral Formations; and the second Part will treat of South America. Several numbers of the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, due to the disinterested zeal of several of our first naturalists, have already appeared. These works 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 repeated in this volume my account of the habits of some of the birds and quadrupeds of South America, as I thought such observations might interest those readers who would not, probably, consult the larger work. But I trust that naturalists will remember, that mere sketches are here given on several subjects, which will hereafter be more fully entered on, or have already been so:--for instance, the notices of the strange fossil quadrupeds of the eastern plains of South America are exceedingly imperfect, whilst an admirable account of them by Mr. Owen now forms the first part of the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle.
Keeling Island--Singular appearance of--Scanty Flora--Transport of seeds--Birds and insects--Ebbing and flowing springs--Coral formations resisting power of ocean--Fields of dead coral--Stones transported by roots of trees--Great crab--Stinging corals --Structure of lagoon islands--Encircling and Barrier reefs--General proofs of subsidence in the Pacific--Theory of lagoon islands caused by subsidence of the land--Pacific and Indian oceans divided into alternate areas of elevation and subsidence--Points of eruption lie within the areas of elevation 539 Mauritius, beautiful appearance of--Hindoos--Cape of Good Hope--St. Helena--Geology--History of changes in vegetation, probable cause of extinction of land-shells--Ascension--Green Hill--Curious incrustations of calcareous matter on tidal rocks--Bahia--Brazil --Splendour of tropical scenery--Pernambuco--Singular reef--Azores --Supposed crater--Hints to collectors--Retrospect of the most impressive parts of the voyage 570 ADDENDA 609 INDEX. 630 Porto Praya--Ribeira Grande--Dry and clear atmosphere--Effect of lava on calcareous beach--Habits of Aplysia and Octopus--St. Paul’s rock non-volcanic--Incrustations and stalactites of phosphate of lime--Insects first colonists--Fernando Noronha--Bahia--Extent of granite--Burnished rocks--Habits of Diodon--Pelagic confervæ, infusoria--Causes of discoloured sea.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.