The Voyage of the Beagle

Darwin’s encounters with locals continue, beginning with a description of a people he calls “gigantic Patagonians.” At about six feet, the Indigenous people of Cape Gregory are the tallest people Darwin encounters on his journey. Darwin is impressed by their grasp of Spanish and English, which he attributes to the tribe’s trading relationships with sealing and whaling expeditions. He describes the group as good-humored, amusing, and impossible to dislike. Not all the Indigenous people are so friendly, however: While at Port Famine, Fuegians twice attack the crew of the Beagle, throwing stones at the ship. The crew retaliates by firing first arrows and then rockets into the settlement at night.

Darwin observes a species of evergreen trees near Port Famine that closely resembles evergreens in Europe. He is surprised by the size and number of these trees, which can measure up to 13 feet wide. Also notable is the bright yellow fungus growing on them: Darwin’s observation of the fungus leads him to identify it as a new species, and footnotes inform the reader that the species is eventually named after him. He observes that the people of Tierra del Fuego collect and eat this fungus and speculates that they might be the only people for whom fungi are a staple.

The Beagle’s time off the coast of Tierra del Fuego provides Darwin the opportunity to observe an abundance of sea life. Darwin notes that kelp is essential to the diversity in this region. Fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and cuttlefish all make their home in the kelp forests. These creatures in turn feed predators such as otters, seals, porpoises, and large sea birds. Darwin argues that the destruction of these kelp forests would be more catastrophic in terms of species loss than the destruction of any forest on land.

The chapter ends with Darwin imagining what European flora and fauna would look like if they were subjected to the same forces and conditions that shaped the South American landscape. He envisions Denmark and southern Scotland’s coastlines covered in a perpetual snow blanket. The inlets of Scotland’s lochs would be replaced by ice cliffs, and Switzerland’s Lake Geneva would feature countless floating icebergs.

On July 23, 1934, the Beagle anchors in Valparaiso, Chile, which Darwin describes as a beautiful change from the desolation of Tierra del Fuego. He notes that climate has a direct influence on his enjoyment of life: While the sight of a mountain covered in clouds might strike him as sublime, the sight of mountains in clear blue skies is cheerful and life-affirming.

In Santiago, Darwin encounters an old Spanish lawyer who criticizes his scientific activities; he suggests that if a Chilean were to travel to Europe and collect samples, Europeans would be similarly critical. Beyond the bay of Valparaiso, Darwin observes vast pastoral landscapes marked by orange, olive, and vegetable farms. He notes that the natural seaward slope of the Chilean plains allows for easy irrigation of the land, on which wheat, beans, peaches, figs, and grapes are also cultivated. Darwin observes the cultivation of palm sugar, recording that one tree can produce up to 90 gallons of sap.

Darwin is generally dismissive of Chilean mining practices, finding the mining technology and the miners themselves less impressive than similar operations in Europe. He describes the labor conditions as difficult and dangerous and says the miners are not paid enough. He notes that extreme poverty is common among these workers, who exist in a kind of feudal relationship with the mining companies.

Darwin observes the behaviors of the puma, which has a wide habitat, reaching elevations of up to 10,000 feet. He notes that the puma kills livestock and people and that it decapitates its prey. Condors are often seen following pumas and feeding on the carcasses they kill. He observes Chileans killing pumas using dogs and tools similar to those used by the gauchos to herd cattle.

Birds are the primary focus of Darwin’s natural observations in this chapter. He describes the appearance and behavior of two species of small ground birds, which are common in Chile but seem ridiculous in comparison to their European counterparts. He also describes two species of hummingbirds with different behaviors living in the same habitat. Darwin collects and dissects specimens from each of these species, taking careful note of the contents of their stomachs. He is surprised to find that the hummingbirds eat insects and do not rely solely on the nectar of flowers.