Darwin's Journey

December 27, 1831: Plymouth, England
Charles Darwin sets sail aboard a ship as its naturalist, the HMS Beagle which was captained by Lieutenant Robert Fitzroy.

December, 1831: Madeira Islands
Passed through

December, 1831: Canary Islands
Passed through

January, 1832: Cape Verde Islands;
1836: Praia

1832: St. Peter and St. Paul rocks
Passed through

1832: Salvador de Bahia
Here, Darwin was dazzled by the rainforest, but noticed local slavery.
1836: Bahia Blanca
Darwin often visited this area, and discovered the fossils of large mammals.

1832: Abrolhos Archipelago
Passed Through

1832: Rio De Janeiro
The rainforests here housed many wonderful creatures, but also some that made Darwin later declare that nature did not have a beneficent design.

July, 1832: Montevideo
There was a rebellion taking place when Darwin landed, and so he helped the nearby sailors to take back the rebel-held fort.

March, 1833: Falkland Islands
Here, Lieutenant Fitzroy used the HMS Beagle and others to take the Falkland Islands from the Argentines for the British.

July, 1834;1835: Valparaíso, Chile
Darwin climbed the Andes Mountains in search of how the mountains got there in the first place

September, 1835: Callao
Passed through

1835:Galapagos Islands
Despite its legends, these prison islands did not make Darwin suddenly discover evolution; he only vaguely noted a few differences in mockingbirds and finches, and took pets of tortoises.

November, 1835: Tahiti, New Zealand
The HMS Beagle was heading home.

December, 1835: Bay of Islands
The HMS Beagle was heading home.

1835: Sydney
In its later third voyage, the ship named two areas in Australia, Port Darwin and Fitzroy River.

1835: Hobart
The HMS Beagle was heading home.

1835: King George Sound
The HMS Beagle was heading home.

April, 1836: Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Darwin hypothesized (correctly) how coral reefs formed based on his observations.

1836: Mauritius Island
The HMS Beagle was heading home.

May, 1836: Cape of Good Hope
Darwin talked to an astronomer, Sir John Herschel, most likely about Lyell’s theory of changing land.

July, 1836: St. Helena Island
On his way home, Darwin was cataloguing the thousands of specimens he collected.

1836: Ascension Island
He began to piece together his discoveries on the last leg of the trip.

September, 1836: Azores Archipelago
His ride home, though, only brought him more questions.

October 2, 1836: Falmouth, England
When he landed, Darwin had new courage to challenge conventional Victorian reasoning.