Table of Contents

CHAPTER I Porto Praya Ribeira Grande Atmospheric Dust with Infusoria Habits of a Sea-slug and Cuttle-fish "St. Paul's Rocks, non-volcanic" Singular Incrustations Insects the first Colonists of Islands Fernando Noronha Bahia Burnished Rocks Habits of a Diodon Pelagic Confervae and Infusoria Causes of discoloured Sea CHAPTER II Rio de Janeiro Excursion north of Cape Frio Great Evaporation Slavery Botofogo Bay Terrestrial Planariae Clouds on the Corcovado Heavy Rain Musical Frogs Phosphorescent Insects "Elater, springing powers of" Blue Haze Noise made by a Butterfly Entomology Ants Wasp killing a Spider Parasitical Spider Artifices of an Epeira Gregarious Spider Spider with an unsymmetrical Web CHAPTER III Monte Video Maldonado Excursion to R. Polanco Lazo and Bolas Partridges Absence of Trees Deer "Capybara, or River Hog" Tucutuco "Molothrus, cuckoo-like habits" Tyrant-flycatcher Mocking-bird Carrion Hawks Tubes formed by Lightning House struck CHAPTER IV Rio Negro Estancias attacked by the Indians Salt Lakes Flamingoes R. Negro to R. Colorado Sacred Tree Patagoniac Hare Indian Families General Rosas Proceed to Bahia Blanca Sand Dunes Negro Lieutenant Bahia Blanca Saline Incrustations Punta Alta Zorillo CHAPTER V Bahia Blanca Geology Numerous gigantic extinct Quadrupeds Recent Extinction Longevity of Species Large Animals do not require a luxuriant vegetation Southern Africa Siberian Fossils Two Species of Ostrich Habits of Oven-bird Armadilloes "Venomous Snake, Toad, Lizard" Hybernation of Animals Habits of Sea-Pen Indian Wars and Massacres "Arrow head, antiquarian Relic" CHAPTER VI Set out for Buenos Ayres Rio Sauce Sierra Ventana Third Posa Driving Horses Bolas Partridges and Foxes Features of the Century Long-legged Plover Teru-tero Hail-storm Natural Enclosures in the Sierra Tapalguen Flesh of Puma Meat Diet Guardia del Monte Effects of Cattle on the Vegetation Cardoon Buenos Ayres Corral where Cattle are slaughtered CHAPTER VII Excursion to St. Fe Thistle-Beds Habits of the Bizcacha Little Owl Saline Streams Level Plains Mastadon St. Fe Change in Landscape Geology Tooth of extinct Horse Relation of the Fossil and Recent Quadrupeds of North and South America Effects of a great Drought Parana Habits of the Jaguar Scissor-beak "Kingfisher, Parrot, and Scissor-tail" Revolution Buenos Ayres State of Government CHAPTER VIII Excursion to Colonia del Sacramiento Value of an Estancia "Cattle, how counted" Singular Breed of Oxen Preforated Pebbles Shepherd Dogs "Horses broken-in, Gauchos riding" Character of Inhabitants Rio Plata Flocks of Butterflies Aeronaut Spiders Phosphorescence of the Sea Port Desire Guanaco Port St. Julian Geology of Patagonia Fossil gigantic Animal Types of Organization constant Change in the Zoology of America Causes of Extinction CHAPTER IX Santa Cruz Expedition up the River Indians Immense Streams of Basaltic Lava Fragments not transported by the River Excavation of the Valley "Condor, habits of" Cordillera Erratic Boulders of great size Indian Relics Return to the Ship Falkland Islands "Wild Horses, Cattle, Rabbits" Wolf-like Fox Fire made of Bones Manner of hunting Wild Cattle Geology Streams of Stones Scenes of Violence Penguin Geese Eggs of Doris Compound Animals CHAPTER X "Tierra del Fuego, first arrival" Good Success Bay An Account of the Fuegians on board Interview with the Savages Scenery of the Forests Cape Horn Wigwam Cove Miserable Condition of the Savages Famines Cannibals Matricide Religious Feelings Great Gale Beagle Channel Ponsonby Sound Build Wigwams and settle the Fuegians Bifurcation of the Beagle Channel Glaciers Return to the Ship Second Visit in the Ship to the Settlement Equality of Condition amongst the Natives CHAPTER XI Strait of Magellan Port Famine Ascent of Mount Tarn Forests Edible Fungus Zoology Great Sea-weed Leave Tierra del Fuego Climate Fruit-trees and Productions of the Southern Coasts Height of Snow-line on the Cordillera Descent of Glaciers to the Sea Icebergs formed Transportal of Boulders Climate and Productions of the Antarctic Islands Preservation of Frozen Carcasses Recapitulation CHAPTER XII Valparaiso Excursion to the Foot of the Andes Structure of the Land Ascend the Bell of Quillota Shattered Masses of Greenstone Immense Valleys Mines State of Miners Santiago Hot-baths of Cauquenes Gold-mines Grinding-Mills Perforated Stones Habits of the Puma El Turco and Tapacolo Humming-birds CHAPTER XIII Chiloe General Aspect Boat Excursion Native Indians Castro Tame Fox Ascend San Pedro Chonos Archipelago Peninsul of Tres Montes Granitic Range Boat-wrecked Sailors Low's Harbour Wild Potato Formation of Peat "Myopotamus, Otter and Mice" Cheucau and Barking-bird Opetiorhynchus Singular Character of Ornithology Petrels CHAPTER XIV "San Carlos, Chiloe" "Osorno in Eruption, contemporaneously with Aconcagua and Coseguina" Ride to Cucao Impenetrable Forests Valdivia Indians Earthquake Concepcion Great Earthquake Rocks fissured Appearance of the former Towns The Sea Black and Boiling Direction of the Vibrations Stones twisted round Great Wave Permanent Elevation of the Land Area of Volcanic Phenomena The connection between the Elevatory and Eruptive Forces Causes of Earthquakes Slow Elevation of Mountain-chains CHAPTER XV Valparaiso Portillo Pass Sagacity of Mules Mountain-torrents "Mines, how discovered" Proofs of the gradual Elevation of the Cordillera Effect of Snow on Rocks Geological Structure of the two main Ranges Their distinct Origin and Upheaval Great subsidence Red Snow Winds Hydrophobia The Despoblado Indian Ruins Probable change of Climate River-bed arched by an Earthquake Cold Gales of Wind Noises from a Hill Iquique Salt Alluvium Nitrate of Soda Lima Unhealthy Country "Ruins of Callao, overthrown by an Earthquake" Recent subsidence "Elevated Shells on San Lorenzo, their decomposition " Plain with embedded Shells and fragments of Pottery Antiquity of the Indian Race CHAPTER XVII Galapago Archipelago The whole Group Volcanic Number of Craters Leafless Bushes Colony at Charles Island James Island Salt-lake in Crater Natural History of the Group "Ornithology, curious Finches" Reptiles "Great Tortoises, habits of" "Marine Lizard, feeds on Sea-weed" "Terrestrial Lizard, burrowing habits, herbivorous" Importance of Reptiles in the Archipelago "Fish, Shells, Insects" Botany American Type of Organization Differences in the Species or Races on different Islands Tameness of the Birds "Fear of Man, an acquired Instinct" CHAPTER XVIII Pass through the Low Archipelago Tahiti Aspect Vegetation on the Mountains View of Eimeo Excursion into the Interior Profound Ravines Succession of Waterfalls Number of wild useful Plants Temperance of the Inhabitants Their moral state Parliament convened New Zealand Bay of Islands Hippahs Excursion to Waimate Missionary Establishment English Weeds now run wild Waiomio Funeral of a New Zealand Woman Sail for Australia CHAPTER XIX Sydney Excursion to Bathurst Aspect of the Woods Party of Natives Gradual extinction of the Aborigines Infection generated by associated Men in health Blue Mountains View of the grand gulf-like Valleys Their origin and formation "Bathurst, general civility of the Lower Orders" State of Society Van Diemen's Land Hobart Town Aborigines all banished Mount Wellington King George's Sound Cheerless Aspect of the Country "Bald Head, calcareous casts of branches of Trees" Party of Natives Leave Australia CHAPTER XX Keeling Island Singular appearance Scanty Flora Transport of Seeds Birds and Insects Ebbing and flowing Springs Fields of dead Coral Stone transported in the roots of Trees Great Crab Stinging Corals Coral-eating Fish Coral Formations "Lagoon Islands, or Atolls" Depth at which reef-building Corals can live Vast Areas interspersed with low Coral Islands Subsidence of their foundations Barrier Reefs Fringing Reefs "Conversion of Fringing Reefs into Barrier Reefs, and into Atolls" Evidence of changes in Level Breaches in Barrier Reefs Areas of subsidence and elevation Distribution of Volcanoes "Subsidence slow, and vast in amount" CHAPTER XXI "Mauritius, beautiful appearance of" Great crateriform ring of Mountains Hindoos St. Helena History of the changes in the Vegetation Cause of the extinction of Land-shells Ascension Variation in the imported Rats Volcanic Bombs Beds of Infusoria Bahia Brazil Splendour of Tropical Scenery Pernambuco Singular Reef Slavery Return to England Retrospect on our Voyage INDEX

About the Author

Charles Darwin was born in England in 1809 and attended the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. When he decided against that vocation, he enrolled at Cambridge where he earned a degree in theology. During an expedition to Africa and South America, Darwin continued his studies in natural science and began writing about his theories of natural selection. His work led to the publication of On the Origin of Species, a book that changed the world. Charles Darwin: Original Thinking Each generation of students comes to Darwin's epoch-making works, several of which are the basis of our publishing program in biology and related fields: The Essential Darwin, 2006; The Descent of Man, 2010; The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, 2006; and On the Origin of the Species, 2006. In the Author's Own Words: "A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there." "I feel most deeply that this whole question of Creation is too profound for human intellect. A dog might as well speculate on the mind of Newton! Let each man hope and believe what he can." "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." "Man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system - with all these exalted powers - Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin." - Charles Darwin