Hearing … of the remains of one of the old giants, which a man told me he had seen on the banks of the Parana, I procured a canoe, and proceeded to the place. Two groups of immense bones projected in bold relief from the perpendicular cliff [but] I could only bring away small fragments of one of the great molar-teeth … sufficient to show that the remains belonged to a species of Mastodon. The men who took me in the canoe, said they had long known of them, and had often wondered how they had got there: the necessity of a theory being felt, they came to the conclusion, that … the mastodon formerly was a burrowing animal!

In remote St. Fe …

A tooth which I discovered … interested me much, for I at once perceived that it had belonged to a horse. Feeling much surprise at this, I carefully examined its geological position, and was compelled to come to the conclusion, that a horse, which cannot … be distinguished from the existing species, lived as a contemporary with the various great monsters that formerly inhabited South America. Mr. Owen and myself, at the College of Surgeons, compared this tooth with a fragment of another, probably belonging to the Toxodon, which was embedded at the distance only of a few yards in the same earthy mass. No sensible difference in their state of decay could be perceived; they were both tender, and partially stained red. … Certainly it is a marvellous event in the history of animals, that a native kind should have disappeared to be succeeded in after ages by the countless herds introduced with the Spanish colonist! But our surprise should be modified when it is already known, that the remains of the Mastodon angustidens (the tooth formerly alluded to as embedded near that of the horse, probably belonged to this species) have been found both in South America, and in the southern parts of Europe.

Weighty considerations of the distribution of extinct and extant fauna lead Darwin to the neighborhood of modern geological concepts.

Very few species of living quadrupeds, which are altogether terrestrial in their habits, are common to the two continents, and these few are chiefly confined to the extreme frozen regions of the north. The separation, therefore, of the Asiatic and American zoological provinces appears formerly to have been less perfect than at present. The remains of the elephant and of the ox have been found on the banks of the Anadir (long. 175° E.), on the extreme part of Siberia, nearest the American coast: and the former remains, according to Chamisso, are common in the peninsula of Kamtschatka. On the opposite shores, likewise, of the narrow strait which divides these two great continents, we know, from the discoveries of Kotzebue and Beechey, that the remains of both animals occur abundantly: and as Dr. Buckland has shown they are associated with the bones of the horse, the teeth of which animal in Europe, according to Cuvier, accompany by thousands the remains of the pachydermata of the later periods. With these facts, we may safely look at this quarter, as the line of communication (now interrupted by the steady progress of geological change) by which the elephant, the ox, and the horse, entered America, and peopled its wide extent.

Now, here we have Darwin on the verge of understanding the rise of the Panama Land bridge (or something like that) based on the biogeography. The above passage, the following passage, and other material is very frustrating. If Darwin was not such a geological gradualist he could have advanced geology to the 1950s with a single fell swoop of reasoning!!!!

The occurrence of the fossil horse and of Mastodon angustidens in South America, is a much more remarkable circumstance than that of the animals mentioned above in the northern half of the continent; for if we divide America, not by the Isthmus of Panama, but by the southern part of Mexico, .. where the great table-land presents an obstacle to the migration of species, … we shall then have two zoological provinces strongly contrasted with each other. Some few species alone have passed the barrier, and may be considered as wanderers, such as the puma, opossum, kinkajou, and peccari. The mammalogy of South America is characterized by possessing several species of the genera of llama, …, tapir, peccari, opossum, anteater, sloth, and armadillo. If North America had possessed species of these genera proper to it, the distinction of the two provinces could not have been drawn; but the presence of a few wanderers scarcely affects the case. North America, on the other hand, is characterized by its numerous rodents, and by four genera of solid horned ruminants, of which section the southern half does not possess a single species.

Just so you know, South and North America were separated, and had largely independent mammalian evolution (and migration), until very recently, about five million years ago, when the isthmus of Panama was raised.Darwin is seeing the very time-deep echo of this event, masked by subsequent migration of North American mammals in to South America, and clouded by the more pressing (to him) question of Old World and New World relationships.It is interesting that the monkey’s (appearing in both the old world and new world tropics) don’t freak him out. They freak me out.

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I will now give an account of … the Struthio Rhea, or South American ostrich. This bird is well known to abound over the plains of Northern Patagonia, and the united provinces of La Plata. It has not crossed the Cordillera; but I have seen it within the first range of mountains on the Uspallata plain…. The ordinary habits of the ostrich are familiar to every one. They feed on vegetable matter; such as roots and grass; but at Bahia Blanca, I have repeatedly seen three or four come down at low water to the extensive mud-banks which are then dry, for the sake, as the Gauchos say, of catching small fish. Although the ostrich in its habits is so shy, wary, and solitary, and although so fleet in its pace, it falls a prey, without much difficulty, to the Indian or Gaucho armed with the bolas. When several horsemen appear in a semicircle, it becomes confounded, and does not know which way to escape. They generally prefer running against the wind; yet at the first start they expand their wings, and like a vessel make all sail. On one fine hot day I saw several ostriches enter a bed of tall rushes, where they squatted concealed, till quite closely approached. It is not generally known that ostriches readily take to the water. Mr. King informs me that at the Bay of San Blas, and at Port Valdes in Patagonia, he saw these birds swimming several times from island to island. …When swimming, very little of their bodies appear above water, and their necks are extended a little forward: their progress is slow. On two occasions, I saw some ostriches swimming across the Santa

The following passage is thought by some Darwin scholars to reflect one of Darwin’s most significant “aha” moments, leading to his understanding of evolutionary processes. The bird described here is known as the Avestruz Petise, and was named by the ornithologist Gould as Rhea darwinii. However,since the bird was earlier named (based on reports, not specimens) Pterocnemia pennata (the Lesser rhea), Darwin’s name does not survive today in the annals of taxonomy.Read the passage then I’ll note its presumed significance.

…I repeatedly heard the Gauchos talking of a very rare bird which they called Avestruz Petise. They described it as being less than the common ostrich (which is there abundant), but with a very close general resemblance. … The few inhabitants who had seen both kinds, affirmed they could distinguish them apart from a long distance. … This species occurs most rarely on the plains bordering the Rio Negro; but about a degree and a half further south they are tolerably abundant. …They are said to prefer the plains near the sea. When at Port Desire, in Patagonia (lat. 48°), Mr. Martens shot an ostrich; and I looked at it, forgetting at the moment, in the most unaccountable manner, the whole subject of the Petises, and thought it was a two-third grown one of the common sort. The bird was cooked and eaten before my memory returned. Fortunately the head, neck, legs, wings, many of the larger feathers, and a large part of the skin, had been preserved. From these a very nearly perfect specimen has been put together, and is now exhibited in the museum of the Zoological Society. Mr. Gould, who in describing this new species did me the honour of calling it after my name, states, that besides the smaller size and different colour of the plumage, the beak is of considerably less proportional dimensions than in the common Rhea …

Eventually, Darwin made note of the fact that over time, distinct but similar species seemed to differ by grades (such as in size) in the fossil record, as and the same pattern could be seen across geographical space. In his notebooks, he was to eventually note that the variation across space and time seemed to be two ways of looking at the same pattern of change. He made the link between biographical variation in the Rhea and the finches on the Galapagos and similar variation seen in the fossil fauna such along the South American Atlantic coast.In a note book dated to “1836 and after” (late in the voyage), Darwin wrote a passage that has been the focus of a great deal of attention. In it, he demonstrates his waffling about the nature of species. He frames his introspection in terms of “creation” and at the same time struggles with the evidence from biogeography, which suggests that closely related species would have a common ancestor. He also addresses extinction. Darwin is essentially asking “… where are the transitional forms?”Remember, this is his notebook writing … it is very much stream of consciousness, conflicting, and hard to understand. I’ll provide you with the entire relevant passage unedited except for the removal of some geologizing. It is painful and wonderful at the same time:

Speculate on neutral ground for 2 Ostriches: bigger one encroaches on smaller;–change not progressive; produced at one blow, if one species altered. …Should urge that extinct Llama owed its death not to change of circumstances; reversed argument, knowing it to be a desert. Tempted to believe animals created for definite time:–not extinguished by change of circumstances.The same kind of relation that common ostrich bears to Petisse–[S. Darwinii] and difft. kinds of extinct Guanaco to recent. In former case position, in latter time (or changes consequent on lapse), being the relation, as in first cases distinct species inosculate [To pass into; to join or unite so as to become continuous; to blend] so must we believe ancient ones [did] not gradual change or degeneration from circumstances, if one species does change into another it must be per saltum–or species may perish. This representation of species important, each its own limit and represented. Chiloe creeper; Fournarius, Callandria. Inosculation alone shows not gradation.an animal in two (gemmiparous by nature or by accident) we see an individual divided either at one moment or through lapse of ages. Therefore we are not so much surprised at seeing Zoophite producing distinct animals, still partly united, & egg which becomes quite separate. Considering all individuals of all species as each one individual divided by different methods, associated life only adds one other method where the division is not perfect.Dogs, Cats, Horses, Cattle, Goat, Asses, have all run wild and bred, no doubt with perfect success. Showing how creation does not bear upon solely adaptation of animals. Extinction in same manner may not depend. There is no more wonder in extinction of species than of individual.When we see Avestruz [the Petisse or smaller Ostrich, Struthio Darwinii] two species certainly different, not insensible change; yet one is urged to look to common parent? Why should two of the most closely allied species occur in same country? In botany instances diametrically opposite have been instanced–

Of this passage, Nora Barlow (in her publication on these notebooks) wrote, in 1945:

We can see the mill at work, grinding out hypotheses. … In biological fields the throes of question and doubt, of comparison of masses of facts, of discardings and reviewing, were still to continue for 23 years before the Theory of Evolution as we know it, found expression.

Well said, Nora.

THE Beagle arrived on the 24th of August, and a week afterwards sailed for the Plata. With Captain Fitzroy’s consent I was left behind, to travel by land to Buenos Ayres.

I tried Googling that … using “get directions.” Google maps was unable to compute a route. In fact, Google Maps has no roads whatsoever in Argentina. But, I was able to make a map showing the two locations, to give you an idea of what this must have been like. Darwin walked (well, there were horses) between these two points:And along the way, he found some fossils. Here are brief excerpts describing some of his finds. As you read through this (it’s long, but I’ve tried to edit it down as much as possible) keep in mind the following things: Evidence for evolution, climate change, large scale global synthesis, connections between observations and theory. It is all here. This is Darwin coming to an understanding of the Big Picture of Evolution.

At Punta Alta, a low cliff, about twenty feet high, exposes a mass of [sediment] containing numerous recent shells. We may believe a similar accumulation would now take place … where tides and waves were opposed. In the gravel a considerable number of bones were embedded. … the following list may give some idea of their nature: 1st, a tolerably perfect head of a megatherium, and a fragment and teeth of two others; 2d, an animal of the order Edentata, as large as a pony, and with great scratching claws; 3d and 4th, two great Edentata related to the megatherium, and both fully as large as an ox or horse; 5th, another equally large animal, closely allied or perhaps identical with the Toxodon …, which had very flat grinding teeth, somewhat resembling those of a rodent; 6th, a large piece of the tesselated covering like that of the armadillo, but of gigantic size; 7th, a tusk which in its prismatic form, and in the disposition of the enamel, closely resembles that of the African boar; it is probable that it belonged to the same animal with the singular flat grinders. Lastly, a tooth in the same state of decay with the others: … but the part that is perfect, resembles in every respect the tooth of the common horse.* … the space in which they were collected could not have exceeded one hundred and fifty yards square. It is a remarkable circumstance that so many different species should be found together; and it proves how numerous in kind the ancient inhabitants of this country must have been…. in another cliff of red earth, I found several fragments of bones. Among them were the teeth of a rodent, much narrower, but even larger than those of the Hydrochærus capybara; the animal which has been mentioned as exceeding in dimensions every existing member of its order. There was also part of the head of a Ctenomys; the species being different from the Tucutuco, but with a close general resemblance.The remains … were associated … with shells of existing species. … similar to the species now living in the same bay: it is also very remarkable, that not only the species, but the proportional numbers of each kind, are nearly the same [as the modern fauna] … If I had not collected living specimens from the same bay, some of the fossils would have been thought extinct … We may feel certain that the bones have not been washed out of an older formation, and embedded in a more recent one, because the remains of one of the Edentata were lying in their proper relative position (and partly so in a second case) ……From the shells being littoral species … we may feel absolutely certain that the remains were embedded in a shallow sea, not far from the coast. From the position of the skeleton being undisturbed, and likewise from the fact that full-grown serpulæ were attached to some of the bones, we know that the mass could not have been accumulated on the beach itself. …From the general structure of the coast of this part of South America, we are compelled to believe, that the changes of [elevation] have … of late … been in one direction, and … very gradual. If, then, we look back to the period when these quadrupeds lived, the land probably stood at a level, less elevated only by a few fathoms than at present. Therefore, its general configuration since that epoch cannot have been greatly modified; …The surrounding country, as may have been gathered from this journal, is of a very desert character. … Here, then, is an apparent difficulty: we have the strongest evidence that there has occurred no great physical change to modify the features of the country, yet in former days, numerous large animals were supported on the plains now covered by a thin and scanty vegetation.That large animals require a luxuriant vegetation, has been a general assumption, which has passed from one work to another. I do not hesitate, however, to say that it is completely false; and that it has vitiated the reasoning of geologists, on some points of great interest in the ancient history of the world. The prejudice has probably been derived from India, and the Indian islands, where troops of elephants, noble forests, and impenetrable jungles, are associated together in every account. If, on the other hand, we refer to any work of travels through the southern parts of Africa, we shall find allusions in almost every page either to the desert character of the country, or to the numbers of large animals inhabiting it. The same thing is rendered evident by the many sketches which have been published of various parts of the interior. When the Beagle was at Cape Town, I rode a few leagues into the country, which at least was sufficient to render that which I had read more fully intelligible.

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In the evening we arrived at the creek … — There were several of the wild Gaucho cavalry waiting to see us land; they formed by far the most savage picturesque group I ever beheld. — I should have fancied myself in the middle of Turkey by their dresses. — Round their waists they had bright coloured shawls forming a petticoat, beneath which were fringed drawers. Their boots were very singular, they are made from the … hide of the hock joint of horses hind legs, so that it is a tube with a bend in it; this they put on fresh, & thus drying on their legs is never again removed. — The spurs are enormous, the rowels being from one to two inches long. — They all wore the Poncho, which is large shawl with a hole in the middle for the head. — Thus equipped with sabres & short muskets they were mounted on powerful horses. — The men themselves were far more remarkable than their dresses; the greater number were half Spaniard & Indian — some of each pure blood & some black. — The Indians, whilst gnawing bones of beef, looked, as they are, half recalled wild beasts. — No painter ever imagined so wild a set of expressions. …

On October 8th, Darwin notes in the same journal:

The Captain had bought from the Gaucho soldiers a large Puma or South American lion, & this morning it was killed for its skin. — These animals are common in the Pampas, I have frequently seen their … footsteps in my walks: it is said they will not attack a man; though they evidently are quite strong enough. — The Gauchos secured this one; by first throwing the balls & entangling its front legs, they then lassoed or noosed him, when by riding round a bush & throwing other lasso’s, he was soon lashed firm and secure.The “Balls” he refers to is the boleadoras … a triplet of stone, wood, or metal spheres wrapped in leather and fastened to each other by ropes or thongs, swung over the head and thrown as a very effective hunting tool. You bind up and whack (with the three rocks) whatever you are going after.

In August 1833, Darwin arranged a trip inland with Gaucho guides in the vicinity of Rio Negro. His track across land to Buenos Ayres was considered dangerous unless the travel party was well guarded. He traveled with Gauchos and local Indians, and made many observations not only of the landscape but also of local custom.

Shortly after passing the first spring we came in sight of the famous tree, which the Indians reverence as a God itself, or as the altar of Walleechu. — It is situated on a high part of the plain & hence is a landmark visible at a great distance. — As soon as a tribe of Indians come in sight they offer their adorations by loud shouts. — The tree itself is low & much branched & thorny, just above the root its apparent diameter is 3 feet. It stands by itself without any neighbour, & was indeed the first tree we met with; afterwards there were others of the same sort, but not common.Being winter the tree had no leaves, but in their place were countless threads by which various offerings had been suspended. Cigars, bread, meat, pieces of cloth &c &c. — poor people only pulled a thread out of their ponchos. — The Indians both pour spirit & mattee into a hole & likewise smoke upwards, thinking thus to afford all possible gratification to Walleechu. — To complete the scene the tree was surrounded by the bleached bones of horses slaughtered as sacrifices. All Indians of every age & sex make their offerings, they then think that their horses will not tire & that they shall be prosperous. — In the time of peace the Gauchos who told me this had been witnesses of the scene; they used to wait till the Indians passed on & then steal from Walleechu their offerings. The Gauchos think that the Indians consider the tree itself as a God; but it seems far more probable that it is an altar.

Apparently the Gaucho shared the almost universal belief among cattle pastoralists that “All cattle are mine…”

About two leagues beyond this very curious tree & 11 from the town we halted for the night: at this instant an unfortunate cow was spied by the lynx-eyed Gauchos. Off we set in chase & in a few minutes she was dragged in by the Lazo & slaughtered.

And despite what might be thought of as “civilized disdain” for these people, Darwin also showed an empathy for the Gaucho way of life…

— We here had the four necessaries for …life “en el campo”,-pasture for the horses, — water (only a muddy puddle) — meat — & fire wood. The Gauchos were in high spirits at finding all these luxuries, & we soon set to work at the poor cow. — This was the first night which I passed under the open sky with the gear of the Recado for a bed. There is high enjoyment in the independence of the Gaucho life, to be able at any moment to pull up your horse and say here we will pass the night. The death-like stillness of the plain, the dogs keeping watch, the gipsy group of Gauchos making their beds around the fire, has left in my mind a strongly marked picture of this first night, which will not soon be forgotten.

The above references are all from one of Darwin’s notebooks. In his more formal writing for publication, we find more eloquent descriptions.

…their appearance is very striking; they are generally tall and handsome, but with a proud and dissolute expression of countenance. They frequently wear their moustaches, and long black hair curling down their backs. With their brightly-coloured garments, great spurs clanking about their heels, and knives stuck as daggers (and often so used) at their waists, they look a very different race of men from what might be expected from their name of Gauchos, or simple countrymen. Their politeness is excessive : they never drink their spirits without expecting you to taste it; but whilst making their exceedingly graceful bow, they seem quite as ready, if occasion offered, to cut our throat.The Gaucho, when he is going to use the lazo, keeps a small coil in his bridle hand, and in the other holds the running noose, which is made very large, generally having a diameter of about eight feet. This he whirls round his head, and by the dexterous movement of his wrist keeps the noose open; then, throwing it, he causes it to fall on any particular spot he chooses. … The bolas, or balls, are of two kinds: the simplest, which is chiefly used for catching ostriches, consists of two round stones, covered with leather, and united by a thin plaited thong, about eight feet long. The other kind differs only, in having three balls united by the thongs to a common centre. The Gaucho holds the smallest of the three in his hand, and whirls the other two round and round his head; then, taking aim, sends them like chain shot revolving through the air. The balls no sooner strike any object, than, winding round it, they cross each other, and become firmly hitched. The size and weight of the balls varies, according to the purpose for which they are made: when of stone, although not so large as a big apple, yet they are sent with such force as sometimes to break the leg even of a horse. I have seen the balls made of wood, and as large as a turnip, for the sake of catching these animals without injuring them. The balls are sometimes made of iron, and these can be hurled to the greatest distance. The main difficulty in using either lazo or bolas, is to ride so well, as to be able at full speed, and while suddenly turning about, to whirl them so steadily round the head, as to take aim: on foot any person would soon learn the art. One day, as I was amusing myself by galloping and whirling the balls round my head, by accident the free one struck a bush; and its revolving motion being thus destroyed, it immediately fell to the ground, and like magic caught one hind leg of my horse; the other ball was then jerked out of my hand, and the horse fairly secured. Luckily he was an old practised animal, and knew what it meant; otherwise he would probably have kicked till he had thrown himself down. The Gauchos roared with laughter; they cried they had seen every sort of animal caught, but had never before seen a man caught by himself.

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I staid ten weeks at Maldonado [Near Montevideo], in which time a nearly perfect collection of the animals, birds, and reptiles, was procured. Before making any observations respecting them, I will give an account of a little excursion I made as far as the river Polanco, which is about seventy miles distant, in a northerly direction. I may mention, as a proof how cheap every thing is in this country, that I paid only two dollars a day, or eight shillings, for two men, together with a troop of about a dozen riding-horses. My companions were well armed with pistols and sabres; a precaution which I thought rather unnecessary; but the first piece of news we heard was, that, the day before, a traveller from Monte Video had been found dead on the road, with his throat cut. This happened close to a cross, the record of a former murder.

I am especially fond of the following passage, but it requires some explanation (as does my fondness for it).Euro-Americans are kind of stupid when it comes to certain things, one being how to assess the “intelligence” or abilities of other people. The way it works with many Euro-Americans is this: You have a way of doing things, and know it is good and right. You also have a body of knowledge and know that it is appropriate and proper. Now, everyone else who does not share your behavior and body of knowledge must, therefore, be lesser in a number of ways. Of lesser intelligence, of lesser education, of lesser ability, etc.(See this example)This is of course a very ethnocentric, cultural-centric and ego-centric viewpoint. What many Euro-Americans do not know are the following two things: 1) Not everyone else, in other cultures, views the world this way; and 2) A thoughtful examination of these ways of acting and knowing will reveal that they are not the only or best ways.Having said this, it is important to realize that when someone from “The West” arrives in some other part of the world, there will often be a conflict in knowledge or ability in many areas where the European is the one who knows the cool things or has the cool stuff. Or the reverse. This conflict is what drives some people to explore other parts of the world, to understand these differences and enjoy them. I spent a fair amount of time living in the Central African rain forest doing just this, trying to understand the ways of life of people who were good at, and knew about, totally different things than myself.Many of my fondest memories of those experiences center on these conflicts. Like the time that four Efe (Pygmy) men asked me to borrow a blanket. It was night, very cold, and we had no shelter. All I had to give them was a folded up sheet that I had taken from the store room at the research camp 12 kilometers away. This was a sheet I had not folded or put away … it was just sitting there on the shelf.It turned out that this was a very thin cotton king-size sheet. If an Efe person (remember, they are very small people) has a piece of cloth of their own, it will be a maximum size of about 1.2 meters by 1 meter in size, but usually this would be cut into three pieces to be shared. This king size sheet was way, way bigger, but it did not look as big when it was still folded up.So, I handed the folded sheet to one of these guys. He unfolded it once, then again, and at this point it is about the size of one of their own cloths. Then he unfolded it again. And again. And it was now huge. At this point, they are laughing at the absurdity of how large this sheet is. Of course, they totally get the size difference between “us and them” (although we all forgot this difference far more often than we cognized it). They thought of me as absurdly large. Whenever I would encounter some object of theirs that was really really small (like a house or a “chair”) I would be struck by the size differences of the people and their artifacts, and the same in reverse happened. One (or maybe two) more unfoldings, and this sheet was large enough to cover two of their houses. They did not stop laughing for a very long time. They are probably still laughing.Similarly, this: A central part of my research involved mapping everything in, so I had mapping tools. Meanwhile, the Efe already knew where most things were … they were familiar with the geography of their neighborhood. But of course, I wanted to know the limits and extent of their knowledge. What was their mental map like, and how did it differ from an “objective” map, made with my mapping tools. As a result, I was often asking them where things were, but with the guys I was working with most of the time, I also showed them how my mapping tools (including a compass) worked. After a year and a half or a bit less, I was able to navigate myself around their territories as well as they could, and in some cases, when we were all lost, it was me, and not them, finding the way to a known point, using my trusty compass.With that in mind, let’s see what Darwin wrote…

On the first night we slept at a retired little country-house; and there I soon found out, that I possessed two or three articles, especially a pocket compass, which created unbounded astonishment. In every house I was asked to show the compass, and by its aid, together with a map, to point out the direction of various places. It excited the liveliest admiration that I, a perfect stranger, should know the road (for direction and road are synonymous in this open country) to places where I had never been. At one house a young woman, who was ill in bed, sent to entreat me to come and show her the compass. If their surprise was great, mine was greater, to find such ignorance among people who possessed their thousands of cattle, and “estancias” of great extent. It can only be accounted for by the circumstance that this retired part of the country is seldom visited by foreigners. I was asked whether the earth or sun moved; whether it was hotter or colder to the north; where Spain was, and many other such questions. The greater number of the inhabitants had an indistinct idea that England, London, and North America, were different names for the same place; but the better informed well knew that London and North America were separate countries close together, and that England was a large town in London! I carried with me some promethean matches, which I ignited by biting; it was thought so wonderful that a man should strike fire with his teeth, that it was usual to collect the whole family to see it: I was once offered a dollar for a single one. Washing my face in the morning, caused much speculation at the village of Las Minas; a superior tradesman closely cross-questioned me about so singular a practice; and likewise why on board we wore our beards; for he had heard from my guide that we did so. He eyed me with much suspicion; perhaps he had heard of ablutions in the Mahomedan religion, and knowing me to be a heretick, probably he came to the conclusion that all hereticks were Turks. It is the general custom in this country to ask for a night’s lodging at the first convenient house. The astonishment at the compass, and my other feats in jugglery, was to a certain degree advantageous, as with that, and the long stories my guides told of my breaking stones, knowing venemous from harmless snakes, collecting insects, &c., I repaid them for their hospitality. I am writing as if I had been among the inhabitants of central Africa: Banda Oriental would not be flattered by the comparison; but such were my feelings at the time.

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See also:Verdesio, Gustavo. (2001) Forgotten Conquests: Rereading New World History from the Margins. Temple University Press.

At … times … fireflies are seen flitting about from hedge to hedge. All that I caught belonged to the family of Lampyridæ…. I found that this insect emitted the most brilliant flashes when irritated … The shining matter was fluid and very adhesive: little spots, where the skin had been torn, continued bright with a slight scintillation, whilst the uninjured parts were obscured. When the insect was decapitated the rings remained uninterruptedly bright, but not so brilliant as before: local irritation with a needle always increased the vividness of the light. The rings in one instance retained their luminous property nearly twenty-four hours after the death of the insect. … On the muddy and wet gravel-walks I found the larvæ of this lampyris in great numbers: they resembled in general form the female of the English glowworm. These larvæ possessed but feeble luminous powers; very differently from their parents, on the slightest touch they feigned death, and ceased to shine; nor did irritation excite any fresh display. I kept several of them alive for some time: their tails are very singular organs, for they act, by a well-fitted contrivance, as suckers, or organs of attachment, and likewise as reservoirs for saliva, or some such fluid. I repeatedly fed them on raw meat; and I invariably observed, that every now and then the extremity of the tail was applied to the mouth, and a drop of fluid exuded on the meat, which was then in the act of being consumed. The tail, notwithstanding so much practice, does not seem to be able to find its way to the mouth; at least the neck was always touched first, and apparently as a guide.When we were at Bahia, an elater … seemed the most common luminous insect. The light in this case was also rendered more brilliant by irritation. I amused myself one day by observing the springing powers of this insect …. The elater, when placed on its back and preparing to spring, moved its head and thorax backwards, so that the pectoral spine was drawn out, and rested on the edge of its sheath. The same backward movement being continued, the spine, by the full action of the muscles, was bent like a spring; and the insect at this moment rested on the extremity of its head and elytra. The effort being suddenly relaxed, the head and thorax flew up, and, in consequence, the base of the elytra struck the supporting surface with such force, that the insect by the reaction was jerked upwards to the height of one or two inches. The projecting points of the thorax, and the sheath of the spine, served to steady the whole body during the spring. In the descriptions which I have read, sufficient stress does not appear to have been laid on the elasticity of the spine: so sudden a spring could not be the result of simple muscular contraction, without the aid of some mechanical contrivance.

From these detailed observations came insight at many levels. For instance, in regards to illumination, Darwin makes the following observation:

On a dark night the light could be seen at about two hundred paces distant. It is remarkable that in all the glowworms, shining elaters, and various marine animals, which I have observed (such as the crustacea, medusæ, nereidæ, a coralline of the genus Clytia, and Pyrosoma), the light has been of a well-marked green colour.

Certainly, the more one pokes around the more one learns:

I was much surprised at the habits of Papilio feronia [a butterfly]. This butterfly is not uncommon, and generally frequents the orange-groves. Although a high flier, yet it very frequently alights on the trunks of trees. On these occasions its head is invariably placed downwards; and its wings are expanded in a horizontal plane, instead of being folded vertically, as is commonly the case. This is the only butterfly which I have ever seen that uses its legs for running. Not being aware of this fact, the insect, more than once, as I cautiously approached with my forceps, shuffled on one side just as the instrument was on the point of closing, and thus escaped. But a far more singular fact, is the power which this species possesses of making a noise….

An evolutionary understanding of life both helps to explain this kind of observation, but also can derive from it.Similarly, this observation of butterflies and moths as well as beetles compares biomes and raises some interesting questions:

The large and brilliantly-coloured Lepidoptera bespeak the zone they inhabit, far more plainly than any other race of animals. I allude only to the butterflies; for the moths, contrary to what might have been expected from the rankness of the vegetation, certainly appeared in much fewer numbers than in our own temperate regions. ….I was disappointed in the general aspect of the Coleoptera [Beetles]. The number of minute and obscurely-coloured beetles is exceedingly great. (I may mention, as a common instance of one day’s (June 23d) collecting, when I was not attending particularly to the Coleoptera, that I caught sixty-eight species of that order…. ) … It is sufficient to disturb the composure of an entomologist’s mind, to look forward to the future dimensions of a complete catalogue. The Carabidæ appear in extremely few numbers within the tropics. This is the more remarkable when compared to the opposed case of the carnivorous mammalia, an order which they certainly represent among insects. I was struck with this observation both on entering Brazil, and when I saw the elegant and active forms of the Harpalidæ reappearing on the temperate plains of La Plata. Do the very numerous Arachnidæ and rapacious Hymenoptera supply the place of these carnivorous beetles? The carrion-feeders and Brachelytra are very uncommon; on the other hand, the Rhyncophora and Chrysomelidæ, all of which depend on the vegetable world for subsistence, are present in astonishing numbers. I do not here refer to the number of different species, but to that of the individual insects ; for on this it is that the most striking character in the entomology of different countries depends. The orders Orthoptera and Hemiptera are particularly numerous; as likewise is the stinging division of the Hymenoptera; the bees, perhaps, being excepted. A person, on first entering a tropical forest, is astonished at the labours of the ants : well-beaten paths branch off in every direction, on which an army of never-failing foragers may be seen, some going forth, and others returning, burdened with pieces of green leaf, often larger than their own bodies.

In the end, one gets the impression reading the Voyage, that Darwin is (subconsciously?) laying out the research program for the life sciences, or at least, organismic biology, for the next century or two…

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The chief produce of this part of the country is coffee. Each tree is supposed to yield annually, on an average, two pounds; but some give as much as eight. Mandioca or cassada is likewise cultivated in great quantity.

… that would be Manihot, or cassava, also known as Yucca and in Central Africa, Mohogo. This is the elongated sometimes quite large root usually covered with wax that you can get in any US grocery store that caters to an Hispanic clientèle, or lately, in African markets.

Every part of this plant is useful: the leaves and stalks are eaten by the horses, and the roots are ground into a pulp, which, when pressed dry and baked, forms the farinha, the principal article of sustenance in the Brazils.

Indeed, the leaves, processed correctly (with palm oil added) make one of the great culinary dishes ever. But, only certain leaves and they must be fresh. I’ve heard there are places in France or Belgium where you can get this prepared from the Congo and frozen, then shipped to Europe, but that this is intermittent. Otherwise, as far as I know, you have to be there … at the farm …. to eat this dish that looks, but does not taste, like cooked spinach. (It is called “Sombe” in the Congo.)

It is a curious, though well-known fact, that the expressed juice of this most nutritious plant is highly poisonous. A few years ago a cow died at this Fazênda, in consequence of having drunk some of it.

As with many roots, there is a poison form. For Cassava, the poison form is how it comes out of the ground for most varieties. If it is not processed correctly with soaking, cooking, pounding, etc. (depending on the variety) then it is dangerous to eat.The kind you get in the grocery store is called “sweet” … and as far as I know you need only to cook it. I’ve never gotten sick on it. But, I always change the water at least once while boiling it up.

Senhôr Figuireda told me that he had planted, the year before, one bag of feijaô or beans, and three of rice; the former of which produced eighty, and the latter three hundred and twenty fold. The pasturage supports a fine stock of cattle, and the woods are so full of game, that a deer had been killed on each of the three previous days. This profusion of food showed itself at dinner, where, if the tables did not groan, the guests surely did: for each person is expected to eat of every dish.

It is always necessary to find out what the customs are for eating in any place you visit. There are places where you must finish everything on your plate or you are rude. There are other places where you are to leave a tiny morsel on your plate in order to indicate that you are done, or more will be added by the host. In Botswana, if you place a fork or knife on your plate perpendicular to your line of sight, a watron or servant is supposed to come and take your plate away. Americans do this all the time by accident. I had many a tug o war with a stout and determined Botswanan watron, trying to save my food and not understanding why she was trying to take it away… until I found out how it worked…

One day, having, as I thought, nicely calculated so that nothing should go away untasted, to my utter dismay a roast turkey and a pig appeared in all their substantial reality.

I know I promised you Vampires in this installment, but an odd thing happened and there must be a delay. I’ll explain some other time.

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I became acquainted with an Englishman who was going to visit his estate … more than a hundred miles [north] of Cape Frio. As I was quite unused to travelling, I gladly accepted his kind offer of allowing me to accompany him.

And so was the case with a number of Darwin’s excursions into the bush.Although he organized expeditions to the interior, he also took advantage of individuals or groups traveling one place or another, such as this Englishman, in order to carry out random acts of geologizing and opportunistic biologizing.And thus seven men, including Darwin and his Englishman, headed north from Cap Frio, which is not a primarily local-used tourist beach area well known for it’s shrimp pasta, and across the hills behind Praia Grande, working their way through a wooded area and some cultivated fields. Eventually, they entered the forest.The Beagle had extra duties to carry out along the Atlantic Coast of South America, mainly Brazil and Argentina, as Fitzroy (The Beagle’s Captain) was charged with mapping very complex and extensive coasts and “shoals” (shallow areas) for the purpose of defining shipping routs and making better maps. Fitzroy considered himself to be one of the, if not the, bets navigators/mappers/cartographers in the British Admiralty if not the world. (I am ambiguous about the use of these terms because precision in this matter would be an unwanted digression). The upshot is, since Fitzroy had a massive job along these costs, the coast itself is extensive and complex, Fitzroy was fixed on doing a good job, and in addition, the weather and local political conditions often failed to cooperate. Therefore, Darwin, who was only marginally involved in the maping and cartography itself, had a lot of spare time to spend inland.This is good, since Darwin was perpetually sea sick while on the boat. For five years. Holy crap, what a mensch.There were occasions when Darwin traveled across a bit of countryside as he is now with his Englishman, there were occasions where he entered the interior at one point with the intention of meeting The Beagle at some other harbor or river mouth a few weeks later, and there were occasions when he simply got a place to crash in a settlement, to work on his stuff and make a number of day walks, while Fitzroy and his boat plied the coastal waters taking soundings and conducting multiple repeated triangulations.On this trip, Darwin describes the terrain, relates a story of a settlement of run away slaves captured by the authorities … all but one old woman who kills herself rather than being captured. He notes the irony of classist constructions of history: “In a Roman matron this would have been called the noble love of freedom: in a poor negress it is mere brutal obstinacy.” Eventually, they reach their frist resting site, using the moon to make progress well into the night, take what is essentially a nap and leave early, before sunrise, the next morning.AT this point (and I could do this easily at any point) I’ll give you Darwin’s narrative directly. This passage is typical of the entire manuscript. Look for the descriptions of terrain, culture, architecture, plants, and terms that would presage later monographs such as his work on orchids, woven into a story of travel or interaction with the local, things that happen to him, things that happen around him. Check it out:

We left our miserable sleeping-place before sunrise. The road passed through a narrow sandy plain, lying between the sea and the interior salt lagoons. The number of beautiful fishing birds, such as egrets and cranes, and the succulent plants assuming most fantastical forms, gave to the scene an interest which it would not otherwise have possessed. The few stunted trees were loaded with parasitical plants, among which the beauty and delicious fragrance of some of the orchideae were most to be admired. … We dined at Mandetiba; the thermometer in the shade being 84°. The beautiful view of the distant wooded hills, reflected in the perfectly calm water of an extensive lagoon, quite refreshed us.As the [inn] here was a very good one, and I have the pleasant, but rare remembrance, of an excellent dinner, I will be grateful and presently describe it, as the type of its class. These houses are often large, and are built of thick upright posts, with boughs interwoven, and afterwards plastered. They seldom have floors, and never glazed windows; but are generally pretty well roofed. Universally the front part is open, forming a kind of verandah, in which tables and benches are placed. The bed-rooms join on each side, and here the passenger may sleep as comfortably as he can, on a wooden platform, covered by a thin straw mat. The vênda stands in a courtyard, where the horses are fed.On first arriving, it was our custom to unsaddle the horses and give them their Indian corn; then, with a low bow, to ask the senhôr to do us the favour to give us something to eat. “Any thing you choose, sir,” was his usual answer. For the few first times, vainly I thanked Providence for having guided us to so good a man. The conversation proceeding, the case universally became deplorable. “Any fish can you do us the favour of giving?”–“Oh! no, sir.”–“Any soup?”– “No, sir.”–“Any bread ?”–“Oh ! no, sir.”–“Any dried meat?”–“Oh! no, sir.” If we were lucky, by waiting a couple of hours, we obtained fowls, rice, and farinha. It not unfrequently happened, that we were obliged to kill, with stones, the poultry for our own supper.

Of course, many of us have had the same exact experience in one far away land or another. The phrase “Yes, we have everything on the menu” in many language means about the same as “Hey, how’s it going” which in turn means “I see you there, don’t talk to me unless you have to.”So, let’s continue with Darwin the Travel Writer:

When thoroughly exhausted by fatigue and hunger, we timorously hinted that we should be glad of our meal, the pompous, and (though true) most unsatisfactory answer was, “It will be ready when it is ready.” If we had dared to remonstrate any further, we should have been told to proceed on our journey, as being too impertinent. The hosts are most ungracious and disagreeable in their manners; their houses and their persons are often filthily dirty; the want of the accommodation of forks, knives, and spoons is common; and I am sure no cottage or hovel in England could be found in a state so utterly destitute of every comfort.

Eventually, I think Darwin became more good natured about the conflict between his English sensibilities and the way everyone else in the world lives. But it took time. Also, note that although Darwin engaged fully in all apsect of his five year voyage on the beagle, he did not repeat any stint of fieldwork abroad after he returned. Continuing….

At Campos Novos, however, we fared sumptuously; having rice and fowls, biscuit, wine, and spirits, for dinner; coffee in the evening, and fish with coffee for breakfast. All this, with good food for the horses, only cost 2s. 6d. per head. Yet the host of this vênda, being asked if he knew any thing of a whip which one of the party had lost, gruffly answered, “How should I know? why did you not take care of it?–I suppose the dogs have eat it.”

Always something, always something wrong…..Next installment … The Vampire Bat…..

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BAHIA, OR SAN SALVADOR. BRAZIL, FEB. 29TH.–The day has past delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has been wandering by himself in a Brazilian forest. Among the multitude of striking objects, the general luxuuriance of the vegetation bears away the victory. The elegance of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, all tend to this end. A most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the shady parts of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud, that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred yards from the shore; yet within the recesses of the forest a universal silence appears to reign. To a person fond of natural history, such a day as this, brings with it a deeper pleasure than he ever can hope again to experience. After wandering about for some hours, I returned to the landing-place; but, before reaching it, I was overtaken by a tropical storm. I tried to find shelter under a tree which was so thick, that it would never have been penetrated by common English rain; but here, in a couple of minutes, a little torrent flowed down the trunk. It is to this violence of the rain we must attribute the verdure at the bottom of the thickest woods: if the showers were like those of a colder clime, the greater part would be absorbed or evaporated before it reached the ground. I will not at present attempt to describe the gaudy scenery of this noble bay, because, in our homeward voyage, we called here a second time, and I shall then have occasion to remark on it.

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Behold this humble passage by Darwin, which is what immediately follows his discussion of the octopus. This passage is a touchstone to several important aspects of what Darwin was doing and thinking, and is a poignant link to what Darwin did not know:

ST. PAUL’S ROCKS.–In crossing the Atlantic we hove to, during the morning of February 16th, close to the island of St. Paul.

Ah, sorry to interrupt. Saint Paul’s Rocks are in the Atlantic roughly half way between South America and Africa. That geographical information should give you a hint of why these rocks are important!

“Hove to” means “Aye, the fetch is in me maw, she’s dead asea…,” which in turn means “The wind is blowing the wrong way, let’s stop and look at these rocks.”

… continuing …

…The highest point is only fifty feet above the level of the sea, and the entire circumference is under three-quarters of a mile. This small point rises abruptly out of the depths of the ocean. Its mineralogical constitution is not simple; in some parts, the rock is of a cherty, in others, of a felspathic nature; and in the latter case it contains thin veins of serpentine, mingled with calcareous matter. … The circumstance of these rocks not being of volcanic origin is of interest, because, with very few exceptions, the islands situated in the midst of the great oceans are thus constituted.

Darwin understood that a variety of rock types were to be found on the continents, including sedimentary rocsk, but the most common sorts of rocks that poked out of the ocean were of volcanic origin, volcanism being a reasonably well understood source of mountains. It made sense to see volcanoes poking out of the ocean.

Let me also tell you as well that the prevailing theory at that time of the origin of corals, and coral atolls and islands, was that the coral structures grew atop extinct volcanoes. We’ll get back to that important concept later on, as it is central to Darwin’s development as a scientist, and in my view, Darwin’s wrestling with the coral problem is one of the most important things that ever happened in his career and one of the key reasons why everyone knows who Darwin is today.

…. continuing …

As the highest pinnacles of the great mountain ranges probably once existed as islands distant from any continent, we are led to expect that they would frequently consist of volcanic rocks. It becomes, therefore, a curious point to speculate on the changes which many of the present islands would undergo, during the lapse of the countless ages, which would be required to elevate them into snow-clad summits. If we take the case of Ascension, or St. Helena, both of which have long existed in an extinct condition, we may feel assured, before so vast a period could elapse, during the whole of which the surface would be exposed to constant wear and tear, that the mere nucleus or core of the island would remain; perhaps, every fragment of cellular rock having been decomposed, a mass of some compact stone, as phonolite or greenstone, would crown our new Chimborazo.

This passage reveals conceptions of the geological development of the plant: If you see around you high mountains punctuating plains of sedimentary rock, it is easy to have a model of a vast ocean up through which rise mountains, which in turn provide the sediment that eventually displaces the ocean. Notice that in this model, the distinction between a continent and an ocean floor is not needed or represented. also, notice that changes in actual sea level are not considered.

There are two things that Darwin, or any geologist of the time, did not know, one represented in this piece of writing and another only hinted at here but clearly represented elsewhere (and we’ll talk about that later). 1) Plate Tectonics and 2) Eustatic sea level variation during glacial cycles. I’d like to make two strong assertions, and the geology trolls can have at them, but I think I’m right:

1) Darwin made very few errors in interpreting the geology he observed on his voyage, but he did not understand everything. When he did not understand certain phenomena, he did recognize the limitations of his working models, and tended to develop probing questions in preference to untenable explanations. This is because Darwin was a good scientist.

2) If, while Darwin was observing St. Paul’s Rocks, a modern geologist appeared next to him and took ten minutes to explain the very basic of “continental drift,” a very large number of Darwin’s questions about geology would have instead been reformed as contributions to a treatise on plate tectonics. Mantle dynamics (which explain plate tectonics on a deep level!) would have been to his theory of Continental Movement what DNA would later be to his theory of Natural Selection. Additionally, if that same geologist (or a different one … we are so specialized these days) also explained glacial cycles and the movement of water balance between the seas and glaciers, an entirely different set of questions and confusions that are woven into Darwin’s narrative of geology in coastal regions would have become, instead, succinct explanations.

As one reads The Voyage and other works, but also more broadly among natural hitorians and geologists of the time (and well into the twentieth century), it is apparent that continental movement is not a factor, but it is also apparent that to a large degree, the vertical movement of sea level is not much of a factor either. Raised beaches will typically be explained as rising land masses. That works, of course, in some cases, but not all. It is almost funny, that sea made of water is more often held constant, while the hard rock geology seen as more plastic. (We’ll see examples of that later on)

For a link to the original source material discussed here, see the first post in this series. Happy Darwin Month

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