Lecture 4 - The Voyage of the Beagle - Part 1

^\[2\]^ Decades later when he published his *Origin of Species*, the very first line "When on board H.M.S 'Beagle' as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of th...

^\[2\]^ Decades later when he published his *Origin of Species*, the very first line "When on board H.M.S 'Beagle' as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent." Aim of the voyage was not to carry the unknown Darwin around. He was invited by the ship's young captain **Robert FitzRoy**. He thought it was a good opportunity to take a naturalist to explore the land when the ship was doing other things. ^\[4\]^ H.M.S Beagle: one of the few paintings of the ship. Very small. ^\[5\]^ Darwin was interviewed by the captain and he was not only scientifically qualified but also socially - young man of a proper social background. They got along okay. Darwin was not a member of the navy so he stood outside, but he got the invitation to dine with captain every night at the captain's table. ^\[6\]^ They had a giant table in the backroom for the map makers. We now know that it was a library. It was packed with over 400 volumes. Many were on surveying, voyages, many of them were on biology/geology. Darwin was not only living in the ship, but also living in the very state of scientific knowledge. A young man soaking up the scientific knowledge. Point of the voyage was to make maps. ^\[7\]^ UK -- South America -- pacific -- Australia -- back again. Most of it was to go up and down South America. Point of the beagle was surveying, was to make naval maps. ^\[9\]^ The South America visited by Darwin in the 1830s had only broken free from Spanish and Portuguese rule after a series of wars for independence 1810-1825. With the opening up of South America to foreign trade, Britain needed to chart the seas around it to enable profitable shipping. At the time, the interior of South America was little known to the British^.^ ^\[10\]^ Checking out the coastlines, endlessly dropping weights to see the depth, checking out the rocks etc and see how to get to the safe zones. Check the coastlines, the harbors. ^\[11\]^ Santiago, Cape de Verde Islands, 385 miles off the west coast of Africa, in Atlantic Ocean. His scientific adventure really begins here. Darwin found that the rocks "showed me clearly the wonderful superiority of Lyell\'s manner of treating geology, compared with that of any other author". He was given Lyell's book before he left, *Principles of Geology*. Darwin was thrilled that he could examine the island, not just volcanic rocks but other rocks to tell the story of the island. Santiago had gradually changed over time. A stream of lava had once flowed over the sea bed- this baked the shells and corals there into a hard-white rock. These underwater rocks were later pushed above the sea. The line of white rock also revealed subsidence around the volcanic craters on the island which had deposited yet more lava above. On his first geological trip, he realized they could reconstruct the geological change of a place. He had a new idea - maybe at the end of the trip, he could publish a book of his findings. ^\[12\]^ They moved on to Brazil. Brazil was some place Darwin knew well from books, by his hero, naturalist Alexandra Humbordt. Darwin clearly saw the tropics through Humbordt's eyes -- a romantic view of the tropics. Large, exciting place to visit. Quote from his diary, showing how excited he was: Beagle diary 16 January 1832 "I first saw the glory of tropical vegetation. Tamarinds, Bananas & Palms were flourishing at my feet.... none can tell but those who have experienced what I today have. --- It is not only the gracefulness of their forms or the novel richness of their colors, it is the numberless & confusing associations that rush together on the mind, & produce the effect. --- I returned to the shore, treading on Volcanic rocks, hearing the notes of unknown birds, & seeing new insects fluttering about still newer flowers. --- It has been for me a glorious day, like giving to a blind man eyes. --- he is overwhelmed with what he sees & cannot justly comprehend it." ^\[13\]^ Map showing his inland expeditions. He will plan the time with the ship and meet them elsewhere while he surveyed the island. He spent a majority of his trip on land investigating, instead of staying on the ship -- after all that was his job. His meals were provided but was not paid. Led to another modern myth: Orthodox; Historians demoting Darwin -- he wasn't really a naturalist, he was just one of those gentlemen keeping the captain companion at the dining table. Stories to demote Darwin. That contradicts what he said in his book, people say he exaggerated his role. Over the years, the myth gets more detailed, people say that the captain was suffering from psychological issues and could not say it due to the social circumstances, having a young friend like Darwin helped. -- A TOTAL LIE. An extrapolation couple of Historians made that became very popular. There was no evidence on FitzRoy's psychological condition, but it has led to some credibility - he did kill himself in 1860s, but that was because he was suffered through horrific personal trials. He was an honorable man, but he suffered for it. No, Fitzroy sent a letter to his boss to get a naturalist who was scientifically qualified. One more elaboration to the myth: Supposedly in those days, the trip's surgeon was the real naturalists -- but there was no foundation on this, no official role on this. Historian said that Darwin was not only there to dine with the captain, but he made use of his greater social status to overpower the poor surgeon. The surgeon did leave the voyage early (he did for others too), evidence didn't say that Darwin was the reason. Darwin was invited as a naturalist on board, he was the official naturalist. ^\[14\]^ He was not just a biologist, but he's a geologist. He's investigating everything he could see. He arranges the materials into subjects-specific chunk. Geological diary was very much thicker than his zoological diary. He was a geologist on board, even though he is usually remembered as a biologist, but he was both. Field Notebooks: Correspondence / Diary / Zoological diary / Geological diary / Specimen notebooks / Collection notes -- 3 on dried plants and animals; 3 on specimen in sprits; 4 on geological specimens (rocks and fossils). Books were quite small, around the size of our phone. Handwriting is very hard to read. ^\[16\]^ A page from Darwin's B.Blanca notebook: He drew Paluda -- Spanish name for Large Hairy Armadillo. Notebook takes its name from the port city of Bahía Blanca (White Bay) on the coast of Argentina. South America is Spanish speaking. Darwin spent a majority of his time in a Spanish speaking world, he occasionally wrote Spanish words in his diary. ^\[17\]^ Darwin's more colorful/exciting companions are the Gauchos in South America, basically cowboy. Darwin with his privileged background was used to shooting/riding horses in the outdoors. They are hunting South American ostrich. Darwin lost control and the bola wrapped around the legs of his own horse. They joked: they have seen man catch many things but have never seen man catch themselves. Darwin was quite okay with this joke. Bola -- weights tied to the end of a rope. ^\[18\]^ Darwin's first significant geographical discovery at the east coast. Patagonia is the name for the South part of America, the grassland there. As he went up the landscape from the sea, on the plateaus, there were the remaining of past beaches. Stones were smooth and polished. Full of mussel shells. Has the ocean level dropped again and again? No, the land has gone up over and over again. Once beaches on the shoreland were brought inland. He had evidence on how this part of South America was formed. There were a series of uplifts. Deep forces in the earth had move the land upwards. ^\[19\]^ Charles Lyell's *Principles of Geology.* Lyell also addressed the question of the successive appearance and disappearance of species in the geological record. Gradual natural processes were responsible. Because species were fixed, as the world gradually changed, they would eventually go extinct when their environments changed too much. Where did the subsequent species come from? Species introductions were probably as piecemeal as extinctions. New species somehow appeared as the result of 'special creations' in accordance with the new environments. Remember Lyell's theory -- slow gradual extinction. He was very much against evolution. Darwin at that time wasn't interested in evolution, only in science. He was at ground 0 to these new theories and ideas to be put to test. Species will go extinct. Old species exist but where did the new one came from? Lyell kind of douched the question, suggesting they were somehow created. He only used natural causes to explain how the Earth changes over time, but when he got to that point where new species' origins were questioned, he didn't have an answer and kind of douched it. Darwin started to wonder about these questions himself after reading this book. And he makes some astonishing discoveries. ^\[20\]^ These are not dinosaurs, they are gigantic mammals. [Toxodon and Macrauchenia.] He found them on the uplifted plateaus, buried in the mud, but as the coats/shoreline gets eroded away etc, bones are found there. So, this one, size of a giant rhino, called Toxodon. [Macrauchenia patachonica] -- basically a long-necked animal. What kind of animal is this? This animal does not exist anywhere on earth. Not a reptile, not a fish, a mammal. What group does it belong to? Darwin was told that it was a relative of llamas. (WRONG though). Llamas only live in one place -- South America. This was found in south America too, thought to be giant llamas. But these were giant extinct kangaroos. Giant killer kangaroo teeth. Why should there be extinct creatures of the same family found only where the members of the same family live today? There seem to be no logic. ^\[23\]^ He found a [Mylodon], an extinct giant ground sloth. Was the size of a car. Teeth and bones clearly showed that it was a sloth. Again, an extinct creature was found in the living family that only live in South America. Why are they only found in the same place? ^\[25\]^ He found a tooth of a horse. Horses were not native to the Americas. When Europeans arrived, there were no horses in America. People there have never seen a horse, instead they are horrified to see Europeans running around with these huge animals. Darwin's tooth was found securely embedded in the deep layers, very ancient. If Lyell was correct about his theory that when animals cannot live in the changing environment anymore, they die out. Is that what happened to the horse? Because South/North Americas were perfect, horses run there well. But if the environment is so good for horses, why did they die out in the past? Very mysterious. ^\[26\]^ Darwin discovered this astonishing creature, Glypton. Size of a car, basically a mammal tank, covered in boney armor plates. Turns out to come from a known living family Armadillo, also only from South America. But he was able to recognize the relationship instantly, then later consult the experts. These armor plates are astonishing similar to the current living one. Armadillo is the only existing mammal on earth with a shell. ^\[27\]^ All these examples of extinct things found at places where the living family exist now. Darwin came up with a theory - all the extinct creatures are only found in the red dots and nowhere else. But why is it that the living families today are only exclusively found in these places? What is the relationship between the living and the dead? Spatially specific. The extinct are always found where the living one is. Darwin did not end up with a solution, he was intrigued. This is much more specific, spatially specific. Things were spatially found in highly specific places. Mysteries that ultimately led Darwin to his theory. ^\[31\]^ [Darwin's rhea] -- zoology of the voyage of H.M.S Beagle, Birds, plate 47. In addition to the usual kind of rhea that they are usually hunting and eating, there is a smaller one, another kind. Darwin was excited thinking that there is a new species. He forgot about this until one night during a campfire, when he realized that the bones of the rhea he just ate was a bit different than the usual one he ate. He thought it was a young one. But on a closer look, he realized he ate the new species he was looking for. The bones and feathers, nevertheless, were sent back to Europe. First example of this species recorded by science. Unofficially named as Darwin's rhea. Turns out that a French naturalist discovered it just a while ago. Larger one -- light blue region. Smaller one -- dark blue region. There is a barrier, the great river, between the grassland separating the 2 species. How does that explain for the 2 different species? How could that be? According to Lyell, species were somehow created to fit the different environment. The environments were the same though, grassland. The only difference was the river in between. How does that account for the difference? ^\[34\]^ Another great thing that RitzRoy wanted to do was to discover the source of another great river. [Santa Cruz expedition, April-May 1834.] They trekked up these river valleys with the boats, the ship artists drew this, there are gigantic plateaus on either side. Like desert. They never did find the lake, they went out of food and water and they were sick. They never managed to discover the source. Land once under the sea, proof of continental uplift. ^\[35\]^ When Darwin later wrote about it, he criticized/made fun the previous generation of geologists who tried to explain the erosion of the rocks of the valley. It could never have been formed by a flood like written in the bible. We knew from FitzRoy's book later, that FitzRoy said to Darwin that these formations (loads of rounded pebbles) could never have been formed from a 40-day flood. Biggest myth: Darwin and FitzRoy were on opposing stands, science and religion. This wasn't true, FitzRoy too said that it wasn't possible. He agreed that this could not have been formed from the flood in the Bible. "would have brought into play, the violent action of some overwhelming debacle \[flood/catastrophe\]; but \[here\] such a supposition would have been quite inadmissible; because the same step-like terraces, that front the Patagonian coast, sweep up on each side of the valley. No possible action of any flood could have thus modelled the land in these two situations; and by the formation of such terraces the valley itself has been hollowed out\....we must confess it makes the head almost giddy to reflect on the number of years, century after century, which the tides unaided by a heavy surf, must have required to have corroded so vast an area and thickness of solid rock." - Darwin, [*Journal of researches*](http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=1&itemID=F10.3&viewtype=text), p. 218. ^\[36\]^ Story: Darwin just came back to the ship. FitzRoy is depressed because he cannot make the maps as perfect as he wanted. He dreads having to repeat the some of the ship's tracks. Darwin came to tell FitzRoy about his findings, FitzRoy was not receptive, said that the Bible explained everything. FitzRoy believe God\>Darwin. Darwin scoffing at the view of there being a flood. FAKE. Entire issue was fiction. They were friends and on the same side, both were interested in science. They did not argue over religion. Fitzroy was the one that wanted to bring a geologist on board. FitzRoy named mountains on his map after some prominent British geologists. FitzRoy was portrayed as an old minded religious man; Darwin was someone who undermines the bible. Misrepresentation. It makes a dramatic story that sells better than the truth. ^\[37\]^ Darwin was laughed at for quoting the bible by the officers. So different from the dramatized version. We can understand how this false view came about, though. After the beagle returned home in 1936, Fitzroy had a secret fiancé at home and got married. Darwin did not know. She was a member of some church -- did hold views like the dramatic video clip we saw, everything also say God. Fitzroy changed, a conversion after moving in with her and being a part of her social circle. He wrote an appendix in his diary, "these rocks could never have been rounded in 40 days", he now has new views. His appendix was laughed by the geologists as it was ridiculous, because he had no qualifications. FitzRoy only changed after the trip. "Whilst on board the *Beagle* I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers (though themselves orthodox) for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality." -- Darwin in his autobiography. ^\[39\]^ Beagle then sailed south to get to this place called [Tieraa del Feugo]. Really complicated island at the tip of South America. A lot of surveying to do. With mountains and glaciers, far from any city. Beagle painting. Feugo -- Spanish for land of fire. Beagle troops called the locals Fuegians -- they were very distinct. Very remote, desolate part of the whole. At night the landscape was full of campfires, a lot of people there. Land of fire. They were living at the remote part of the world, meeting those locals was the biggest shock of Darwin's life. Darwin did not meet anyone like this before. People were racist at that time. Beagle troops were horrified to see how dirty these people were, covered literally with filth, might even take random things / wipe dirt over their body to keep them warm. They have very red bloodshot eyes from the smoke in their eyes all day long from the campfire. Their straw/branch huts didn't even have a hole to let the smoke out. They lived in a place so cold, can't believe people live there. Darwin described them as miserable, had nothing, no possession, have spears/sticks, draped dead animal skin over their body for warmth. Hair ragged. Cultural tradition -- lie naked in the snow. Tried to teach them some English, some farming, Christianity etc. intention to civilize the locals. Fitzroy thought he had noble intentions. Left the young missionary with them. Gave them useless stuff like tablecloth, spoons, cups. None of which were of any use. In that culture, they had to share everything -- stole all the clothes of the 3 men. The 3 men were left there for 2 weeks. Jimmy came running towards the Beagle into the water at the end of the 2 weeks. The Fuegians kept them hostage(?), he thought he was being tortured. From the Fuegians' perspective, they were helping him to clean facial hair. They had forgotten much of their English language. Darwin was told by Jemmy, during the very harsh winters and bad conditions, the locals will kill the old women to eat. They cannot eat the dogs because dogs can help to catch otters. Held the women at the smoke of the campfire. Shocked Darwin. Lasting impact on him, he has seen human beings that basically lived like human beings, eat disgusting things like etc. Dead whales that washed up onto the shore, slept on sand, walked naked. Darwin saw a female naked, holding the baby standing in the snow. He was shocked, did not expect humans to be so low. This made it easier for Darwin to imagine that human beings could be as low as animals. Difference between the locals/civilized people than between locals/animals is even larger. But they are human. After 2 weeks, Jemmy naked. The Beagle really liked the young man. Jemmy decided to stay. Darwin could not believe the change, the transformation. Darwin know that it's the same for his own ancestors, naked savages around 2000 years ago. Darwin is downgrading in his mind, the supposedly unreachable highly European status. This could have made Darwin accept the fact that humans could have come from animals. True spectrum of human beings -- not just the civilized ones he knew, they could be animal liked ones like the locals here. Today, the locals are extinct. They have been living there for hundreds of years. Killed. Long after Beagle. ^\[44\]^ Left Tierra del Feugo from June 1834 and travelled upwards to the west coast of South America, continued making maps. ^\[45\]^ Beagle came to this island, [Chiloe Island]. Darwin heard about this unique species of fox that lives only on this island. He went out with his geological hammer. Beagle troops set up their equipment. Darwin saw a small fox. The fox was so transfixed by these humans with flashy items, Darwin sneaked behind the fox and killed it with his geological hammer by hitting its head. This was the scientific specimen he brought home. He made a little joke on it in his book, because foxes were known to be wise: "This fox, more curious or more scientific, but less wise, than the generality of his brethren, is now mounted in the museum of the Zoological Society." Geological sections through the Andes. The first two show Darwin's southern and northern traverses between Santiago on the left and Mendoza on the right (c. 200km), the third showing the Copiapó valley in northern Chile (c. 100km). ^\[47\]^ After making many inland expeditions on mountains etc, he published ***Geological observations on South America* (1846)**. Diagram showing the geological history, layers of rocks, eroded/pushed up. Andes mountain used to be known as the highest mountain, but it is the Himalayas. His colorful map showed layers upon layers of sediments. Erosions and piling. ^\[48\]^ The geology of South America was very complicated. Darwin wanted to investigate it in 1835. A terrible massive earthquake happened, Darwin was on shore. He was lying on his back on the ground. Many people were killed. After the earthquake, a huge tsunami came in, killing more people. For geologists, it was hot stuff. He could study freshly happened thing. He gathered reports from people, volcanoes have been seen erupting/smoking just before the earthquake. Studying the routes of the city itself, the motion of the earth has been in a particular plane. Earth moved in a particular way during the earthquake. Darwin found things at the coastline, he found the entire coastline has gone up. The entire line had been uplifted by like 10 feet. The barnacles that used to be living below the water level is now high up. This was a new real-life example; the other examples are all old. From Darwinian point of view, we have to be able to reiterate that. Imagine this happening repeatedly over the next 10000 years, we will get a series of uplifts, going up into the mountains. He went higher inland, and he found evidences of uplift all the way until up the mountains. He now had a clue as to how this great mountain chain has been formed. Some geographical energy from the earth kept uplifting the crust. Darwin felt literally during the earth: How the thin crust floating on the ocean moved up. Moving up the mountains, he found remains of the shorelines. Higher and higher up, more and more eroded - the older they were, the more degraded the shells are. Forest of petrified trees, swampy trees, these trees high up at the mountains were once at the coastlines. Trees that were almost white. These forests high in the Andes are clearly shore living trees that used to live at coastal environment are now up there. ^\[50\]^ Investigating another valley, Section of Coquimbo in Chile -- also show terraces of repeated crustal uplift. What is Darwin now appreciating better than most? He understands something about the vast scale of earth's history, that earth has changed through a lot of small changes (earthquakes etc), might be small, but if you add the effects up, they can be major. Agrees with Lyell. In the midst of it, he also examined the history of life, why did these animals die, he could see from his investigation in the east coast, that the giant bones he found has been deposited in mud very slowly and gradually, not due to some disaster. Example, one of those large bones that he found was clearly inland animal, died and carried by the river. Buried in the sediment - so slow and gradual that barnacles have attached themselves onto the bones in the mud, since these barnacles take a long time to grow, shows that the bones were above the mud for a long time before it was buried. That particular carcass, close examination showed a very slow gradual progress. There are so many remains, there are a lot of animals, but that is because they are deposited gradually. Out of the millions that died, only that FEW get to be preserved as fossils. ^\[51\]^ Darwin's hand colored geological map of South America -- published it. Different colors indicate different kinds of rocks. Different side of the continent being uplifted, pushed inwards by unknown forces, have different rocks, today we know that its known as plate tectonics. When they rub together or move, we call it earthquakes. Back in those days, there were no evidence that the continents moved sideways, but they had loads of evidence about it moving up and down. Remember way back into Hutton's unconformity, so many layers that curl up and no longer horizontal -- keep going up and down with erosion and deposition. No evidence to show that it moved sideways. ^\[52\]^ Darwin found several creatures that defy the usual explanations. Snakes that were found in South America behaving like a rattlesnake but with NO rattle. Rattlesnakes only live in North America. He found that when disturbed, the snake will shake its tail rapidly. What are they? Halfway becoming a rattle snake? A half rattlesnake? By the way, snakes are deaf, they cannot hear their own rattle, or our screams. He found a kind of subterranean lizard possessing only front legs. These legless or almost legless lizard that lives by burrowing in the ground. Body is like 90% snake, elongated for burrowing. Different families from snakes, have eyelids, different teeth. Snakes cannot blink because they have no eyelids. He found a curious burrowing rodent, tucu tuco. The animal supposedly will say that sound. They never come to the surface. They have eyes, but so mini scale that it seems useless. Dark underground so they don't need eyes. Very often, the specimens Darwin found, have eyes that are damaged, scratched etc. Why does those rodents have eyes when they are always scratched by rocks etc? Why do animals have that specific characteristics, eyes, when its meant to be injured for sure? Eyes are not useful for burrowing underground too. They don't need eyes underground, often injured too. Why do they have it? Their current context could not explain why they have eyes. They will be better off without eyes. He discovered some terrestrial flatworms, normally sea creatures, very well-known from marine environment. He discovered some in the moist ground of forests. What is a sea creature doing on land? Something that seems to be exceptions. Have they moved? No, if you put them in the sea, they die. Terrestrial not sea flatworms. All these animals are at places we do not expect them to be. Not at places where their families are. Falklands Islands' goose that could not fly, with wings that do not work. There were no land predators there to kill them, flying was not necessary. Galapagos lizard only eat seaweed, as seen from its stomach (by Darwin). Giant iguanas eat seaweeds. All lizards in the world live on the land. This one lives right at the edge and goes into the water to feed, because there were no food on land where they lived. Their stomachs have nothing else but seaweeds. The iguanas have no land predators. Darwin took one by the tail and flunk it into the water. It swam straight back to him. Again. He thought that it must mean that they cannot know fear. But in reality, iguanas are cold blooded, take a long time to heat up on rocks. Hence the iguana was coming back to the land to heat up. LOL. The animals there have no instinct of predators on that island. Beagle sails on to the West. Galapagos iguanas and snakes. -- youtube.