THE ' BEAGLE ' LAID ASHORE, RIVER SANTA CRUZ. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE VOYAGE. 



" There is a natural good-humoured energy in his letters just like him- 

 self." From a letter of l)r. R. W. Darwin's to Professor Henslow. 



The object of the Beagle voyage is briefly described in 

 my father's Journal of Researches, p. 1, as being "to com- 

 plete the Survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, com- 

 menced under Captain King in 1826 to 1830; to survey the 

 shores of Chile, Peru, and some islands in the Pacific; and 

 to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the 

 world." 



The Beagle is described* as a well-built little vessel, of 

 235 tons, rigged as a barque, and carrying six guns. She 

 belonged to the old class of ten-gun brigs, which were nick- 

 named " coffins," from their liability to go down in severe 

 weather. They were very " deep-waisted," that is, their 

 bulwarks were high in proportion to their size, so that a 

 heavy sea breaking over them might be highly dangerous. 



* Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, vol. i. introduction xii. The illus- 

 tration at the head of the chapter is from vol. ii. of the same work. 



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