DARWIN. 29 



candour, his desire to learn, his respect for those who 

 were already masters of science, won upon the great 

 men with whom he came in contact. It was by no 

 means as " one who knew very little " that Henslow 

 recommended Darwin to Captain Fitzroy, but as "a 

 young man of promising ability, extremely fond of 

 geology, and indeed all branches of natural history." 

 " In consequence," says Fitzroy, " an offer was made to 

 Mr. Darwin to be my guest on board, which he accepted 

 conditionally. Permission was obtained for his embar- 

 kation, and an order given by the Admiralty that he 

 should be borne on the ship's books for provisions. The 

 conditions asked by Mr. Darwin were, that he should be 

 at liberty to leave the Beagle and retire from the ex- 

 pedition when he thought proper, and that he should 

 pay a fair share of the expenses of my table." 



Darwin had taken an ordinary or "poll" degree in 

 1831, and was admitted a Master of Arts in 1837. In the 

 interval he had become truly a Master of Science, which 

 at that time was adequately recognised by no university in 

 the British dominions. The memorable voyage of the 

 Beagle, a little barque of 242 tons, was at first delayed 

 by heavy gales which twice drove her back ; but she 

 finally sailed from Devonport on December 27, 1831. 

 The object of the expedition was to complete the 

 survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, to survey the 

 shores of Chili, Peru, and some Pacific Islands, and to 

 carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the 

 world. 



Professor Henslow's interest in his young pupil's 

 progress is shown by the fact that in 1835 (December i) 



