CHAPTER III. 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



The Beagk — An Offer of Importance — The Young Naturalist — The 

 Voyage — Powers of Obsen-ation — Cape Verd Islands — Tours 

 of Investigation — Dust-Showers — Wonderful Phenomena — Geo- 

 logical Studies — St. Paul's Rocks — Fernando de Noronha, 



N 1831 the British Govern- 

 ment decided to send out 

 a well - equipped vessel 

 to complete the survey 

 of the South American 

 coast, begun by Captain 

 Shaw some years pre- 

 vious. The vessel select- 

 ed for this work was the 

 Beagle, a six - gun brig, 

 and Captain Fitz - Roy 

 of the Royal Navy was 

 given the important command. An enthusiast in 

 science, Fitz-Roy conceived the idea of taking a 

 naturalist with him to study the fauna and flora 

 of the different countries he might visit, and in his 

 search for a competent person he wrote to Professor 

 Henslow, wha, in turn, made the offer to Charles 



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