32 - THE GREAT SOLITUDES OF NATURE. 



There can be no doubt that the foundations of 

 Darwin's great career were laid as the direct result 

 of his experience of life in the wilderness by land and 

 sea, during which he was constantly studying the 

 phenomena of Nature as there witnessed by him. This 

 makes good what we have already said as to the value 

 of such experiences on the future life of the intelligent 

 traveller. It also will be interesting to note the 

 objects which seem to have made a particular impres- 

 sion upon the mind of the learned Darwin during the 

 period of nearly five years, over which his travels 

 extended. He tells us 



" Of individual objects perhaps nothing is more certain to 

 create astonishment than the first sight in his native haunts, 

 of a barbarian of man in his lowest and most savage state. 

 I do not believe it is possible to describe, or paint, the 

 difference between savage and civilized man." 



Presently he goes on to say "Among the scenes which 

 are deeply impressed on my mind, none exceed in sublimity 

 the primeval forests, undefaced by the hand of man ; whether 

 those of Brazil, where the powers of Life are predominant, 

 or those of Tierra del Fuego, where Death and Decay prevail. 

 Both are temples of the God of Nature : no one can stand 

 in these solitudes unmoved and not feel that there is more 

 in man than the mere breath of his body. In calling up 

 the images of the past, I find that the plains of Patagonia 

 frequently cross before my eyes ; yet these plains are pronounced 

 by all, wretched and useless. They can be described only 

 by negative characters; without habitations, without water, 

 without trees, without mountains, they support merely a few 

 dwarf plants. Why then, and the case is not peculiar to 

 myself, have these arid wastes taken so firm a hold on my 

 memory ? " * 



* Journal of Researches, etc., p. 53- 



