( 124 ) 



TUB 'BEAGLI 



SANTA CBUZ. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE VOYAGE. 



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

 himself." — From a letter of Dr. 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 complete 

 the Survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commenced 

 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 nicknamed 

 " 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. Nevertheless, she had 



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

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



