Ch, VI.] 1831—1836. 127 



looked forward to these trips with great pleasure, an anticipa- 

 tion that, unlike many others, was always realised. I think ho 

 was the only man I ever knew against whom I never heard a 

 word said ; and as people when shut up in a ship for five years 

 are apt to get cross with each other, that is saying a good 

 deal." 



Admiral Stokes, Mr. King, Mr. Usborne, and Mr. Hamond, 

 all speak of their friendship with him in the same warm- 

 hearted way. 



Captain Fitz-Roy was a strict officer, and made himself 

 thoroughly respected both by officers and men. The occasional 

 severity of his manner was borno with because every one on 

 board knew that his first thought was his duty, and that he 

 would sacrifico anything to the real welfare of the ship. My 

 father writes, July 1834 : " We all jog on very well together, 

 there is no quarrelling on board, which is something to 

 say. The Captain keeps all smooth by rowing every one in 

 turn." 



My father speaks of the officers as a fine determined set of 

 men, and especially of Wickham, the first lieutenant, as a 

 " glorious fellow." The latter being responsible for the smart- 

 ness and appearance of the ship strongly objected to Darwin 

 littering the decks, and spoke of specimens as " d — d beastly 

 devilment," and used to add, " If I were skipper, I would soon 

 have you and all your d — d mess out of the place." 



A sort of halo of sanctity was given to my father by the fact 

 of his dining in the Captain's cabin, so that the midshipmen 

 used at first to call him " Sir," a formality, however, which did 

 not prevent his becoming fast friends with the younger officers. 

 He wrote about the year 1861 or 1862 to Mr. P. G. King, 

 M.L.C., Sydney, who, as before stated, was a midshipman on 

 board the Beagle : — " The remembrance of old days, when we 

 used to sit and talk on the booms of tho Beagle, will always, to 

 the day of my death, make me glad to hear of your happiness 

 and prosperity." Mr. King describes tho pleasure my father 

 seemed to take "in pointing out to me as a youngster the 

 delights of the tropical nights, with their balmy breezes 

 eddying out of the sails above us, and the sea lighted up by 

 the passage of the ship through the never-ending streams of 

 phosphorescent animalculse." 



It has been assumed that his ill-health in later years was 

 due to his having suffered so much from sea-sickness. This 

 he did not himself believe, but rather ascribed his bad health 

 to the hereditary fault which took shape as gout in some of the 

 past generations. I am not quite clear as to how much he 



