Alfred Russel Wallace 



another place : *' Among the scenes which are deeply im- 

 pressed on my mind, none can exceed in sublimity the 

 primeval forests undefaced by the hand of man ; . . . 

 temples filled with the various productions 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 complete contrast to the forest, the bare, treeless, 

 and uninhabited plains of Patagonia '^ frequently crossed 

 before '^ Darwin's eyes. Why, he could not understand, 

 except that, being so " boundless," they left '^ free scope 

 for the imagination." 



As these travels,' undertaken at comparatively the same 

 age, represent the foundation upon which their scientific 

 work and theories were based during the long years which 

 followed, a glance at the conditions governing the separate 

 expeditions — both mental and physical — may be of some 

 value. The most obvious difference lies, perhaps, in the 

 fact that Darwin was free from the thought of having to 

 ** pay his way " by the immediate result of his efforts, and 

 likewise from all care and anxiety regarding domestic con- 

 cerns ; the latter being provided for him when on board the 

 Beagle, or arranged by those who accompanied him on his 

 travels overland and by river. The elimination of these 

 minor cares tended to leave his mind free and open to 

 absorb and speculate at comparative leisure upon all the 

 strange phenomena which presented themselves through- 

 out the long voyage. 



A further point of interest in determining the ultimate 

 gain or loss lies in the fact that Darwin's private excur- 

 sions had to be somewhat subservient to the movements of 



* " Voyage of the Beagle," p. 534. 



* It is interesting to note that the careers of Sir Joseph Hooker, Charles 

 Darwin, H. W. Bates, Alfred Russel Wallace and T. H. Huxley were all 

 determined by voyages or journeys of exploration. 



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