40 Charles Darwin. 



the deck thought the noises proceeded from the 

 shore. 



The Plata is somewhat noted for its electrical dis- 

 plays, and the young naturalist was witness to some 

 remarkable phenomena. The tip of the masts and 

 ends of the booms became illuminated with balls of 

 fire, while the vane upon the topmast looked as 

 though it had been rubbed with phosphorus. The 

 ocean itself seemed to vie with the atmosphere here 

 in its phosphorescent displays, and gleamed with 

 lights so brilliant that Darwin could trace every- 

 where the movements of seals and penguins, and 

 even distinguish the forms as they were outlined by 

 the mysterious phosphorescent light. Accompany- 

 ing these displays was an electrical storm, which 

 caused vivid flashes of lightning to play about the ship. 



The Beagle had now reached the first point of her 

 projected work, which was to survey the coast of 

 South America from the Plata south, an undertaking 

 which it was estimated would take two years to 

 accomplish. 



Darwin went ashore, and made his headquarters at 

 Maldonado, a rich collecting district from a zoologi- 

 cal standpoint. Collecting had its drawbacks here, 

 as, a few days previous, a man had been found 

 murdered, hard by a cross which formed the record 

 of a similar crime. A guard, then, seemed necessary, 

 and perhaps no naturalist ever went forth after bugs, 

 birds, and reptiles with so singular an escort. To 

 see the cavalcade approaching, one might well have 

 supposed that men, not simple specimens, were the 

 object. The troop consisted of a dozen or more 



