DARWIN AND WALLACE 27 
started on his journey with a mind singularly free 
from prepossessions. In the long hours of this sail- 
ing voyage across the Atlantic Ocean Darwin had 
time to read and ponder Lyell’s weighty words. By 
the time he reached the Brazilian shore he was filled 
with Lyell’s conception that the present is the child. 
of the past, developing out of it in orderly sequence. | 
Lyell expressly denied that this is true of the animal I 
and plant world. He applied it only to the face of 
the earth, with its mountains of uplift and its valleys 
of erosion. But the underlying principle of an or- 
derly development under the action of natural causes 
was there. In Darwin’s mind this at once found ac- 
ceptance, and was destined to a fruition its author had 
expressly disclaimed. 
The narrative of this voyage, as subsequently writ- 
ten, describes the islands visited by the Beagle in 
crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The contrast between 
the simple and general interest in these islands and 
the care with which Darwin described the Galapagos 
and the Keeling Atoll visited later in the voyage are 
speaking evidence of the rapid development going on 
in the mind of the young naturalist. 
Reaching the shore of South America, Darwin first 
turns to its geology. But before long the animal life 
attracts his attention. In the Brazilian forest Darwin 
had his first experience of the wealth of animal and 
