GEOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. 



BY MR. DARWIN. 



The object of the present Introduction, is briefly to describe the principal loca- 

 lities, from which the Zoological specimens, collected during the voyage of the 

 Beagle, were obtained. At the conclusion of this work, after each species has 

 been separately examined and described, it will be more advantageous to incor- 

 porate any general remarks. The Beagle was employed for nearly five years out 

 of England; of this time a very large proportion was spent in surveying the 

 coasts of the Southern part of South America, and of the remainder, much was 

 consumed in making long passages during her circumnavigation of the globe. 

 Hence nearly the entire collection, especially of the animals belonging to the 

 higher orders, was procured from this continent ; to which, however, must be added 

 the Galapagos Archipelago, a group of islands in the Pacific, but not far distant 

 from the American coast. The localities may be briefly described under the 

 following heads. 



Brazil. This country presents an enormous area, supporting the most 

 luxuriant productions of the intertropical regions. It is composed of primary 

 formations, and may be considered as being hilly rather than mountainous. La 

 Plata includes the several provinces bordering that great river; — namely, 

 Buenos Ayres, Banda Oriental, Santa F6, Entre Rios, &c. My collections were 

 chiefly made at Buenos Ayres, at Monte Video, the capital of Banda Oriental, 

 and at Maldonado, a town in the same province, situated on the northern 



