XXll 



right or southern bank of the wide river Plata, every mile of the coast 

 thence to Cape Horn was closely surveyed, and laid down on a large scale. 

 Each harbour and anchorage was planned ; thirty miles of the river Negro, 

 and two hundred of the Santa Cruz, w^ere examined and laid down, and a 

 chart was made of the Falkland Islands .... Westward of Cape Horn, as far 

 as the parallel of 47'^ S., little has been added to the results of the Bea- 

 gle's first voyage, because nearly enough was then done for the wants of 

 vessels in those dreary regions. But between 47° and the river Guayaquil, 

 the whole coasts of Chile and Peru have been surveyed ; no port or road- 

 stead has been omitted." 



During this survey (in 1834) Lieutenant FitzRoy was promoted to the 

 rank of Captain. In 1835, while he lay at Valdivia, the great earthquake 

 took place, of which he has given a circumstantial and interesting account. 

 The Beagle afterwards sailed for an examination of the Galapagos, and 

 thence for England, touching at fourteen stations from Tahiti to the Azores 

 to measure meridian distances, for which purpose a large number of chro- 

 nometers had been placed on board. The vessel arrived at Greenwich in 

 November 1836, having, in the course of her lengthened cruise, circum- 

 navigated the globe. 



Captain Fitzlloy's anxiety to make his work as complete as possible, led 

 him to hire two vessels and purchase a third at his own cost to fill up the 

 details of the survey, and include the Falkland Islands. This outlay, how- 

 ever, involved him in embarrassments which hampered him for many years. 

 The Royal Geographical Society hastened to recognize his merits by award- 

 ing him their Gold Medal for 1836, ''for the zeal, energy, and liberality 

 shown by him in the conduct of the survey and, " acknowledging the 

 importance of the mass of information " which he brought home, declared 

 it to have been perhaps not exceeded by any expedition since the time 

 of Cook and of Flinders." When we remember that Mr. Charles 

 Darwin was on board the Beagle during the whole of her voyage, and 

 there gathered the materials for his ' Journal and Remarks,' and geologi- 

 cal works since published, the expedition may, indeed, be regarded as me- 

 morable. A full account thereof, written by Captain FitzRoy, was published 

 in three volumes in 1839. 



In 1839 Captain FitzRoy was chosen an Elder Brother of the Trinity 

 House; in 1841 he sat in the House of Commons as Member for North 

 Durham ; in 1842 he was appointed Acting Conservator of the Mersey; 

 and in the following year he went out to New Zealand as Governor, which 

 post he held for three years. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society 

 in 1851 ; in 1854 he was placed at the head of the Meteorological Depart- 

 ment of the Board of Trade ; in 1857 he became Rear-Admiral, Vice-Ad- 

 miral in 1863, and in 1864 the Academy of Sciences of the Institute, Paris, 

 elected him a Corresponding Member of their Section of Geography and 

 Navigation. 



In carrying out the duties of his appointment at the Board of Trade, 



