Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle Part 1

Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836.

by Robert FitzRoy.

PREFACE.

In this Work, the result of nine years' voyaging, partly on coasts little known, an attempt has been made to combine giving general information with the paramount object--that of fulfilling a duty to the Admiralty, for the benefit of Seamen.

Details, purely technical, have been avoided in the narrative more than I could have wished; but some are added in the Appendix to each volume: and in a nautical memoir, drawn up for the Admiralty, those which are here omitted will be found.

There are a few words used frequently in the following pages, which may not at first sight be familiar to every reader, therefore I need hardly apologize for saying that, although the great Portuguese navigator's name was Magalhaens--it is generally p.r.o.nounced as if written Magellan:--that the natives of Tierra del Fuego are commonly called Fuegians;--and that Chiloe is thus accented for reasons given in page 384 of the second volume.

In the absence of Captain King, who has entrusted to me the care of publishing his share of this work, I may have overlooked errors which he would have detected. Being hurried, and unwell, while attending to the printing of his volume, I was not able to do it justice.

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It may be a subject of regret, that no paper on the Botany of Tierra del Fuego is appended to the first volume. Captain King took great pains in forming and preserving a botanical collection, aided by a person embarked solely for that purpose. He placed this collection in the British Museum, and was led to expect that a first-rate botanist would have examined and described it; but he has been disappointed.

In conclusion, I beg to remind the reader, that the work is unavoidably of a rambling and very mixed character; that some parts may be wholly uninteresting to most readers, though, perhaps, not devoid of interest to all; and that its publication arises solely from a sense of duty.

ROBERT FITZ-ROY.

London, March 1839.

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INTRODUCTION

In 1825, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty directed two ships to be prepared for a Survey of the Southern Coasts of South America; and in May, of the following year, the ADVENTURE and the BEAGLE were lying in Plymouth Sound, ready to carry the orders of their Lordships into execution.

These vessels were well provided with every necessary, and every comfort, which the liberality and kindness of the Admiralty, Navy Board, and officers of the Dock-yards, could cause to be furnished.

On board the Adventure, a roomy ship, of 330 tons burthen, without guns,[1]

lightly though strongly rigged, and very strongly built, were--

PHILLIP PARKER KING, Commander and Surveyor, Senior Officer of the Expedition.

J. COOKE Lieutenant.

B. AINSWORTH Master.

J. TARN Surgeon.

{xii} G. ROWLETT Purser.

R. H. SHOLL Mate.

J. C. WICKHAM Mate.

J. F. BRAND Mate.

T. GRAVES Mate and a.s.sistant Surveyor.

G. HARRISON Mate.

E. WILLIAMS Second Master.

J. PARK a.s.sistant Surgeon.

W. W. WILSON Midshipman.

A. MILLAR Master's a.s.sistant.

A. MELLERSH Volunteer 1st Cla.s.s.

J. RUSSELL Volunteer 2d Cla.s.s.

G. HODGSKIN Clerk.

J. ANDERSON Botanical Collector.

Gunner--Boatswain--and Carpenter.

Serjeant and fourteen Marines; and about forty Seamen and Boys.

In the Beagle, a well-built little vessel, of 235 tons, rigged as a barque, and carrying six guns, were--

PRINGLE STOKES Commander and Surveyor.

E. HAWES Lieutenant.

W. G. SKYRING Lieut. and a.s.sist. Surveyor.

S. S. FLINN Master.

E. BOWEN Surgeon.

J. ATRILL Purser.

J. KIRKE Mate.

B. BYNOE a.s.sistant Surgeon.

J. L. STOKES Midshipman.

R. F. LUNIE Volunteer 1st Cla.s.s.

W. JONES Volunteer 2d Cla.s.s.

J. MACDOUALL Clerk.

Carpenter.

Serjeant and nine Marines; and about forty Seamen and Boys.

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In the course of the voyage, several changes occurred among the officers, which it may be well to mention here.

In September, 1826, Lieutenant Hawes invalided: and was succeeded by Mr. R.

H. Sholl, the senior mate in the Expedition.

In February, 1827, Mr. Ainsworth was unfortunately drowned; and, in his place, Mr. Williams acted, until superseded by Mr. S. S. Flinn, of the Beagle.

Lieutenant Cooke invalided in June, 1827; and was succeeded by Mr. J. C.

Wickham.

In the same month Mr. Graves received information of his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant.

Between May and December, 1827, Mr. Bowen and Mr. Atrill invalided; besides Messrs. Lunie, Jones, and Macdouall: Mr. W. Mogg joined the Beagle, as acting Purser; and Mr. D. Braily, as volunteer of the second cla.s.s.

Mr. Bynoe acted as Surgeon of the Beagle, after Mr. Bowen left, until December, 1828.