The survey ship HMS
Beagle, under
captain Robert FitzRoy, arrived in the Galápagos Islands on the 15th
September 1835 to survey approaches to harbours. The captain and others on
board, including his companion, the young naturalist Charles
Darwin, made observations on
the geology and biology on Chatham, Charles, Albemarle Islands before arriving
at James Island on the 8th October 1835 where they remained until leaving
on the 20th October to continue the rest of their round-the-world expedition.
Primarily a geologist
at the time, Darwin was impressed by the quantity of volcanic craters they saw,
later referring to the archipelago as "that land of craters." His
study of several volcanic formations over the 5 weeks he stayed in the islands,
led to several important geological discoveries, including the first, correct
explanation for how volcanic tuff
is formed] Darwin noticed the mockingbirds differed between islands, though he thought
the birds now known as Darwin's
finches were unrelated to each
other, and did not bother labelling them by island.
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Image courtesy of the Smithsonian
Institution under The Commons Agreement on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2550753587/
Research courtesy of Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galápagos_Islands#History
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