30th July 1835

The little schooner "Constitution" in which Mr Sulivan surveyed North coast of Chili has been bought of the Capt. for Government. Mrs Usborne & Forsyth are left in her to survey the coast of Peru & afterwards return in a merchant vessel to England.

Lieutenant Sulivan brought his little vessel safely to an anchor near the Beagle on the 30th, having accomplished his survey in a very satisfactory manner. So well did he speak of the Constitucion, as a handy craft and good sea boat, and so correctly did his own work in her appear to have been executed, that after some days' consideration I decided to buy her, and at once set on foot an examination of the coast of Peru, similar to that which Mr Sulivan had completed of the coast of Chile. Dan Francisco Vascuñan had authorized the sale of his vessel at Callao: she was purchased by me for £400, and immediately fitted out afresh.

Note (Darwin): This generous and disinterested outlay of his own funds in furtherance of his mission was undertaken without obtaining prior permission from the Admiralty, and once again he was rewarded only with an official reprimand. The Minutes written across his letter to their Lordships informing them of his action refer to 'former papers forbidding him to hire a tender', and state: 'Inform Capt. FitzRoy that Lords highly disapprove of this proceeding, especially after the orders which he previously received on the subject.' Nevertheless the Hydrographer, Sir F. Beaufort, acknowledges that the subsidiary craft will materially assist the survey.

CHARLES DARWIN TO W.D. FOX.
Lima, July, 1835.

My dear Fox,

I have lately received two of your letters, one dated June and the other
November, 1834 (they reached me, however, in an inverted order). I was
very glad to receive a history of this most important year in your life.
Previously I had only heard the plain fact that you were married. You are
a true Christian and return good for evil, to send two such letters to so
bad a correspondent as I have been. God bless you for writing so kindly
and affectionately; if it is a pleasure to have friends in England, it is
doubly so to think and know that one is not forgotten because absent. This
voyage is terribly long. I do so earnestly desire to return, yet I dare
hardly look forward to the future, for I do not know what will become of
me. Your situation is above envy: I do not venture even to frame such
happy visions. To a person fit to take the office, the life of a clergyman
is a type of all that is respectable and happy. You tempt me by talking of
your fireside, whereas it is a sort of scene I never ought to think about.
I saw the other day a vessel sail for England; it was quite dangerous to
know how easily I might turn deserter. As for an English lady, I have
almost forgotten what she is--something very angelic and good. As for the
women in these countries, they wear caps and petticoats, and a very few
have pretty faces, and then all is said. But if we are not wrecked on some
unlucky reef, I will sit by that same fireside in Vale Cottage and tell
some of the wonderful stories, which you seem to anticipate and, I presume,
are not very ready to believe. Gracias a dios, the prospect of such times
is rather shorter than formerly.

From this most wretched 'City of the Kings' we sail in a fortnight, from
thence to Guayaquil, Galapagos, Marquesas, Society Islands, etc., etc. I
look forward to the Galapagos with more interest than any other part of the
voyage. They abound with active volcanoes, and, I should hope, contain
Tertiary strata. I am glad to hear you have some thoughts of beginning
Geology. I hope you will; there is so much larger a field for thought than
in the other branches of Natural History. I am become a zealous disciple
of Mr. Lyell's views, as known in his admirable book. Geologising in South
America, I am tempted to carry parts to a greater extent even than he does.
Geology is a capital science to begin, as it requires nothing but a little
reading, thinking, and hammering. I have a considerable body of notes
together; but it is a constant subject of perplexity to me, whether they
are of sufficient value for all the time I have spent about them, or
whether animals would not have been of more certain value.

I shall indeed be glad once again to see you and tell you how grateful I
feel for your steady friendship. God bless you, my very dear Fox.

Believe me,
Yours affectionately,
CHAS. DARWIN.

29th July to 3rd August 1835

I took a place in a coach which runs twice every day to Lima & spent five very pleasant days there. There is so much hospitality in these countries & the conversation of intelligent people in a new & foreign place cannot fail to be interesting. Moreover a residence of some years in contact with the polite & formal Spaniards certainly improves the manners of the English merchants. — I found the Consul General, Mr Wilson, most exceedingly obliging: having been Aid de Camp to Bolivar he has travelled over much of S. America & knows its inhabitants rightwell.

Lima stands on a small plain formed during the gradual retreat of the sea; out of it rise barren steep hills like Islands. It is irrigated by two streams, the valleys of which rapidly contract & are hidden between the headlands of the first Cordilleras. The plain is divided into large green fields divided by straight mudwalls; there are very few trees excepting some willows & fruit trees. By the presence of an occasional cluster of Banana plants & Orange frees only does the landscape partake of a Tropical character. The city of Lima is now in a wretched state of decay; the streets are nearly unpaved & in all directions heaps of filth are piled up. — Amongst these the Gallinazoes, tame as Poultry, are picking up bits of Carrion. There is little air of business; there are few Carriages, carts or even Cargo-Mules in the streets. — The houses have generally an irregular upper story, built on account of the Earthquakes of plastered wood-work; some of the old-houses now used by several families are immensely large & would rival in the suites of Apartments the most magnificent in London. Lima must indeed formerly have been a splendid, but small city; the extraordinary number of churches give to it, especially when seen from a short distance, a character quite distinct from the generality of towns.

There are two things in Lima, which all Travellers have discussed; the ladies "tapadas ", or concealed in the saya y Manta, & fruit called Chilimoya. To my mind the former is as beautiful as the latter is delicious. The close elastic gown fits the figure closely & obliges the ladies to walk with small steps which they do very elegantly & display very white silk stockings & very pretty feet. — They wear a black silk veil, which is fixed round the waist behind, is brought over the head, & held by the hands before the face, allowing only one eye to remain uncovered. — But then that one eye is so black & brilliant & has such powers of motion & expression, that its effect is very powerful. — Altogether the ladies are so metamorphised; that I at first felt as much surprised, as if I had been introduced amongst a number of nice round mermaids, or any other such beautiful animal. And certainly they are better worth looking at than all the churches & buildings in Lima. — Secondly for the Chilimoya, which is a very delicious fruit, but the flavour is about as difficult to describe, as it would be to a Blind man some particular shade of colour; it is neither a nutritive fruit like the Banana, or a crude fruit like the Apple, or refreshing fruit like the Orange or Peach, but it is a very good & large fruit & that is all I have to say about it.

27th July 1835

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
The Blonde touched at Cobija, Arica, and Islay — hapless arid dwelling-places for either man or beast, as I have ever seen. From near Iquique to Arica the precipitous coast is so lofty, and approaches so much to the character of enormous cliffs, about a thousand feet high, that it is really sublime. Near Islay, the land is in several places covered with a whitish powder, or dust, which lies many inches thick in hollows or sheltered places, but is not found abundantly in localities exposed to wind. Much difference of opinion has arisen about this powder. People who live there say it was thrown out of a volcano near Arequipa a great many years ago: other persons assert that it is not a volcanic production, and appertains to, or had its origin, where it is found. My own idea was, before I heard any thing of the controversy, that there could be no doubt of its having fallen upon the ground within some hundred years, for it was drifted like snow, and where any quantity lay together, had become consolidated about as much as flour which has got damp in a damaged barrel.

26th July 1835

LETTER 7. TO J.S. HENSLOW. Lima, July 1835.

This is the last letter which I shall ever write to you from the shores
of America, and for this reason I send it. In a few days time the
"Beagle" will sail for the Galapagos Islands. I look forward with joy
and interest to this, both as being somewhat nearer to England and for
the sake of having a good look at an active volcano. Although we have
seen lava in abundance, I have never yet beheld the crater. I sent by
H.M.S. "Conway" two large boxes of specimens. The "Conway" sailed the
latter end of June. With them were letters for you, since that time I
have travelled by land from Valparaiso to Copiapo and seen something
more of the Cordilleras. Some of my geological views have been,
subsequently to the last letter, altered. I believe the upper mass
of strata is not so very modern as I supposed. This last journey has
explained to me much of the ancient history of the Cordilleras. I feel
sure they formerly consisted of a chain of volcanoes from which enormous
streams of lava were poured forth at the bottom of the sea. These
alternate with sedimentary beds to a vast thickness; at a subsequent
period these volcanoes must have formed islands, from which have been
produced strata of several thousand feet thick of coarse conglomerate.

These islands were covered with fine trees; in the conglomerate, I found one
15 feet in circumference perfectly silicified to the very centre. The
alternations of compact crystalline rocks (I cannot doubt subaqueous
lavas), and sedimentary beds, now upheaved fractured and indurated, form
the main range of the Andes. The formation was produced at the time when
ammonites, gryphites, oysters, Pecten, Mytilus, etc., etc., lived. In
the central parts of Chili the structure of the lower beds is rendered
very obscure by the metamorphic action which has rendered even the
coarsest conglomerates porphyritic. The Cordilleras of the Andes so
worthy of admiration from the grandeur of their dimensions, rise in
dignity when it is considered that since the period of ammonites, they
have formed a marked feature in the geography of the globe. The geology
of these mountains pleased me in one respect; when reading Lyell, it had
always struck me that if the crust of the world goes on changing in a
circle, there ought to be somewhere found formations which, having the
age of the great European Secondary beds, should possess the structure
of Tertiary rocks or those formed amidst islands and in limited basins.
Now the alternations of lava and coarse sediment which form the upper
parts of the Andes, correspond exactly to what would accumulate under
such circumstances. In consequence of this, I can only very roughly
separate into three divisions the varying strata (perhaps 8,000 feet
thick) which compose these mountains. I am afraid you will tell me
to learn my ABC to know quartz from feldspar before I indulge in such
speculations.

I lately got hold of a report on M. Dessalines D'Orbigny's
labours in S. America (7/2. "Voyage dans l'Amerique Meridionale, etc."
(A. Dessalines D'Orbigny).); I experienced rather a debasing degree of
vexation to find he has described the Geology of the Pampas, and that I
have had some hard riding for nothing, it was however gratifying that my
conclusions are the same, as far as I can collect, with his results. It
is also capital that the whole of Bolivia will be described. I hope to
be able to connect his geology of that country with mine of Chili.
After leaving Copiapo, we touched at Iquique. I visited but do not quite
understand the position of the nitrate of soda beds. Here in Peru, from
the state of anarchy, I can make no expedition.

I hear from home, that my brother is going to send me a box with books,
and a letter from you. It is very unfortunate that I cannot receive this
before we reach Sydney, even if it ever gets safely so far. I shall not
have another opportunity for many months of again writing to you. Will
you have the charity to send me one more letter (as soon as this reaches
you) directed to the C. of Good Hope. Your letters besides affording
me the greatest delight always give me a fresh stimulus for exertion.
Excuse this geological prosy letter, and farewell till you hear from me
at Sydney, and see me in the autumn of 1836.

25th July 1835

[Aconcagua]

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
The irreclaimably barren appearance of the sea coast of Northern Chile, is very repulsive to an eye accustomed to woodland scenery: yet there is an effect in its lofty mountains, which seem to rise abruptly almost from the ocean, that charms one for a time. Just before sunrise is generally the most favourable moment for enjoying an unclouded view of the Andes in all their towering grandeur: for scarcely have his beams shot between their highest pinnacles into the westward vallies, when clouds of vapour rise from every quarter, and during the rest of the day, with few exceptions, obscure the distant heights.

It has been long supposed that the Andes are higher about the equator than near or beyond the tropic; but the Beagle's measurements of Aconcagua and Villarica, prove that there is still much to be ascertained on this subject. Few results, depending upon angular measurement, are more difficult to obtain with accuracy than the heights of distant mountains. With respect to Aconcagua, though a variety of measurements, taken by different officers at various times, agreed together so closely as to give from 23,200 to 23,400 feet for the vertical elevation of that volcano above the level of the sea, I would not claim to be much nearer the truth than within 500 feet.

24th July 1835

Callao is a most miserable filthy, ill built, small sea-port; the inhabitants both here & at Lima present every imaginable shade of mixture between Europœan, Negro & Indian blood. They appear a depraved, drunken set. The very atmosphere was loaded with foul smells; & that peculiar kind which can be perceived in nearly all towns within the Tropics was very strong. The Fortress which withstood L. Cochranes long siege, appears very imposing; the president is to-morrow going to dismantle it; he has not an officer to whom he could trust so important a charge. He himself obtained his present rank by being Governor & mutinying against the former president. — Callao being such as it is & Lima 7 miles distant, this is a disagreeable [place] to lie in a Ship; at present there are no means to take exercise. A short time since, Mr Wilson the Consul general. — Lord E. Clinton & a Frenchman were riding & were attacked by a party of Soldier — robbers, who plundered them so completely, that they returned naked, excepting their drawers. — The robbers were actuated by warm Patriotism; They waved the Peruvian banner & intermingled crys of "Viva la Patria"; "give me your jacket". "Libertad Libertad" with "Off with your trowsers".

23rd July 1835

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
Scarcely four months had elapsed since that tremendous earthquake, which destroyed so many towns in Chile, had altered the movements of the Pacific Ocean upon all the extent of coast which reaches from latitude forty-five to the parallel of twenty-five. Even in July, the land about Concepcion was scarcely considered to be at rest, and recovered, as it was said, from those awful convulsions. Can it then be considered improbable that the currents of that sea should have taken unusual directions, and betrayed even cautious seamen, such as Captain Seymour and Mr. Macdonald (the master) were well known to be. So much care and judgment had always been shown in conducting the Challenger, and she had visited so many places in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, and among the South Sea Islands, that of all the King's ships at that time in commission, those who sailed in her (unconnected even with her management) thought her one of the last that would end a voyage disastrously. The surprising manner in which the hull of the Challenger held together, and so long resisted heavy shocks, reflects infinite credit upon her architect (Hayes), and upon the dockyard where she was built.

22nd July 1835

No state in S. America, since the declaration of the Independence, has suffered more from Anarchy than Peru: at present there are four chiefs in arms for supreme government. If one should succeed in becoming very powerful, the others for a time coalesce against him, but afterwards are again disunited. The other day at the Anniversary of the Independence, high mass was performed, the President partaking of the Sacrament; during the "Te Deum laudamus" instead of each regiment displaying the Peruvian flag, a black one with death's head was unfurled. Imagine what a government, when such a scene could be ordered on such an occasion to be typical of their determination of fighting to death! — This state of affairs has happened very unfortunately for me, as I am precluded from making any excursions beyond the limits of the Towns. — The barren Isd of S. Lorenzo which forms the harbor is nearly the only secure walk. — I climbed one day to the highest part, nearly 1200 ft high. This is within the limit of the region of Clouds at this season. I there met with half a dozen different kinds of plants & an abundance of Cryptogamic vegetation; on the hills near Lima, at a little greater elevation, the ground is carpeted with moss & there are some beautiful yellow lilies called Amancaes. This shows a much greater humidity than in a corresponding situation at Iquique. Gradually travelling Northward, the climate becomes damper, & at Guyaquil there are luxuriant forests.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
On the 22d, both ships sailed from Coquimbo, and soon afterwards parted company. The Conway stood to the westward, 'close-hauled;' while the Blonde steered towards the north with a fresh southerly wind.

What caused the loss of the Challenger?—is a question not easy to answer with certainty. The error in her reckoning amounted to more than forty miles; and the only way in which I can account for it to my own satisfaction is, that while the north-west wind was blowing, a current set to the southward and eastward, for which no allowance was made, as those on board could not be aware that such a current might be found, its existence not being known. A south-east current was not to be expected thereabouts; for the general set of the waters is northerly, excepting near the land, and they thought themselves in the offing. But currents are very uncertain and treacherous in most places. Unusual winds, peculiar seasons affecting the weight of the atmosphere, and those powerful interrupters of all order—earthquakes, have immediate effect upon the great ocean, as well as upon small bodies of water, though not always so visibly.

21st July 1835

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
How striking the contrast appeared between the fertility and verdure of the Concepcion country, and the dry barrenness of the naked earth or rocks about Coquimbo. Scarcely any one went on shore; a mixture of unpleasant feelings occasioned a gloomy heaviness in most of our minds.

20th July 1835

Darwin Beagle Diary
During our whole stay the climate was far from pleasant; the ceaseless gloom which hangs over the country would render any landscape uninteresting. During 16 days I have only had one view of the Cordilleras behind Lima, which seen in stages through the openings of the clouds, bore a very grand aspect. — it is proverbial that rain never falls in this part of Peru; yet this is not correct, during nearly every day there is a thick drizzle or Scotch mist which is sufficient to make the streets muddy & ones clothese very damp. People are generally pleased to call this Peruvian dew. That much water does not fall is very manifest; the houses are covered with flat roofs, composed of hardened mud; on the mole ship-loads of wheat are piled up & thus kept for months without any cover. Lastly, the country is quite sterile, excepting where irrigated. The valley of the Rimac, however, wears as green a clothing as those in central Chili. I cannot say that I like what I have seen of Peru; in summer it is said that the Climate is much pleasanter; at all seasons of the year both inhabitants & foreigners suffer much from attacks of Ague.

19th July 1835

Darwin Beagle Diary
In the night anchored in the outer part of the harbor of Callao. — Our passage was a short one owing to the steady trade wind; Rolling steadily onwards with our studding sails on each side, I was reminded of the Atlantic. — But there is a great difference in the interest of the two passages. In the latter there is an ever varying & beautiful sky; the brilliant day is relieved by a cool refreshing evening & the cloudless sky is glorious. — The ocean teems with life, no one can watch the Flyingfish, Dolphin & Porpoises without pleasure. At night in the clear Heavens, the Europæan traveller views the new Constellations which foretell the new countries to which the good ship is onward driving. — Here in the Pacifick, although the water is never agitated by storms, it never is quiet, but feels through the unbroken continuity the violence which reigns in the South. Now, in the winter, a heavy dull bank of clouds intercepts during successive days even a glimpse of the sun. — The temperature is by no means warm; in approaching these low latitudes I did not experience that delicious mildness, which is known for a few days in the Spring of England, or in first entering the Tropics in the Atlantic.

18th July 1835

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
A fresh fair wind drove us in twenty-four hours to Coquimbo, where the Conway was at anchor ready for sea. It was then arranged, that all the officers and two-thirds of the crew should go home in the Conway; and, of course, no small bustle of preparation for so many passengers was caused. Captain and Mrs. White already occupied one-half of the captain's cabin, and their luggage a considerable space below; but as both Captain Eden and the senior lieutenant, Johnstone, were bent upon accommodating the ship-wrecked party to the utmost of their power, stowage-room was cleverly contrived.

17th July 1835

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
I was very glad when we weighed anchor.

14th July 1835

The country is here equally unproductive. They have a well (36 yards deep) from which some bitter Saltish water is procured, & firewood at twelve miles distance. Nearer to the main Cordillera there are some few little villages, such as Tarapaca, where having more water the inhabitants are enabled to irrigate a little land, & produce hay on which the mules & Jackasses employed in carrying the Saltpetre feed. — The owner complained much of the heavy expences. The Nitrate of Soda, purified by solution in boiling water, is sold at the Ships side at 14 shillings the 100 pounds. — The mine consists of a thick (2–3 ft) hard layer of tolerably pure Salt, which is almost on the surface of the Land. The stratum follows the margin of a grand basin or plain which manifestly has once been either a lake or inland sea. — The present elevation is 3300 ft. — In my return I made a round by the famous Mineral of Guantajaya; the village entirely consists of the families of the miners; the place is utterly destitute, water is brought by animals from about 30 miles. — At present the mines produce scarcely anything; they have formerly been worked to a great extent; one having a depth of 400 yards. Masses, very many pounds weights, of Silver have been extracted, so pure as to require no process but running them down into bars.

We reached Iquique after sunset & I went on board, when the Beagle weighed her anchor for Lima. I am very glad we have seen this place, I understand it a complete type of the greater part of the coast of Peru.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
Much attention and kindness were shown to Captain Seymour by his acquaintance at Valparaiso; but it could not be expected that he should be cheerful, or inclined to see people, excepting intimate friends, at that time; particularly as the death of Mr. Lane was an additional blow much felt by him.