The Cruceros Australis Darwin Lecture Series

Charles Darwin in Tierra del Fuego: Now, How on Earth did That Happen?

Mention the name of the famous naturalist and most people think of the Galápagos Islands. Yet Darwin spent only 38 days there. By contrast, he spent more than 100 days in Tierra del Fuego, which he visited on three separate occasions over a span of more than two years. But, what business (including a suicide) brought Darwin to Tierra del Fuego in the first place? And why did Captain Robert FitzRoy of HMS Beagle invite him aboard as his unpaid guest? This introductory lecture takes a look at Darwin's pre-Beagle years and at some of the Darwin family, including a grandfather who introduced evolution years before Charles was born, and a father who initially had strong objections to his son's voyaging plans. We conclude by comparing the routes of HMS Beagle with Via Australis—and by comparing the ships as well.

Darwin and FitzRoy at Wulaia

On the first voyage of the Beagle, Captain FitzRoy captured several Fuegians, including a ten-year old girl. His plan was to educate them to be proper Christians, and then he promised to return them to their homeland. True to his word, he brought the Fuegians back home on the second voyage, traveling in company with Charles Darwin, and giving Darwin his first exposure to the primitive life style. FitzRoy, Darwin and the Fuegians all went ashore at Wulaia Cove, and after this lecture we shall follow their footsteps at the same location, where today there is a small museum dedicated to the history of the location, and nearby monuments to both Robert FitzRoy and Charles Darwin.

With Charles Darwin in Glacier Alley (Punta Arenas to Ushuaia cruise only)

On the passage between Punta Arenas and Ushuaia, we pass through the famed “Glacier Alley” in the northwest arm of the Beagle Channel. This short lecture will introduce the glaciers along the north shore of the Channel, and later recount how the men of the Beagle almost came to grief when a tidal wave swept toward their beached whaleboats. Here, Darwin helped “save the day” and the men from disaster. And in gratitude, his captain named a nearby mountain in his honor.

A look at The Literature of HMS Beagle (and the book that almost wasn't)

During the second voyage of the Beagle, Captain FitzRoy asked if he might incorporate some of Darwin's journal entries into a multi-volume work that he was planning to write, describing the two voyages of his ship. Fortunately, the idea was set aside and Darwin wrote his own description of his travels. In later years, while still working on his famous theory, he was almost scooped by a fellow naturalist who came up with much the same theory at about the same time. At first, he thought he should just abandon his ideas, but close friends came to his rescue, and so today we have his Origin of Species and so many other works. This lecture presents an overview of Darwin's writings, from his first popular travel book, to his later scientific works.

Putting Tierra del Fuego on the Map (before the voyage of the Beagle)

Popular legend has it that Ferdinand Magellan was the first voyager to pass through the strait that now bears his name. Yet maps pre-dating his voyage by years—and perhaps by centuries—strongly suggest that he was simply following the wake of others. In the years that followed Magellan's voyage, Tierra del Fuego followed Darwinian evolution, as each new map displayed a gradual improvement as each new visitor returned home with more details. Still, there was much work that needed to be done, and Captain FitzRoy was the man to do it. This presentation will take a look at how our knowledge of Tierra del Fuego has changed over the centuries leading up to the voyage of the Beagle.

Putting Tierra del Fuego on the Map (from the Beagle until today)

The surveying work brought home by the men of the Beagle led to a series of maps that would not be surpassed in accuracy for another century, or more. This presentation looks at how maps and mapping have changed over the years since Darwin's famous voyage. We'll have a look at some of the actual Beagle charts, plus illustrations of how our ship Via Australis safely finds its way to Cape Horn and back using the latest navigational charts. We conclude with a demonstration of how modern technology allows today's visitor to record the latitude, longitude, altitude and compass bearing every time a photo is taken with a digital camera. Later on, the recorded data can be sent to Google Earth to show just where each photo was taken, and a map can be printed showing these points.