Voyage of the Beagle Adventures

Voyage of the Beagle

Adventures in the Tierra del Fuego and the Straits of Magellan: the ways in which Darwin appears to be a man of his culture and time and someone with a unique viewpoint about nature and the human race in his chronicles

As the founder of the radical theory of evolution, Charles Darwin is often called a man ahead of his time. His discussion of the different flora and fauna of the places he lived, and his comparative eye on his journeys while on the Beagle are extraordinarily modern in their detail and accuracy: "The central part of Tierra del Fuego, where the clay-slate formation occurs, is most favorable to the growth of trees; on the outer coast the poorer granitic soil, and a situation more exposed to the violent winds, do not allow of their attaining any great size" (Chapter 11). This shows how Darwin immediately observed that different environmental circumstances favored different types of trees.

However, Darwin's chronicles also show how in his racial attitudes, he was a man of his time. He views his own, European civilization as inherently superior to that of civilizations in other hemispheres, and sees the individuals whom he encounters in the "Tierra del Fuego," as chronicled in Chapter 10 the Voyage of the Beagle as less civilized than himself and his fellow Europeans simply because they come from a different culture. From his first encounters, he judges the natives with a moral, rather than a scientific eye, unlike his judgments of plants. "When we came within hail, one of the four natives who were present advanced to receive us, and began to shout most vehemently, wishing to direct us where to land. When we were on shore the party looked rather alarmed, but continued talking and making gestures with great rapidity. It was without exception the most curious and interesting spectacle I ever beheld: I could not have believed how wide was the difference between savage and civilized man: it is greater than between a wild and domesticated animal, inasmuch as in man there is a greater power of improvement"(Chapter 10). This passage shows how on one hand, the scientist in Darwin manifests itself, as he regards these so-called savage with wonder, rather than sheer terror like some of his companions. Yet he admits that because of the difference in clothing and language between himself and the natives, he sees their culture as wrong, as a spectacle rather than as having equal value to his own.

What is perhaps most extraordinary, however, about Darwin's immediate reaction to the natives is that he seems to show his evolutionary theory, but in a much less sophisticated manner when discussing people, in the way that he views the natives with European disdain. He sees the human species, much like an animal species, as evolving ever-forward in the march of progressing evolution and adaptation. However, while Darwin might say that the environment favoring giraffes with longer necks is not a moral issue merely an example of natural selection that might change if the height of the vegetation changed over successive generations and favored shorter giraffes, in humans he does not see the spare clothing of the natives designed to suit the hot environment as an adaptation of culture to their circumstances as beneficial. Rather his countrymen's own heavy clothes and the cultural adaptation suited to their own environment back home are not merely distinct from native dress and culture, but 'better.'

Likewise the native' darker skin which shields them against the sun reveals them, in Darwin's eyes, as closer to nature. The fact that they speak a different language that is not of the Indo-European family like Darwin's English, or Romantic (presumably, he would not look down upon them if they spoke French rather than their native tongue) likewise is unscientifically judged upon the basis that Darwin finds it unpleasant to listen to. Strikingly, even though some of these natives have already picked up a few words of English and can mimic the body language of the crew, showing what might be called a quick linguistic intelligence, Darwin sniffs that all savages are good mimics, and complains about the difficulty of getting black and white answers from individuals who have shown remarkable efforts in rapid language acquisition!

In his account of the Beagle's voyage to the Straight of Magellan, he is more complementary to native dwellers, but only so far as they acquire European manners and mores. "It was long before we could clear the boat; at last we got on board with our three giants, who dined with the Captain, and behaved quite like gentlemen, helping themselves with knives, forks, and spoons: nothing was so much relished as sugar. This tribe has had so much communication with sealers and whalers that most of the men can speak a little English and Spanish; and they are half civilized, and proportionally demoralized" (Chapter 11). He praises some natives for their good humor towards the Europeans, but does not praise this much more open and tolerant civilization than his own in turn. One wonders if, an expedition of native people had come to his own shores, if Europeans would be equally accommodating with their hospitality!