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The Voyage Of The Beagle

C >> Charles Darwin >> The Voyage Of The Beagle




The fish, having remained in this distended state for a short
time, generally expelled the air and water with considerable
force from the branchial apertures and mouth. It could emit, at
will, a certain portion of the water, and it appears, therefore
probable that this fluid is taken in partly for the sake of
regulating its specific gravity. This Diodon possessed several
means of defence. It could give a severe bite, and could eject
water from its mouth to some distance, at the same time making a
curious noise by the movement of its jaws. By the inflation of
its body, the papillae, with which the skin is covered, become
erect and pointed. But the most curious circumstance is, that it
secretes from the skin of its belly, when handled, a most
beautiful carmine-red fibrous matter, which stains ivory and
paper in so permanent a manner, that the tint is retained with
all its brightness to the present day: I am quite ignorant of the
nature and use of this secretion. I have heard from Dr. Allan of
Forres, that he has frequently found a Diodon, floating alive and
distended, in the stomach of the shark; and that on several
occasions he has known it eat its way, not only through the coats
of the stomach, but through the sides of the monster, which has
thus been killed. Who would ever have imagined that a little soft
fish could have destroyed the great and savage shark?

MARCH 18, 1832.

(PLATE 6. PELAGIC CONFERVAE.)

We sailed from Bahia. A few days afterwards, when not far distant
from the Abrolhos Islets, my attention was called to a
reddish-brown appearance in the sea. The whole surface of the
water, as it appeared under a weak lens, seemed as if covered by
chopped bits of hay, with their ends jagged. These are minute
cylindrical confervae, in bundles or rafts of from twenty to
sixty in each. Mr. Berkeley informs me that they are the same
species (Trichodesmium erythraeum) with that found over large
spaces in the Red Sea, and whence its name of Red Sea is derived.
(1/8. M. Montagne in "Comptes Rendus" etc. Juillet 1844; and
"Annales des Sciences Naturelles" December 1844.) Their numbers
must be infinite: the ship passed through several bands of them,
one of which was about ten yards wide, and, judging from the
mud-like colour of the water, at least two and a half miles long.
In almost every long voyage some account is given of these
confervae. They appear especially common in the sea near
Australia; and off Cape Leeuwin I found an allied, but smaller
and apparently different species. Captain Cook, in his third
voyage, remarks that the sailors gave to this appearance the name
of sea-sawdust.

Near Keeling Atoll, in the Indian Ocean, I observed many little
masses of confervae a few inches square, consisting of long
cylindrical threads of excessive thinness, so as to be barely
visible to the naked eye, mingled with other rather larger
bodies, finely conical at both ends. Two of these are shown in
Plate 6 united together. They vary in length from .04 to .06, and
even to .08 of an inch in length; and in diameter from .006 to
.008 of an inch. Near one extremity of the cylindrical part, a
green septum, formed of granular matter, and thickest in the
middle, may generally be seen. This, I believe, is the bottom of
a most delicate, colourless sac, composed of a pulpy substance,
which lines the exterior case, but does not extend within the
extreme conical points. In some specimens, small but perfect
spheres of brownish granular matter supplied the places of the
septa; and I observed the curious process by which they were
produced. The pulpy matter of the internal coating suddenly
grouped itself into lines, some of which assumed a form radiating
from a common centre; it then continued, with an irregular and
rapid movement, to contract itself, so that in the course of a
second the whole was united into a perfect little sphere, which
occupied the position of the septum at one end of the now quite
hollow case. The formation of the granular sphere was hastened by
any accidental injury. I may add, that frequently a pair of these
bodies were attached to each other, as represented above, cone
beside cone, at that end where the septum occurs.

I will here add a few other observations connected with the
discoloration of the sea from organic causes. On the coast of
Chile, a few leagues north of Concepcion, the "Beagle" one day
passed through great bands of muddy water, exactly like that of a
swollen river; and again, a degree south of Valparaiso, when
fifty miles from the land, the same appearance was still more
extensive. Some of the water placed in a glass was of a pale
reddish tint; and, examined under a microscope, was seen to swarm
with minute animalcula darting about, and often exploding. Their
shape is oval, and contracted in the middle by a ring of
vibrating curved ciliae. It was, however, very difficult to
examine them with care, for almost the instant motion ceased,
even while crossing the field of vision, their bodies burst.
Sometimes both ends burst at once, sometimes only one, and a
quantity of coarse, brownish, granular matter was ejected. The
animal an instant before bursting expanded to half again its
natural size; and the explosion took place about fifteen seconds
after the rapid progressive motion had ceased: in a few cases it
was preceded for a short interval by a rotatory movement on the
longer axis. About two minutes after any number were isolated in
a drop of water, they thus perished. The animals move with the
narrow apex forwards, by the aid of their vibratory ciliae, and
generally by rapid starts. They are exceedingly minute, and quite
invisible to the naked eye, only covering a space equal to the
square of the thousandth of an inch. Their numbers were infinite;
for the smallest drop of water which I could remove contained
very many. In one day we passed through two spaces of water thus
stained, one of which alone must have extended over several
square miles. What incalculable numbers of these microscopical
animals! The colour of the water, as seen at some distance, was
like that of a river which has flowed through a red clay
district; but under the shade of the vessel's side it was quite
as dark as chocolate. The line where the red and blue water
joined was distinctly defined. The weather for some days
previously had been calm, and the ocean abounded, to an unusual
degree, with living creatures. (1/9. M. Lesson "Voyage de la
Coquille" tome 1 page 255, mentions red water off Lima,
apparently produced by the same cause. Peron, the distinguished
naturalist, in the "Voyage aux Terres Australes," gives no less
than twelve references to voyagers who have alluded to the
discoloured waters of the sea (volume 2 page 239). To the
references given by Peron may be added, Humboldt's "Personal
Narrative" volume 6 page 804; Flinder's "Voyage" volume 1 page
92; Labillardière, volume 1 page 287; Ulloa's "Voyage"; "Voyage
of the Astrolabe and of the Coquille"; Captain King's "Survey of
Australia" etc.)

In the sea around Tierra del Fuego, and at no great distance from
the land, I have seen narrow lines of water of a bright red
colour, from the number of crustacea, which somewhat resemble in
form large prawns. The sealers call them whale-food. Whether
whales feed on them I do not know; but terns, cormorants, and
immense herds of great unwieldy seals derive, on some parts of
the coast, their chief sustenance from these swimming crabs.
Seamen invariably attribute the discoloration of the water to
spawn; but I found this to be the case only on one occasion. At
the distance of several leagues from the Archipelago of the
Galapagos, the ship sailed through three strips of a dark
yellowish, or mud-like water; these strips were some miles long,
but only a few yards wide, and they were separated from the
surrounding water by a sinuous yet distinct margin. The colour
was caused by little gelatinous balls, about the fifth of an inch
in diameter, in which numerous minute spherical ovules were
embedded: they were of two distinct kinds, one being of a reddish
colour and of a different shape from the other. I cannot form a
conjecture as to what two kinds of animals these belonged.
Captain Colnett remarks that this appearance is very common among
the Galapagos Islands, and that the direction of the bands
indicates that of the currents; in the described case, however,
the line was caused by the wind. The only other appearance which
I have to notice, is a thin oily coat on the water which displays
iridescent colours. I saw a considerable tract of the ocean thus
covered on the coast of Brazil; the seamen attributed it to the
putrefying carcass of some whale, which probably was floating at
no great distance. I do not here mention the minute gelatinous
particles, hereafter to be referred to, which are frequently
dispersed throughout the water, for they are not sufficiently
abundant to create any change of colour.

There are two circumstances in the above accounts which appear
remarkable: first, how do the various bodies which form the bands
with defined edges keep together? In the case of the prawn-like
crabs, their movements were as coinstantaneous as in a regiment
of soldiers; but this cannot happen from anything like voluntary
action with the ovules, or the confervae, nor is it probable
among the infusoria. Secondly, what causes the length and
narrowness of the bands? The appearance so much resembles that
which may be seen in every torrent, where the stream uncoils into
long streaks the froth collected in the eddies, that I must
attribute the effect to a similar action either of the currents
of the air or sea. Under this supposition we must believe that
the various organised bodies are produced in certain favourable
places, and are thence removed by the set of either wind or
water. I confess, however, there is a very great difficulty in
imagining any one spot to be the birthplace of the millions of
millions of animalcula and confervae: for whence come the germs
at such points?--the parent bodies having been distributed by the
winds and waves over the immense ocean. But on no other
hypothesis can I understand their linear grouping. I may add that
Scoresby remarks that green water abounding with pelagic animals
is invariably found in a certain part of the Arctic Sea.

(PLATE 7. CATAMARAN (BAHIA).)


CHAPTER II.

(PLATE 8. BOTOFOGO BAY, RIO DE JANEIRO.)

Rio de Janeiro.
Excursion north of Cape Frio.
Great Evaporation.
Slavery.
Botofogo Bay.
Terrestrial Planariae.
Clouds on the Corcovado.
Heavy Rain.
Musical Frogs.
Phosphorescent Insects.
Elater, springing powers of.
Blue Haze.
Noise made by a Butterfly.
Entomology.
Ants.
Wasp killing a Spider.
Parasitical Spider.
Artifices of an Epeira.
Gregarious Spider.
Spider with an unsymmetrical Web.

RIO DE JANEIRO.

APRIL 4 TO JULY 5, 1832.

A few days after our arrival I became acquainted with an
Englishman who was going to visit his estate, situated rather
more than a hundred miles from the capital, to the northward of
Cape Frio. I gladly accepted his kind offer of allowing me to
accompany him.

APRIL 8, 1832.

Our party amounted to seven. The first stage was very
interesting. The day was powerfully hot, and as we passed through
the woods, everything was motionless, excepting the large and
brilliant butterflies, which lazily fluttered about. The view
seen when crossing the hills behind Praia Grande was most
beautiful; the colours were intense, and the prevailing tint a
dark blue; the sky and the calm waters of the bay vied with each
other in splendour. After passing through some cultivated
country, we entered a forest which in the grandeur of all its
parts could not be exceeded. We arrived by midday at Ithacaia;
this small village is situated on a plain, and round the central
house are the huts of the negroes. These, from their regular form
and position, reminded me of the drawings of the Hottentot
habitations in Southern Africa. As the moon rose early, we
determined to start the same evening for our sleeping-place at
the Lagoa Marica. As it was growing dark we passed under one of
the massive, bare, and steep hills of granite which are so common
in this country. This spot is notorious from having been, for a
long time, the residence of some runaway slaves, who, by
cultivating a little ground near the top, contrived to eke out a
subsistence. At length they were discovered, and a party of
soldiers being sent, the whole were seized with the exception of
one old woman, who, sooner than again be led into slavery, dashed
herself to pieces from the summit of the mountain. In a Roman
matron this would have been called the noble love of freedom: in
a poor negress it is mere brutal obstinacy. We continued riding
for some hours. For the few last miles the road was intricate,
and it passed through a desert waste of marshes and lagoons. The
scene by the dimmed light of the moon was most desolate. A few
fireflies flitted by us; and the solitary snipe, as it rose,
uttered its plaintive cry. The distant and sullen roar of the sea
scarcely broke the stillness of the night.

APRIL 9, 1832.

We left our miserable sleeping-place before sunrise. The road
passed through a narrow sandy plain, lying between the sea and
the interior salt lagoons. The number of beautiful fishing birds,
such as egrets and cranes, and the succulent plants assuming most
fantastical forms, gave to the scene an interest which it would
not otherwise have possessed. The few stunted trees were loaded
with parasitical plants, among which the beauty and delicious
fragrance of some of the orchideae were most to be admired. As
the sun rose, the day became extremely hot, and the reflection of
the light and heat from the white sand was very distressing. We
dined at Mandetiba; the thermometer in the shade being 84
degrees. The beautiful view of the distant wooded hills,
reflected in the perfectly calm water of an extensive lagoon,
quite refreshed us. As the vênda here was a very good one, and I
have the pleasant, but rare remembrance, of an excellent dinner,
I will be grateful and presently describe it, as the type of its
class. (2/1. Vênda, the Portuguese name for an inn.) These houses
are often large, and are built of thick upright posts, with
boughs interwoven, and afterwards plastered. They seldom have
floors, and never glazed windows; but are generally pretty well
roofed. Universally the front part is open, forming a kind of
verandah, in which tables and benches are placed. The bedrooms
join on each side, and here the passenger may sleep as
comfortably as he can, on a wooden platform covered by a thin
straw mat. The vênda stands in a courtyard, where the horses are
fed. On first arriving, it was our custom to unsaddle the horses
and give them their Indian corn; then, with a low bow, to ask the
senhôr to do us the favour to give us something to eat. "Anything
you choose, sir," was his usual answer. For the few first times,
vainly I thanked providence for having guided us to so good a
man. The conversation proceeding, the case universally became
deplorable. "Any fish can you do us the favour of giving ?"--"Oh
no, sir."--"Any soup?"--"No, sir."--"Any bread?"--"Oh no,
sir."--"Any dried meat?"--"Oh no, sir." If we were lucky, by
waiting a couple of hours, we obtained fowls, rice, and farinha.
It not unfrequently happened that we were obliged to kill, with
stones, the poultry for our own supper. When, thoroughly
exhausted by fatigue and hunger, we timorously hinted that we
should be glad of our meal, the pompous, and (though true) most
unsatisfactory answer was, "It will be ready when it is ready."
If we had dared to remonstrate any further, we should have been
told to proceed on our journey, as being too impertinent. The
hosts are most ungracious and disagreeable in their manners;
their houses and their persons are often filthily dirty; the want
of the accommodation of forks, knives, and spoons is common; and
I am sure no cottage or hovel in England could be found in a
state so utterly destitute of every comfort. At Campos Novos,
however, we fared sumptuously; having rice and fowls, biscuit,
wine, and spirits, for dinner; coffee in the evening, and fish
with coffee for breakfast. All this, with good food for the
horses, only cost 2 shillings 6 pence per head. Yet the host of
this vênda, being asked if he knew anything of a whip which one
of the party had lost, gruffly answered, "How should I know? why
did you not take care of it?--I suppose the dogs have eaten it."

Leaving Mandetiba, we continued to pass through an intricate
wilderness of lakes; in some of which were fresh, in others salt
water shells. Of the former kind, I found a Limnaea in great
numbers in a lake, into which the inhabitants assured me that the
sea enters once a year, and sometimes oftener, and makes the
water quite salt. I have no doubt many interesting facts in
relation to marine and fresh-water animals might be observed in
this chain of lagoons which skirt the coast of Brazil. M. Gay has
stated that he found in the neighbourhood of Rio shells of the
marine genera solen and mytilus, and fresh-water ampullariae,
living together in brackish water. (2/2. "Annales des Sciences
Naturelles" for 1833.) I also frequently observed in the lagoon
near the Botanic Garden, where the water is only a little less
salt than in the sea, a species of hydrophilus, very similar to a
water-beetle common in the ditches of England: in the same lake
the only shell belonged to a genus generally found in estuaries.

(PLATE 9. VAMPIRE BAT (Desmodus D'Orbigny). Caught on back of
Darwin's horse near Coquimbo. Head, full size.)

Leaving the coast for a time, we again entered the forest. The
trees were very lofty, and remarkable, compared with those of
Europe, from the whiteness of their trunks. I see by my notebook,
"wonderful and beautiful flowering parasites," invariably struck
me as the most novel object in these grand scenes. Travelling
onwards we passed through tracts of pasturage, much injured by
the enormous conical ants' nests, which were nearly twelve feet
high. They gave to the plain exactly the appearance of the mud
volcanoes at Jorullo, as figured by Humboldt. We arrived at
Engenhodo after it was dark, having been ten hours on horseback.
I never ceased, during the whole journey, to be surprised at the
amount of labour which the horses were capable of enduring; they
appeared also to recover from any injury much sooner than those
of our English breed. The Vampire bat is often the cause of much
trouble, by biting the horses on their withers. The injury is
generally not so much owing to the loss of blood, as to the
inflammation which the pressure of the saddle afterwards
produces. The whole circumstance has lately been doubted in
England; I was therefore fortunate in being present when one
(Desmodus d'orbignyi, Wat.) was actually caught on a horse's
back. We were bivouacking late one evening near Coquimbo, in
Chile, when my servant, noticing that one of the horses was very
restive, went to see what was the matter, and fancying he could
distinguish something, suddenly put his hand on the beast's
withers, and secured the vampire. In the morning the spot where
the bite had been inflicted was easily distinguished from being
slightly swollen and bloody. The third day afterwards we rode the
horse, without any ill effects.

APRIL 13, 1832.

After three days' travelling we arrived at Socêgo, the estate of
Senhôr Manuel Figuireda, a relation of one of our party. The
house was simple, and, though like a barn in form, was well
suited to the climate. In the sitting-room gilded chairs and
sofas were oddly contrasted with the whitewashed walls, thatched
roof, and windows without glass. The house, together with the
granaries, the stables, and workshops for the blacks, who had
been taught various trades, formed a rude kind of quadrangle; in
the centre of which a large pile of coffee was drying. These
buildings stand on a little hill, overlooking the cultivated
ground, and surrounded on every side by a wall of dark green
luxuriant forest. The chief produce of this part of the country
is coffee. Each tree is supposed to yield annually, on an
average, two pounds; but some give as much as eight. Mandioca or
cassava is likewise cultivated in great quantity. Every part of
this plant is useful: the leaves and stalks are eaten by the
horses, and the roots are ground into a pulp, which, when pressed
dry and baked, forms the farinha, the principal article of
sustenance in the Brazils. It is a curious, though well-known
fact, that the juice of this most nutritious plant is highly
poisonous. A few years ago a cow died at this Fazênda, in
consequence of having drunk some of it. Senhôr Figuireda told me
that he had planted, the year before, one bag of feijaô or beans,
and three of rice; the former of which produced eighty, and the
latter three hundred and twenty fold. The pasturage supports a
fine stock of cattle, and the woods are so full of game that a
deer had been killed on each of the three previous days. This
profusion of food showed itself at dinner, where, if the tables
did not groan, the guests surely did; for each person is expected
to eat of every dish. One day, having, as I thought, nicely
calculated so that nothing should go away untasted, to my utter
dismay a roast turkey and a pig appeared in all their substantial
reality. During the meals, it was the employment of a man to
drive out of the room sundry old hounds, and dozens of little
black children, which crawled in together, at every opportunity.
As long as the idea of slavery could be banished, there was
something exceedingly fascinating in this simple and patriarchal
style of living: it was such a perfect retirement and
independence from the rest of the world. As soon as any stranger
is seen arriving, a large bell is set tolling, and generally some
small cannon are fired. The event is thus announced to the rocks
and woods, but to nothing else. One morning I walked out an hour
before daylight to admire the solemn stillness of the scene; at
last, the silence was broken by the morning hymn, raised on high
by the whole body of the blacks; and in this manner their daily
work is generally begun. On such fazêndas as these, I have no
doubt the slaves pass happy and contented lives. On Saturday and
Sunday they work for themselves, and in this fertile climate the
labour of two days is sufficient to support a man and his family
for the whole week.

APRIL 14, 1832.

(PLATE 10. VIRGIN FOREST.)

Leaving Socˆgo, we rode to another estate on the Rio Macƒe, which
was the last patch of cultivated ground in that direction. The
estate was two and a half miles long, and the owner had forgotten
how many broad. Only a very small piece had been cleared, yet
almost every acre was capable of yielding all the various rich
productions of a tropical land. Considering the enormous area of
Brazil, the proportion of cultivated ground can scarcely be
considered as anything compared to that which is left in the
state of nature: at some future age, how vast a population it
will support! During the second day's journey we found the road
so shut up that it was necessary that a man should go ahead with
a sword to cut away the creepers. The forest abounded with
beautiful objects; among which the tree ferns, though not large,
were, from their bright green foliage, and the elegant curvature
of their fronds, most worthy of admiration. In the evening it
rained very heavily, and although the thermometer stood at 65
degrees, I felt very cold. As soon as the rain ceased, it was
curious to observe the extraordinary evaporation which commenced
over the whole extent of the forest. At the height of a hundred
feet the hills were buried in a dense white vapour, which rose
like columns of smoke from the most thickly-wooded parts, and
especially from the valleys. I observed this phenomenon on
several occasions: I suppose it is owing to the large surface of
foliage, previously heated by the sun's rays.

While staying at this estate, I was very nearly being an
eye-witness to one of those atrocious acts which can only take
place in a slave country. Owing to a quarrel and a lawsuit, the
owner was on the point of taking all the women and children from
the male slaves, and selling them separately at the public
auction at Rio. Interest, and not any feeling of compassion,
prevented this act. Indeed, I do not believe the inhumanity of
separating thirty families, who had lived together for many
years, even occurred to the owner. Yet I will pledge myself, that
in humanity and good feeling he was superior to the common run of
men. It may be said there exists no limit to the blindness of
interest and selfish habit. I may mention one very trifling
anecdote, which at the time struck me more forcibly than any
story of cruelty. I was crossing a ferry with a negro who was
uncommonly stupid. In endeavouring to make him understand, I
talked loud, and made signs, in doing which I passed my hand near
his face. He, I suppose, thought I was in a passion, and was
going to strike him; for instantly, with a frightened look and
half-shut eyes, he dropped his hands. I shall never forget my
feelings of surprise, disgust, and shame, at seeing a great
powerful man afraid even to ward off a blow, directed, as he
thought, at his face. This man had been trained to a degradation
lower than the slavery of the most helpless animal.

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