62 pages • 2-hour read
The Voyage of the Beagle
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Chapters 19-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary
As the new year begins, the Beagle sails from New Zealand to Australia. Although he is initially unimpressed with the country, Darwin admires the beautiful harbor at Sydney and notes that English colonialists are more successful than their Spanish counterparts. He describes the rapid growth of the city and notes that the local colonists complain of high rents and a scarcity of housing.
Darwin travels inland toward Bathurst on roads that have been cleared by the forced labor of English convicts. Darwin is impressed by the colony’s ability to draw prosperity out of this unique labor pool. He records (without judgment) the colonists’ abuse of what he sees as Indigenous Australian naivete: The colonists often trade with the Indigenous people for trinkets and are systematically taking their land. Darwin predicts that the English colonists will eventually take the entire continent from the Indigenous people. Darwin generally criticizes what he sees as a lack of sophistication among the Indigenous population, as well as their itinerant lifestyle, although he praises their skills as hunters. He notes the declining population of Indigenous people in Australia and acknowledges European complicity in this decline. The frequent deaths of Indigenous people from diseases of European origin cause him to speculate on the relationships between race and the spread and treatment of disease.
Darwin is as critical of the English colonists living in Australia as in New Zealand. He observes that although life in the Australian countryside offers many opportunities for the sons of English colonists to grow rich, they do so in the company of convicts, whose morality Darwin questions. He notes that the relative lack of women in the colony has a negative effect on the young men living there and suggests that a strong family life improves society.
The chapter ends with Darwin’s brief excursion to Tasmania, a large island off the coast of Australia. Darwin notes that all of the Indigenous people of Tasmania have been removed to a smaller island and calls this a great advantage. At the time of his visit, 210 Indigenous Tasmanians were alive; Darwin notes that just eight years later, that number was down to 54.
Chapter 20 Summary
On April 1, 1836, the HMS Beagle arrives at the Keeling Islands (now called the Cocos Islands). The Keeling Islands are more properly an atoll: a low-lying coral island or chain of islands shaped like a crescent. The islands are populated by the descendants of three English colonists as well as those of formerly enslaved Malay people. Although the descendants of the enslaved Malay are technically free, they still serve the English colonists.
Darwin records about 20 species of plants on the island and observes that because the islands are made of coral, these plants must have been brought to the island by wind, waves, or seabirds. He references the works of other naturalists and explorers who describe the movement of seeds and fruits across oceans. He estimates that some of these seeds may have traveled as many as 2,400 miles before finally landing and germinating in the Keeling Islands.
Darwin’s speculation about the origin of the islands takes up most of the chapter. He notes that much of the island is made up of dead coral, which looks like white rock, and describes the abundance of aquatic life living in and around the living reefs. The constant, steady growth of the living coral results in the expansion of existing land masses and the creation of new ones. This growth contrasts with the destructive erosive force of the waves, which slowly wash away the dead coral even as new coral is built. Darwin notes with wonder the power of the microscopic coral organisms to resist the power of the waves.
The chapter ends with a lengthy discussion of the three different types of coral Darwin observes on his travels, as well as the mechanisms of coral production. These observations would form the basis of the arguments for Darwin’s Structure and Distribution of Coral Reef (1842), published shortly before his death.
Chapter 21 Summary
The last chapter of The Voyage of the Beagle takes Darwin to the islands of Mauritius and St. Helena, back to Brazil, and finally home to England. Darwin is impressed by the natural beauty of Mauritius and the diversity of its population, which includes prisoners from India in exile in addition to English and French colonists. He compares the Indian prisoners favorably to those he met in Australia. He describes the production of sugar on the island and states that since plantations passed from French to English hands, exports have grown 75 times.
Darwin is less impressed by St. Helena, a wild, desolate island that once held Napoleon in exile and was formerly owned by the East India Company. He notes that many of the island’s richest residents have left and that the great forests that once characterized the island are all but gone. Darwin is largely pessimistic about the future of the country.
The long return voyage to England offers Darwin ample time to reflect on the five years of his journey. He writes that he would only recommend a person take a voyage of this magnitude if they are dedicated to some kind of specialized science. Nothing but the pursuit of truth could outweigh the difficulties of a journey like the one Darwin experienced on the Beagle. He names the myriad challenges he has faced: loneliness, loss of privacy, little sleep, separation from family, and the lack of simple pleasures such as comforting food and music. He describes the horrors of seasickness and the endless monotony of days at sea.
Darwin balances this negative perspective with a reflection on the pleasures of his time on the Beagle. He writes that the rainforests of Brazil and the desolation of Tierra del Fuego have had the most powerful impact on him but that even the barren plains of Patagonia will remain with him forever. Beyond the pleasure he experienced throughout the journey, Darwin is grateful for the knowledge and experience he acquired. He argues that reading is no substitute for travel and that anyone who wants to truly understand the Earth needs to explore it. Darwin ends his text by encouraging anyone able to undertake the journey to do so, and to trust that the world is filled with kind-hearted people who will assist them on their journey.
Chapters 19-21 Analysis
Darwin’s description of the rapid expansion of Sydney, Australia—“everyone complained of high rents and difficulty in procuring a house” (400)—foreshadows modern complaints about the growth of popular cities across the world. The existence of such a common modern complaint in Voyage of the Beagle is evidence of Darwin’s understanding of society’s interaction with landscapes.
The relationship between colonists and Indigenous people in Australia inspires some of Darwin’s most explicit criticism of the colonial project. He identifies the destruction of native species, the introduction of foreign diseases, and growing alcohol misuse as the leading causes of death among Indigenous Australians and ties these problems directly to European influence. This is the first time Darwin explicitly suggests that colonialism has a material negative impact on Indigenous groups. He frames this argument in terms of the natural world, writing that “the varieties of man seem to act on each other in the same way as different species of animals—the stronger always extirpating the weaker” (403). This comparison suggests the influence of Darwin’s scientific work on his political thinking.
The relationship between the descendants of English colonists and formerly enslaved Malay people on the Keeling Islands offers another glimpse into the far-reaching effects of imperialism. Although the descendants of the formerly enslaved Malay people “are now nominally in a state of freedom,” they nevertheless “are considered as slaves” (419). The power of colonial tradition is such that, even on this remote island, the descendants of Europeans can force labor from the descendants of the people they enslaved.
Although Darwin retains elements of this mindset, his observations of Australian evergreens lead him to a significant conclusion about differences in preference across societies. He argues that, because Australian trees are evergreen, the residents of Australia “lose perhaps one of the most glorious, though to our eyes common, spectacles in the world—the first bursting into full foliage of the leafless spring” (401). However, even as he celebrates the beauty of deciduous trees in bloom, Darwin admits that the Australian would be horrified to experience spring’s necessary antecedent, winter, when the trees are “mere naked skeletons” (401). Darwin’s acknowledgment of an alternative perspective demonstrates his growth as a narrator and his ability to not only see but appreciate non-European points of view.
Darwin’s journal ends with a testament to the power of travel in expanding one’s perspective. It is notable that despite extensive criticism of Indigenous groups, non-European colonists, and the English convicts he meets in New Zealand and Australia, Darwin’s text ultimately insists on the goodness of humanity. His insistence that there are various compassionate individuals willing to offer travelers aid reflects the empathy he has learned during his travels and serves as a capstone to the theme of Human Diversity and the Challenges of Cultural Exchange. In an unexpected turn of events, Darwin the scientist ends his text with an observation of human rather than animal behavior.
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