62 pages • 2-hour read
The Voyage of the Beagle
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Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
The next leg of Darwin’s journey takes him 300 miles across the Pampas from Buenos Aires to Santa Fe. Giant fields of great thistle cover these plains, at times growing so tall that they are nearly impenetrable. He observes a large rabbit-like creature that he calls a “bizcacha” (a mistake for viscacha), which burrows deep into the ground to nest and chew on roots. Notably, these creatures collect hard objects such as stones, lumps of earth, dried dung, and even bones, which they deposit in the mouth of their burrows. Darwin is unsure of the purpose of this habit but reports that the viscacha even steal human objects like watches or pipes. He notes that the River Uruguay presents a natural barrier to the habitat of the viscacha despite the suitability of plains beyond its banks.
At the bank of the Parana (i.e., Paraná) River, Darwin observes beautiful, deep red cliffs covered in cacti and mimosa trees. He reflects on the extent of the river’s reach and its value to the economic and social lives of the people of South America. At the Saladillo River, he finds more fossils, including two from a Mastodon and one from a Toxodon. Shortly before reaching Santa Fe, Darwin and his guides encounter the hanged corpse of an Indigenous man.
Darwin is astonished by Santa Fe’s difference from Buenos Aires, despite being only three degrees of latitude away. He notes differences in the people, plants, and especially the birds, counting six new species not present in Buenos Aires. Santa Fe is ruled by the tyrannical Governor Lopez, who makes a pastime of hunting Indigenous people and selling them into slavery. Darwin remarks that South American countries seem to be adapted to tyranny rather than republicanism. Shortly after arriving in Santa Fe, Darwin has a headache that confines him to bed for two days. He is cared for by a local woman who offers him many remedies that he considers strange. Although he dismisses many of her attempts, he is ultimately able to continue his journey.
Across the Paraná River is the town of Santa Fe Bajada, where Darwin collects several fossils, including shark teeth, shells of extinct marine animals and an armadillo, and a tooth from a horse. The presence of a horse tooth—which has also been found in North America—leads Darwin to speculate on geographical changes across time, and he suggests that many large land animals migrated from Siberia into North America and then into South America.
At Las Conchas, near Buenos Aires, Darwin encounters political turmoil for the first time. He enters the city at a moment of violent revolution and is initially told that he can neither enter Buenos Aires nor leave Las Conchas. Darwin mentions his friendship with General Rosas and eventually receives papers allowing him to travel into Buenos Aires. He adds that, since his journey with the Beagle ended, General Rosas has taken power unconstitutionally.
Chapter 8 Summary
Darwin is once again delayed and decides to make a short excursion into Banda Oriental, east of the Uruguay River and south of the River Plata. At the town of Colonia del Sacramiento, Darwin tours the ruins of an old church destroyed when lightning struck the gunpowder stored inside. He then travels beyond the city limits to a large estancia (estate) comprising 3,000 cattle, nearly 1,000 horses, and 600 sheep.
Darwin’s time at the estancia gives him another example of adaptation. He observes a breed of cattle called niata, which look like other breeds except for the shape of their lips, which leaves their teeth exposed. This breed of cattle originated with Indigenous ranchers and is one of the oldest in the region. During times of drought, most breeds of cattle, including those introduced by European settlers, use their lips to scrape tiny bits of vegetation from reeds and twigs. Because their lips do not touch, niata cattle cannot do this and starve in greater numbers than other species. Darwin reflects that adaptations such as this may seem insignificant but can mean the difference between extinction and survival.
Throughout this chapter, Darwin relies on the hospitality of ranchers to feed and shelter him. He is sometimes condescending regarding the apparent ignorance of his hosts; at other points, especially when his hosts seem poor, he is humble and grateful for their support. He also comments on their ranching habits, especially the training of sheepdogs and the breaking of horses. Despite Darwin’s distaste for the violence of these practices, he admits that they are remarkably effective. He is particularly impressed by the gauchos’ proficiency in breaking wild horses, writing that no other group of people has the skills necessary to do so.
Even as he praises the gauchos’ ranching skills, Darwin criticizes their character as a people. He writes that they have no organized religion and that bribery is common among public officials. He observes that the justice system favors the rich over the poor and that as a result many poor people view petty crime as a governmental rather than personal sin. He is not optimistic about the chances of free government in the region.
Darwin’s return to the Beagle offers the opportunity for extended reflection on the types of creatures living on board, such as butterflies, beetles, and spiders, and the bioluminescent creatures that exist at sea. When the Beagle spends a few days anchored at Port St. Julian, Darwin has time to reflect on how uprising and erosion have shaped the coastline, as evidenced (in part) by the fossil record. Darwin also discovers the skeleton of a large ungulate and speculates on the forces that might have led to the mass extinction of American megafauna.
Chapter 9 Summary
Captain FitzRoy anchors the Beagle at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River in Argentina. He takes a small party, including Darwin and 23 crewmembers, in three boats upriver, hoping to push beyond the 30 miles Europeans previously explored. Darwin observes several small mammals, such as mice and foxes, and evidence of the larger mammals that prey on them, such as the puma.
Darwin’s observation of basalt formations along the river leads him to speculate about changes in landscape across geographical time. He argues that a single catastrophic event like a flood could not have formed the basalt cliffs along the river; only the slow, steady erosion of the river itself could have done so. Darwin also points to the presence of smaller pieces of basalt downriver as evidence of the power of erosion.
Darwin shoots and collects a condor, a giant bird of prey with a wingspan of eight feet. He notes that condors lay their eggs on the bare face of the cliffs, without nests, and that they seem to return to the same cliffs to roost year after year. They are carrion birds, eating the remains of carcasses killed by other animals. Darwin notes that although they often fly in circles watching dying animals, they sometimes seem to fly for pleasure. He describes their flight as “truly wonderful and beautiful” (176).
Captain FitzRoy abandons the mission after traveling 140 miles upriver, and the crew returns to the Beagle. They then travel to the Falkland Islands, a deeply contested archipelago that was at various points under the control of the governments of France, Spain, England, and Buenos Aires. Darwin notes that the population of wild cattle far outnumbers the population of wild horses and attributes this to the size and strength of the cattle, who are better adapted for the harsh landscape.
Before leaving the Falklands, Darwin observes three species of birds that each use their wings for purposes beyond flight. Penguins use their wings as fins to swim under water, steamer geese use their wings as paddles on the surface of the water, and giant ostriches use their wings as sails. These observations support Darwin’s ideas about the adaptation of species: Each has adapted new uses for their wings based on the needs of their environment.
Chapters 7-9 Analysis
The Voyage of the Beagle is primarily known for Darwin’s observations of natural phenomena, but this section of the text demonstrates his literary skills. Darwin is keenly aware of the significance of landscape in narrative: His use of phrases like “trembling mirage” to describe the landscapes he sees seeks to elicit wonder. His description of the condor “wheeling and gliding over mountain and river” suggests the vast freedom and potential Darwin sees in the South American landscape (176). Other images, such as the “snowing butterflies” aboard the Beagle and the “wave [scintillating] with bright green sparks” (155), add a magical feeling to the otherwise strictly realistic text. Across this section of The Voyage, Darwin’s evocative descriptions aim to impress upon readers the miraculous diversity of this landscape, underscoring the Adaptation of Species to Their Environment.
Darwin also presents his narrative of the Voyage as part of an ongoing literary conversation by quoting sources such as Percy Shelley’s 1816 poem, “Mont Blanc.” Darwin begins his description of an empty, desolate plain near the mouth of the Santa Cruz River with a quote from Shelley’s poem, reading in part, “[T]he wilderness has a mysterious tongue, which teaches awful doubt” (159). Shelley’s poem—a Romantic encounter with the sublime that describes the poet’s inability to comprehend the powerful forces of nature—helpfully articulates Darwin’s feelings as he wanders this empty plain. Quoting Shelley’s poem also allows Darwin to align himself with one of the great literary and philosophical figures of his age. Darwin thus presents himself as a literary thinker, not just a scientist.
Notably, Darwin quotes Shelley while pondering how long the flat plain must have existed and how long it will endure. Although Darwin’s observations of the basalt cliffs contain some of the text’s first references to how landscapes “evolve,” these changes take place on a time scale that is almost impossible for humans to grasp. This is one reason why Uniformitarianism and the Gradual Process of Geological Change was such a radical idea at the time; it implicitly challenged the idea that humans are at the center of Earth’s history, and even Darwin expresses some discomfort with this realization, as in his allusion to Shelley.
As Darwin spends more time with European colonists, he becomes more vocal in his criticism of them. Darwin’s empathy as a narrator emerges especially in his criticism of the tyrannical governor of Santa Fe, who makes a sport of hunting Indigenous people and selling their children into slavery. Darwin is also disgusted with the “high satisfaction” his companions take in the remnants of the lynching outside of Sante Fe. Although he does not explicitly state that political instability and violence in the country lead to hardship and poverty for its citizens, he implies it by describing the government’s instability. Moreover, he suggests that the ambitious and merciless military leader, General Rosas, will become the country’s dictator. Darwin’s assertion that Rosas fundamentally opposes the republic’s values demonstrates his aversion to cruel and unjust autocratic rule.
Darwin’s empathy as a narrator is also visible in his critique of the human-animal relations he observes. He is critical of the gauchos’ treatment of horses and the Indigenous practice of training sheepdogs. He also expresses empathy for the suffering of horses during a drought, which resulted in their mass death while searching for water. Although Darwin’s tone is at times paternalistic, his criticisms of the treatment of “poor beasts” generally come from a place of care.
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