The second voyage of HMS Beagle, launched…

The second voyage of HMS Beagle, launched on December 1831, is the second survey expedition of the British ship, under captain Robert FitzRoy, the young aristocrat who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after her previous captain committed suicide.

FitzRoy, fearing the same fate, had sought a gentleman companion for the voyage.

The three Fuegians taken on the previous voyage are to be returned to Tierra del Fuego on the Beagle together with the missionary Richard Matthews.

The student clergyman Charles Darwin has taken the opportunity, which is to make his name as a naturalist and a renowned author with the publication of his journal, which is to become known as The Voyage of the Beagle.

The Beagle sails across the Atlantic Ocean and then carries out detailed hydrographic surveys around the coasts of the southern part of South America.

Darwin discovers and explores Patagonia’s Chubut River in 1833.