Beagle, HMS, second voyage of the

The second voyage of HMS Beagle from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836 is the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle, under captain Robert FitzRoy who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after her previous captain committed suicide.

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

The student clergyman Charles Darwin took the opportunity, making his name as a naturalist and becoming a renowned author with the publication of his journal which became known as The Voyage of the Beagle.The Beagle sails across the Atlantic Ocean then carries out detailed hydrographic surveys around the coasts of the southern part of South America, returning via Tahiti and Australia having circumnavigated the Earth.

While the expedition was originally planned to last two years, it lasts almost five.Darwin spends most of this time exploring on land; three years and three months on land, 18 months at sea.

His work makes his reputation as a geologist and collector of fossils, and his detailed observations of plants and animals provided the basis for ideas which he is later to develop into his theory of evolution by natural selection.

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