THE OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGES OF THE BEAGLE.

The first volume contains Captain King's account of the expedition in the Adventure and Beagle between 1826 and 1830, which surveyed the coasts of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The second volume and its appendix describe the second voyage of the Beagle under Captain Fitzroy between 1831 and 1836, which visited Brazil, Argentina, Tierra de Fuego, Chile, Peru, the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia and other islands and countries.

The third volume is Darwin's Journal and Remarks, his own account of the Beagle's voyage, and his first published book - it is an outstanding account of natural history exploration which described the fieldwork which ultimately led to the Origin of Species.  “The voyage of the ‘Beagle’ has been by far the most important event in my life, and has determined my whole career…. I have always felt that I owe to the voyage the first real training or education of my mind; I was led to attend closely to several branches of natural history, and thus my powers of observation were improved" (Life and Letters, 1:61).

"Darwin sailed with no formal scientific training. He returned a hard-headed man of science, knowing the importance of evidence, almost convinced that species had not always been as they were since the creation but had undergone change... The experiences of his five years... and what they led to, built up into a process of epoch-making importance in the history of thought" (DSB 3:556).