Candace Guite Trip to the Galapagos
"Here both in space and time, we seem to be brought womewhat near to that great fact - that mystery of mysteries - the first appearance of new beings on this earth"
Charles Darwin wrote these words in his revised introduction (1845) to his Journal of Researches. Here in the library we have spent much of the last year thinking about Darwin the young student, his trouble with mathematics, his delight in the natural world and all things sporting. The Gálapagos seemed worlds away, an almost impossible dream, as I suspect
/> />often felt here in
/> />.
However, an unexpected opportunity presented itself and I found myself at fairly short notice joining a cruise with Discovery Initiatives. The Gálapagos archipelago consists of nineteen islands and many tiny islets all formed from submarine volcanic action caused by movement from three tectonic plates which converge on this equatorial line.
The nearest landmass is
/>at six hundred miles distant, and there has never at any time been a land bridge. The absence of a land bridge means that all flora and fauna on the Gálapagos must have originally been born on wind, or tide, and then developed in isolation. In some cases the presence of deep channels which divide certain of the islands has resulted is some Galápagos species being endemic or unique to a particular island.
In 1835 the Beagle undertook a survey of the
/>from 15th September to 20th October.
/> />went ashore on four of the islands,
/> />(
/> />),
/> />(
/> />or James),
/> />(Floreana or Charles), and Isabela (Albermarle). He spent the longest period (8-17 October) on
/> />accompanied by Syms Covington, Benjamin Bynoe, and Harry Fuller. The observations he made in the Galápagos, together with the specimens he collected were to provide vital pieces of evidence for his theory of evolution.
