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Evolution's Captain: The Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World

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Poor Robert Fitzroy has been relegated to the footnotes section of history....oh yes, wasn't he the captain of "The Beagle"? Yes he was, but he was much more. He was also a member of Parliament, a governor of New Zealand, and he founded the British government's Meteorological Office. The downside of Peter Nichols' book is he gives rather short shrift to these generally unknown aspects of Fitzroy's career. But, when Mr. Nichols is on his home turf (the ocean, if that isn't a non sequitur!), he sparkles. He is clearly most happy when discussing Fitzroy the "boy wonder" captain and surveyor. (Fitzroy was in his mid-twenties when he squired young Mr. Darwin around the world.) We can feel the ocean spray and smell the salt air. Not only that, but we really feel that we get to know Fitzroy. He was an excellent and brave captain. He cared about his men. He was also intelligent and charming. On the less pleasant side, he had a very thin skin, a bad temper, and was subject to bouts of depression. During five long years at sea Darwin got to see every facet of Fitzroy. Mr. Nichols is also fascinating when he writes about the four Fuegians that Fitzroy brought back to England...hoping to "civilize" them and bring them back to further spread British culture along the southern tip of South America. The second voyage of "The Beagle" with Fitzroy as captain was the voyage where Fitzroy brought the natives back home, and it was also the voyage with Darwin on board as naturalist. Fitzroy was a strong believer in phrenology, and initially had doubts about Darwin because of Darwin's "hooded brow and large, spatulate nose." Fortunately for science, Fitzroy was won over by Darwin's intelligence and genial personality. Both men started the journey with a great deal of scientific curiosity and with orthodox religious beliefs. Darwin's theories led him to atheism. Fitzroy remained very religious all his life. If it hadn't been for Fitzroy, Darwin likely never would have come up with his theory of evolution by natural selection. The irony of this wasn't lost on Fitzroy. Again, all this is well, even brilliantly, told by Mr. Nichols. The book loses steam when we read about the later developments in Fitzroy's life, but the rest of this book is so good that we can forgive Mr. Nichols for not being able to maintain the high level of writing throughout. The definitive biography of Robert Fitzroy remains to be written, but this book goes a long way in bringing him off the bottom of the page.

Charting a path through the Americas, Captain Robert FitzRoy crosses paths with a young Charles Darwin, an event that affects the direction of scientific study. In 1829, Capt. FitzRoy, of the HMS Beagle, sails with Capt. Phillip Parker, of the HMS Adventure, on a survey that will enable Great Britain's complete dominance of world trade. FitzRoy has his first sighting of natives in Tierra del Fuego; he finds their primitive appearance repulsive. On their return home, FitzRoy carries four natives back to England, his specimens. It is his intention to "save" the savages, baptize them as Christians and expose them to the advantages a civilization defined by its Godliness.

By 1831, the savages are the source of constant embarrassment and it is necessary to return them to Tierra de Fuego. Finagling a commission, ostensibly to finish the survey of the Americas, FitzRoy releases the natives to their homeland. This new commission involves an extended voyage navigating the globe and FitzRoy is concerned about the years of isolation, not one to mix with those of lesser rank. The prospect of such solitude is daunting to the young captain, haunted by the history of insanity in his family.

Charles Darwin is a naturalist, the perfect choice as FitzRoy's companion. Both possess astute minds and spend hours discoursing on scientific principles. While FitzRoy surveys the rugged coastline of Tierra del Fuego, Darwin roams the countryside, gathering specimens. The trip almost flounders when the overstressed FitzRoy loses his focus, but he rallies, able to continue. By the time they reach the Falklands, Darwin is writing voluminous notes on the aberrations observed on various islands, particularly the Galapagos Islands.

Returning home, the two scientists prepare for publication. Their work is published in three volumes: King's, FitzRoy's and Darwin's. Darwin's most important work is published twenty-two years later, but in 1837, he avoids an argument with accepted theology. At this point the two friends drift apart philosophically, Darwin committed to a scientific definition of the world and FitzRoy ever more avidly Creationist.

As Nichols chronicles the men's lives, the once friendly scientists finally become adversarial. FitzRoy has noble aspirations, albeit fettered by his English prejudices. He never imagined his name written on the pages of history as "the man who took Darwin around the world" on his momentous adventure. FitzRoy makes important contributions as a weather forecaster, but is never appreciated in his time; his fate is sealed when he chooses the traveling companion for this fated voyage. Nichols offers a fascinating view of a remarkable voyage; he brings the seafaring world to life, the dangers, curiosities and courage of an undertaking that will dramatically alter the scientific world. Luan Gaines/2004.

Nichols does a good job of providing historical detail without descending into excessive academic drudgery. It is readable and entertaining most of the time. The author occasionally delves too deeply into a tangential detail, but just when I began to get bored, Nichols got back on track. If you like reading about sailing and exploration of the "new world", or are interested in Victorian era academic thought, or of course the origin of the "origin of species", check it out.

When I was a kid I lived in the city of Punta Arenas (Chile), in a neighbourhood known as Fitzroy. I didn't know much about this name until I read "The voyage of the Beagle" by Darwin a few years ago, and truth is the book really made an impression on me. But I was eager also to know more about captain Robert Fitzroy and especially the years he spent in the southest part of my country, surveying all the islands and having contact with the natives of this zone, either Yaghan, Ona or Alacalufe.

The life of Robert Fitzroy is so interesting and fascinating. In his first voyage he took three natives back to England and they spent two years there until the second voyage, where these natives were brought back to their "countries" and also was the moment for Darwin to accompany Fitzroy as a naturalist. The story of these yaghans, the descriptions of its life and customs, the time spent in England and how they were put back with his people make this story worthy of admiration, worthy for a PBS/BBC documentary. One of these indians lived in Navarino Island, a place my mother lived in the 1960s, in the little Chilean city of Puerto Williams -- another reason for reading this book. I can only recommend all the readers to travel to the south of Chile, you can go to Punta Arenas and from there to know the Magellan Strait, cross to Tierra del Fuego and even go to Navarine island and to know the Beagle Channel ... those are just captivating and precious landscapes., you won't be regretted.

In my opinion, Fitzroy should be known more in my country, he is part of it, and this book or another biography is for sure a pleasant reading. This book is precious, commendable for lovers of exploration and the reading is fluid. I wish I could take a course in "creative writing" with this author.

Robert FitzRoy was a brilliant, fascinating and complex man. While this book focusses primarily on his role as the Captain of 'HMS Beagle' during two voyages (the second included Charles Darwin), it includes other aspects of his career and life.

Mr Nichols presents the facts - especially those related to the voyages of HMS Beagle - well. While acknowledging the later differences between Darwin and FitzRoy, the facts are presented impartially. In summary, we owe a great deal to the collaboration between Darwin and FitzRoy. The fact that their complementary skills and intellects were only combined through a form of coincidental opportunities is the purest serendipity.

Highly recommended to those who would like to know more about the events and circumstances behind Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle as well as the voyage itself.

I am currently reading as much as I can about Robert FitzRoy, and can recommend the following two books as well:

This is a novel about Robert Fitzroy:
This Thing of Darkness
This is a biography of the HMS Beagle herself:
HMS "Beagle" (Voyages S.)

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Britain's Royal Navy has had many figures worthy of note. Some of these have inspired good works of history, while others prompted novelists to produce stirring tales of more or less believable adventures. Captain William Bligh almost immediately comes to mind, as does Patrick O'Brian's lengthy series on Jack Aubrey. One real figure, who should stand out for many accomplishments, has been quietly relegated to the shadows - if not scorned for holding rigid views. Robert FitzRoy, however, was a man of many parts who deserves better treatment. Peter Nichols provides that assessment in this fine biography. The title, however, gives the game away. FitzRoy's name was overshadowed by the passenger he carried for five years, Charles Robert Darwin.

FitzRoy's ascent to the captaincy of HMS Beagle seemed ill-omened. His predecessor, Stokes Pringle, overwhelmed by the enormity of his assignment, put a bullet in his head, taking a dozen days to expire. The task, mapping a channel through Tierra del Fuego in an effort to smooth the path of empire, was taxing enough to make the bravest quail. The 500 kilometre strait might require sailing five times that distance to traverse it - if you made it at all. FitzRoy, although unaccountably young for the mapping job, took it over and pursued it with determination. During the survey, a whaleboat stolen by the Fuegians proved a pivotal point in his life. In attempting to recover the boat, FitzRoy abducted four of the natives, returning them to England as a means of raising them to become civilised Christians. Nichols seems sympathetic to this concept, even while knowing it was doomed to failure.

The world knows the subsequent events: while preparing for the next voyage, FitzRoy brought on board a "companion", Charles Darwin. Not Navy, and not the official "naturalist", Darwin was a gentlemen who could converse with the isolated officer. As a "gentleman", Darwin had less regard for the Fuegians than did FitzRoy, yet condemned slavery while the captain viewed the practice as a civilising force. This discussion was set aside when the pair observed the obvious effects of running water far from the sea. A Noachean Flood, or an ancient Earth? There were clashes and apologies, FitzRoy driving Darwin from his cabin, only to lure him back. The captain's moods were an on-going topic of the ship's officers. The dismal end of his predecessor also may have preyed on FitzRoy's mind when the Beagle beat up the Chilean coast. He believed the mapping inadequate and wanted to return to the Strait for more surveys. Distraught, he actually resigned his command, but was talked out of it by his officers.

At the end of the survey voyage, FitzRoy went through several roles. Unable to gain a ship, he was a Member of Parliament briefly and was sent to New Zealand as its governor. Empire building is fraught with risks and Nichols is only mildly sympathetic with FitzRoy's disastrous role there. The new governor was shipped home after but two years. Back in England, FitzRoy's command skills brought him to a novel task - weather forecasting. The science was just beginning and FitzRoy initiated a reporting and prediction system across the British Isles. At the height of his success at this venture, the Admiralty shut it down, even in the face of the fishing fleet's demands to sustain it. A see-saw career if there ever was one.

The final chapter of the Captain's life [by which time he was a Rear Admiral] was one of fundamental challenges. Already a religious man, FitzRoy became steeped in the Bible's words, becoming convinced it would brook no challenges. Changes observed in the natural record were manifestations of the divine, FitzRoy believed. His notions were reinforced by various commentators like Philip Gosse, who viewed the growing sciences of geology and biology with fear and loathing. In 1859, however, all those declaring Nature could be unravelled by Biblical study were directly refuted by the publication of Darwin's opus, "On the Origin of Species". Reason and evidence triumphed over superstition and dogma. FitzRoy was outraged, and expressed it at the famous British Association meeting the following year.

It's not known how much this revelation led to FitzRoy's taking his own life, but it can hardly have been insignificant. Nichols concludes that Darwin's work was but one symbol of a rapidly changing time. The author examines British society at this point in FitzRoy's with a perceptive eye. Civilisation was moving forward and the author concludes FitzRoy felt left behind. The fear of social upheaval was already being overtaken by events - Darwin's natural selection had little, if anything, to do with it, notes Nichols. It's a worthy thesis, lacking only a more thorough analysis of its roots. We never learn of the early foundations of the captain's thinking. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Nichols focus our attention on the question if Captain FitzRoy was destroyed by the thought he took Darwin on his voyage of discovery. The issue that highlights Nichols excellent book is apparently still alive today. When one touches the third rail of Fundamentalism it cuts deep for some true believers. For example, just yesterday the L A times published an article about a minister teaching elementary age children how to argue against science and the theory of evolution. He instructed them that if in a class room a teacher mentions the word "evolution, or big bang" the children were to raise their hands and ask, how do you know, where you there? And then to tell their teacher only one was there, GOD. And GOD wrote the truth of it in the bible. Imagine this still being up for debate, happening in a country that realizes it has a shortage of scientists. Some polls say 50% of Americans still believe in Creationism. You might ask, how does this relate to Mr. Nichols excellent biography of Captain Robert FitzRoy, the Captain of the H.M.S. Beagle which took Charles Darwin on his voyage to question the common notion that we are being asked today to swallow as "intelligent design"? Well FitzRoy and most of Victorian England's thinking in the mid 1800s was unquestioning in its support of Creationism, even Darwin started from this premise. So as a backdrop to an excellent story of exploration you have a book that provides an entry level introduction to the very beginnings of a new understanding. As Nichols puts it , " How wide was the gulf between Darwin and FitzRoy. Darwin stood at the threshold of an expansion of thought and science that would not be equaled for a hundred years.... Fitzroy in his way was no less a scientist... was stuck, deeply by prejudice and the cleaving to an old order, to a mindset a thousand and more years old, when science was subservient to religion. That order was about to be toppled, and the constructs of the Bible smashed like an old wooden bridge, weakened by rot, before the torrent of a spring flood." You get the idea, and this quote does show Nichols gets carried away with enthusiastic language which I found part of the enjoyment of reading the book. This book would be interesting if only for the story of how FitzRoy kidnapped three natives from Tierra del Fuego, brought them to England, educated them to be Christians and then returned them to their "savage" cousins. Their story is part of FitzRoy's story too. I recommend the book strongly for its ideas and wonderful adventure story.

This generally sympathetic account of Robert FitzRoy and his role as the captain of the HMS Beagle during Darwin's famous voyage is a good summer read. But anyone familiar with manic-depressive illness can't avoid the conclusion that Nichols misses a key aspect of FitzRoy's persona: he had bipolar disorder! It is remarkable how Nichols could so carefully document the elements of this illness in his biography of FitzRoy and yet not get it. As Nichols reports, FitzRoy had a family history of suicide, episodes of ill-considered spending (e.g., he purchased 2 ships with a crew on the vague hope that the Admirality would reimburse him), followed by severe depression (during the voyage of the Beagle, when FitzRoy gave up his command during an attack of depression, Darwin himself wondered whether there was something wrong with FitzRoy's brain). Add to this the episodic, lifelong course, ending -- in this sad case as in about 15% people with the illness even today -- in suicide. Nichols would have us believe that FitzRoy slit his throat with his wife and children nearby because of his disagreements with Darwin, capped by an unfavorable notice in The Times. It is clear instead that FitzRoy had a mental illness that had barely been described in the year he died of it, but which even now continues to go undiagnosed and untreated. Nichols would have served his readers -- and FitzRoy's memory -- better if he had recognized what should have been plain and considered this in his account of FitzRoy's often erratic behavior. Nevertheless, the book should be read by anyone interested in the early days of the Theory of Natural Selection.

My 1940 published book was in excellent condition and arrived prior to the date that it was expected. I cannot recommend this seller too highly.

The last thing that Robert Fitzroy, late captain of the H.M.S Beagle, late inspired leader and motivator of men, late brilliant navigator and cartographer, late natural scientist at odds with history's greatest naturalist Charles Darwin, late member of the British Parliament, late British Governor to New Zealand soon after the founding of that colony, late Admiral in the Royal Navy, and most lately, the man most responsible for the creation of modern day weather forecasting, was to climb up out of the bed he shared with his wife and alone in front of a mirror slit his own throat. Perhaps a "dark fate", but the path to that dark end was anything but dark. Fitzroy, born in 1805, started his career in the British Royal Navy at the age of twelve. And to prove he was no ordinary man, at a mere 23 years of age, he was given command of the Beagle after the man who started out as the expedition's commander, a Captain Stokes, slit his own throat after endless months under the pressures of command and peering out into the drizzle and freezing rain of Tierra del Fuego. Darwin commented on the presence and leadership qualities of Fitzroy while he was on the Beagle, describing how extraordinary he was, like one of the, "great men of history". But what makes Fitzroy interesting is that, if he was an inspired leader, even Napoleon-like, he was also flawed. And it his flaws when placed in contrast to his obvious qualities that make him interesting. After all, many thought - and even gave him the opportunity to become -another Horatio Nelson, a great scientist, or a wise and careful Governor; but he did none of those things. He did, ultimately, make a name for himself as the inventor of the "Fitzroy Barometer" and his weather forecasts (which like today were notoriously inaccurate). But that paled beside what could have been. It's said that because he was passed up for being chosen as Chief Naval Office in the Marine Department at 60 years of age, he slit his throat; but I doubt it. It was just the straw that broke his back.

Of course, Fitzroy was a man of his time, and in his time the church and the teachings of the church predominated the social fabric, morality, philosophy, and even the science of the day. (Ironically, even today in the United States, many might more readily accept Fitzroy's view of the world than Darwin's.) It was also the beginning of the Victorian Era in England with all the implicit social arrogance and condescension to other "inferior" peoples that was not present even 50 years earlier during Cook's voyages throughout the pacific. And so one of the most interesting sub-plots of this book was the story of the three natives Fitzroy took (some say kidnapped) from their homes in Tierra del Fuego and brought them to England for "proper" instruction in civilization, meaning Christianity as then taught. The ostensible purpose of Fitzroy's plan was to, `transfer to their relatives some rudiments of civilization'. It was a fact that two of the natives (a grown man and a twelve year old girl) after being caught having sex in the garden of the Rectory, prompted the second voyage of the Beagle for which Darwin was invited to come along: (They had to be taken out of England, and fast!) It is easy for us today - and perhaps a little too smugly as well - to criticize such gross arrogance; but given the context of his time, it's not so difficult to understand. Interestingly, Jemmy Buttons, one of the natives taken by Fitzroy, was, many years later, said to be responsible for the murder of the captain and crew of a Missionary Ship sent to give the natives further instruction. Fitzroy knew and read about this in the London Times; Nichols doesn't express what he might have thought; but we can imagine.

Nichols seems to spend more text on Darwin than Fitzroy, possibly because there is simply a paucity of primary source material. For those already familiar with Darwin's Journal or his, "Voyage of the Beagle", much of this book is a re-hash of that. But Nichols seems to be sea-going man and he spends most of his description of Fitzroy under that context. And it is wonderful, and it is enlightening. It just doesn't go far enough.