Читать книгу Darwin´s Betrayal - Gerardo Bartolomé - Страница 8

What I remember most of those first days on board was Darwin’s seasickness. The start of the trip was not promising, even though the Captain gave a memorable commencing speech from the bridge, which we would remember for years to come.

Once the Beagle had sailed past the outer breakwater and sailing was steady, FitzRoy ordered the crew to assemble on deck facing the bridge. From there, shouting over the sound of sea and wind, the Captain rendered a speech intended to boost morale and create what he called the espirit de corps (team spirit). This was common practice in the Royal Navy. He commenced by reading a legend that was written on a wooden plank on the bridge: “England expects every man to do his duty.”

He continued, “These were the famous words spoken by Admiral Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar, in which he defeated the enemy, but lost his life. Nelson did his duty, and that is exactly what we will do, our duty. We shall be away from our country and families for over four years, but we shall return proud of having completed the mission we have been assigned. We shall survey and map the southern part of the American Continent so our ships can traverse safely from one ocean to the other. We will find and mark dangerous rocks, treacherous currents and hidden hazards, but we shall also find the shortest routes and the safest harbours where vessels in distress can ride out storms or wait for help to arrive. To dominate the passage between the oceans is paramount for Britain to rule the seas.

But unlike previous expeditions, our voyage has an added task which is new to the Royal Navy. Apart from the geographic survey we will also make a scientific survey of the whole region. Thus we will search for, classify and take samples of insects, animals, plants and even fungi and also make geological observations. That is why we have Mr. Charles Darwin aboard as a supernumerary, that is, he is not a member of the crew, but shall be treated as an officer. Mr. Darwin has my full support and confidence in achieving our goal. So, gentlemen, to Glory we steer!”

At that very instant two volleys from the ship’s cannon marked a perfect closing to the speech. The crew, ecstatic, gave three cheers. FitzRoy had them eating out of his hand. He knew exactly how to handle them. He was their leader and they worshipped him.

When they were all about to return to their duties, the Captain ordered them to stay. What followed was not so nice. Three midshipmen escorted the three seamen charged with drunken behaviour on Christmas Day, who were duly flogged in accordance with the Navy’s regulations. In this way FitzRoy also proved he could also be ruthless. Each man must now decide whether he would be among those who ‘steered to Glory´ or those that would be whipped.

The men attended the sad ceremony in silence and they all understood that not only did England expect them to do their duty, the Captain did too.

During the first few days the Beagle made quick progress. The wind was stiff and the seas were rough, so the ship heaved a lot. Darwin lay in his hammock in the map room feeling miserable, trying to overcome his seasickness. Stokes explained that ‘landlubbers’ always were seasick at first, but after a few weeks most of them got over it. Darwin feared he was not a member of the majority and wondered, terrified, if he would be able to endure a four year trip in these conditions.

Stokes continued saying that in heavy storms even the most experienced seamen got seasick. “I would say that the only ones who I never saw seasick even in the worst conditions are the Fuegians. When we brought them to England, in our previous voyage, we went through some really fierce storms and they never appeared to be bothered at all.”

As days went by and the Beagle moved south, the climate turned progressively more benign – they came from a very crude British winter – and the sea was also more serene. Darwin was able to venture on deck and enjoy the good weather. He put together a sort of a funnel made of fishing net and wire that, left to trail in the water for a couple of hours, allowed him to collect marine species. In this way he started his work as the Beagle’s Naturalist, while he waited for the first stop at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands.

Early on the 6th January, Stokes shook Darwin awake. “It is almost dawn, we have arrived! Hurry on deck.”

Darwin dressed quickly and hurried out. There was hectic activity on deck in spite of it being so early. Many men had got up before their shift to gaze at the magnificent Teide.

The sun had just cleared the misty horizon and could be seen large and orange. With the sun behind him, Charles could see before him an island with a small village made up mainly of white houses, above these a mist obscured the view, but above the mist loomed an imposing mountain that appeared to be of volcanic origin. The top half of its perfect cone was covered in snow, in spite of the fact that they were practically on the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer. The early morning sun gave the snow a yellow-orange tinge that stood out against the dark sky behind it.

This mountain had been sacred for the now extinct natives of these islands, the Guanches. The Spaniards had kept the name the aborigines had given it: El Teide.

“It is much higher than I had imagined,” said Darwin.

“It is about twelve thousand feet high, higher than any mountain in England or Wales and probably higher than the Alps.”

“It is the most spectacular mountain I have seen. I guess it is because I have never seen one so high, but also because I have always seen mountains as part of a chain while this one is alone and isolated, rising from the sea, which makes it stand out.”

“Not so alone or isolated,” said Stokes pointing in the direction of the ship’s bow, “look over there, on the horizon,” another island could be seen, dominated by another mountain, in this case with no snow on its peak, “that island is the Grand Canary. I measured the mountain with my instruments, though I would need to measure it form solid ground to get a really exact reading, and it appears to be close to six thousand feet high, which, for such a small island, is really large.”

“What are the rest of the islands of the archipelago like?”

“They are all very rugged, though none with mountains as high as these. Why do you ask?”

“Because I believe that both mountains are volcanoes, probably still active. These Islands are no less than mountains that rise from the bottom of the sea. Constant eruptions have pushed them above sea level. I would think that the whole archipelago has the same origin. When we land I shall verify if the rocks are the result of lava.”

“We shall have to wait a couple of hours for that. We cannot land until the port authorities allow us to, and their offices have not opened yet.”

Both young men remained silent, their elbows on the handrail, admiring the view the morning offered them. After a few seconds Stokes spoke.

“Tell me Mr. Darwin, I suppose that four months ago you had no idea that you would be invited to be the naturalist on an expedition that would take you around the world. So, how would your life have continued if you hadn’t received FitzRoy’s invitation?”

“My father, who is a country doctor, wanted me to be one too. But when I started medical school I found that blood and human suffering had a disturbing effect on me. I believe I would never have got used to it, as I think I will never get over seasickness. He was not pleased when I told him I would not be a doctor. I thought that being a minister8 would be similar. He always used to say that there was not much he could do against sickness and that his main task was to comfort and uphold his patients so they could heal or come to terms with their disease. So I told him that a minister´s job was not too different from a country doctor’s only he treated the illness of the soul instead of the illness of the body.”

“But to be a minister one must have very strong beliefs. From what you say you don’t seem to have received the ‘divine call’.”

“True, I suppose I hoped to receive the divine call, as you put it, later on. But to be honest, I chose that profession to please my father.”

“You seem to have great respect for your father.”

“Of course I do, but it was not that I wanted to please him out of respect, but because my father is a very wise man and he clearly knows what is best for me.”

“I see… then I guess that now that you will be away from your father for so long you will miss his guidance?”

“I thought I would, but I must have matured, however, since I feel I am doing the right thing regardless of his not being here to give me his approval.”

“What did he think of the trip?”

“At first he thought it was a trick of mine to avoid being a doctor or a minister or anything. But then he found out about FitzRoy and spoke to my uncle, another wise man, and he was persuaded that it was a unique opportunity. He imagined that on my return, as a naturalist, I could become a professor at Cambridge and that perhaps that was my true calling. In short he believes I did not get the ‘divine call’ but I did get ‘the call of nature’.”

“Ha,ha! In Wales the ‘call of nature’ is something quite different!”

“I can just imagine!” said Darwin trying to stop laughing, “in Shropshire we call it that when one has to hurry to the bathroom!”

The boys laughed for a while and then fell silent again. After a few minutes Darwin asked:

“And you, Mr. Stokes, how did you get here?”

“I joined the Royal Navy when I was fourteen. At an early age I had read the chronicles of Cook’s voyages in the faraway Pacific. I wept when I read the part where he was killed by the aborigines in Hawaii. It was not easy, but I finally convinced my mother to allow me to go to the Naval Academy. I was soon sailing all over the world. It was, and is, my life’s dream. My greatest ambition is to be in command of a ship on an exploratory expedition to Australia. I do not believe I will have a chance.”

“Why not? You are acquiring experience, and the Captain seems to have great faith in you. You will climb one step at a time; you are on the right track.”

Suddenly they noticed that the rest of the crew was tense. “The Captain is coming,” they were told, and sure enough, FitzRoy appeared, wearing his best uniform.

“Why is everyone standing around doing nothing? Are you a group of lazy ruffians on holidays?” he evidently was not in a good mood, “Wickham!”

The lieutenant materialized.

“Aye, sir!”

“Hoist the greeting banners so they can be seen from the port. Sullivan! Prepare one of the boats immediately; we shall go to port to arrange our landing authorization.”

Jemmy, One of the Fuegians, was close by and said:

“Japtain, no need. Already Spaniards put boat in water.”

Jemmy was the smartest of the Fuegians. He had learned to speak English reasonably well, but with a heavy accent. What seemed strange was that he appeared to have forgotten his native language. He communicated with the other Fuegians, York and Fuegia, in English.

“Jemmy, I cannot see anyone coming.”

Darwin in 1840, watercolour by George Richmond.

FitzRoy used a fatherly tone when addressing Jemmy. It was clear he was his favourite and felt proud of him.

“Jemmy be right. Japtain believe Jemmy. Jemmy see. Use metal eye to see reason.”

“Sometimes, Jemmy, I forget you see so much better than we do. You are probably right. Stokes, lend me your telescope, please.”

He looked through the telescope and smiled.

“Sullivan! Cancel the boat. They are coming to us.”

He gave Jemmy a pat on the back and went towards the bow, his humour had changed. Jemmy smiled and looked around. When he met Darwin’s eyes he said “Japtain good man.”

What was not good was what the Spaniards told the Captain. They had received news that there was an outbreak of cholera in England. As a precaution, to avoid an epidemic in the island, they would have to wait twelve days before disembarking.

The Captain called a meeting in the map room with Wickham, Sullivan, Stokes and Darwin.

“Gentlemen, we have two possibilities. We either wait here for twelve days or we continue to the Cape de Verd islands. We must consider the possibility of being quarantined there too, although I do not think it probable. My first reaction is to continue to Cape Verd, but I need to have the pros and cons clearly set out from every possible point of view. Let us start with you, Mr. Sullivan, do we have enough food and water to allow us to sail to Cape Verd and stand a quarantine of … say, twenty days?”

“Aye, sir. We have enough provisions for three times that, not counting the rain water we may collect”.

Young Robert FitzRoy, by Philip Gidley King.

“Perfect. Mr. Stokes, we must take readings and calculate coordinates as often as possible at different latitudes and longitudes so as to be able, at the end of the voyage, to detect inconsistencies and correct them by distributing them. How would the lack of Tenerife’s coordinates affect this plan?”

“Hardly any effect, Captain. The Cape Verd islands’ longitude is similar to the Canary Islands, and with the stop we have planned at Fernando de Noronha island we have the Atlantic crossing covered.”

“I would like to offset the loss of precision this will cause, though.” Looking at the map he pointed at a place in the middle of the ocean. “We will add a stop here, at St. Paul’s Rocks, to take readings.”

“Excuse me, Captain,” Interrupted Darwin, “why can’t you take readings of Tenerife from aboard?”

“The ship’s movement would not allow Mr. Stokes to take a reading of the sun’s peak with the precision that is required. You explain it to him, Mr. Stokes.”

“Aye, Captain. We have defined three orders of precision to measure coordinates. The ones of the first order have a precision of less than twenty seconds of an angle. The ship’s movement, even in calm weather, generates angles of up to five degrees, which is a thousand times greater than the precision required. The readings taken at sea when there is no land near are used to navigate, to know where you are, but cannot be used to draw maps.”

“Well put, Mr. Stokes. Mr. Wickham, what would the delay be in the sailing plan if we stop at St. Paul’s Rocks?”

“I would have to re-plot and calculate, but I don’t think it would be more than a couple of days.”

“Perfect, if we add an extra day to take the readings, it would add three days to our schedule, much less than the twelve days we would spend here. Finally, Mr. Darwin, how do you think missing Tenerife would affect your work?”

Darwin was taken by surprise. He never thought the Captain valued his work and his opinion and was rather pleased to be put on the same footing as the officers.

“It is hard to say, Captain. It will be pity not to be able to study the nature of these rocks from a geologic point of view. These islands, as others in the Atlantic Ocean, seem to have been formed by volcanic activity. But what I can’t examine here I will be able to at the Cape Verd islands, which I understand have a similar appearance, and I am very interested in examining some rocks lost in the middle of the ocean, like St. Paul’s Rocks.”

FitzRoy thought for a moment and then said:

“Very well, gentlemen, we shall skip the Canary Islands and continue directly to the Cape Verd Islands, where I hope we will not be stopped for some ridiculous quarantine, and include a stop at St. Paul’s Rocks in our route. Gentlemen, let us sail. Mr. Wickham, weigh anchor immediately!!”

The first time I heard from Darwin a disturbing comment regarding the direction his observations were leading him to, occurred when we were on the boat returning to the Beagle from taking readings, measurements and observations at St. Paul’s Rocks.

The Beagle was waiting about two miles from the little island lost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They had not been able to anchor on account of the great depth, so the Captain decided that the ship should wait relatively far from the islands to avoid the possibility of it being accidentally thrown on the rocks. A party that would make observations left the Beagle in two boats. This party included Wickham, Stokes, Darwin and several seamen.

The island’s size was just about one square mile and not more than forty feet above sea level at its highest point. The waves pounded the rocks fiercely. Inland the island was practically covered with birds, their nests and offspring. The birds were not used to seeing humans and therefore were quite tame, so they were able to catch many specimens and collect a large amount of fresh eggs.

While Stokes waited for midday to arrive for his readings, Darwin wandered over the island with his geologists hammer, collecting rock samples, birds, insects and several types of crustaceans. A few minutes after midday Stokes declared his task finished and the party returned to the boats. Launching the boats and boarding them safely turned out to be extremely complicated, since the sea was rough and there was no beach where they could slide them gradually into the water. When they finally managed to get them afloat and manned, the seamen started to row, but the headwind would hinder their advance and make their return slower.

Darwin sat next to Stokes and asked him how his readings and calculations had been.

“Fine. The latitude is 55 minutes north of the equator, so tomorrow, when we cross it, you will go through the line crossing ceremony, as all those who cross the equator for the first time must. And your observations? Did you discover anything interesting?”

“From a geologic point of view, the island is definitively volcanic. It is probably the top of a volcano that must be several thousand feet high and rests on the ocean floor. In this it is similar to the Cape Verd Islands, only this one emerged at a later date. Not very different from what we saw of the Canary Islands or what I have read of other islands in the Atlantic, such as Ascension and St. Helena. All this data leads me to believe that the ocean floor is full of volcanoes, but only a few have reached the surface. Maybe there is whole mountain range down there.”

Darwin gazed at the horizon his mind was wandering elsewhere.

“But what is stranger and even disturbing, Mr. Stokes, is not geological; it is the flora and fauna.”

“But what can be so disturbing about the fauna? I only saw two types of birds. “

“Exactly, only two types, a type of gannet (booby) and a tern (noddy). I couldn’t find any insects, except some tics that surely live in the birds’ plumage. Why do you think that when God created the world and filled it with animals and plants he only put these two types of birds on this island?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well, I believe that when God created the world this island wasn’t even here. It emerged later and that is why there were no animals on it. These two types of birds are roving species, they arrived later and found a favourable environment where they could live and reproduce.”

“It sounds dead logical and interesting, Mr. Darwin, but I find nothing disturbing about that.”

“The thing is that I believe that the same happened in Cape Verd and Tenerife, only long before. The Canary Islands and the Cape Verd Islands emerged from the bottom of the sea without flora or fauna and were populated as the volcanic activity kept pushing them up. Cape Verd has higher mountains, more plants and animals because they emerged earlier and more time has passed. Cape Verd, the Canaries and St. Paul’s Rocks are different stages of the same phenomenon. But, and this is the disturbing part, It doesn’t seem possible that the six thousand years the Bible says that separate us from creation is enough time for these momentous changes to happen.”

Stokes followed Darwin’s reasoning with a mixture of admiration and concern. “What makes you so sure that six thousand years is not enough time for these things to happen?”

“You see, Rome was founded about seven hundred years before Christ, which makes it close to two thousand five hundred years ago. The Italy and Europe they describe is not different from what it is today. The Vesuvius and the Etna, just to mention two well-known active volcanoes, are not significantly higher than they were then. Furthermore, from what I have heard and read, the area around Naples has received around fifty feet of volcanic ash since the Vesuvius buried Pompeii. Fifty feet in two thousand five hundred years, at that rate, how long would it take to create a mountain the size of the Teide?”

Young John Lort Stokes, by Lely Bartolomé.

“Let me see, twelve thousand feet at fifty feet every two thousand years …” Stokes made some quick calculations in his head, and exclaimed, “four hundred and eighty thousand years!”

“Exactly, and that not counting that the height should be calculated from the bottom of the sea, in which case it would be closer to a million years from creation. If we apply the same reasoning to the Pico de Coroa at Cape Verd, it will also give a figure that is at loggerheads with the Bible.”

Both young men fell quiet while the boat rocked on the waves and the seamen, oblivious to their conversation, toiled at their oars, eager to reach the Beagle soon.

Darwin continued:

“Shortly before leaving England, Professor Henslow, my tutor at Cambridge, presented me with Lyell’s book ‘Principles of Geology’. What he suggests in his book is that the world is ever changing and that the periods of time in which these changes occur are much longer than what the Bible declares.”

“Have you discovered all this in one morning on a solitary island in the middle of the ocean when the trip has hardly started? It’s amazing! You are a genius! What else will you discover in the next four years of our journey?”

“No, you must not think that. I haven’t discovered anything yet; I have simply put forward a hypothesis that must be backed by solid arguments to become a theory. I will now dedicate the next four years to find and compile the necessary evidence that will allow me to present this theory to the Royal Society9.”

The boat was now close to the Beagle and they could already see members of the crew moving over to starboard to see and help them up.

“I must confess, Mr. Stokes, that I was getting restless because I was not sure what my function was as the expedition’s naturalist. I could see the Captain had great expectations about the discoveries I could make, and the bigger his hopes the worse was my fear of letting him down. But …” Darwin turned and gave St. Paul’s Rocks a last glance, “… these rocks lost in the middle of nowhere have changed everything. Now I have a mission to carry out on this voyage.”

“How happy the Captain will be! A scientific breakthrough will put his expedition on a higher footing than any other.”

“I agree, Mr. Stokes, he will be thrilled, I can hardly wait to tell him.”