Season 2 Episode 7: Potatoless Breakfast

"I climbed up on foot to very near the crest; from the Puna I experienced, I cannot suppose the elevation is less than 8000 to 10000 ft; There was a good deal of snow, which however only remains here in the winter months. The winds in these districts obey very regular laws; every day a fresh breeze blows up the valley & at night, an hour or two after sunset, the air from the cold regions above descends as through a funnel. — This night it blew a gale of wind, & the temperature must have been considerably below the freezing point, for water in a short time became a block of ice. No clothes seemed to oppose any obstacle to the air; I suffered much from the cold, so that I could not sleep, & in the morning rose with my body quite dull & benumbed."  [Voyage of the Beagle, Chapter XVI]

In this episode we discuss the various expeditions Charles Darwin organized to explore the Andes mountain range in South America. These adventures are recounted in chapters IX, XII, XV, and XVI in The Voyage of the Beagle.

Image from Darwin Online

We started our discussion with the Santa Cruz expedition that Darwin and Fitzroy engaged with while the HMS Beagle was grounded for repairs at the mouth of the Santa Cruz river. This 17 day journey occurred from April 18-May 8, 1834 and involved the men dragging three whale-boats upriver hoping to find the source of the river at the base of the Andes mountains. In our discussion James erroneously said the trip was 185 miles but further reading in Fitzroy's account we find the following-

"Late on the 4th we returned to our tents, thoroughly tired by a daily succession of hard work, and long walks. At this bivouac we were about one hundred and forty miles, in a straight line, from the estuary of Santa Cruz, or from Weddell Bluff; and about two hundred and forty-five miles distant by the course of the river." [Fitzroy, Narrative pg 356].

The men dragged the boats upriver for 14 days until Fitzroy decided it was time to turn back and then it only took them 3 days to return to the HMS Beagle. Sarah discussed the complex geology of the region and the ships artist had come along to make amazing drawings of the scenery. 

C. Martens. T. Landseer.
BASALT GLEN – RIVER SANTA CRUZ.

We scanned the wonderful map that Nora Barlow includes in her edited edition of the Diary of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle and have highlighted the 4 different trips we discussed in this podcast.

The Santa Cruz journey is indicated by the red line, Andes 1 trip is the pink loop, the Andes 2 expedition is indicated by the green loop over the Andes and the Andes 3 trip is indicated by the purple line.

We discussed on our reliance of the wonderful website called About Darwin which maps in detail the various journey Darwin has during the 5 year voyage. Highly recommend the site, great information.

Josh discussed the earthquake Darwin experienced and the state of destruction he observed in Concepcion.

This reminded James about plate tectonics and how the west coast of South America resides on the suture line between two major tectonic plates - the Nazca and South American Plates.

map from https://www.thoughtco.com/map-of-tectonic-plates-and-their-boundaries-1441098

As Sarah remarked, Darwin did some amazing geologizing while engaged in those 1,000 mile + expeditions through the Andes and valleys of South America.  He created a beautiful cross sectional map that can be found here- Darwin's map. 

The opening and closing theme to Discovering Darwin is "May" by Jared C. Balogh.

Interlude music is Little glass men - Moon Shadow