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"…Natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations;
she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must
advance by short and sure, though slow steps."

Darwin "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,
or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life,"

The Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle, 1831 - 1836
with Charles Darwin as Naturalist, sharing
Captain Robert Fitzroy's Cabin.

During the summer of 1831 Capt. FitzRoy foresaw that the Beagle voyage would present an ideal opportunity for collecting specimens of natural history.

He wrote, "Anxious that no opportunity of collecting useful information, during the voyage, should be lost, I propose to the Hydrographer [Captain Francis Beaufort] that we recruit a well-educated, and scientific person, who would be willing to share such accommodations as I had to offer, in order to profit by the opportunity of visiting distant countries."

An offer was made to Mr. Darwin to be my guest on board, which he accepted conditionally.

"The conditions:

1 - He should be at liberty to leave the Beagle, and retire from the Expedition when he thought proper.

2 - He should pay a fair share of the expenses of my table."

Darwin spent three years on the Beagle, and two years on land.

Charles Darwin, (1809 – 1882), was an English naturalist who published his theories in "On the Origin of Species."

His voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist.

He is buried in Westminster Abbey, near Isaac Newton.

Due to his Poor Health, Darwin Walked this Path five times every morning before lunch for 20 years.
It was the birthplace of many of his Ideas.

Darwin would kick one of his five stones to remember how many times he had walked his path each day before lunch.

And when he walked around, and his family wanted his company for a longer time,
they would move one of the stones back into the path, and in that way he would go more than the five laps.