Darwin's Ship 'Beagle' and Her Captains

The commemorations in 2009 of Charle's Darwin's voyage in HMS Beagle, which provided him the opportunity to observe and to consider the various different forms of plants, animals, fish and birds encountered and to formulate his theory on evolution, paid scant attention to the ship in which all this was done. In this article the auther reminds us the Beagle was no stranger to Australian waters and made a significant contribution to out hydrography and cartography under the command of several captains.