GEOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION.
B Y MR. D A RW IN .
T h e object of the present Introduction, is briefly to describe the principal localities,
from which the Zoological specimens, collected during the voyage of the
Beagle, were obtained. At the conclusion of this work, after each species has
been separately examined and described, it will be more advantageous to incorporate
any general remarks. The Beagle was employed for nearly five years out
of England; of this time a very large proportion was spent in surveying the
coasts of the Southern part of South America, and of the remainder, much was
consumed in making long passages during her circumnavigation of the globe.
Hence nearly the entire collection, especially of the animals belonging to the
higher orders, was procured from this continent; to which, however, must be added
the Galapagos Archipelago, a group of islands in the Pacific, but not far distant
from the American coast. The localities may be briefly described under the
following heads.
B r a z i l . This country presents an enormous area, supporting the most
luxuriant productions of the intertropical regions. It is composed of primary
formations, and may be considered as being hilly rather than mountainous. La
P l a t a includes the several provinces bordering that great river; — namely,
Buenos Ayres, Banda Oriental, Santa Fé, Entre Rios, &c. My collections were
chiefly made at B u e n o s A y r e s , at M o n t e V i d e o , the capital of Banda Oriental,
and at M a l d o n a d o , a town in the same province, situated on the northern