Chapter 13-14 Summary and Analysis

The Beagle visits the island of Chiloe, another stormy place where the people raise pigs, potatoes and catch fish. The forests are impenetrable. Darwin accompanies an expedition to survey the eastern side of the island. He sees the volcano Orsono sending out smoke and another nearby steaming. The expedition sails fully around the island, but Darwin finds little to comment about, other than the bad weather, the poverty of the people and the impossibility of traveling through the forest due to its earth always being too wet to support horse or man.

On the island of San Pedro, Darwin and crew members walk on layers of logs several yards thick. The seamen call out soundings as a joke. Arriving at the Chonos Archipelago, a storm keeps the ship from moving onward for three days. When the weather breaks, Darwin...