The Voyage of the Beagle

Darwin continues on an overland expedition across Chile to Copiapó, a town up the Chilean coast where he plans to rejoin the crew of the Beagle. The Chilean landscape is increasingly barren, and Darwin laments the lack of interesting flora and fauna for his records.

Because he cannot observe the habits of animals, he records a number of thoughts on the Chilean miners (apires) who work the coastal hills. He is surprised and critical that the miners quickly spend their money on alcohol and clothes, comparing them to reckless sailors. Darwin attributes this “extravagance” to the fact that they are not forced to provide for themselves; food and shelter are provided to both the sailors and the miners, so they easily give in to temptation.

The funeral practices of the Chilean miners also surprise Darwin. He observes a funeral procession in which the men carrying the corpse are running, passing the deceased to new groups along the route as the pallbearers grow tired. The funeral procession continues in this way until the point of burial.

Darwin is astonished by the mining conditions he encounters: The apires carry loads of up to 300 pounds up long, steep passages and are reportedly prohibited from resting along the way.