r, but he discovered a "spontaneous and exceptional interest in natural history" (Moorehead 25). Academically, "he scraped through...with a pass" (Moorehead, 25) but socially, he enjoyed himself greatly, as he had fallen in with a crowd of sportsmen and naturalists. As well, he developed strong ties with his botany and geology teachers, Professors Adam Sedgwick and John Henslow. Henslow was indeed a true friend; he did Darwin the great service of notifying him when, soon after graduation, the professor learned of a great opportunity. Captain Robert FitzRoy of the H.M.S. Beagle was looking for someone to take the post of unpaid naturalist while his ship did cartographic surveys of South America. "[Henslow] wrote Darwin candidly that he thought him the best qualified person who would accept such a 'situation'" (Darwin xiv). His father objected at first, but Darwin's "Uncle Josiah Wedgwood...intervened and the coveted blessing was obtained" (Sears 30-31). In his interview, Darwin and FitzRoy got along famously and became good friends; the young nature-lover was accepted, and he and the captain were to share a cabin. Darwin was an easygoing man, and so he and his roommate got along quite well. The captain had a dynamic temper and was subjected to fits of sullenness, but also "combined a strict sense of duty with a very high sense of justice and regard for special conditions. He had courage and was capable of magnificent seamanship under severe conditions" (Dibner 13). Darwin always held his companion in the highest regard, even when they did not share the same views. Their five-year journey, originally to be two years in length, took them around the world. This trip reinforced in Darwin a thousandfold his passion for botany and geology, and "his intention to become a priest...died a natural death on the Beagle expedition" (Sears 31). They travelled to Brazil, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Chile, the Galpagos islands, Tahiti, New Zealand and ...
