Sailing, sailing...Darwin Sets Sail on HMS Beagle (1831)

Have you seen the Beagle?
Click this link and find a photo of a painting of the HMS Beagle, by Owen Stanley.

Can you imagine sailing on a ship like the HMS Beagle in 1831? You would know the waves! It is hard for me to imagine what it must have been like, however, I like to think about it from time to time. Jotting down ideas helps stretch my thinking.

You might try that mental stretch, too. Write a few lines about what you think it would have been like to sail on a ship like the HMS Beagle in 1831. Can ypou hear the sound of the waves? What do you see?

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Edited on 12-27=2009:
I came across this link and thought some readers might like to have access to it. It cites several sources on Darwin and his voyages.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Charles+Darwin