'

Likewise the native' darker skin which shields them against the sun reveals them, in Darwin's eyes, as closer to nature. The fact that they speak a different language that is not of the Indo-European family like Darwin's English, or Romantic (presumably, he would not look down upon them if they spoke French rather than their native tongue) likewise is unscientifically judged upon the basis that Darwin finds it unpleasant to listen to. Strikingly, even though some of these natives have already picked up a few words of English and can mimic the body language of the crew, showing what might be called a quick linguistic intelligence, Darwin sniffs that all savages are good mimics, and complains about the difficulty of getting black and white answers from individuals who have shown remarkable efforts in rapid language acquisition!

In his account of the Beagle's voyage to the Straight of Magellan, he...
[ View Full Essay]