Figure 20.1 Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle The mission of HMS Beagle was to chart the oceans and collect oceanographic and biological information from around the world. The world map indicates the ship’s path; the inset map shows the Galápagos Islands, whose organisms were an important source of Darwin’s ideas on natural selection. The portrait is of Charles Darwin at age 27, shortly after the Beagle returned to England.