Dick Covington knew he was lucky to be a cabin boy on H.M.S. Beagle, beginning in 1831 its map-making voyage around the world. But Dick hadn't counted on the best luck of all -- becoming assistant to Charles Darwin, the young naturalist on board.

Together, Dick and Darwin explored the most perilous jungles of South America. They climbed the Andres Mountains and camped in vast snow fields at the top. They discovered great lizards and turtles roaming on islands where men had never lived. Caught in a devastating earthquake in Chile, they saw for themselves the effects of a giant upheaval of the earth.

And from the time Dick dug out of the sand the fossil of a monster jawbone, he shared Darwin's enthusiasm for collecting the thousands of specimens of plant and animal life that astonished English scientists.

Through Dick's eyes, the highlights of the historic five-year voyage of the Beagle are presented in exciting detail, as well as the picture of a great scientist at work.

From the dust jacket