In 1825, Charles Darwin was 16 years old when he enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. He became a member of a student natural history group called the Plinian Society; but however, left the University of Edinburgh two years after without graduating.
Darwin spent time assisting Robert Grant, the marine biologist and sponge expert, in his studies of the marine life of the coastline near Edinburgh.
In 1831, Charles Darwin was invited to join the HMS Beagle, as the ship’s naturalist, for a voyage around the world. From the start, Darwin observed and collected plants, animals, rocks and fossils specimens while he investigated the local geology of continents and islands, including that of the Galápagos.
For most of the next five years, the Beagle voyage would provide Darwin with a lifetime of experiences to ponder and the seeds of a groundbreaking theory he would work on for the rest of his life i.e. The theory of evolution by natural selection
Charles Darwin arrived in Mauritius on the 29 April 1836 and stayed here until 9 May of the same year. He visited the island and noted the beauty of the sceneries over this great mass of volcanic matter.
Darwin observed that almost half of the island was still in an uncultivated state and that the island’s export of sugar had increased after the British conquest. He added:
“One great cause of this prosperity is due to the excellent roads and means of communication throughout the island”.
Under the aegis of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, Charles Darwin signed a petition to the Governor of the island, requesting Mauritius to initiate a captive breeding project to protect the endangered Aldabra tortoise. As a result, the giant tortoise was introduced in the Garden in 1881. The efforts were successful as today there are 150,000 tortoises in Aldabra.