ABSTRACT
Voyages of discovery and exploration in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century primarily focused on finding and claiming new territories. The science that was conducted during these expeditions was almost exclusively terrestrial in focus, as evidenced in the sailing instructions to the captains of all voyages from HMS Endeavour in 1769 to HMS Challenger in 1872. The naturalists who made their name on these voyages – Joseph Banks, Joseph Hooker, and Charles Darwin to name only a few – despaired of the amount of time they had to spend on board ship and were in constant verbal battles with their respective captains over the short periods of time spent on land. Perhaps as a consequence of this contemporary focus on terrestrial science, later treatment of the subject has likewise concentrated on the land-based activities of these men and has overlooked the scientific practices that took place on board ship and whilst at sea. 1
