Evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin thought the voyage of the Beagle was a "magnificent scheme" allowing him to spend time "larking round the world".
His delight at the five-year cruise is chronicled in a letter, available online for the first time.
The note is one of nearly 5,000 from and to the scientist held in a database at the University of Cambridge.
The Darwin Correspondence project includes summaries of a further 9,000 letters, written from the age of 12.
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