The voyage of the Challenger was a pioneer expedition of immense importance. Its ambitious aim was to chart the depths, movement and contents of the seas, to scour the oceans for marine life, minerals and cludes to climatic henomena. The naturalists on board recorded life ashore as well as at sea and their personal journals provide vivid pictures - the bleak penguin rookeries in the Antarctic, 'hostile' tribes in New Guinea and the East Indian coral and spice islands.