Syms Covington
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Syms Covington (1816-1861) was an assistant to Charles Darwin, and was a teenager when he left England on Darwin's second voyage of the HMS Beagle (1831-1836). As Darwin's assistant, at £60 a year, he was a collector, hunter, taxidermist and manservant.
In addition to these duties, Covington kept a personal journal regarding his impressions of the voyage. His journal includes accounts ranging from his daily mundane tasks to impressions of the lands and the people he encountered, and it provides a new perspective to supplement Darwin's publication. In 1840, he emigrated to New South Wales and later became postmaster in the settlement of Pambula.
"The Journal of Syms Covington, Assistant to Charles Darwin Esq." was discussed by Jonathan Hodge and Gregory Radick in The Cambridge Companion to Darwin.
In 1998, Australian author Roger McDonald published a novel based on Syms Covington's journal, called Mr. Darwin's Shooter.
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