Fiction. Translated from the Norwegian by James Anderson. An English translation of an epistolary novel describing an Italian immigrant's meeting with Charles Darwin in Buenos Aires in 1833. Giovanni, a day laborer and barroom philosopher, happens upon Darwin by chance while the great man's ship (the Beagle) is in port in Venezuela en route to the Gallapagos. Giovanni describes his arguments and agreements with Darwin to his brother in Italy, and he also relates many of the adventures he experiences in South America.