The Beagle began its journey in December 1831. Martens joined the expedition later, passing through and sketching some of the places the Beagle had already visited. Martens was the artist on board the Beagle from November 1833 to July 1834.
| 1833 | May | 19 | Martens leaves Falmouth on the Hyacinth | |
| July | 5 | Martens arrives at Rio de Janeiro | ||
| 18 | Martens leaves Rio for Montevideo on the Indus | |||
| August | 2 | Martens reaches Montevideo | ||
| November | 25 | Martens boards the Beagle | ||
| December | 6 | The Beagle leaves Montevideo, heading along the Argentine coast towards Patagonia | ||
| 23 | The Beagle anchors at Port Desire | |||
| 1834 | January | 4 | The Beagle leaves Port Desire heading for Port St Julian by way of Port Famine | |
| February | 8 | The Beagle, without the Adventure, goes to Tierra del Fuego, FitzRoy having renewed contact with Jemmy Button at Woolya Inlet on Navarin Island. | ||
| March | 1 | The Beagle returns to Beagle Channel 1--3 March 1834, then goes to complete the charting of the Wollaston Islands, rounding Cape Horn and heading towards the Falkland Islands/Malvinas. | ||
| 10 | The Beagle is at East Faulkland Island until 7 April | |||
| April | 7 | The Beagle returns to the Santa Cruz river to be beached for repairs to her hull, the Adventure remains in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas in the aftermath of the murder of governor Brisbane. | ||
| 18 | The expedition up the Santa Cruz river, including both Darwin and Martens. | |||
| May | 12 | The Beagle sails for the Straits of Magellan, encountering almost continuous storm and frost. | ||
| June | 1 | The Beagle arrives at Port Famine; thereafter passing through the Magdalen Channel, and emerging from the Cockburn Channel 10 June 1834 | ||
| 28 | The Beagle arrives at Chiloé Island | |||
| July | 23 | The Beagle arrives at Valparaiso, where Martens leaves the expedition | ||
| December | 3 | Martens leaves Valparaiso for Tahiti, arriving early January 1835 | ||
| 1835 | ||||
| March | 8 | Martens journeys from Tahiti to Bay of Islands | ||
| April | 9 | Martens leaves New Zealand for Sydney | ||
| 17 | Martens arrives at Port Jackson, near Sydney, where his voyage ends. | |||
| The voyage of the Beagle continued until 2 October 1836. | ||||