Darwin's ship journal to be auctioned at Sotheby's

A journal from Charles Darwin's ship the Beagle is to go under the hammer.

The 19th-century logbook is among the highlights of a sale of historic travel documents to be sold by Sotheby's next week.

A set of photographs that shed light on the first royal visit to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain made by Princess Alice in 1938 is also for sale.

Other items on offer include 300-year-old globes and a collection of first-hand accounts of voyages dating back to the 17th century.

Darwin carried out some of his most important voyages on the Beagle when compiling research for his groundbreaking studies on evolution.

The auction includes a series of first- hand travel accounts from the journal kept by a commanding officer on the ship and detail the dramatic end of her first surveying voyage to Patagonia.

Six items relating to Captain James Cook's travels will also be offered for sale.

The Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History Auction takes place at Sotheby's in central London on 7 May.