Rafter and another at Yavisa. I got this account from an old Indian woman who was present when they were killed. Below the Pirre is the site of the old town, which was taken by the Buccaneers in their expedition in 1680. They found only 3 cwt. of gold here, the rest having been previously carried away by the Spaniards. The population of Santa Maria is about 150.

MOLINECA.

Five miles above Santa Maria is Molineca, with about 100 inhabitants. From the other side of the river there is a path to the Chuquanaqua, opposite Yavisa; the tide reaches to Molineca.

PINOGANA. Five miles above Molineca is Pinogana, the last settlement in the Tuyra, with about 150 civilised Indians and Sambos. The population of the other villages is almost entirely composed of negroes, who have no intercourse with the Indians of the rivers on the north, and would be killed if they attempted to ascend any of them towards the Atlantic. The whole Granadian population of Darien scarcely amounts to 1000 souls.29

THE PUCRO AND PAYA.-Of Pucro and Paya nothing

33 Colonel Lloyd gives the following return of the population of the Granadian settlements of the canton of Darien in 1822:Yavisa, the capital

Santa Maria

341

245

100

146

35

113

30

162

1,172

Of the above, Cana and Fichichi have been many years abandoned; and the population of the other settlements has not increased, owing to the fact of high wages at Panama having induced many to leave Darien for that city.

is known.

I was defeated in my attempt to ascend the latter, though I have since had reason to believe that the fear of the small-pox being introduced rather than hostility to foreigners was the cause of my having been driven back, therefore I shall try again to ascend it, bringing some vaccine lymph with me, as I have found that prophylactic to have availed me in many hazardous explorations in the British, Spanish, and Portuguese Guianas, and many other savage countries, and I take this occasion to digress, and recommend all explorers never to travel without it. It is a much more powerful protection than a revolver or a bowieknife.

THE MOUNTAIN CHACARGUN AND GOLD DUST.Two Paya Indians told me that from the Paya to a mountain called Chacargun was one day's journey; that it took one day to cross it, one day from the other side to Arquia, and one day thence to the Atrato. They stated, also, that there was a "quebraita," or little rivulet, in Chacargun, called Tiyaco, which contained abundance of very. fine gold, which they called aasites.

GOLD MINES ON THE UPPER TUYRA-WHY SHUT UP. -On Cana and some other branches of the upper course of the Tuyra, the old Spaniards carried on gold mining very successfully; but the mines were closed by order of the King of Spain, in consequence of their having attracted the Buccaneers (see p. 47).

THE ATLANTIC COAST OF DARIEN.-The Atlantic coast of the Isthmus of Darien30 extends from the mouth of Suriguilla river in the bottom of the Gulf of Darien, in lat. 7° 55′ 15" and long. 76°56', to Cape San Blas in lat. 9° 34′ 36′′ and long. 79° 1′ 90′′.

34 For a description of the various harbours and anchorages on this coast, see the " Columbian Navigator."

THE GULF OF DARIEN.-The Gulf of Uraba, or Darien, offers safe anchorage in all seasons.

RIVERS FALLING INTO IT.--THE ATRATO.-The delta through which the Atrato discharges itself on the S.W. side of the Gulf is inundated even at low water, and covered with an impenetrable forest of mangroves: it is consequently very unhealthy. Though the Atrato has great depth of water inside, yet there is a bar with only five feet of water on it at the most practicable of its mouths, and the rise of tide throughout the Gulf is only two feet.

on

TRAFFIC OF THE ATRATO AND GOLD DUST.-There is a very considerable trade carried on by this river between Quibdo or Citera, Novita and Cartago, on the Atrato and Cauca rivers, and the town of Lorica,3 31 the Sinu and the city of Carthagena. It traverses the whole province of Choco, which, in 1841, imported 10,000 bales from Great Britain, and whence there is a large export of gold-dust.

STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE ATRATO.-Within the last few months, a substantial Company has been formed for the purpose of navigating the Magdalena32 and Atrato rivers by steamers; and many of the wants of the excavators and

35 At this place a trade is carried on with Americans in fustic and caoutchouc.

36 The River Magdalena, the main artery of New Granada, 1,050 miles in length, arises from Lake Buey, north of the Paramo, or elevated mountain top of Las Papas, in 1°58′ N. lat., transverses the forests of Laboyos and Timaná, the spacious plains of Neiva, and the forests of Nare, and uniting with the Cauca in lat. 9o 25', enters the Atlantic 600 miles N. of its source, which has an elevation of about 5,900 feet, whilst that of the Cauca, in the snows of Coconuco, is 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. It is navigable for large boats from its mouth to Honda, where there is a small fall called El Salto, and from thence up to Neiva for smaller boats.

On my passages up and down this river last year, on my way from Carthagena to Bogota and back, I made the following estimate of the distances from Calamar (25 leagnes, or 75 miles

first settlers on the Canal route will besupplied through the medium of that Company's steam-boats.

from Carthagena by road), to Honda (75 miles from Bogota, by

road) :

Carthagena to Bogotá

The following is a statement of the Population of those provinces of New Granada, which communicate with the Magdalena, extracted from an official census published by the government of New Granada last year.

Into the Culata, or bottom of the Gulf, the Suriquilla falls, forming the boundary between Darien and the Province of Carthagena; just above the most western of the mouths of the Atrato the river Tarena disembogues: I bebelieve that Arquia, of which I have heard the Indians speak much, and which is one of the largest settlements, is on this river; they told me that one man at Tarena mouth, I believe Zapata's son, mentioned elsewhere, speaks a little English. There are also settlements at Tutumate, Tripo Gandi, and Gandi mouths; but the interior is utterly unknown, and presents a most inviting field for future explorers, I fear my time will not permit me to penetrate in that direction.

as

CAPE TIBURON.-Proceeding along the west side of the Gulf to Cape Tiburon, three peaks are visible Pico Tarena, Pico Gandi, and Pico Tiburon. Cape Tiburon has two small harbours; the larger, Miel Harbour, has good holding-ground, and its greatest depth is thirteen fathoms, with a sand and clay bottom.

From Cape Tiburon a chain of hills, crossed by valleys and ravines, follows the curved direction of the coast, parallel and close to it.

BAY OF ANACHUCUNA.-West of Cape Tiburon, the Bay of Anachucuna, two and a half miles deep, has a beachy shore extending nine miles from E. to W., nearly to the Point of Carreto.

CARRETO BAY.-Inside the Peak and Point of Carreto' thirteen miles W. N.W. (N. 62° W.) of Cape Tiburon, is the Harbour of Carreto, of a semicircular form, which falls in about a mile, and is a mile across in its narrowest part, with a depth of from three and a quarter to eight fathoms; but is open to the N. E., on which account it is of little use in the season of the breezes