26 A VOYAGE TO Book I. 



but tbey 3rc now negieé^ed, being, as imagined, ex- 

 hauftcd. But what equally contributed to the richnefs 

 oí this country was the trade it carried with Choco and 

 Darien ; from whence they brought, in exchange for 

 this metal, the feveral manufadures and works of 

 art they itood in need of. Gold was the moil common 

 ornament of the Indians, both men and women. 



CHAP. III. 



Defcn'ption of Carthage n a Bay, 



CARTHAGENA bay is one of the befi^, not only on 

 the coait, but alio in all the known parts of this 

 country. It extends 2| leagues from north to fouth ; 

 has a fufficient depth of water and good anchorage ; 

 and fo fmooth, that the ihips are no more agitated 

 than on a river. The many fliallows indeed, at the 

 entrance, on lome of which there is lb little water that 

 even fmall velFels ftrike, render a careful fteerage ne- 

 ceiTary. But this danger may be avoided, as it generally 

 is, by taking on board a pilot ; and for further Iccu- 

 rity, his majefty maintains one of fufficient experi- 

 ence, part of whofe employment is to fix marks on the 

 dangerous places. 



The entrance to the bay, as I have already obferved, 

 was through the narrow fírait called Boca Chica, a 

 name very properly adapted to its narrownefs, figni- 

 fying in Spanilh Little Mouth, admitting only one 

 Ibip at a time, and even ihe muft be obliged to keep 

 dole to the fhore. This entrance was defended on the 

 E. by a fort called St. Lewis de Boca Chica, at the ex- 

 tremity of Tierra Bomba, and by Fort St. Jofcph on 

 the oppofite fide in the ifle of Baru. The former, after 

 fuftaining, in the laft fiege by the^ngliih, a vigorous 

 attack both by fea and land, and a cannonading of 

 eleven days, its defences ruined, its parapets beat down, 

 and all its artillery difmounted, was relinquifhed. The 

 enemy being thus mañers of it, eleared the entrance, 



and 



