1Í4 A VOYAGE TO Book III. 



of curiofity, who have employed theu' attention on it; 

 and from then- report, the lituation of the city has 

 been dctermuied. This opinión is in fome meafure 

 confirmed by our courfe, the direélion of which on 

 the river, from its mouth to the town of Cruces, was 

 eait 6° 13' ibutherly ; and the diña nee being 21 miles, 

 the diiicrenre between the two meridians is 20 mi- 

 nutes, the diftance Chagre is ñtuated to the weft of 

 Cruces. We mult alfo conñder the diftance between 

 Porto Bello and Cliagre. During the firft two hours 

 and a half, we tailed a league and a half an hour; 

 when, the land breeze fpringing up, we failed two 

 leagues an hour, for leven hours; which in all makes 

 18 leagues; and the whole courfe having been very 

 nearly weft, the difference of longitude muft have 

 been 44 miles; or 41, allowing tor what might have 

 been wanting of a due weft courfe; and from tlfis 

 again fubtracliug the 20 minutes which Cruces lies 

 to the eaft of Chagre, the rclult is, that Cruces is 

 iituated twenty-one minutes to the weft ward of Porto 

 Bello. To this la ft refult muft be added the diftance 

 of meridians between Cruces and Panama, the bear- 

 ing of which is near S. VV, and N. E. ; and reckoning 

 that we travelled, on account of the roughnefs and 

 .cragginefs of the road, only three quarters of a league 

 an hour, during the feven hours, the whole is 14 

 miles, and the diiTerence-of n^cridians 10 minutes and 

 a half. Cüníc(|vu'nlly Panama is fttuated about 30 

 minutes weft ot Porto Bello; and the Spanifh artifts 

 are nearer the truth than the French. 



The iirfi diicovery of Panama, the Spaniards owe 

 to Tello de Guzman, who hmued here in 1515; btit 

 found only tome ftft:iermen's huls, this being a very 

 proper place for their buftnefs, and from thence the 

 Indians called it Panama, wliich ftgniftes a place 

 abounding in ftfh. Before this, namely in the year 

 . 1513, Bafco Nunez de Balboa dilcovcrcd the South 

 Sea, and look legal pofíeftion of it in the names of the 



kings 



