474 MEUOlRSofthe 
gold in their nofe, and ievcral rows of beads about their necks 
and wrifts ; rhey cover their ^uderJa with a piece of bark or 
fometimes filver, they feem to be very ill provided, not having a 
\Perils half an inch long, yet no doubt it is longer, for perhaps 
they may fheath it up as dog's and horles do : The women are 
generally the moft pitiful creatures a man ever law ^ their habit 
differs from the men's ^ they ordinarily wear a ring in their nofe 5 
they have petticoats, and wear a veil over their face: This people 
is under no formal government; every captain commands his own 
river, bay, or ifland where he lives; the mioft confiderable of 
which is one Captain Ambrofio^ he commands the country parti- 
cularly about the Samhalloh 'Pointy and when he pleafes, he can 
levy all the men about 20 leagues, betwixt that and the gulf; 
there is another Captain Pedro, that lives in the fame houfe with 
^mbrofiOy and is his nephew and 16n-in-law ; one Captain jin- 
eJr^^5 commands the river iDas Armas j another Captain li randy 
commands about the Golden Ifland -^ a 5 th Captain Andreas 
commands the country adjoining to our fettlement, and a 6th Cap- 
tain Pedro is his collegue; one Captain y^i:/^^? commands at C^r- 
ret "Bay^ and Captain ijiego commands the gulph : Diego lecms 
to be the next confiderable to Amhrofio^ who are both old men 5 
they are all very much our friends, and fond of us 5 Ibmeofthefe 
captains wear the Scott ijjo flag in their canoes ; there is no fuch 
thing as a king or emperor of 'Darien^ nor {o far as we can ga- 
ther irom the chief men hereabout, has there been any thefe 40 
or 50 years; the old men remember fuch a man, who, they fay, 
was a tyrant, would take as many wives as he pleafed, and allow 
them but one, and therefore they cut him off; this derogates much 
from the reputation of the hillory of the buccaneers ; if there 
■was fuch an emperor among them, he was an Indianm^de fo by 
$hemlelves. 
This country certainly affords gold enough; for befides that 
the natives conftantly affure us, that they know feveral gold- 
mines 'pn this fide; the plates they wear in their noles and the 
quantity of other gold they have among them, is enough to con^ 
vince any man of the truth thereof; there were aboard here one 
night fome Indians that had an ico ounces of gold about them; 
our circumftances are very good in fome refpeSs; for we have 
advice by the way of Portobello^ that there is a great rebellion in 
jlfexico, and Captain jDkgo and all the Indians about him are at 
w^ir with the Spaniards j Captain Ambrofio is going to his affif- 
tince, v.'hich will divert them on that fide, but what is beft of 
^'.1, we arc now in a pofture of defence againft all the ^S^^;;//:?^ 
forces 
