306 National Geographic' Magazine. 



and who now constitute by far the larger portion of the inhabit- 

 ants of Darien, being found usually in villages along the valleys 

 of the larger streams. In contrast to the Colombian and Indian 

 they are large in stature and make excellent laborers. 



The principal villages in Darien, as Yovisa, Pinagana and Real 

 de St. Marie, are inhabited exclusively by the negroes, with the 

 exception of a Spanish judge in each, who exercises great 

 authority. Besides being a judge in civil and criminal cases, he 

 practically controls everything in his jDarticular village, as all 

 contracts for labor are negotiated with him and settlement for 

 services made through him. 



Upon reaching Darien the first work assigned me was the sur- 

 vey and exploration of the Pyrrhi river. This survey was made 

 for two purposes : primarily, to determine if any of the country 

 bordering upon it was of a sufficiently desirable character to 

 include it within the grant, and secondly, to secure data for the 

 general topographical map. My instructions were to proceed as 

 far south as latitude 7° 30'. The ascent of the river was made 

 in canoes until the frequency of rapids made it necessary to 

 abandon them, and then the journey was continued on foot, gen- 

 erally wading in the middle of the stream, as the undergrowth 

 was too thick to admit of progress along the banks. Sometimes 

 the water was very shallow ; at other times, where it had been 

 backed up by dams of porphyritic rock, it reached above the 

 waist, and near the end of the journey where the river ran 

 between vertical walls of great height it was necessary to swim 

 in order to get beyond this canon. 



The survey of this river was satisfactorily accomplished in 

 about a week. The method adopted for the survey was to take 

 compass bearings and to estimate distances. These courses and 

 distances were plotted as they were taken and thus the topo- 

 graphical and other features could be readily sketched in connec- 

 tion with them. To check and control this work, observations 

 were taken every day at noon with a sextant, on the sun, for 

 latitude and time, and at night circum-meridian altitudes of stars 

 were obtained when possible. 



Thus a number of rivers were surveyed — the Maria, Tucuti, 

 Yovisa and other tributaries of the Tuyra. When it was found 

 that a sufficiently correct idea of the country for topographical 

 purposes could not be obtained by simply meandering the water 

 courses, lines or trochas were cut through the forest from stream 



