Mr. WAFER'; Voyages, &c. 



295 



laSs Ififcl SIS Wfcs efe d^ss &Sfes t?*Sf5 



Wafers Defcription of the Ifthmus of 

 America. 



IrSp! HE Country I am going to defcribe is xht ifthmus ol 



JL narroweft Part of the Ifthmus of America, Darten - 

 which is moft peculiarly call'd the Ifthmus of Darien \ 

 probably, from the great River of that Name, 

 wherewith its Northern Coaft is bounded to the Eaft : River of 

 For beyond this River the Land fpreads fo to theg^"* of 

 Eaft and North-Eaft, as that on the other Gtiaftthe ifth~ 

 does to the South and South-Eaft, that it can no mm. 

 further be called an Ifthmus. It is moftly compre- Breadth, 

 hended between the Latitudes of 8 and io N. but its 

 breadth in the narroweft Part, is much about one 

 Degree. How far it reaches in length Weftward un- Length.- 

 der the Name of the Ifthmus of Darien ; whether 

 as far as Honduras, or Nicaragua, or no further than 

 the River Chagre, or the Towns of Portobel and 

 Panama^ I cannot fay. 



This laft is the Boundary of what I mean to de- 

 fcribe ; and I fhall be moft particular as to the mid- 

 dle Part even of this, as being the Scene of my A- 

 bode and Ramble in that Country : Tho' what I 

 fhall have occafion to fay as to this Part of the 

 Ifthmus, will be in fome Meafure applicable to the 

 Country even beyond Panama. 



Were I to fix particular Limits to this narroweft Bounds of 

 Part of the American Ifthmus, I would affign for its what is 

 Weftern Term, a Line which fhould run from the S^ tbe 

 Mouth of the River Chagre, where it falls into the *" 

 North-Sea, to the neareft Part of the South-Sea, 

 Weftward of Panama \ including thereby that City, 

 and Poriobel, with the Rivers of Cheap and Chagre a 

 And I ftiQuld draw a Line from Point Garachina, or 



U 4 the 



