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COLOMBIA. 



a stunted brushwood, and all of them are covered 

 with the prickly-pear tree, upon which a large 

 species of land tortoise lives and thrives in a won- 

 derful manner. These animals grow to a great size, 

 weighing sometimes several hundred pounds : they 

 are excellent eating, and we laid in a stock which 

 lasted the ship's company for many weeks. 



Having finished our experiments, we made sail 

 on the 16th of January 1822 for Panama, but 

 owing to the light winds and calms which prevail 

 in the bay of that name, it was not till the 29th 

 that we came in sight of the coast of Mexico, 

 about one hundred and twenty miles to the west- 

 ward of Panama. 



We anchored in Panama Roads at nine in the 

 morning of the 2d of February 1822, and as no 

 one on board was acquainted with the place, a fish- 

 erman was called alongside, who undertook to pi- 

 lot our boat through the reefs to the landing- 

 place. On rowing round the angle of the fortifi- 

 cations encircling the town, which is built on a 

 rocky peninsula, we found ourselves in a beauti- 

 ful little bay, strongly marked with the peculiar 

 features of the torrid zone. The beach was 



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