ro8 A V O Y A G E T O Book III. 



difpatched to Porto Bello. Immediateiy on their ar- 

 rival, we put on board the inflruments and baggage, 

 belonging both to the French gentlemen and our- 

 felves and on the 22d of December 1735, departed 

 from Porto Bello. 



The land wind being contrary to us, we rowed out 

 of Porto Bello harbour but the brifas fetting in at 

 nine in the morning, both veflels got under fail; and a 

 freih gale brought us, at four in the evening of the 

 fame day, to the mouth of the river Chagre, where we 

 landed at the cuftom-houfe; and the next dav we be- 

 gan to row up the river. 



On the 24th, we endeavoured to proceed in the 

 fame m.anner ; but the force of our oars being too 

 weak to ftem the current, we were obliged to fet the 

 vcilels along with poles. At a quarter after one in 

 the afternoon, we meafured the velocity of the cur- 

 rent, and found it ten toifes and one foot in forty 

 feconds and an half. In this flov/ toilfome manner 

 we proceeded till the 27th, at eleven in the morning, 

 when we arrived at Cruces, the landing-place, about 

 five leagues diflant from Panama. As we advanced 

 up the river, we found a great increafe in the ve- 

 locity of the current, vv'hich on the 25th was ten 

 toifes in twenty- fix feconds and a half : on the 26th, 

 at the place where w^e anchored for that night, ten 

 toifes in fourteen feconds and a half-, and on the 

 27th, at the town of Cruces, the fam.e fpace in fix- 

 teen feconds. Confequently the greatefl: velocity of 

 the water is two hundred and eighty-three toifes, or 

 about a league, in an hour. 



This river, which was formerly called Lagartos, 

 from the number of alligators in it, though now bet- 

 ter known by that of Chagre, has its fource in the 

 mountains near Cruces. Its mouth, which is in the 

 north fea, in 9*^ 18^40" N. latitude, and 295'' 6' lon- 

 gitude, from the meridian of Teneriffe, v/as difcover- 

 cd by Lopez de Olano, Diego de Alvites difcovered 



