the coast of Lavelia, in lat. 7 deg. 12'
N. round which the coast makes a turn northwards to the isles of Quibo.
On this part of the coast there are many rivers and creeks, but not near
so large as those on the east side of the bay of Panama. Near the sea
this western coast of the bay is partly hilly and partly low land, with
many thick woods, but in the interior there are extensive savannahs or
fruitful plains, well stored with cattle. Some of the rivers on this
side produce gold, but not in such abundance as on the other side; and
there are hardly any Spanish settlements on this side, except along the
rivers leading to Lavelia and Nata, which are the only places I know of
between Panama and _Pueblo nova_. From Panama there is good travelling
all over Mexico, through savannahs or plains; but towards Peru there is
no passage by land beyond the river Chepo, by reason of thick woods and
many rivers and mountains.

We arrived at the isle of _Quibo_ on the 15th June, where we found
Captain Harris. This isle is in lat 7 deg. 26' N. and long. 82 deg. 13' W. It is
near seven leagues long by four broad, being all low land, except at its
N.E. end, on which side, and also to the east, there is excellent water.
It abounds in many kinds of trees, among which are great numbers of deer
and black monkeys, the flesh of which is reckoned very wholesome; and it
has some guanas and snakes. A sand-bank runs out half a mile into the
sea from the S.E. end of this island, and on its east side, a league to
the north of this, there is a rock a mile from the shore, which is seen
above water at last quarter of the ebb. In all other places there is
safe anchorage a quarter of a mile from the shore, in six, eight, ten,
and twelve fathoms, on clean sand and ooze. The isle of _Quicarra_, to
the south of Quibo, is pretty large; and to the north of it is a small
isle named Ranchina, which produces great plenty of certain trees called
_Palma-Maria_. These are straight, tough, and of good length, and are
consequently fit for masts, the grain of the wood having a gradual twist
or spiral direction; but, notwithstanding the name, they have no
resemblance to palms. To the N.E. of Quibo are the small islands of
_Canales_ and _Cantarras_, in the channels between which there is good
anchorage. These islands have plenty of wood and water, and appear at a
distance as if part of the continent; and as the island of Quibo is the
most considerable, these isles are gen