this river flows. It is claimed that it is formed by four
streams descending from these mountains, and the Spaniards have named
it San Juan. Where it falls into the gulf, it has seven mouths, like
the Nile. In this same Uraba region the continent diminishes in size
in an astonishing manner, and it is said that in places its width is
not more than fifteen leagues. The country is impassable because of
its swamps and quagmires which the Spaniards call _tremelaes_
or _trampales_, or by other names _cenegales_, _sumineros_, and
_zahoudaderos_.[15]

[Note 14: The Dobaiba may be either the Magdalena or the Atrato.]

[Note 15: All words meaning practically the same thing, viz., bog,
quagmire, swamp, quicksand, etc., some of them evidently obsolete, as
they are not found in modern Spanish dictionaries.]

Before going farther it may not be useless to explain the derivation
of the name of these mountains. According to native tradition there
formerly lived a woman of great intelligence and extraordinary
prudence, called Dobaiba. Even during her lifetime she was highly
respected, and after her death the natives of the country venerated
her; and it is her name the country bears. She it is who sends thunder
and lightning, who destroys the crops when she is vexed, for they
childishly believe, that Dobaiba becomes angry when they fail to offer
sacrifices in her honour. There are deceivers who, under the pretence
of religion, inculate this belief among the natives, hoping thereby to
increase the number of gifts offered by the latter to the goddess, and
thus augment their own profits. This is enough on this subject.

It is related that in the swamps of this narrow part of the continent
numerous crocodiles, dragons, bats, and gnats exist, all of the most
formidable description. In seeking to reach the southern sea, it is
necessary to go through the mountains, and to avoid the neighbourhood
of these swamps. Some people claim that a single valley separates in
two ranges the mountains facing the southern sea, and that in this
valley rises the river which the Spaniards have named Rio de los
Perdidos, in memory of the catastrophe of Nicuesa and his companions.
It is not far distant from Cerabaro; but as its waters are fresh, I
believe the people who sustain this theory are telling fables.

Let us close this chapter with one last topic. To the right and left
of Darien flow about a score of gold-producing rivers. We here repeat
what has bee