immcnfe forefts, rocks, and mountains; fome of the
latter enriched with a great variety of mineral fub-
ftancei; and the- whole' country is intqrfe&ed by very
deep marfhes or fwamps, and by extenfive heaths^ qr fa-
vannas. The ftrearo along, the eoaft flows continually
towards the north-weft; and the whole flmre is/rendered
almoft inacceflible from its being cohered with danger?
£ s banks, quickfands, bogs, a n d rocks,: wfth prodigious
hufhesj and a large quantity pf brufewoerfe which are fio
clofely interwovenas to he im p e n e tra ^ r ~ ^ ,
The Spaniffi, Portugueze, and'- Patch,
nations which y>oflfefs Settlements in this part of Terra
Firma, excepting the Tinafe colony of' CayenneV befeng-
ing to the French, which is fituated between the g g f r
Marawina and Cape Orange.; The! dominions, m ^ u i ^ *
fubjea to Spain, are fituated m: the bm k^ Qf the
Oronoque, andthofe of Portugal extend along the fibres
of the river Amazon. The Dutch
fpread along the coats of the Atlantic, ocean» and reach
from Cape Naffan to the river Marawina, are Eflequrbo,
Demerary, Berbiee, and Surinam*; the laft of whichis
the moft exteofiveand valuable, and that portion of the
Dutch poffeffions to which the fucceeding account will
he chiefly confined. This induftrious nation endeavoured,
in the year 1657, to eftablifh a fmall colony on the
hanks of the river Poumeron, but in 1666 this fettlement
See the.M»p F e&ced t0 thU work‘
was demoliflled by the Englifh. Nor were they more C H A P.
fütöéïsful in dtie which they founded in 1677, oil the ri~ , 11 ,
Wiapoko Or Oyapoa, Which was immediately invaded
^ahd deftroyed by the French.
• The Dufeti confider the beautiful and once fkmrifhmg
fcdlony Of Surinam as extending'over the whole of that
territory which! 4s encircled on the weft th e 'river
Kanhé about fortymiles from the Corantine,
*'^ndidn"-the eaft by the river. 'Srnamafee, But thefe limits'
a¥e disputed by 'the French, who ‘ confine the boundary
óf Surinam tO the banks of the Marawina, upon
which'they ^atioh a military force. j
The principal'risers that belong to this fettlement are
the river' Surinam, Trom which the Colony takes its
-hame/Thte Corantine, the Cbpeuame, tl^'Seranaic^ and
the Marawina. - Of thofe 'rivers the firft only is navi-
||kbferrife toft, the Marawina, being,
though very long and broad, fc fliaflow, ahd fio extremely
Crouded With rocks and fmall iflands, that they are of
iittté' confequence to Europeans, nor are their banks in habited
except by fome of the Indians Qr natives o f the
country. The river Surinam, whofe mouth is fituated
in about fix degrees north latitude, is, at its entrance,
nearly the breadth of four Englifh mflês, and in depth
from fixteen to eighteen feet at low-water mark, the tide
rifing and falling above twelve feet; this breadth and
depth is continued from-its mouth upwards to the distance
of bight or ten miles, when; it divides itfelf into
• 1 F 2 two