mpted : For in fome parts it ran doping with a rapid but uniform
motion, while in others it tumbled over the ledges of rocks with
a perpendicular d'efcent. All the neighbourhood of this dream
was a fine wood; and even the huge mafffes of rock which overhung
the water, and which, by their various projedtions formed
the inequalities o f the channel, were covered with lofty foreft-
trees. Whild the Commodore, with thofe accompanying him,’
were attentively viewing this place, and were remarking the different
Blendings of the water, the rocks, and the wood, there came
in 'fight (as it were dill to heighten and animate the profpedt) a
prodigious flight of mackaws, which hovering over this fpot, and
often wheeling and'playing on the wing about it, afforded:a mod1
brilliant appearance, by the glittering of the fun on their variegateff
plumage; fo that Tome of the fpedtators cannot refrain from a kind:
o f tranfport, when, they recount the complicated beauties which,
occurred in this extraordinary water-fall..
In this expedition, which the boat made albng the eadem fide
of the I(land, though they difcovered no inhabitants, yet they fâw
many huts upon the fhore, and'grearheapsof fir ells of fine mother
of pearl fcattered. up and down.in different places: Thefe
were the remains left by the pearl-fifhers from Panama, who often
frequent this place in the fummer feafon : For the pearl oyders,
which are to be met with every where in the bay of Panama, do
fo abound at ^ui&o, thzt by advancing a very, little way into the fea,
you might ftoop down and.reach them from the bottom.. They-
are ufuaJly very large,, and out o f curiofity we opened fome o f
them with a view o f fading them, but we foundthem extremely,
tough and unpalatable. And having mentioned thefe oyders and
the pearl-fifhery, I mud beg leave to recite a few particulars relating
to that fubjedt.
The oyders mod produdtive of pearls are thofe fôund in confi-
derable depth ;, for though what are-taken up by wading near fhore
are of the fame fpecies, yet thepearls they contain are few in number
and very fmall. It.is faid too, that the pearl partakes in fome degree
-Tree of the quality o f the bottom on which the oyder is lodged; fo
■ that if the bottom be muddy, the pearl is dark and ill-coloured.
The taking up oyders from great depths for the fake of their
pearls, is a work performed by Negro Haves, of which the inhabitants
of Panama, and the neighbouring coad, formerly kept vad
numbers, who were carefully trained to this bufinefs. Thefe are
faid not to be edeemed compleat divers, till they have by degrees
been able to protradt their flay under water fo long, that the blood
gufhes out from their nofe, mouth, and ears. And it is the tradition
of the country, that when this accident has once befallen them,
they dive for the future with much greater facility than before; and
they have no apprehenfion either that any inconvenience can attend
it, the bleeding generally flopping of itfelf, or that there is any
probability of their ever being fubjedt to it a fecond time. But to
return from this digreffion.
Though the pearl oyder, as hath been faid, was incapable of
being eaten; yet that defedl was more than repaid by the turtle, a
dainty which the fea at this place furniflied us with in the greated
plenty and perfection. There are generally reckoned four fpecies
o f turtle; that is, the trunk turtle, the loggerhead, the hawks-
bill, and the green turtle. The two firfl are rank, and un-
wholefome; the hawkfbill (which affords the tortoife fhell) is
but indifferent food, though better than the other two; but the
green turtle is generally edeemed, by the greated part of thofe
who are acquainted with its tafle, to be the mod delicious of all
eatables; and that it is a mod wholefome food, we are amply convinced
by our own experience : For we fed on this lad fpecies,
or the green turtle, near four months; and confequently had it
been in any degree noxious, its ill effedts could not poffibly have
efcaped us. A t this Ifland we caught what quantity we pieafed with
great facility; for as they are an amphibious animal, and get on
fhore to lay their eggs, which they generally depofit in a large hole
in the fand, juft above the high-water mark, covering them up,
and leaving them to be hatched by the heat of the fun, we ufually
F f 3 diiperfed