At present it is a large place, the houses of which are built of unburnt bricks and mud. The inhabitants are a mixture of Spaniards and Indians; near it is a town called Los Santos, which has been built by people from Nata, for the sake of the excellent soil in its vicinity, on which they have formed extensive plantations.
The population of this town is greater than that of the city of Nata, and also consist of Spaniards and Indians.
In the province of Panama, there are many villages, and farms, some of which are inhabited by the Europeans and their descendants, and others by the Indians who have been converted.
PROVINCE OF DARIEN.
The third and last province of Tierra Firme is that of Darien, bounded on the north by the Spanish Main, or Caribbean Sea, on the east by Carthagena, west by Panama, and south by the Pacific Ocean, and the province of Choco.
Darien is one of the largest provinces of Terra Firma; it is about 200 miles long and 80 broad, but is very thinly inhabited, and that almost wholly by the native tribes. The unhealthiness of the climate and the impenetrable forests preventing the formation of European settlements.
The valleys in Darien are so marshy, from the overflowing of the numerous rivers that the savages build their habitations in the branches of high trees. These rivers are in many parts very large, but most of them are not navigable, owing to the shoals, bars, and rapids in which they abound; most of them, however, roll down grains of gold.
A small fort which protects the gold mines of Cana is the principal station of the Spaniards on the frontiers of Choco; its garrison is sent from Panama every month. Santa Maria el Antigua del Darien was the first settlement of the Spaniards on the Atlantic coast, but as it did not flourish, it was soon abandoned.
The chief products of this province are cotton and tobacco; it may, however, be said to be now wholly in the power of the natives, who are scattered over the whole country, and amount to about 30,000 souls, with whom the Spaniards have been frequently at war, but have as yet gained no sensible advantages. In 1786, the viceroy of New Granada sent a formidable expedition against them, but the troops being unable to bear the inclemency of the climate, the army returned to Bogota without effecting any thing.
The gulf of Darien which is the mouth of the Rio Atrato, or rather a large arm of the sea, is the most important part of the northern coast, and contains several islands of considerable size. The river Atrato though very wide, has many shoals at its mouth, yet serves to export much of the internal produce of some of the settlements in the neighbouring provinces; its mouth is a noted smuggling station, where European goods are exchanged for the gold of Choco.