into a lake, at once spreads out; the volume is broken, and although an instant before it flowed riotously, and seemed capable of sweeping away every obstacle, it is calmed.  Even the direction of the current is no longer perceptible.  I once questioned Admiral Diego Columbus, son and heir of the discoverer, who had crossed these seas, coming and going, four times.  When asked his opinion, he answered:  “It is difficult to return as one went; but upon sailing northwards on the open ocean to return to Spain, the movement in the waters driving towards the east is very perceptible.  I think this is probably due to the ordinary influence of ebb and flow, and should not be attributed to those eddyings of the waters.  The continent is open, and there must exist between the two bodies a strait through which these turbulent waters escape to the west.  In obedience to a decree of Heaven, they circulate throughout the entire universe.”

Oviedo agrees with Andreas in thinking that the continent is closed, but he does not believe that this western mass of the continent breaks the current, driving it into the vast ocean.  He likewise affirms that he has carefully noted that the current running westwards, takes its rise in the open sea; when following along the coast in small ships, it is the current running eastwards that is struck, so that one may be transported in two opposite directions at the same spot.  This is a phenomenon which may frequently be observed in rivers, where the conformation of the banks gives rise to whirlpools.  If straws or bits of wood are thrown into the river at such a place, those which fall into the middle are carried away by the current; on the contrary, those which drop into some bend along the shore or by a slanting bank, go up the current until they again drift into the middle of the river.

Such are their opinions, and I repeat them, although they are in contradiction.  We shall form no well-grounded opinion until the true cause of this phenomenon has been verified.  Meanwhile it is only possible to set forth these different theories, until the day fixed and the astronomical moment for the discovery of this secret of Nature shall arrive.  But enough concerning these pelagic currents.

Some few more words about gold mines at Darien, and we shall have accomplished our task.

We have said that nine miles from Darien begin the hills and plains containing gold deposits, either in the earth or in the bed or the banks of the rivers.  Any one who has been bitten by the gold fever usually sets out as follows:  the directors assign him a parcel of ground twelve paces square, which he may choose as he pleases, on condition that it is not land that has already been occupied or abandoned by his companions.  When he has made his choice, he settles on that spot with his slaves, as though within a temple, whose limits the Augurs have traced with their sacred staves.  The Christians use native labour both in the mines and in agriculture.  This