a long time, as they are never injured by rain.  The timber used by the better sort of people has to be brought by sea from other places.  The walls of the churches and of the best houses are neatly whitened, both within and without, and the beams, posts, and doors are all adorned with carved work.  Within they are ornamented with good pictures, and rich hangings of tapestry or painted calico, brought from Spain.  The houses of Payta, however, were not of this description, though their two churches were large and handsome.  Close by the sea there was a small fort, armed only with muskets, to command the harbour, as also another fort on the top of a hill, which commanded both the harbour and lower fort.  The inhabitants of Payta are obliged to bring their fresh-water from Colon, a town two leagues to the N.N.E. where a fresh-water river falls into the sea; and have also to procure fowls, hogs, plantains, maize, and other provisions from that and other places, owing to the barrenness of the soil in its own neighbourhood.  The dry and barren tract of this western coast of America begins at Cape Blanco in the north, and reaches to Coquimbo in 30 deg.  S. in all of which vast extent of coast I never saw or heard of any rain falling, nor of any thing growing whatever either in the mountains or vallies, except in such places as are constantly watered, in consequence of being on the banks of rivers and streams.

The inhabitants of Colon are much given to fishing, for which purpose they venture out to sea in bark-logs.[162] These are constructed of several round logs of wood, forming a raft, but different according to the uses they are intended for, or the customs of those that make them.  Those meant for fishing consist only of three or five logs of wood about eight feet long, the middle one longer than the rest, especially forewards, and the others gradually shorter, forming a kind of stem or prow to cut the waves.  The logs are joined to each other’s sides by wooden pegs and withes, or twisted branches of trees.  Such as are intended for carrying merchandise are made in the same manner and shape, but the raft consists of twenty or thirty great trunks of trees, thirty or forty feet long, joined together as before.  On these another row of shorter trees are laid across, and fastened down by wooden pegs.  From, this double raft or bottom they raise a raft of ten feet high, by means of upright posts, which support two layers of thick trees laid across each other, like our piles of wood, but not so close as in the bottom of the float; these being formed only at the ends and sides, the inner part being left hollow.  In this hollow, at the height of four feet from the floor of the raft, they lay a deck or floor of small poles close together, serving as the floor or deck of another room; and above this, at the same height, they lay just such another sparred deck.  The lower room serves for the hold, in which they stow ballast, and water casks or jars.  The second room serves for the seamen and what belongs to them.  Above all the goods are stowed, as high as they deem fit, but seldom exceeding the height of ten feet.  Some space is left vacant behind for the steersman, and before for the kitchen, especially in long voyages, for in these strange vessels they will venture to make voyages of five or six hundred leagues.