was granted, with all the necessary recommendations and assurances of the royal protection to the travellers. He moreover appointed two officers of his navy, says Ulloa, well skilled in mathematics, to join in the observations which were to be made, in order to give them a greater dignity, and a more extensive advantage; and that the Spaniards might owe only to themselves the fruits and improvements expected from them.
The two officers appointed for this service by Philip were Don George Juan, and Don Antonio de Ulloa. Previous to their departure, these two gentlemen were promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the royal navy. Having received their instructions, they set sail in separate ships from Cadiz Bay, May 26th, 1735, and on the 9th of July arrived in the bay of Carthagena. Here they found on landing that the French academicians had not yet reached the port, and as they had been instructed to await their arrival at this city, they determined to employ the interval in making nautical and astronomical observations. They were allowed ample leisure by the delay of the French travellers, who did hot join them until the 15th of November, when they all proceeded together, by the way of Porto Bello, Panama, and Guayaquil, to their ultimate destination.
The party set sail on the 24th of November, and reached Porto Bello on the 29th. From thence they proceeded in small vessels up the river Chagre, the current of which was so rapid, that their oars became useless, and they were compelled to push the vessels along with poles. This river was formerly named Lagartos, from the great number of caymans or alligators which were found in it. Its banks, rendered impassable by woods and thickets, exhibited a series of the richest and most magnificent landscapes:—the groves which shade the plains, and extend their branches to the river, the various dimensions of the trees which cover the eminences; the
