West of the vicinity of Panama to the Gulf of Parita the country exhibits different natural features. It is, properly speaking, a plain which rises from both oceans with a very gentle ascent towards the middle of the isthmus. In the northern part numerous isolated hills however, rising from 300 to 500 feet above their base, are dispersed over the surface of this plain. In the middle of the region merely a few isolated ridges of hills of inconsiderable height occur. The hills are generally covered with trees, bat the plains and low grounds which surround them are aavanrusha, or prairies, destitute of trees, but covered with grass, which supplies pasture to numerous herds of cattle and horses. Though the vegetation of this region is generally much leas vigorous than in the country farther east, there are several culti vated tracts and others which may be cultivated. The climate also is more healthy. The principal rivers of this region are the Trinidad and the Caymito, or Chorrera. The Trinidad enters the Chagres about twenty-four miles from its mouth, after a course of about sixty miles. It rises near the south coast, not far from the town of Chorrera, and is navigable in the greatest part of its course as far up as the town of Capua. The Caymito, or Chorrera, is formed by several petty streams which descend from the eastern declivity of the table-land of Veragua, and though its course is short, it is navigable to the town of Chorrera. There in a harbour st ita month, but the anchorage is bad and exposed.
West of this region is the table-land (mesa) of Veragua. Its eastern ascent is formed by lofty mountains which rise abruptly, and frequently exhibit an almost perpendicular face of bare rock. The surface of the table-land itself is very uneven, and several summits on it rise to a great height. The Peak de Veragua is stated to attain nearly 9000 feet. In some places however there are plains of considerable extent. The general elevation of this table-land appears to be at least 3000 feet above the sea. It approaches the Caribbean Sea within a few miles, and is separated from it by a narrow and slightly hilly tract. But on the side of the Pacific the mountains approach close to the sea, and between the Gulf of Parita and the Bay of Montijo project in a wide and mountainous peninsula into the Pacific. This peninsula terminates iu the capes called Punta Male and Punta Marieta. Little is known of the interior, but it is more populous than the lower part of the isthmus, and is probably favourable to agriculture and to the health of the inhabitants. The rivers which descend from this table land are interrupted by rapids and cataracts, and bring down great quantities of earthy matter, which they deposit at their mouths. All these rivers accordingly have a bar, with a very few feet of water on it, which renders them incapable of receiving vessels above I00 tons burden.
The most western portion of the Tatha:is of Panama begins at the western declivity of the table-land of Veragua, and extends to the boundary line of Costa Rica. The northern part is occupied by the Chiriqui Lagoon, a sheet of water above ninety miles in length from east to west, and on an average twenty miles wide. It is separated from the Caribbean Sea by a series of low, swampy, and wooded islands, between which there are throe deep passages for vessels. The middle portion of the lagoon is occupied by low woody islands, but at each extremity a considerable space is free from islands, and alibrda excellent anchorage, as the lagoon is deep, and the swell of the Carib bean Sea is broken by the intervening islands. The country contiguous to the southern shores of the lagoon, for a distance of about twenty miles, is low and swampy, the soil being covered with a thick layer of alluvium produced by the annual innundatioua during the rainy season. At the back of this low tract, which is generally wooded, the country rises, and though it contains plains of some extent, it continues to rise gradually for forty or fiRy miles from the lagoon, where it is bordered by a continuous ridge of high ground. This chain, which is called the Cabecares Mountains, rises above 4000 feet above the sea, but it is of very inconsiderable width. The southern slope of this ridge is much more rapid, occupying only about ten miles in width, and terminating on the Pacific in tolerably level tracts, which however are many feet above the level of the sea. The whole country north of the Cabecares Mountains is a continuous forest of lofty trees, but along the Pacific there are several woodless tracts.' It is only in the last-mentioned district that the whites have formed a few establishments, the extensive country north of the Cabe cares Mountains being in possession of the native tribes, especially the Valientes. This may be attributed to the climate, which on the coast of the Pacific resembles that of Panama, being subject to regular changes of the seasons, and therefore healthy. But the low country about the Lagoon of Chiriqui is drenched with rain nearly all the year round the more elevated tract however between it and the Cabecares Moun tains has more regular weather, and is considered tolerably healthy. The numerous rivers which run from the northern slope of the moun tains into the Chiriqui Lagoon are impeded by many rapids and cataracts until they reach the low country, where their course is gentle, and where they may be navigated by large boats; but they have bars across their mouths, with little water on them.