A new voyage and description of the Isthmus of America, giving an account of the author's abode there : the form and make of the country, the coasts, hills, rivers, &c. Woods, soil, weather, &c. trees, fruit, beasts, birds, fish, &c : the Indian inhabitants, their features, complexion, &c. their manners, customs, employments, marriages, feasts, hunting, computation, language, etc. : with remarkable occurrences in the South sea and elsewhere…

LIONEL WAFER was a pirate-surgeon, prowling the West Indies and South Seas with the likes of William Dampier, Basil Ringrose, William Ambrosia Cowley, Captain Bartholomew Sharp and Captain Edward Cook. He chose the life of a buccaneer in 1679 when he abandoned his medical practice in Port Royal to join a pirate crew intent on sacking Panama City. This fateful decision would lead to a decade of dangerous undertakings.

IN 1681, while crossing from the Pacific to Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Darien, Dr. Wafer had his knee burned to the bone in a tragic gunpowder-drying incident. Left by his companions, he rested and recovered in the company of the so-called wild Cuna Indians. He spent four months among them, learning their language and customs, and culminating in his famous description of the Cuna and their country.

Written from memory, this volume contains Wafer's own account of his voyage and adventures and provides a unique first-hand glimpse into the pirating and sailing life of the seventeenth-century and into the lives of the Cuna (Moskito) Indians, who lived upon the Isthmus of Darien.

Hard. Nice full calf. Slight scuffing. Inside boards marbled. Crack in book block between p. 2 and 3. Otherwise book block and binding tight. Slightly warn at corners. Name in ink blotted out on title page. Light pencil writing on title page as well. Map and plates all present fine condition except as described. Map with very slight tear at crease. Plate: Indians in council robes very lightly stained at the head. Plate: Indians marching, very slight tear at seam. Thin tape repair inside front and rear boards. Label to spine "Voyage of 1699" In all a fine copy of a scarce work with the map and all the plates present.