Wafer, Lionel, 1660?-1705?

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.

London: Printed for J. Knapton, 1699.

This work contains the best account that has yet been given of the Isthmus of Panama, of the Indians there, of the natural products, and much more. In 1681, with buccaneers (among them William Dampier) marching across the Isthmus soon after the taking of Santa Maria, Wafer was injured by an explosion and left behind among the Darien Indians, with whom he lived until he was eventually sent to the coast and taken on board Dampier’s ship. Being a surgeon, Wafer was held in high esteem by the Indians and was able to gain all his information about them at first hand.