Wafer's New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of Darien

Doctor Wafer's Amazing Story

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. This is a must read work for anyone interested in: Pirates, the Indians of Central America, Panama, Description and travel, and natural history.

THE DAMPIER COLLECTION

Vol. 1. A New Voyage Round the World by William Dampier

Vol. 2. Supplement of the Voyage Round the World by William Dampier

Vol. 3. Two Voyages to Campeachy by William Dampier

Vol. 4. A Discourse of Winds by William Dampier

Vol. 5. A Voyage to New Holland by William Dampier

Vol. 6. A Continuation of a Voyage to New Holland by William Dampier

Vol. 7. The Adventures of William Dampier: Being William Dampier's Unpublished Journal (Sloan MS. 3236) by William Dampier

Vol. 8. William Dampier's Atlas &c. A Collection of Maps. A Glossary. A Catalog of Old and New Place Names. Dampier's Who's Who. A Brisk Biography.

Vol. 9. A Booty of Words. A Dictionary Devoted to the Linguistic Treasure Contributed to the English Language by the Pirate William Dampier

Vol. 10. Wafer's New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of Darien by Lionel Wafer

Vol. 11. Cowley's Voyage Round the Globe by William Ambrosia Cowley

Vol. 12. Baz Ringrose's Journal Into the South Seas by Basil Ringrose

Vol. 13 William Dick's South Sea Voyage by William Dick (aka William Williams)

Vol. 14. Captain Sharp's Journey Over the Isthmus of Darien and Expedition Into the South Seas by Bartholomew Sharp

Vol. 15. The Voyage and Adventures of Bartholomew Sharp and Others in the South Seas by Anonymous

Vol. 16. Funnell's A Voyage Round the World. Containing an Account of Captain Dampier's Expedition Into the South-Seas in the Ship St George, In the Years 1703 and 1704 by William Funnell. Includes: William Dampier's Vindication by William Dampier

Vol. 17. Woodes Rogers' Cruising Voyage Round the World by Woodes Rogers

Vol. 18. Woodes Rogers' Life Aboard a British Privateer by Woodes Rogers

Vol. 19. A Voyage to the South Seas and Round the World by Captain Edward Cooke