Police have pinpointed the area where an American tourist was slashed with an axe last week and are urging anyone in the vicinity at the time to come forward.

Detectives now believe the 46-year-old Massachusetts man was mugged by four men on Friswells Road in Devonshire, between South Terrace and Border Lane, at about 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15.

Police want to speak to any Friswells Road residents or motorists in the area and anyone who saw three males aged 18 to 20 running north on Roberts Avenue, west on Store Lane and south on Friswells Road, possibly between houses.

The cruise ship passenger was treated in hospital for cuts to his chin, head and chest after he was set upon by four men with a bladed weapon after stopping on his rental scooter to have a cigarette.

They stole his wallet, containing cash and credit cards.

A Bermuda Police Service spokesman said yesterday that the victim rode his bike from Border Lane onto Palmetto Road after the assault.

"We are especially interested in speaking with the black female driver of an SUV type vehicle which was travelling on Palmetto Road in the opposite direction around that time," said the spokesman.

"The victim then made his way to Terceira's gas station on his rental cycle, without his helmet, where an ambulance was called."

Witnesses are urged to call Detective Sergeant Kuhn Evans at the Hamilton Criminal Investigation Unit on 295-0011.