59S 



DAK I EN. 



DARIEN, ISTHMUS or ; a neck of land, which 

 unites North aud South America, composed of the 

 provinces of Panama and Veratrna. which belong to 

 the republic of Colombia. It lies in the form of a 

 crescent, about the great bay of Panama on the 

 south, and liaving the gulf of Mexico on the north. 

 It is 300 miles lontr, nml generally alxnit sixty wide ; 

 but, where narrowest, between Ue ports of 1'urto 

 Bello and Panama, only thirty-seven. This part is 

 sometimes called the Isthmus of Panama. The 

 country lien is made up of sickly valleys and stupen- 

 dous mountains, which seem to be placed as eternal 

 barriers between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 

 which can be distinctly seen at the same time from 

 the summits. These mountains here forbid the idea 

 of a canal ; but, by going to latitude 12 N., and 

 joining the head of the lake Nicaragua to a small 

 river wliich runs into the Pacific ocean, and forming 

 a canal thirty miles long, Through a low, level coun- 

 try, a communication between the two seas becomes 

 practicable. 



The advantageous situation of this province com- 

 municating with the two seas, its natural fertility, 

 but above all, the reputation of its gold mines, have 

 induced foreigners, at different periods, to attempt 

 establishing themselves in it. Of these attempts, the 

 most remarkable is tliat which was made by Patter- 

 son, a Scotsman, towards the close of the seventeenth 

 century. It is said that he was originally a bucca- 

 neer; who afterwards became a clergyman, and, under 

 pretence of converting the Indians, visited the New 

 World. He was undoubtedly a man of an original 

 mind, and of a bold and enterprising disposition. He 

 was the first projector of the bank of England, and 

 being defrauded of his just recompense by those who 

 adopted his plans, he resolved to confine his future 

 schemes to the benefit of his native country. On his 

 original and ostensible design of establishing an East 

 India trade in Scotland, he engrafted the secret and 

 magnificent plan of forming an emporium on each 

 side of the isthmus of Darien, for the trade of the op- 

 posite continents. According to his idea, the manu- 

 factures of Europe were to be sent to the gulf of 

 Darien, and thence conveyed by land across the ridge 

 of mountains that intersects the isthmus, where they 

 were to be exchanged for the produce of South 

 America and of Asia ; and thus, to use his own em- 

 phatic language, he would wrest the keys of the 

 world from Spain. In order to attract encourage- 

 ment and support, he proposed to render his settle- 

 ment a free port, and to banish all distinction of 

 party, religion, or nation. But Scotland was at this 

 time very poor ; and the difficulties arising from her 

 poverty were increased by the opposition which the 

 plan met with in England. An alarm, first excited 

 by the East India Company and the West India mer- 

 chants, soon spread over the whole nation. Even 

 the parliament addressed the king hi a violent and 

 absurd address, remarkable for narrow and illibe- 

 ral views ; and the king appearing to fall in with 

 the clamour, the Indian Company, whom Patterson 

 had succeeded in establishing, withdrew their sub- 

 scription, and relinquished their designs. But Pat- 

 terson himself was not to be easily intimidated ; and 

 the Scottish nation, indignant at the opposition which 

 the plan had met with in England, avowedly because 

 it would be beneficial to Scotland, immediately sub- 

 scribed .400,000, although at that time there was 

 not above 800,000 of cash in the kingdom. Such 

 was the national enthusiasm, that young women threw 

 their little fortunes into the stock, and widows sold 

 their jointures to get the command of money for the 

 same purpose. Besides this sum, .300,000 was sub- 

 scribed at Hamburg, which, however, was with- 

 drawn, in consequence of the threatening memorial 



presented by the English resident to the senate of 

 that city. The Scots, nevertheless, persisted in 

 ih ir scheme : five large vessels, laden with merchan- 

 dise, military stores, and provisions, with a colony 

 of 1200 persons, sailed for the isthmus of Darlm. 

 King William, however, still opposed it : his policy 

 and wish were to oppose the aggrandizement of 

 the house of Bourbon ; and to accomplish tin's, he 

 wished to keep well with Spain. 



In the mean time, the fleet arrived in the gulf of 

 Darien ; and the settlement was very judiciously 

 formed at Acta, a place at an equal distance between 

 Porto Bello and Carthagena. Here is a secure and 

 capacious liarbour, formed by a peninsula, which the 

 colonists fortified, and named Fort St Andrew. To 

 the settlement they gave the name of New Caledonia. 

 Of the 1200 persons who had embarked, 300 were. 

 gentlemen, unaccustomed to labour, fatigue, or home- 

 ly fare, and totally unacquainted with any of those 

 arts which are indispensably necessaryin a new colony. 

 These consequently were of little use ; and even the 

 peasants, habituated to a cold climate, were unequal 

 to the fatigue of clearing the ground under a burning 

 tropical sun. In addition to these untoward circum- 

 stances, their provisions were either improper for 

 the climate. tr soon exhausted. The cargoes of mer- 

 chandise which they sent to the West India islands, 

 were not properly adapted for that market. The 

 infant colony was attacked by the Spaniards, and 

 proclamations were issued at Jamaica, Barbadoes, 

 and in the American plantations, prohibiting all 

 succour or access to the Scots at Darien, on the pre- 

 tence that their settlement there was an infringe- 

 ment of the alliance between England and Spain. 

 For eight months the colony bore up against these 

 accumulated misfortunes and persecutions ; but at 

 the end of this period, those who survived were com- 

 pelled, by disease and famine, to abandon their setr 

 tlement, and return to Europe. 



Before this circumstance was known, two other 

 expeditions sailed from Scotland ; and the informa- 

 tion of the abandonment of the first colony only 

 served to rouse the Scottish nation to more determined 

 perseverance hi the plan. When the second expedi- 

 tion arrived, they found the huts burnt, and the forts 

 demolished ; famine and disease assailed them ; they 

 were attacked by the Spaniards from Panama, these 

 they repulsed ; but a larger force coming from 

 Carthagena, obliged them to capitulate, on condition 

 that they should embark with their effects for Europe ; 

 few, however, of these, or of the other two colonies, 

 survived to return to Scotland. 



The Scottish nation, at this utter and irremediable 

 failure, were highly indignant. They endeavoured to 

 extort from William an acknowledgment of the na- 

 tional right to Darien ; and failing in this, they pre- 

 sented an address to him, to assemble the Scottish 

 parliament : when it did assemble, a resolution to 

 assert the national right to their colony, was only 

 prevented by adjournment, and ultimately by proro- 

 guing the parliament: it was, however, soon necessary 

 to reassemble and mollify it, in order to get the sup- 

 plies for the army ; and when it did meet again, 

 some very popular and spirited resolutions were 

 adopted on this subject. The Scottish nation were 

 never afterwards thoroughly reconciled to king Wil- 

 liam, and even for many years subsequent to his 

 death, the remembrance of the loss of Darien was 

 preserved with resentment and regret. In this 

 scheme, many families were, reduced to ruin, and few 

 had escaped without the Io38 of a relative or friend. 

 It is melancholy to reflect on the failure of this grand 

 and noble design, especially when we consider that 

 if the colony had been maintained only a few years 

 longer, the succession war would have secured the 



