582 



DARIEN. 



Darien. tigue of clearing the ground under a burning tropical 

 ■^"V""*""' sun. In addition to these untoward circumstances, 

 their provisions were either improper for the climate, 

 or soon exhausted. The cargoes of merchandize which 

 they sent to the West India islands, were not properly 

 adapted for that market. The infant colony was at- 

 tacked by the Spaniards, and proclamations were issued 

 at Jamaica, Barbadoes, and in the American plantations, 

 prohibiting all succour or access to the Scotch at Darien, 

 on the pretence that their settlement there was an in- 

 fringement of the alliance between England and Spain. 

 For eight months the colony bore up against these ac- 

 cumulated misfortunes and persecutions ; but at the 

 end of this period, those who survived were compelled, 

 by disease and famine, to abandon their settlement, and 

 return to Europe. Before this circumstance was known, 

 two other expeditions sailed from Scotland; and theinfor- 

 mation of the abandonment of the first colony only served 

 to rouse the Scotch nation to more determined perseve- 

 rance in the plan. When the second expedition 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 em- 

 bark with their effects for Europe; few, however, of 

 these, or of the other two colonies, survived to return 

 to Scotland. The Scotch nation, at this utter and irre- 

 mediable failure of a scheme, from which they antici- 

 pated great wealth, were highly indignant: they en- 

 deavoured to extort from William an acknowledgment 

 of the national right to Darien; and failing in this, they 

 presented an address to him, to assemble the Scotch 

 Parliament : when it did assemble, a resolution to as- 

 sert the national right to their colony, was only pre- 

 vented by adjournment, and ultimately by proroguing 

 the Parliament : It was, however, soon necessary to re- 

 assemble and mollify it, in order to get the supplies for 

 the army ; and when it did m eet again, some very po- 

 pular and spirited resolutions were adopted on this sub- 

 ject. The Scotch nation were never afterwards tho- 

 roughly reconciled to King William, 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, £200,000 had been sunk; 

 and at least as much had been expended in the pur- 

 chase of provisions for the colony : Many families were 

 reduced to ruin, and few had escaped without the loss 

 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 main- 

 tained only a few years longer, the succession war 

 would have secured the Scotch in the firm possession 

 of the country. Patterson, on his passage home, after 

 the ruin of the first colony, was seized with lunacy, 

 from which, however, he recovered. He lived many 

 years afterwards, pitied, respected, and neglected. The 

 famous Mr Law, who was a youth at the time of the 

 expedition to Darien, acknowledged that he was in- 

 duced to project his Mississippi scheme, from the rapi- 

 dity with which he perceived the spirit of speculation 

 eorrimunicate itself on this occasion. 



It is rather a remarkable circumstance, that Patter- 

 son should have happened to select for the seat of his 

 colony, the only point where it would be perfectly 

 practicable to open a communication between the two 

 seas. Ever since Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the 

 isthmus in 1513, this scheme has been fondly cherished, 



commuui- 

 chi ion be- 

 tween the 

 two seas. 



and several places have been pointed out, where it was Darien. 

 supposed it could be carried into execution. s ~" ~y— ' 



1. The river Chape, has been pointed out : this river, Places for 

 as lias been already mentioned, falls into the Atlantic, opening a 

 about eighteen leagues to the westward of Porto Bello, 

 and is navigable as far as Cruces, within five leagues of 

 Panama: but to this mode of communication there are 

 two strong objections ; in the first place, from the ac- 

 counts of Ulloa and Humboldt, the navigation of the 

 Chape is extremely difficult, dangerous, and slow ; it is 

 obstructed by races, or swift currents over the shallows, 

 where vessels, even though built on purpose, cannot 

 proceed for want of a sufficient quantity of water : in 

 the second place, the distance between Panama and 

 Porto Bello is not known, and the intervening country 

 is remarkably mountainous. So imperfectly is the re- 

 lative situation of these two places ascertained, that the 

 French geographers contend that Panama lies on the 

 east side of Porto Bello, and the Spaniards place it on 

 the west side. Ulloa, from his bearings in sailing up 

 the Chape, concluded that Panama was situated 81 ' to 

 the west of Porto Bello, while, according to Fidalgo, 

 who formed his map of the isthmus from astronomical 

 and trigonometrical operations, Panama lies 7' to the 

 east of Porto Bello. Humboldt, who took great pains 

 to ascertain the practicability of this mode of commu- 

 nication, is of opinion that it could not be effected, ex- 

 cept on a small scale, and by means of locks and tun- 

 nels. A modification of this plan has been proposed : 

 about five leagues from the mouth of the Chape, it re- 

 ceives the river Trinidad, which is navigable to within 

 thirty miles of Panama; and it is said this space is level, 

 and might easily be cut through : but too little is ac- 

 tually known respecting this tract, to deeide on the 

 practicability of the plan. 



2. To the north of the Chape is the grand lake of 

 Nicaraguay, which stretches nearly from sea to sea, and 

 falls into the Atlantic Ocean by a navigable river. In 

 the time of Charles III. a proposal was made to effect a 

 communication by means of this lake : but the coast of 

 Nicaraguay is inaccessible to shipping during the months 

 of August, September, and October, on account of 

 thunder storms and dreadful rains; and during the 

 months of January and February, on account of the 

 violent winds from the north-east. 



3. The Mandinga takes its rise in the mountains of 

 Chape, and runs east till it enters the bay, to which it 

 gives name : this bay commences about ten leagues to 

 the eastward of Porto Bello, and penetrates into the 

 isthmus to within about five leagues of the Pacific 

 Ocean : from the mountain where it takes its rise, the 

 river Chape also flows, which faUs into the gulf of 

 Panama. Little is known respecting the navigation 

 of these rivers, or the nature of the intervening coun-, 

 try ; but the Buccaneers penetrated from sea to sea, in 

 this direction, in ] 6*79; and the navigation of the Man- 

 dinga is prohibited by the Spanish government, under 

 pain of death. 



4>. But the most commodious spot is undoubtedly 

 that pointed out by Humboldt, in the bay of Cupica : 

 between it and the river Naipi, where it becomes navi- 

 gable, there are only five or six leagues of a fiat, level, 

 country, and the river Naipi terminates in the river of 

 Darien : in this direction only, is the chain of the Andes 

 interrupted. Near the source of the Darien, in the 

 province of Choco, a communication has actually been 

 opened between the two seas, ever since the year 1 788. 

 In this province there is a small ravine, lying between 



