Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SCOTLAND'S DOOMED DARIÉN VENTURE
In one of Panama's lesser-known historical footnotes in the late 1600s, the Scots gambled
their country's future on a
trading colony in the Darién
in the hopes of transforming
Scot-
land
into an imperial power to rival England. The undertaking was the brainchild of
Willi-
am Paterson
, one of the founders of the Bank of England, who, having failed to convince
the English government of the plan's viability, managed to rouse the nationalist pride of the
Scots, forming the Company of Scotland in May 1695 and persuading rich and poor alike
to pour their often meagre savings into the scheme. In the excitement that accompanied
preparations, the fact that Paterson had never set foot in Panama and was wholly ignor-
ant of conditions there passed unnoticed. Soon, a sizeable chunk of the kingdom's wealth
resided with the company.
A fleet of five ships and 1200 Scots, including Paterson and his family, set sail from Leith
in July 1698, their hulls laden with the most unlikely collection of personal possessions
and trading goods, including 4000 wigs, 25,000 pairs of shoes and 1500 Bibles. Within
days, many of the ships' supplies - including meat, butter and cheese - had spoiled and
rations were cut, quickly demoralizing the crews. After four months at sea, the fleet finally
anchored in Caledonia Bay, and for five months the settlers worked hard to build
New
Edinburgh
(in modern-day mainland Guna Yala), despite disease, low rations, drunken
infighting - 5000 gallons of brandy had been transported along with copious amounts of
claret and rum - and the tropical environment constantly conspiring against them. To make
matters worse, the English king, who was keen not to upset the Spanish, had forbidden any
of the Caribbean colonies to assist, despite the fact that the Scots were also his subjects.
Only
the Guna
were prepared to help - the Scots seemed infinitely preferable to the Span-
ish - though they were as uninterested as everyone else in trading with any of the colonists'
bizarre wares. When the promised supply ships failed to materialize, and the onset of the
rainy season brought another wave of disease, morale slumped further. After ten months,
and news that a Spanish fleet was on its way, the colony's council called it a day and de-
cided to weigh anchor. Only one ship made it back to Scotland, carrying a quarter of the
original population, including Paterson, though his family had died in Panama.
When rumour of the colony's abandonment reached the ears of the company directors, it
was roundly dismissed; refusing to believe that the men they had sent forth “could be guilty
of so much groundless cowardice, folly and treachery”, the directors sanctioned a second
fleet of four ships and 1300 would-be settlers, no better equipped than the first. Arriving to
find a deserted colony, the second expedition soon encountered the same problems that had
ruined the first and, worse, their renewed presence further riled the Spanish along the coast
in Portobelo. Small
battles
soon broke out between the Scots, aided by the Guna, and the
Spanish, and six months after arriving in April 1700, the Scots finally surrendered. Thanks
