The Darien Scheme

Scotland’s disaster in the Americas

Many countries across Europe could have done better during the late 1600s. Between 1695 and 1697, several northern countries experienced a huge famine, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. France and Italy saw over 2 million deaths throughout the century due to famine and war, and Scotland experienced its coldest decade in 750 years, as studies on ancient tree rings show.

(An old map of the region of Darien)

Scotland had been in dispute for a long time with not only England but also many of the clans within its own country. There were several smaller wars throughout the 1600s, and the country’s exports shrank to almost nothing. All the goods Scotland needed had to be brought from England, and after a combination of widespread crop failures, famine, war, and economic downfall, Scotland lost almost 15% of its entire population during the century.

The answer to saving Scotland – The Darien Scheme

There were several new schemes introduced to try and improve the country and its economy, which was so damaged that people were worried about being forced to sign a union with England just to save themselves. One of these ideas was suggested by a Scottish national named William Paterson who was a financier and merchant by trade, which later became known as the Darien scheme.

For several years he had tried to promote an idea about a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, but his idea was mostly ignored. It wasn’t until Scotland was in such a desperate financial situation combined with a stroke of luck that his idea finally became a reality. A small fleet that belonged to “The Company of Scotland for trading to Africa” had finally returned from its months-long voyage with tons of goods it was able to sell in a matter of weeks.

The Company of Scotland managed to raise £400,000 which was a massive amount of money and looked like enough to turn things around for the country. The idea of a colony in Panama began to look more attractive and also much more possible with this new financial backing. When the expedition finally launched, it was estimated to be backed by around 20% of all the wealth in Scotland.

How the Darien scheme would work

One of the biggest problems for people during the early years of sailing was the connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The northwest passage still hadn’t been found and the only other routes were around the southern tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean, which would take about 10 months, or to sail around the southern tip of South America and back up again, which took almost as long and was even more dangerous.

(A picture of what the Scottish were hoping would result from the colony, a large and profitable territory to rival any other)

This meant that trade between the east and west coasts of the Americas could only be made by a very long voyage or passing across the land, a problem that the Darien scheme would solve. The idea was to create a colony on the northern coast of Panama, in the area now known as the Darien Gap, and find a land route through the jungle to the other side where another colony would be built.

This was long before the Panama Canal was even thought of and if Scotland was the sole owner of a land route that could save people months at sea and thousands of miles, then they could charge a high price to pass through. The other option was to keep it all for themselves and have a huge market of goods along the west coasts of the Americas that only they could quickly access and trade with the rest of Europe.

The financial gain from the idea looked very promising, and many independent investors also gave money to the scheme. Finding people and ships for the expedition wasn’t a problem, as thousands of people showed interest, many of which were former soldiers and sailors who had no other hope for employment.

The Expedition launches

There were 5 ships in the initial expedition (the Caledonia, Dolphin, Endeavour, Saint Andrew, and the Unicorn) that set sail out of Edinburgh with around 1200 people in July 1698. They made supply stops at Maderia and an island in the Caribbean before making their way south to the Bay of Darien where they planned to make a settlement near the mouth of the great Darien river.

The fleet landed on target on the coast of the Darien region on 2 November after just over 4 months at sea, only stopping at the 2 supply points and to briefly claim ownership of Crab island, which today is part of Porta Rica and is called Isla de Vieques.

The settlers named their new home “Caledonia” and made the following declaration:

“we do here settle and in the name of God establish ourselves; and in honour and for the memory of that most ancient and renowned name of our Mother Country, we do, and will from henceforward call this country by the name of Caledonia; and ourselves, successors, and associates, by the name of Caledonians”

They spent weeks digging to complete the harbor and constructed Fort St Andrew which they equipped with 50 cannons from their fleet.

The Problems begin

The Darien Scheme was supposed to be straightforward, and after the initial set-up, there was hopefully going to be nothing more than lots of digging and building the occasional bridge. If all the disastrous land expeditions in history competed for the most problems, the Darien scheme would be near the top of the list. Right from the start the problems began, with the seemingly peaceful harbor they spent so much time digging out now being dangerously tidal, with the currents easily capable of destroying a ship launched at the wrong time.

The Fort they built also lacked a source of fresh water and attempts to dig a well all failed. They built huts in another settlement close to the fort and called this New Edinburgh, and they cleared land to plant yams and corn. Letters sent home from the colony suggest that everything was going according to plan, but it has been widely agreed that these letters were written under orders to make everything look fine, with the truth being the complete opposite.

The settlers had trouble growing anything on the land they cleared, and the locals weren’t interested in trading the small amount of personal items the Scottish brought with them. Every few weeks a trade ship would see the port and make a stop to see if there was anything worth trading, but the settlers hadn’t been able to produce anything of worth and most of the trade ships left without handing over a single item.

A few months after landing the summer began, and with it came all of the horrible tropical diseases. Malaria and various fevers spread across the colony and mostly affected those who chose to live on the land, killing up to 10 settlers a day during the peak of the outbreaks.

Small groups of native tribes saw how badly the colony was doing and offered gifts of fruit, but the officers and those who chose to stay on the ships took these for themselves, leaving those on land to resort to hunting giant turtles for food. After the lack of things to eat, the other problem they had with food was made worse by the tropical climate that rapidly sped up how fast food would spoil.

The English and the Dutch refused to supply the colony because they feared angering the Spanish who had a large military presence in the area. As for the Spanish, it didn’t take them long to notice that a foreign power had built a large fort along one of their popular silver trading routes and they weren’t happy about it. luckily for the settlers, it took months to send a message around the world and organize an army.

The end of the First Expedition

The only thing the settlers had plenty of was alcohol, which was rationed out and became the favorite way for people to forget how bad their situation was. This only made things worse and the alcohol only sped up the deaths caused by dysentery and fever. People were dying constantly and even those who stayed on the ships and avoided the worst of the disease now found themselves starving.

After hundreds of the settlers had died from disease and starvation, the decision was made to abandon the colony and return back to Scotland. Six men were left behind to die within the overgrown huts because they were too weak to stand up, and less than 300 of the original 1200 managed to leave. The deaths continued on the ships and people died each day from both disease and starvation, with only 250 people managing to make it back to Scotland.

(An artist’s impression of the return of the settlers, showing the opposite of a hero’s welcome)

When they arrived back in the country they were seen as complete failures and were even disowned by their families. The entire country was hoping the expedition would not only return the 20% of Scotland’s wealth that was invested in it but also bring in a constant income that would be enough to stop it from having to sign treaties with England. The people who survived the Darien Scheme were seen as the people who let down the entire nation and brought the country further under England’s control.

Resupplying the colony

A few weeks after the last of the settlers left the colony, two ships arrived in the harbor on a resupply mission, only to find around 400 graves and a load of ruined huts. All the settlers were either dead or gone, and there was no reason to stay for too long. While the sailors of the supply ships were ashore, a fire was accidentally started and one of the ships was lost. This caused the rest of the mission to gather their things and head to the British-held territory of Jamaica.

Around one month after the first supply mission had arrived and left again, the second supply mission had arrived, made up of two more fully loaded ships. They arrived in the harbor to see the rotting remains of the previous supply ship and hundreds of graves. The captains quickly made the decision to turn around and get the hell out of there.

The Second Expedition

Word didn’t reach Scotland in time before the second expedition was launched, made up of around 1000 men. They arrived at the colony on 30 November 1699 and found another 2 supply ships had arrived after being commissioned in New York to send supplies.

Orders were given to rebuild the huts and clean up the area, which caused complaints and a huge blow to the morale of everyone involved. They expected to find a bustling trade town but instead arrived at an overgrown graveyard with nothing to live in.

Leadership started to break down when the captains of the ships couldn’t agree on a priority for the workforce, with one group wanting to improve the colony and make it livable, and the other wanting to rebuild the fort in anticipation of an attack by the Spanish.

The Spanish knew about the settlers and enough time had passed for them to organize a force and set sail for the colony. The settlers continued to suffer from bad morale and conditions until the arrival of Alexander Campbell of Fonab, who was sent by the company to organize a defense from any Spanish attacks.

When the Spanish arrived, they built a small stockade fort at Toubacanti, close to the colony. To prove his worth, Campbell led a force to attack the fort and managed to push the Spanish back to their ships, though he was wounded in the attack and was left bedridden with a bad fever.

The Spanish were also suffering from disease and boarded their ships to blockade the entrance to the colony in an attempt to bring a quick end to the situation. Both sides were losing people each day to disease, and the Spanish gave the settlers the option of surrendering or being killed. After several bouts of negotiation, the Settlers were allowed to leave with their remaining supplies and weapons, and the colony was abandoned for the last time.

Was the Darien Scheme ever possible?

No, no it wasn’t. There is a system of roads that make up the Pan-American highway and they stretch for 19,000 miles. The roads are consistent except for about 65 miles through the Darien Gap, where not a single road or drivable path exists. It has long been thought impossible, and still is, to build any kind of drivable road through the Darien Gap due to the mountainous terrain and river systems.

There was no way a group of people at the end of the 17th century would have been able to even walk across the route they intended to build a road through, and even today it is considered one of the most dangerous jungle hikes in the world.