Darien scheme

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The Darien venture or the Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing New Caledonia or Britain-in-Panama, a colony in the Darién Gap on the territory of present-day Panama and northern Colombia, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the colony, located on the Gulf of Darién, to establish and manage an overland route to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The backers knew that the first sighting of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Núñez de Balboa was after crossing the isthmus through Darién. The expedition also claimed sovereignty over "Crab Isle" (modern day Vieques, Puerto Rico) in 1698, yet sovereignty was short-lived. The settlement attempt failed; more than 80 percent of participants died within a year, and the settlement was abandoned twice. There are many potential explanations for the failure, including poor planning and provisioning; divided leadership; a lack of trade with local indigenous...

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