medieval-atlas/events-from-about-850-to-1460/156

Transcription

Scotland and the New World Darien was the name given to the entire isthmus now known as Panama. It was the Spanish province in central America between Veragua and New Granada; but the name came to be applied later to the smaller area between the Gulf of S Miguel on the east and the Gulf of Uraba on the west. This is where the Scottish settlement was. After 1321, Panama became a province of the independent republic ofColombia; and in 1903, Panama, with the backing of the United States of America, declared itself to be a separate republic. Now, the republic is divided into nine provinces of which two are Panama and Darien; and part of the original Darien is still within the republic of Colombia. There are other places called Darien: Santa Maria Antiqua del Darien, known as "Darien", is situated on the western shore of the Gulf of Ubara: it was the first Spanish settlement on the American mainland (1509). There are other Dariens on the river Tuva, and in the modem Canal Zone. (These places are seldom marked on modem maps.) The project of a passage across central America at the point chosen by the Scots was no more fanciful than the passage from Colon to (Old) Panama which the Spaniards used for three centuries. The Spaniards had tried the Darien passage before and the English were considering a colony there. Across the Serrania del Darien, was the river Tuira, which was navigable for 100 miles of its length of 190 miles. In 1698, the Scottish colonists landed near Punta Escoces and founded a colony called New Caledonia: its capital was New Edinburgh and its fort, New St Andrews. In February 1700 the Scots with Indian allies defeated a Spanish force at Tubuganti, but were themselves besieged by the Spaniards and had to surrender to them in March. That was the end of the Darien project. The expedition left some Scottish effect on the place-names of central America: Punta Escoces, Caledonia Bay and the Caledonian Mountains. Europe, 5,000 miles Central America: modem political divisions CALEDONIAN MOUNTAINS Panama __--O-ld-P~anama Bay ofPanama VERAGUA 8°·----------~~_+--------~~----~~----------~~~~--~~~_r----------- GRANADA East Indies, 11 ,000 miles '" Navigable part of River Tuira V ERA G U A Provinces of the Spanish Empire o Possible location of Tubuganti Darien o b miles kms 3.0 50 PGBM 156

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