scheme met with instant approval in Scotland, then a distinct kingdom, though under the same monarch as England. The royal approval having been given to an act of the Scottish Parliament, incorporating a company for the purpose of founding such a colony, the Scotch enthusiastically declared,
King William did encourage us, against the English will;
His word is like a stately oak, will neither bend nor break,
We 'll venture life and fortune both for Scotland and his sake.[1]
But there was very little of the "stately oak" about William Ill's behavior, when the powerful British East India Company complained that its monopoly of trade with the East might be injured. At once, the governors of Jamaica and all other English colonies were forbidden to help the Scotch colonists, a warship was sent to seize the land if possible, before they disembarked, and, heaviest blow of all, the English subscribers were made to return their shares. So though the Scotch went ahead by themselves, reached Darien before the English warship, and established their colony, they had not enough money to maintain it properly.
The Indians were glad to welcome twelve hundred white men, come, as they supposed, to wage war on the Spaniards. A harbor near Balboa's old town of Acla was now named Caledonia Bay, and on it was built the town of New Edinburgh, guarded by Fort St. Andrew. A treaty of alliance was made with the Indians, who were eager to take the field, and great apprehension was felt at Panama and Porto Bello.
- ↑ "The Darien Song, by a Lady of Quality."
