235
on short allowance when the sickly season was thin-
ning their numbers, and bringing additional duty on
those who were in health. In this emergency their
Indian friends exerted themselves on their behalf,
putting to shame their Christian brethren, who, from
a mean jealousy, were attempting to starve them;
and they might still have done better, had not in-
subordination broken out among themselves, and a
conspiracy been formed, in which some of the council
were implicated, to seize one of the vessels and to
make their escape from the colony. After matters
had come this length, Paterson and others became
councillors—a measure which had the effect of check-
ing the turbulence of the discontented. The new
council also despatched one of their own number to
Britain, with an address to the king, and a pressing
request to send them out supplies of provisions,
ammunition, and men. On receiving this despatch
the directors lost no time in sending out the requisite
supplies. They had already sent despatches and
provisions by a brig, which sailed from the Clyde in
the end of February, 1699, but which unhappily
never reached her destination. On the arrival in
Britain of another of their number Mr. Hamilton,
who was accountant-general to the colony, and whose
absence was highly detrimental to its interests, the
Olive Branch, Captain Jamieson, and another vessel,
with 300 recruits and store of provisions, arms, and
ammunition, were despatched from Leith Roads on
the I2th of  May, 1699. Matters in the colony were
in the meantime getting worse; and on the 22d of
June they came to the resolution of abandoning the
place within eight months of the time they had taken
possession of it. The projector himself resisted this
measure manfully. He, however, fell ill in mind
and body, but recovered the full powers of his mind
at New York, whence he returned to Scotland to
make his report to the company, and give them his
best advice regarding the further prosecution of their
undertaking. Two of their captains, Samuel  Veitch
and Thomas Drummond, remained at New York.
The Olive Branch, the vessel alluded to as having
gone out to the colony with recruits and provisions,
was followed by a fleet of four ships, the Rising Sun,
Hope, Duke Hamilton, and Hope of  Borrowstonness,
with 1300 men. These ships all sailed from the
Kyles of Bute, on the 24th of September, 1699, and
reached Caledonia Bay on the 3Oth of November
following. With this fleet went out William Veitch,
son of the Rev. William Veitch of Dumfries, and
brother to Samuel already mentioned. Individuals
were also sent out by various conveyances, with bills
of credit for the use of the colony. Everything now,
however, went against them. The Olive Branch and
her consort having arrived in the harbour of New
Edinburgh, the recruits determined to land and
repossess themselves of the place, the huts of which
they found burned down and totally deserted. One
of their ships, however, took fire and was burned in
the harbour, on which the others set sail for Jamaica.
When the fleet which followed arrived in November,
and, instead of a colony ready to receive them, found
the huts burned down, the fort dismantled, and the
ground which had been cleared overgrown with
shrubs and weeds, with all the tools and imple-
ments of husbandry taken away, they were at a
loss what to do. A general cry was raised in
the ships to be conducted home, which was encour-
aged by Mr. James Byers, one of the new coun-
cillors, who seems to have been himself deeply im-
pressed with that dejection of spirit which, as a
councillor, it was his duty to suppress. Veitch,
however, assisted by Captain Thomas Drummond,
who had come out in the Olive Branch, and had
taken up his residence among the natives till the
fleet which he expected should arrive, succeeded in
persuading the men to land. As the Spaniards had
already shown their hostility, and having been de-
feated by a detachment of the colonists in the pre-
ceding February, were preparing for another attack
—encouraged, no doubt, by the treatment which
the colony had met with from the English govern-
ment—Drummond proposed an immediate attack
on Portobello, which they could easily have reduced,
and where they might have been supplied with such
things as they were most in want of. In this he was
cordially seconded by Veitch, but was prevented by
the timidity of his colleagues and the intrigues of
Byers, who at length succeeded in ejecting him from
the council. Two ministers, Messrs. James and
Scott, went out with the first expedition, but the
one died on the passage, and the other shortly after
landing in New Caledonia. The council having
written home to the directors regretting the death
of their ministers, and begging that others might be
sent to supply their place, the commission of the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, at the
particular desire of the board of directors, sent out
the Rev. Messrs. Alexander Shields (the well-known
author of the Hind let Loose, Life of  Renwick, &c.),
Borland, Stobo, and Dalgleish. These persons sailed
in the last fleet. They were instructed on their
arrival, with the advice and concurrence of the govern-
ment, to set apart a day for solemn thanksgiving,
to form themselves into a presbytery, to ordain elders
and deacons, and to divide the colony into parishes,
that thus each minister might have a particular
charge. After which it was recommended to them,
"so soon as they should find the colony in case for
it, to assemble the whole Christian inhabitants, and
keep a day together for solemn prayer and fasting,
and with the greatest solemnity and seriousness to
avouch the Lord to be their God, and dedicate them-
selves and the land to the Lord." The Church of
Scotland took so deep an interest in the colony of
Darien, that the commission sent a particular ad-
monition by the ministers, of which the following
may be taken as a specimen:—"We shall, in the
next place, particularly address ourselves to you that
are in military charge, and have command over the
soldiery, whether by land or sea. It is on you,
honoured and worthy gentlemen, that a great share
of the burden of the public safety lies. You are, in
some respects, both the hands and the eyes of this
infant colony. Many of you have lately been en-
gaged in a just and glorious war, for retrieving and
defending the Protestant religion, the liberties and
rights of your country, under the conduct of a match-
less prince. And now when, through the blessing
of the Lord of hosts, his and your arms have pro-
cured an honourable peace at home, you, and others
with you, have, with much bravery, embarked your-
selves in a great, generous, and just undertaking,
in the remote parts of the earth, for advancing the
honour and interest of your native country. If in
this you acquit yourselves like men and Christians,
your fame will be renowned both abroad and at
home." The ministers found the colony in circum-
stances very different from what the address of the
commission naturally supposed; and it was but few
of their instructions they were able to carry into
effect. Two of them, however, preached on land,
and one on board the Rising Sun, every Sabbath-
day. But in addition to the unfavourable aspect
of their affairs, the irreligion and licentiousness
of the colonists oppressed their spirits and para-
lyzed their efforts. With the view of forming an
acquaintance with the natives, they undertook a