Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

by Jonathan Kennedy

The Scottish Darien Company’s expedition was funded by public subscription and thousands of people had invested their life savings in the enterprise. In total, this amounted to between a quarter and half of Scotland’s wealth.[28] In 1698, 1,200 people set sail to “New Edinburgh” with a year’s food supply and the “the nation’s finest woollen hose, tartan blankets, ornamental wigs, and leather shoes—25,000 pairs” to trade with the natives.[29] Within eight months of arriving, over three-quarters of them were dead and the survivors returned to Scotland. Tragically, just before this party arrived back in Scotland to tell their compatriots about the disaster, the Darien Company sent another group of 1,300 people to New Edinburgh. Within nine months, all but 100 of the second group were dead. Infectious diseases weren’t the only problem encountered by the Scottish colonialists—as you can imagine, there wasn’t much demand for itchy socks or warm blankets—but they were the most significant cause of failure.

The execution was poor and the products to be traded were not ideal. Additonally, if the settlers aimed to be self-suffcient (not relying on trade with indingenous communities) they may have avoided diseases.