nance of the colony had been largely embezzled by those having the
matter in charge, the people were soon out of provisions. Fishing and
the chase were now the only sources, and as these were precarious, the
colonists were soon on the verge of starvation. As the summer drew near
the atmosphere became stifling, and the exhalations from the steaming
soil, added to other causes, wrought death among the settlers. The
mortality rose gradually to ten a day. Both the clergymen who
accompanied the expedition were dead; one of them, Rev. Thomas James,
died at sea before the colonists landed, and soon after the arrival Rev.
Adam Scot succumbed. Paterson buried his wife in that soil, which, as he
had assured his too credulous countrymen, exhaled health and vigor. Men
passed to the hospital, and from thence to the grave, and the survivors
were only kept alive through the friendly offices of the Indians.
Affairs continued daily to grow worse. The Spaniards on the isthmus
looked with complacency on the distress of the Scotchmen. No relief, and
no tidings coming from Scotland, the survivors on June 22, 1699, less
than eight months after their arrival, resolved to abandon the
settlement. They re-embarked in three vessels, a weak and hopeless
company, to sail whithersoever Providence might direct. Paterson, the
first to embark at Leith, was the last to re-embark at Darien. He begged
hard to be left behind with twenty or more companions to keep up a show
of possession, and to await the next arrival from Scotland. His
importunities were disregarded, and, utterly helpless, he was carried on
board the St. Andrew, and soon after the vessels stood out to sea. The
voyage was horrible. It might be compared to the horrors of a slave
ship.

The ocean kept secret the sufferings on board these pestilential ships
until August 8th, when the Caledonia, commanded by Captain Robert
Drummond, drifted into Sandy Hook, New York, having lost one hundred and
three men since leaving Darien, and twelve more within four days after
arrival, leaving but sixty-five men on board fit for handling ropes. The
three ships, on leaving Darien, had three hundred each, including
officers, crew and colonists. On August 13th, the Unicorn, commanded by
Captain John Anderson, came into New York in a distressed condition,
having lost her foremast, fore topmast, and mizzen mast. She lost one
hundred and fifty men on the way. It appears that Captain Robert
Pennicuik of the St. An