Darién Province

It turns out that the person was actually dead, um, though, and in episode three-eighteen, we covered more than one case like this.

Among parapsychologists, these are known as peak-in-Darien experiences.

That's a reference to a line from an old poem about a mountain peak in Darien province, Panama.

We won't go into why, but that's why they're called that.

To this effect, he determined to go onto the coasts of Cartagena.

But God Almighty, the time of His divine justice being now come, had appointed the Indians of Darien to be the instruments and executioners thereof.

These Indians of Darien are esteemed as bravos, or wild savage Indians, by the neighboring Spaniards, who never could civilize them.

Hither Lolonois came, brought by his evil conscience that cried for punishment, thinking to act his cruelties.

But the Indians, within a few days after his arrival, took him prisoner and tore him in pieces alive, throwing his body limb by limb into the fire and his ashes into the air that no trace or memory might remain of such an infamous, inhuman creature.

Hereupon, being stimulated with the hope of those vast riches they promised themselves from their success, they unanimously agreed to that design.

Now that my reader may better comprehend the boldness of this exploit, it may be necessary to say something beforehand of the city of Puerto Bello.

This city is in the province of Costa Rica, ten degrees north latitude, fourteen leagues from the Gulf of Darien, and eight westwards from a port called Nombre de Dios.

There are moments in history that changed the course of a nation, yet somehow remain surprisingly little known.

For Scotland, one of those moments was the Darien Venture, an ambitious attempt in the late 17th century to establish a Scottish trading colony on the isthmus of Panama.

What began as a dream of prosperity ended in disaster, bankruptcy and ultimately helped pave the way towards political union with England.

In the new book, This Door of the Seas, couple novelist Val McDermid and geographer Jewel Sharp bring the story to life in a very different way.

Told through a series of letters home from expedition scientist James Wallace, it's a story of ambition, hope, rivalry, hardship and the devastating consequences when an extraordinary dream begins to unravel.

I went to the Canongate Audio Studio in Edinburgh to watch Val and Joe record the introduction to the book, and I spoke to them about rediscovering this remarkable chapter of Scottish history, why the Darien story still resonates today, and the challenge of turning historical events into a compelling and very human story.

The body of the text of The Store of the Seas is narrated by Andrew Rothney.

But first, let's hear Joe Sharp's very first time narrating a book, narrating the intro to The Store of the Seas.

And he comes up with a wildly ambitious idea to save his home country.

The Darien Scheme.

The Darien Scheme.

Patterson proposes creating a massive, independent Scottish trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama in a place called Darien.

Okay, Panama.

His vision was to build the ultimate global trading hub.