Beyond these there were other foes to be feared, quite as grim and even
more dangerous. In 1670 the famous buccaneer, Captain Morgan, destroyed
the castle of San Lorenzo at Chagres. This, of course, was in addition
to his feat of capturing and burning the town of Panama. Ten years later
another party of buccaneers captured the city of Santa Maria, in
consequence of which the mines of Cana were closed in 1685.
Towards the end of the seventeenth century William Paterson established
a Scottish colony on the Bay of Caledonia, at Puerto Escoces, but the
venture scarcely proved a success. Ill-fate seems to have pursued most
of the attempts at settlement in New Granada while the Spanish rule
lasted. Yet the town of Santa Fe de Bogota flourished, and has continued
to flourish to this day, so that no less an authority than Mr. R.B.
Cunninghame Graham has described it as the chief literary centre south
of Panama.
The town is set at the foot of the hills, facing a vast plain, and
towards the end of the colonial period was represented as a city of
3,250 families--a population of upwards of 16,000. It was the centre of
archiepiscopal authority, with jurisdiction over the Dioceses of
Cartagena, Santa Marta, Panama, Caracas, and Quito.
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