Edinburgh, 1698. Scotland's crops had failed again, and starvation was building in the cities. A plan was hatched to colonize Panama, ship goods overland, and hence shorten the voyage to India. Half the available cash in Scotland was raised to support the project. Five ships and three thousand souls set off on the venture to be the salvation of an ailing nation-a four thousand mile journey into the unknown. Jamie Leith, a young street-wise teenager,...