DARIEN, the name of a gulf on the northern coast of South America, and of the isthmus connecting the grand northern and southern divisions of the new world.-1. Gulf of D., the most southerly portion of the Caribbean sea, about 70 m. in length from n. to s.,and 25 from e. to west. The shores are in most places steep, and are in many places fringed with shoals. The southernmost part of the gulf is called the bay of Choco, into which the considerable river Atrato debouches.-2. The isthmus of D. is a term com• monly used as interchangeable with that of isthmus of Panama (q.v.), now the more usual name. D. was also the name given to a province in the republic of New Granada, corresponding to what is now the state of Panama in Colombia. One of the earliest Spanish settlements on the mainland was in D.. the region being then called also by the Spaniards Castilla de Oro ("the Golden Castile") and forming the best known part of their Tierra Firma. In the conquistador Balboa, governor of the Darien settlement, crossed the isthmus with 290 men, and on 26th Sept. first caught sight of the Pacific
ocean. As early as 1528, the idea of a ship canal across the isthmus was entertained; in 1826, a line for such a canal was traced between Panama and Portobello; and between 1843 and 1874, repeated surveys have been made by French, English,•and American engineers with the same view. One of the most recent schemes proposes to take advan tage of the lower course of the river At-rato, and so lies outside the isthmus, properly so called. But in all the surveys the height to be surmounted between ocean and ocean, and other great though not insuperable difficulties, have prevented the realization of any of the projects. For the railway from Aspinwall to Panama. see PaxAmA. The grin cipal ports on the northern shore of the isthmus are Chiriqui, Colon or Aspinwall on Limon bay, Portobello, San Blas, and Puerto Escoces on Caledonia bay.