In 1980, while Texaco was drilling in Lake Peigneur, a sinkhole opened up and drained the lake, swallowing the drilling platform, and several boats and barges in the process. In the 1690s, the Scottish Darien Company attempted to establish a colony, on what is now Panama. Scotland was behind in the race to exploit new worlds, and hoped to establish a trade route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, for power and riches.