Sir Gregor Macgregor and the Land That Never Was

On a cold January morning in 1823, a group of Scottish immigrants set sail from the port of Leith. They were headed for the nation of Poyais in Central America where, they were told, they would find rich and fertile soils, a balmy climate and beautiful, civilized cities. A month later they landed on the swamp-infested Mosquito Coast and were forced to realize that they had been the victims of one of the most elaborate hoaxes in history. The land they had been sold was non-existent; the banknotes and guidebooks they carried with them were forgeries; their documents were worthless. Poyais was a fiction. The man responsible was General Sir Gregor MacGregor, "the Prince of Poyais", a flamboyant and charismatic character who had fought as a mercenary in Simon Bolivar's army. On his return to Britain he reinvented himself and was welcomed into society. But who was this man who had succeeded in making himself a fortune and luring so many people away from their families to face a dangerous and uncertain future?