THE BUCCANEERS IN THEWEST INDIES IN THEXVII CENTURY
BY
C.H. HARING
WITH TEN MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
First Published in 1910
PREFACE
The principal facts about the exploits of the Englishand French buccaneers of the seventeenth centuryin the West Indies are sufficiently well known tomodern readers. The French Jesuit historians of theAntilles have left us many interesting details of theirmode of life, and Exquemelin's history of the freebootershas been reprinted numerous times both in France andin England. Based upon these old, contemporary narratives,modern accounts are issued from the press withastonishing regularity, some of them purporting to beserious history, others appearing in the more popular andentertaining guise of romances. All, however, are alikein confining themselves for their information to what mayalmost be called the traditional sources—Exquemelin, theJesuits, and perhaps a few narratives like those of Dampierand Wafer. To write another history of these privateersor pirates, for they have, unfortunately, more than oncedeserved that name, may seem a rather fruitless undertaking.It is justified only by the fact that there existnumerous other documents bearing upon the subject,documents which till now have been entirely neglected.Exquemelin has been reprinted, the story of thebuccaneers has been re-told, yet no writer, whethereditor or historian, has attempted to estimate the trustworthinessof the old tales by comparing them with theseother sources, or to show the connection between thebuccaneers and the history of the English colonies in theWest Indies. The object of this volume, therefore, isnot only to give a narrative, according to the mostauthentic, available sources, of the more brilliant exploitsof these sea-rovers, but, what is of greater interest andimportance, to trace the policy pursued toward themby the English and French Governments.
The "Buccaneers in the West Indies" was presentedas a thesis to the Board of Modern History of OxfordUniversity in May 1909 to fulfil the requirements forthe degree of Bachelor of Letters. It was written underthe supervision of C.H. Firth, Regius Professor of ModernHistory in Oxford, and to him the writer owes a lastingdebt of gratitude for his unfailing aid and sympathyduring the course of preparation.
C.H.H.
Oxford, 1910
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. Introductory
CHAPTER II. The Beginnings of the Buccaneers
CHAPTER III. The Conquest of Jamaica
CHAPTER IV. Tortuga—1655-1664
CHAPTER V. Porto Bello and Panama
CHAPTER VI. The Government Suppresses the Buccaneers
CHAPTER VII. The Buccaneers Turn Pirate
APPENDIX I. English Buccaneers
APPENDIX II. List of Filibusters
SOURCES AND BIBLIGRAPHY
INDEX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of the West Indies
Spanish Periagua, From Exquemelin's Histoire des Aventuriers Trevoux, 1744
<