In the 17th century, buccaneers lived on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and its tiny turtle-shaped neighbour, Tortuga. At first, they lived as hunters, and shot wild pigs with their long-barrelled muskets. Their name came from the special wooden huts called boucans where they smoked their meat.
Later, the governors of Caribbean islands such as Jamaica paid the buccaneers to attack Spanish treasure ships and ports. Some of the largest scale raids were led by the Welsh captain, Sir Henry Morgan (later knighted for his services). Although raids began in this way, with official backing, the buccaneers gradually became more and more out of control, eventually attacking any ship they thought carried valuable cargo, whether it belonged to an enemy country or not. The buccaneers had become true pirates.
As Spanish settlers set up new towns on Caribbean islands and the American mainland, these too came under pirate attack.
The Caribbean remained at the centre of lucrative trade as gold and silver gave way to slave trading, tobacco, sugar and so on ensuring a steady supply of attractive targets.
Credit : Museums Greenwich
Picture Credit : Google
