Mouse-over the map to discover the history of Hispaniola Navidad : This was the location of a temporary settlement which was founded when Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, was lost after running aground on a reef on Christmas Eve of 1492. A small group of Spaniards was left behind here when he departed for Spain. These Spaniards, following abuses carried out against the native Taino Indians, were attacked and wiped out by a tribal chief named Caonabo. When Columbus returned the next spring, he was shocked to find the settlement empty and burned to the ground. Tortuga Island : This was the stronghold of the Buccaneers (boucaniers), after they were driven out of Hispaniola by the Spanish. Tortuga later became the headquarters of the pirates of the Caribbean who raided the Spanish treasure ships, and was a recruitment centre for expeditions mounted by many notorious scoundrels including the pirate Henry Morgan. Cape of St. Nicholas : Between here and the Cape of Tiburon, there were more than a dozen ports which “exceeded in goodness, largeness and security even the very best in England.” Cape of Tiburon : Between here and the Cape of St.Nicholas, there were more than a dozen ports which “exceeded in goodness, largeness and security even the very best in England.” Ile A Vache (Cow Island) : This was used as a great assembly point for buccaneering expeditions, notably by Henry Morgan when he gathered his fleets of pirate ships for his raids on Cartagena and Panama. The night before they set sail for the intended Cartagena expedition, the pirates had such a wild party that their flagship was blown up, after the drunken sailors accidentally ignited the gunpowder kegs in the ship’s hold. All on board apart from six were killed. Morgan himself was lucky to escape with his life. The proposed raid on Cartagena was abandoned. El Peublo Del Aso : This large village engaged in a great deal of commerce with San Juan de Goave, in the centre of the island. San Domingo : The main city and metropolis of the seventeenth century, San Domingo (dedicated to St Dominic) was established by Bartholomew Columbus, soon after gold was discovered in the Ozama River Valley in 1496. By the time of the Caribbean pirates, this city was the Governors residence, and acted as a storehouse for all the other cities, towns and villages on the island. Most of the inhabitants were rich and substantial merchants, or shopkeepers. San Juan de Goave : A village in the centre of the island, whose territory, consisting of gardens, woods and Meadows, extended over twenty leagues. Within this region grazed a huge number of wild bulls and cows, and its inhabitants were hunters and butchers, who would flay the beasts that were killed and smoke them over open fires. This earned them the name “boucaniers”, and when these hunters were later driven out by the Spanish to become pirates, this gave rise to the term “Buccaneer”. Santiago (St. James) : A city surrounded by fields, with good soil for agriculture. In the seventeenth century, this region was inhabited by hunters and planters, and used to “abound with all sorts of beasts, both wild and tame, whence are taken a huge number of skins and hides, that afford to the owners a very considerable traffic”. La Isabelle : This was the site of the first permanent settlement established by Christopher Columbus in 1493. Isle of Savona : The inhabitants of Hispaniola often came to this barren, sandy island in their canoes. It was their chief fishery, and also many turtles were caught here, as it was to this island that many thousands came to lay their eggs.
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