the
French corsairs. They wanted an uninhabited place near enough to
Hispaniola and the track of the Spanish vessels for them to be quickly
pounced upon and for the corsairs to as quickly escape. Then there must
be a food supply, and on the great island of Hispaniola were countless
herds of wild cattle which ranged over a wilderness utterly depopulated.

The palmy days of the Hispaniola planter were over, and although he
imported negro slaves to some extent, he was virtually ruined. One after
another left for the newly discovered countries on the Main, and for
Peru and Mexico, leaving the island to a few merchants and wealthy
planters, who found it to their interest to remain. Hispaniola was
little more than a house of call on the road to the treasure countries,
which meant that although the port of St. Domingo was fortified, the
greater portion of the island was open to any one who chose to occupy
it.

Salt was a scarce commodity in those times, but it could be obtained in
some of the smaller islands, notably Tortuga, which for that reason
became the resort of the buccaneers. But the Indians had learnt how to
preserve meat without this useful substance, by smoking it over a fire
of green branches and leaves. Even Europeans knew something of this
process, although we believe they never preserved their beef and bacon
entirely without salt as did the Indians their game. The process was
very simple. Four sticks with forked ends were pushed into the ground,
and on these uprights a sort of rack of other sticks was laid to make an
open platform, where the pieces of meat were laid above a fire until
well dried and impregnated with smoke. This stage was called a boucan,
or barbecue, and from their using it to prepare supplies for their
voyages the corsairs became known as buccaneers.

There were no tinned provisions in those days, nor had the proper means
of keeping food on long voyages been yet perfected. It followed,
therefore, that a food supply in the Indies had to be provided, and the
Spaniards unintentionally did good service to their enemies by placing
hogs on most of the islands to breed and be available in emergencies.

It is obvious that the hunting of semi-wild animals and curing their
meat required time, and for that reason a division of labour was
initiated. While one party went cruising in search of Spanish vessels,
another ranged the country to capture and prepare the supplies against
their return. Thus a re