Governments of
France and England resolved to plant a colony in the Caribbee Islands,
or Lesser Antilles. They thought that such a colony would be of benefit
to the earlier adventurers by giving them official recognition and
protection. A royal colony of French and English was, therefore,
established on the island of St Christopher, or St Kitts, one of the
Caribbees, to the east of Hispaniola, in the year 1625. The island was
divided between the two companies. They combined very amicably in a
murderous attack upon the natives, and then fell to quarrelling about
the possession of an island to the south.

As the Governments had foreseen, their action in establishing a colony
upon St Kitts did much to stimulate the settlements in Hispaniola. The
hunters went farther afield, for the cattle had gradually left the
western coast for the interior. The anchorages by Cape Tiburon, or "Cape
Shark," and Samana, were filled with ships, both privateers and traders,
loading with hides and tallow or victualling for a raid upon the Main.
The huntsmen and hidecurers, French and English, had grown wealthy. Many
of them had slaves, in addition to other valuable property. Their
growing wealth made them anxious to secure themselves from any sudden
attack by land or sea.

At the north-west end of Hispaniola, separated from that island by a
narrow strip of sea, there is a humpbacked little island, a few miles
long, rather hilly in its centre, and very densely wooded. At a distance
it resembles a swimming turtle, so that the adventurers on Hispaniola
called it Tortuga, or Turtle Island. Later on, it was known as Petit
Guaves. Between this Tortuga and the larger island there was an
excellent anchorage for ships, which had been defended at one time by a
Spanish garrison. The Spaniards had gone away, leaving the place
unguarded. The wealthier settlers seized the island, built themselves
factories and houses, and made it "their head-quarters, or place of
general rendezvous." After they had settled there, they seem to have
thought themselves secure.[5] In 1638 the Spaniards attacked the place,
at a time when nearly all the men were absent at the hunting. They
killed all they found upon the island, and stayed there some little
time, hanging those who surrendered to them after the first encounter.
Having massacred some 200 or 300 settlers, and destroyed as many
buildings as they could, the Spaniards sailed away, thinking it
unnecessary to leave a g