The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the
XVII Century, by Clarence Henry Haring

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Title: The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century

Author: Clarence Henry Haring

Release Date: August 29, 2006 [EBook #19139]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE BUCCANEERS IN THE
WEST INDIES IN THE
XVII 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 English and French
buccaneers of the seventeenth century in the West Indies are
sufficiently well known to modern readers. The French Jesuit historians
of the Antilles have left us many interesting details of their mode of
life, and Exquemelin's history of the freebooters has been reprinted
numerous times both in France and in England. Based upon these old,
contemporary narratives, modern accounts are issued from the press with
astonishing regularity, some of them purporting to be serious history,
others appearing in the more popular and entertaining guise of romances.
All, however, are alike in confining themselves for their information to
what may almost be called the traditional sources--Exquemelin, the
Jesuits, and perhaps a few narratives like those of Dampier and Wafer.
To write another history of these privateers or pirates, for they have,
unfortunately, more than once deserved that name, may seem a rather
fruitless undertaking. It is justified only by the fact that there exist
numerous other documents bearing upon the subject, documents which till
now have been entirely neglected. Exquemelin has been reprinted, the
story of the buccaneers has been re-told, yet no writer, whether editor
or historian, has attempted to estimate the trustworthiness of the old
tales by comparing them with these other sources, or to show the
connection between the buccaneers and the history of the English
colonies in the West In