n packs of two or three score, hunting the
wild swine and the calves. The Spaniards seem to have left the interior
of the island to the few survivors, as they had too few slaves to
cultivate it. They settled themselves at St Domingo, and at various
places upon the coast, such as Santiago and St John of Goave. They
planted tobacco, sugar, chocolate, and ginger, and carried on a
considerable trade with the cities on the Main and in the mother
country.

Hayti, or Hispaniola, is in the fairway of ships coming from Europe
towards the Main. It was at one time looked upon as the landfall to be
made before proceeding west to Vera Cruz or south to Cartagena. The
French, English, and Hollanders, who visited those seas "maugre the King
of Spain's beard," discovered it at a very early date. They were not
slow to recognise its many advantages. The Spanish, who fiercely
resented the presence of any foreigners in a part of the world
apportioned to Spain by the Pope, did all they could to destroy them
whenever they had the opportunity. But the Spanish population in the
Indies was small, and spread over a vast area, and restricted, by
Government rules, to certain lines of action. They could not patrol the
Indies with a number of guarda costas sufficient to exclude all foreign
ships, nor could they set guards, in forts, at every estancia or
anchorage in the vast coast-line of the islands. Nor could they enforce
the Spanish law, which forbade the settlers to trade with the merchants
of other countries. It often happened that a ship from France, Holland,
or England arrived upon the coasts of Hispaniola, or some other Spanish
colony, off some settlement without a garrison. The settlers in these
out-of-the-way places were very glad to trade with such ships, for the
freight they brought was cheaper and of better quality than that which
paid duty to their King. The goods were landed, and paid for. The ships
sent their crews ashore to fill fresh water or to reprovision, and then
sailed home for Europe, to return the next year with new goods. On the
St Domingo or Hispaniola coasts there are countless creeks and inlets,
making good harbours, where these smuggling ships might anchor or
careen. The land was well watered and densely wooded, so that casks
could be filled, and firewood obtained, without difficulty on any part
of the coast. Moreover, the herds of wild cattle and droves of wild
boars enabled the ships to reprovision without cost. Before