﻿THE 
  HAUNTS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CARIBBEAN 
  CORSAIRS 
  

  

  149 
  

  

  Universal 
  Film 
  Company 
  

  

  A 
  MARKET 
  SC^NK 
  IN 
  GUANTANAMO 
  I 
  CUBA 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  no 
  unusual 
  sight 
  to 
  see 
  the 
  peon 
  women 
  of 
  Cuba 
  puffing 
  big 
  black 
  cigars. 
  Frequently 
  

   they 
  stroll 
  along 
  the 
  streets 
  barefooted 
  and 
  smoking 
  as 
  nonchalantly 
  as 
  men. 
  

  

  There 
  was 
  practically 
  no 
  colony 
  in 
  the 
  

   island-dotted 
  Caribbean 
  which 
  had 
  any 
  

   scruples 
  against 
  allowing 
  the 
  buccaneers 
  

   to 
  build, 
  fit 
  out, 
  or 
  repair 
  their 
  vessels 
  in 
  

   its 
  harbors. 
  Tortuga, 
  off 
  the 
  northern 
  

   coast 
  of 
  Haiti, 
  and 
  Jamaica 
  were 
  veritable 
  

   pirate 
  strongholds, 
  while 
  Martinique, 
  

   Curacao, 
  St. 
  Kitts, 
  and 
  Barbados 
  be- 
  

   friended 
  them 
  and 
  encouraged 
  their 
  trade. 
  

  

  The 
  home 
  governments 
  of 
  France, 
  Eng- 
  

   land, 
  and 
  the 
  Netherlands 
  found 
  it 
  good 
  

   policy 
  to 
  countenance 
  the 
  buccaneers 
  and 
  

   to 
  wink 
  at 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  activities. 
  The 
  

   Council 
  of 
  Jamaica 
  even 
  went 
  so 
  far 
  in 
  

   1666 
  as 
  to 
  enumerate 
  in 
  its 
  minutes 
  twelve 
  

   good 
  reasons 
  for 
  granting 
  commissions 
  

   to 
  privateers 
  ; 
  for, 
  this 
  august 
  body 
  said, 
  

   they 
  furnished 
  the 
  island 
  with 
  necessary 
  

   commodities 
  at 
  easy 
  rates, 
  bringing 
  them 
  

   coin, 
  bullion, 
  cocoa, 
  logwood, 
  indigo, 
  and 
  

   cochineal 
  ; 
  helped 
  poor 
  planters 
  by 
  buying 
  

   the 
  provisions 
  they 
  had 
  for 
  sale 
  ; 
  fur- 
  

   nished 
  work 
  for 
  various 
  kinds 
  of 
  artisans 
  ; 
  

   brought 
  slaves 
  to 
  cultivate 
  the 
  planta- 
  

   tions 
  ; 
  furnished 
  a 
  navy 
  for 
  the 
  island 
  ; 
  

   and 
  often, 
  in 
  intercepting 
  Spanish 
  mes- 
  

   sages, 
  furnished 
  the 
  governor 
  of 
  the 
  

   colony 
  with 
  valuable 
  information. 
  

  

  The 
  nursery 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  English 
  and 
  

   French 
  colonies 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  was 
  

   St. 
  Christopher, 
  or 
  St. 
  Kitts, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  

   so 
  often 
  called, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Leeward 
  

   Islands, 
  half 
  way 
  between 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  

   and 
  Dominica. 
  It 
  was 
  discovered 
  by 
  

   Columbus 
  on 
  his 
  second 
  voyage 
  to 
  

   America 
  and 
  called 
  by 
  him 
  after 
  the 
  saint 
  

   whose 
  name 
  the 
  great 
  discoverer 
  himself 
  

   bore 
  (see 
  illustration, 
  page 
  179). 
  

  

  Though 
  today 
  almost 
  every 
  available 
  

   inch 
  of 
  its 
  deep 
  and 
  fertile 
  soil 
  is 
  culti- 
  

   vated, 
  St. 
  Kitts 
  is 
  poverty-stricken, 
  owing 
  

   to 
  overpopulation. 
  Its 
  seventy 
  square 
  

   miles 
  are 
  encircled 
  by 
  a 
  good 
  road, 
  and 
  

   the 
  heart 
  of 
  the 
  island 
  is 
  made 
  up 
  of 
  a 
  

   series 
  of 
  peaks 
  broken 
  by 
  wild 
  ridges 
  and 
  

   ravines, 
  which 
  culminate 
  in 
  a 
  great 
  qui- 
  

   escent 
  volcano 
  towering 
  more 
  than 
  4.000 
  

   feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea, 
  in 
  whose 
  crater 
  there 
  

   lies 
  a 
  peaceful 
  lake. 
  

  

  A 
  TOY 
  TOWN 
  HIDDEN 
  IN 
  THE 
  CONK 
  OF 
  A 
  

   VOLCANIC 
  MOUNTAIN 
  

  

  Off 
  the 
  southeastern 
  tip 
  of 
  St. 
  Kitts 
  lies 
  

   Nevis, 
  where 
  Alexander 
  Hamilton 
  was 
  

   born 
  and 
  where 
  Horatio 
  Nelson 
  was 
  mar- 
  

   ried, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  northwest 
  of 
  it 
  lie 
  the 
  

  

  