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Puerto Plata, Monte
Cristi and two villages on the coast of what is now Haiti were thus
destroyed in 1606 and the inhabitants transferred to towns almost in
the center of the island, where they were far removed from temptation
to smuggle. The measure temporarily stopped contraband trade on the
north coast, but destroyed all legitimate trade in that region,
transformed the coast into a desert and furnished an opportunity for
the settlement of the buccaneers in the northwest.
The English, French and Dutch, in resisting Spain's claim to sole
trading rights in the new world, authorized the fitting out of
privateers that often degenerated into pirates. The bays and inlets of
the coast of Santo Domingo became favorite resorts for such ships. The
depot of the corsairs on the island of St. Christopher having been
destroyed by the Spaniards in 1630, a number of refugees sought
shelter on the island of Tortuga, on the northwest coast of Haiti.
Some of them began to cultivate the soil, others took to hunting wild
cattle on the mainland of Haiti, while others indulged in piracy.


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