Buccaneer was a title originally applied to  French and later Dutch and English seafaring adventurers of the 17th century. The term "Buccaneer" was derived from the the method of smoking strips of meat on a wooden grill called a boucan". Originally Boucaniers were hunters, who were attracted to the  wild cattle and swine on the Island of Hispaniola .The beast were descended from Spanish stock abandoned in 1605. The meat was dried and cured on grills, called "boucans." The technique for curing the meat was learned from the original inhabitants of the islands, the Arawak Indians. The buccaneers traded the smoked meat and hides to passing ships for liquor, tobacco, guns, shot and powder.

The Spanish governor sent hunters to exterminate the wild herds to deprive the Buccaneers of a reason to come to Spanish territory. While his plan was successful in stopping the Buccaneers from hunting the wild herds it backfired when the hunters turned to piracy.

The buccaneers were joined by local runaway slaves, deserters, Dutch and English adventurers who hated the Spanish. The buccaneers established their headquarters on the little island of Tortuga. Later they moved to Jamaica. They set out on a mission to disrupt the Spanish Colonial society by attacking Spanish shipping and towns and cities. One of the most famous buccaneers was Sir Henry Morgan. who led the  Buccaneers from Jamaica to capture Panama in 1671.

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