1724. There is some doubt as to the identity of Johnson to this day, while it is known that Esquemeling was a real person even if it is uncertain if he observed and participated in the events he describes (Cordingly 14).
Esquemeling begins his story with his setting sail for the Western Islands as part of the West India Company of France, part of an armada of vessels bound for different ports in the Caribbean. Esquemeling was a surgeon. At the time, France and England were at war, and the author's ship was preparing for battle if necessary. In this first section of the book, Esquemeling describes the lands to which he comes, notably the Island of Tortuga and the Island of Hispaniola. Esquemeling offers some information about the nature of seafaring at the time and some of the traditions of the service, but this is not his primary interest. He is more interested in both the characteristics of the different regions he visits and in the political tensions taking place at that time. He first visits Tortuga, noting that the Spaniards named it thus because it resembled a sea tortoise. The entire population was gathered in the southern part of the island, while the north was uninhabited and uninviting. He next visits Hispaniola, which he characterizes as a large and rich island founded by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and which has been possessed by the Spanish ever since. The islands of the Caribbean have been part of the history of the New World since the time of their discovery by Columbus, and what Esquemeling knew as Hispaniola is today Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The island once served as the central base for the exploration and conquest of much of the Western Hemisphere.
La Isla Espa±ola, or Hispaniola, was found by columbus when his fleet crossed the Windward Passage and arrived at night near the Haitian harbor what would become San Nicolas, named for the patron saint of children. The Indian guides assure...