What secrets hide the pirate island of La Tortuga

What secrets hide the pirate island of La Tortuga

A scene from the series "Black Sails"

La Tortuga - is the second largest Venezuelan island (about 24 by 10 kilometers). Covered with shrubs, devoid of fresh water, it has long remained empty (even mammals could not catch it).

Everything changed European politics: in 1597 Spain closed the rebels against the King of the Netherlands of its access to the sea salt Portuguese ports - and without stop brings huge profits trading salted herring from the Baltic countries. The Dutch decided to send convoys (cargo ships escorted by the military) to the salt marshes of Nueva Andalucia, but already in 1605 the Portuguese fleet burned and took all the ships of the North "violators".

On a deserted island the Dutch have noticed by accident. In the XVII century, a few decades depriving the Portuguese north-east of Brazil (from sugar plantations), they used salt transporters (zoutvaerders) for transfer to the new world of soldiers and military cargo. That ships did not return empty, their captains were ordered to load the salt on the islands of Bonaire and Curacao - and in the same way sailors drew attention to the salt marshes of Tortuga. Fortunately for them, the Spanish military engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli, explored the island, found reserves there are irrelevant - and the Spaniards did not send troops there, as the other islands in the Caribbean coast of the continent. It gave the Netherlands a chance to gain a foothold and begin to silently extract salt.

Explore the space of La Tortuga scientists describe it as a collection of landscape (scapes) - a complex unity of everyday practices, objects and natural conditions constitute a historically unique environment of the island. Total archaeologists have identified three such "skeypa": the bay landscape, marsh, and the battle.

The sun, salt and sand

Meeting Dutchman XVII century La Tortuga began in the sea, when he opened the shore strip - rough vegetation, white sandy beaches and turquoise water colors. However, experienced sailors knew it was a mirage: growing on the shore of a barren mangrove forests, home of mosquitoes and midges, and coastal waters swarming with stingrays, moray eels and burning coral. Bay Punta Salinas was extremely inconvenient for ships - not only where sailors could safely anchor. Currently, the transports with salt shows ballast (stones, tiles, bricks) - they were thrown to the bottom, to make room for cargo.

What secrets hide the pirate island of La Tortuga

La Tortuga, aerial view

Members of the expedition divided his time between the ships and shore saline. Skiffs were scurrying between the flutes and wooden jetty, carrying people, shovels, wheelbarrows and guns. Traces of the pier from solid wood, reinforced fascines and sand, are still visible on aerial photographs of the bay. flute team (except for the captains and soldiers) spent the whole day on the salt marshes, under the scorching sun and insect attacks - and the ships themselves, in which they were going to have dinner (Dutch provisions) and smoking pipe, reminded them of home.

What secrets hide the pirate island of La Tortuga

Fort at La Tortuga (reconstruction archaeologists)

And in the morning the sailors went inland. They are hurling themselves against insects, white sand blinding. Soon the smell of rotting mangroves signaled the proximity of salt marshes. Every spring, the end of the dry season, the water evaporates from the lagoon, and there crystallized white and pink layers of salt. When they were taken, pour into bags and loaded on ships, the lagoon had to "recharge" by hand: the Dutch for several days wore to sea water. Work in such conditions could only be at night, but even then the extraction of salt pounded dozens of Europeans in the grave. To fill the holds of the seven flutes, it took 28,344 cars of salt and two and a half months, according to a Spanish sailor. During the 1630s, despite periodic raids Castilians, the Dutch established between the harbor and the lagoon, a powerful platform of pine boards and is replaced by buckets came hand pumps. Finally, they took the trouble to build a complex system of canals, dams and areas for drying salt, significantly expanding the area of ​​fisheries.

ambushes and sabotage

But then the engineer Antonelli, found out about the Dutch oil fields under the very nose of the Spaniards, decided to act smarter. Taking advantage of the absence of the Dutch winter, he drove a hundred Indians kumanagoto and 50 soldiers with shovels. They dug two channels from the salt marshes to the sea, and eventually a lagoon filled with turbulent waters. Antonelli correctly calculated that the forces of ebb and flow channels will not close. Even if the Dutch zasyplyut channels for pumping water and cleaning silt from the bottom of the lagoon will take at least several years. But even in this case, the engineer told to keep alert six pie with 50 Indians and 20 Spaniards - this mobile group will be able to re-open channels for a couple of days.

The industrious Dutch traders did not despair, and tried to draw them perpetrated by the enemies of the destruction to their advantage. Connected with the sea lagoon they have turned into a huge tank of salt water, which was poured into the previously useless surrounding ponds. However, the last word for the Spanish - has always been easier to destroy than to build. Governor of New Andalusia soldiers dug another channel and flooded all the salt marshes.

What secrets hide the pirate island of La Tortuga

The attack of the Spaniards and the Indians to the Dutch fort.

Figure Juan Bautista Antonelli

Although most of the time on the island engaged in routine (irrigation, excavation and transportation of salt), most traces in the archaeological record La Tortuga left the battle of the Dutch against the Spaniards, who were trying to block his enemies access to fisheries. After the first, unsuccessful for them skirmishes in 1630, Dutch sailors built earthen bastion on the beach, and set to three guns, one looking at the ships, the other - on the salt marsh, the third - to the side of the hill, where previously attacked the Spanish troops. But in 1633 a new governor Arias Montano successfully attacked again, having beaten the Dutch one flutes. After a few quiet seasons (sailors even managed to eliminate the consequences of the destruction), in 1638, the Spaniards prepared a new assault. 13 Cake with Spanish musketeers and Indian archers quietly swam to the western part of the island. But then they saw a sloop Dutch intelligence. Alas, the latter wanted to learn more about the enemies, and have sent in their direction three sloops. The Spaniards managed to capture one of them and find out details about the number and disposition of the Dutch garrison. At dawn, the troops Montano went on the attack and four o'clock stormed the fort under fire from cannons and muskets. By ten in the morning they were able to cut through the axes a gap in a wooden wall and break into, killing all the defenders.

The archaeological evidence

That fort became a major crop archaeologists. The first exploration hole gave scientists the fragments of pipes and bowls - apparently, they stumbled upon the trash heap. Further excavations discovered the scientists massive sand mound, surrounded on all sides by a moat. With all the ephemeral nature of this facility with the defense point of view, the Dutch were not too lazy to dig a trench. Fragments of 20 vessels, collected in the territory of the fort, are extremely diverse - this is tableware and articles for the preparation and storage of food, American, Dutch, German production of porcelain, ceramics, glass and metal.

Apart from shards, archaeologists have discovered a lot of bones. The majority (600) belonged to rabbits - but it is unclear whether they were brought on ships or caught on the spot, on the dunes of La Tortuga. Others - pigs and cows (28), birds (43). The lack of local shellfish shells and fish bones suggests that the Dutch feared as used * Th food and eating local wildlife or brought provisions, or captured on the island of their familiar animal. Traces of foci on the island has been detected: apparently, sailors and musketeers feared fires in forte (near the powder stock) were prepared and on ships.

What secrets hide the pirate island of La Tortuga

Shards

Finally, at the site found hundreds of unused bullets of different caliber muskets and multiple cores. It is noteworthy that at the shore to the east, south and north-east of the shells of the fort were found. The spatial distribution of the finds indicate that the fire of musketry opened from the south and south-west towards the north and north-west: this line of fire corresponds exactly to the fatal attack of the Spaniards in 1638 (as it is shown on contemporary figures).

Psychological warfare

However, even these meager findings allowed scientists to penetrate the psyche of the sides fighting for the island. So, ditch, embankment and palisade indicate common sense Dutch captains: they judged that their enemies get to La Tortuga only on cakes, where you can not put the heavy artillery. Hence, for sufficiently small crafts defense fort with four light guns and a couple dozen musketeers. In addition to the prudence, the Dutch scientists emphasize skill in controlling the natural environment of the island: canals, sluice gates, bridges and pumps - these buildings forever changed the landscape of La Tortuga.

Moreover, the Dutch were assured that their hard work will overcome the chaotic destructive gestures of despair on the part of the Castilian Venezuela hosts: the raid, another raid, but then all the same all will be repaired. However, as history has shown, calculating the Dutch underestimated the tenacity of the Spaniards - and the accompanying luck.

But you can not say that one of the parties has lost the other: the Dutch have incorporated the same capitalist calculation and figured that further incursions confrontation with the mainland would be too expensive - would be more profitable to look elsewhere salt.