Baptized by Columbus during his first voyage as "Isla Tortuga" (Turtle Island) for the shape of its silhouette on the horizon, this island off the north coast of Haiti was once the refuge of buccaneers and pirates. Towards the end of the 16th century privateers preying on the Spanish gold fleets leaving Cartagena de Indias, in what is now Columbia, sought refuge in this isolated place.  Its strategic location and easily defendable harbor made it an ideal base of operations.  Teach, Morgan, Olonés, Levasseur, Ducasse and others found a home here, organizing themselves into a loosely structured club of independent businessmen known as "The Brotherhood of the Coast". BACK