Buccaneer.

A surgeon with the most famous buccaneers, Exquemelin will always be known as the historian who recorded the deeds of the buccaneers in his classic book, "Bucaniers of America, or a true account of the assaults committed upon the coasts of the Wes...

Buccaneer.

A surgeon with the most famous buccaneers, Exquemelin will always be known as the historian who recorded the deeds of the buccaneers in his classic book, "Bucaniers of America, or a true account of the assaults committed upon the coasts of the West Indies, etc.," published by W. Cooke, London, 1684. This book was first published in Dutch at Amsterdam in 1678, then in German in 1679, in Spanish in 1681. Since then almost innumerable editions and reprints have appeared.

The author was a Fleming, who arrived at Tortuga Island in 1666 as an engagé of the French West India Company. After serving for three years under an inhuman master he became so ill that he was sold cheaply to a surgeon. By the kind treatment of his new master Exquemelin soon regained his health, and at the same time picked up the rudiments of the craft of barber surgeon. He was in all the great exploits of the buccaneers, and writes a clear, entertaining, and apparently perfectly accurate first-hand account of these adventures. He returned to Europe in 1674, and shortly afterwards published his book.