A study of the personal and national aims of seamen sailing from northern Europe and the West Indies to the west coast of South America in the 17th century, their exploits and their legacy

In 1686, a small group of mainly French buccaneers left the Caribbean for the South Sea. Instead of crossing the Isthmus of Panama, they loaded supplies on the east coast of North America, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, and then headed for the Straits of Magellan. Until 1695, their exploits ranged from the Juan Fernandez Islands and the coasts of Chile in the south, to the shores of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Galapagos Islands, and finally reached the northern limits of Spanish viceregal administration along the coasts of New Spain (Mexico), and also Baja California.