He might continue to dwell on the coast, and to hunt cattle, but he was no longer a 'matelot'--as a Benedick he had degenerated to a 'colonist.' ... Uncouth and lawless though the buccaneers were, the sinister signification now attaching to their name would never have been merited had it not been for the unreasoning jealousy of the Spaniards. The hunters were actually a source of profit to that nation, yet from an insane antipathy to strangers the dominant race resolved on exterminating the settlers. Attacked whilst dispersed in pursuance of their avocations, the latter fell easy victims; many of them were wantonly massacred, others dragged into slavery. ... Breathing hatred and vengeance, 'the brethren of the coast' united their scattered forces, and a war of horrible reprisals commenced. {75} Fresh troops arrived from Spain, whilst the ranks of the buccaneers were filled by adventurers of all nations, allured by love of plunder, and fired with indignation at the cruelties of the aggressors. ... The Spaniards, utterly failing to oust their opponents, hit upon a new expedient, so short-sighted that it reflects but little credit on their statesmanship. This was the extermination of the horned cattle, by which the buccaneers derived their means of subsistence; a general slaughter took place, and the breed was almost extirpated. ... The puffed up arrogance of the Spaniard was curbed by no prudential consideration; calling upon every saint in his calendar, and raining curses on the heretical buccaneers, he deprived them of their legitimate occupation, and created wilfully a set of desperate enemies, who harassed the colonial trade of an empire already betraying signs of feebleness with the pertinacity of wolves, and who only desisted when her commerce had been reduced to insignificance. ... Devoured by an undying hatred of their assailants, the buccaneers developed into a new association--the freebooters." _C. H. Eden, The West Indies, chapter 3._