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Article: Cruising Along the Historic Spanish Main // Region Is Still Full of Intrigue, But Not Pirates
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- March 31, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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ORANJESTAD, Aruba - It was just another stifling hot day in the
southern Caribbean until I realized my cruise ship had been sailing
right down the Spanish Main.
Pirates! Buccaneers! The Spanish treasure fleet!
The entire Caribbean sometimes was referred to as the Spanish
Main in the days of piracy, but the strict definition of that term is
the waters just off the shores of Venezuela and Colombia. That
region was called the Spanish Mainland in the days when Spain
dominated most of the New World. Sailors applied the term to the
nearby waters, then shortened mainland to main.
This stretch of water was Pirate Alley in the 16th and 17th
centuries. The English, French and Dutch all were ...