I’ve had this book for years. I think I bought it at a used bookstore or flea market, already a bit dog-eared and yellowing. I’ve been trying to work my way through it since I’ve returned from Jamaica (it’s a bit dry).
My favorite bit so far? Describing the great earthquake of 1692 that sunk Port Royal, Jamaica as “a fitting punishment for the new Sodom.” Doesn’t seem quite like an objective history…what’s wrong with whoring and pirates? I’m obsessed with Port Royal, by the way, this city sunk beneath the sea. Still trying to find quite how to write about it, but it will come.
And I learned about the Alco, small Arawak dogs that couldn’t bark. This little tidbit has become central to the bestiary/beast fable I’m working on which I started when staying at Erna Brodber’s Blackspace. The Curse of the Alco…