Bonaire
Bonaire was discovered by the Spanish in 1499. The discoverers quickly realized that the island had no potential for plantations and few natural resources, and so shipped the entire native population to Hispaniola.
The island remained uninhabited until 1526, when the governor, imported cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs to graze on the scrubby vegetation. Whereas the Dutch would use Aruba as a meat-factory, the Spanish were more interested in skins, and left the animals untended, save for a few slave workers.
Constant raids by pirates forced the Spanish to build their single settlement inland. Development of Bonaire was ignored in favor of islands with richer resources, and it was only in 1633, when the Dutch gained control of the island, that the population grew.
Sadly, it was a population of slaves. The Dutch quickly put them to work harvesting dyewood and creating salt pans in depressions (which involved cutting channels to the sea). Bonaire still remains under Dutch control and is a major source of salt.
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