Pieces of Eight

Anguilla

Anguilla remained uninhabited until 1650, when the English arrived. The colony was destroyed by Indians from a nearby island after barely ten years.

A decade later, and with the colony rebuilt, it was the French who attacked. They held the island for a year, before it was returned to England as part of a treaty.

Anguilla briefly flexed her muscles against the French six years ago, when, with the aid of privateers, she captured French St. Martin. The French retaliated by despatching two frigates to Anguilla, but the invasion force was defeated in under half an hour.

Anguilla is a plantation island, but the weak soil and poor rainfall mean the crops are far smaller than those of other islands. As a result, Anguilla is the poor cousin in the English Caribbean territories.