Île-à-Vache,Îleà (French, also expressed Île-à-Vaches, former Spanish name Isla Vaca; both translate to Cow Island; Haitian Creole: Lilavach) is a Caribbean island, one of Haiti's satellite islands. It lies in the Baie de Cayes about off the coast of the country's southwest peninsula, roughly between the town of Les Cayes and Pointe l'Abacou. It was formerly known by the name of Abacca. Administratively, it became a commune in 1976 as part of the Les Cayes Arrondissement in the Sud department.
Île-à-Vache was claimed by the Spanish Empire in 1492 as part of Hispaniola, and for the next two centuries it was known by the name Isla Vaca. In 1697 the island of Hispaniola was formally divided between Spain and France in the Treaty of Ryswick which ended the Nine Years War. France assumed control of the western half of Hispaniola and named it Saint-Domingue, and Isla Vaca took on its current name, Île-à-Vache.
Geography
The island is about long and wide, with an area of . The western end of the island has rolling hills with elevations as high as with several small swamps in the valleys; the eastern side of the island is swampy, and contains a lagoon with one of the largest mangrove forests in Haiti. The island is also surrounded by several dangerous shoals, reefs, and rocks that have been the cause of many shipwrecks throughout history, including that of the famous Canadian fishing and racing schooner Bluenose, which was wrecked on the island in 1946.
Demographics
The population of the island in 2015 was 14,004 adult inhabitants. Île-à-Vache is one of the most popular tourist sites in Haiti and it has some of the best island scenery in the Caribbean. There are two tourist resorts on the island, Port Morgan and Abaka Bay.
History
Henry Morgan
The pirate captain Henry Morgan (c. 1635 – 1688) frequently used the little island as a base for his operations. Morgan planned and staged many of his largest raids from Isla Vaca, and lost multiple ships in the island's waters which have recently been found and explored by research divers.
In January 1669, Morgan brought ten ships and 800 men to Isla Vaca as a rendezvous point before launching a raid on the Spanish city of Cartagena. Because he and his fellow buccaneers had just captured two French warships, they decided to celebrate in the easily accessible Ferret Bay on the northwest side of the island. They made a fire to roast several pigs and fired the cannons of their flagship as was typical for a buccaneer celebration. In the midst of their drunken revelry, the ship's gunpowder magazine was accidentally lit, triggering an explosion that blew up Morgan's flagship . In the explosion, Morgan, who was on board the ship, was thrown through the window of his quarters and into the sea. He survived the accident, but the Oxford sank, taking down with it the two captured French warships (which were tied to it) and about 200 of his men.
The ship, which was only below the water's surface, was found in 2004 by a team of researchers. They were accompanied by a team from the Welsh television channel S4C, which has made a documentary of the discovery. If there is still spoil located on board, is not yet known.
In 1675–1676 he again narrowly survived a costly shipwreck on the island's shores. Morgan had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica and was on his way from England to take up the post. He possibly headed for Isla Vaca to salvage what he could from the sunken ships of the 1669 incident. But a storm arose and sank his ship Jamaica Merchant, which was loaded with a full complement of cannon which he had been bringing to bolster the defenses at Port Royal. This ship has been found by researchers, who have recovered dishes, bronze coins, and the ship's anchor.
The current tourist resort of Port Morgan is named after him.
From 1682 to 1684 French pirate Jean Hamlin used the island as his hideout while plundering English and Dutch ships.
Bernard Kock
In 1862 the entrepreneur Bernard Kock, who owned a Florida cotton plantation, visited the World Fair in London. When he saw two bales of cotton from Haiti, he was impressed by the quality and immediately saw a business opportunity. He conceived a plan to develop Île-à-Vache by sending 5,000 emancipated slaves from the United States to grow cotton there.