The Exumas

The first known people to inhabit The Islands Of The Bahamas were the Adreans who traveled by boats to The Bahamas from the Mosquito Coast region of Africa. Their descendants, the Lucayan Indians, later began colonies on The Exumas and survived by fishing and farming. The Spanish arrived in the 1500s and turned the island into a salt mining colony. Pirates also used the islands' many cays and hidden coves as bases from which to conduct raids and hide stolen goods.

In the 1700s, a group of Loyalists sought refuge here and wealthy European landowners started large cotton plantations. The most notable was John Rolle, who eventually freed his slaves and generously deeded his land to them. The grateful slaves adopted his surname and today sixty percent of the locals still have the last name Rolle.