But anyway, after 1640, the boucan sellers started to run low on beef. They were like, you know what would pay better than selling beef jerky? Robbing Spanish galleons, which as you'll recall were loaded with silver mined from South America. So by the middle of the 17th century, the French had convinced many of those buccaneering captains to give up their pirating and settle on the island. Many of them invested some of their pirate treasure in sugar plantations, which by 1700 were thriving at both producing sugar and working people to death. And soon, this island was the most valuable colony in the West Indies and possibly in the world. It produced 40% of Europe's sugar, 60% of its coffee, and it was home to more slaves than any place except Brazil.