One, ending slavery, and two, Napoleon getting his feelings hurt. I can't help myself, Napoleon. I like to see you suffer. INTRO So the French colony in San Domingo began in the 17th century as a pirate outpost. And its original French inhabitants made their living selling leather and a kind of smoked beef called boucan. All that beef actually came from cattle left behind by the Spanish, who were the first Europeans to settle the island. But anyway, after 1640, the boucan sellers started to run low on beef.