ABSTRACT
The Caribbean region, as the site of initial Spanish explorations of the New World, held particular interest for English travelers and writers, as they imbibed, attempted to replicate, and ultimately altered the Iberian experience. One of the most striking features of the Americas for Englishmen was the landscape, and their perceptions of the West Indian landscape as conveyed through travel literature both reflected and helped to generate the culture of early English colonial projects in the region. Exploring what the landscape meant to English travel writers in the early colonial Caribbean necessitates a brief discussion of the meaning of the term. The early settlement attempts in the Americas, particularly in the Caribbean were often characterized by resistance to the industry, energy, and attention to basic settlement tasks that were expected. Throughout some centuries of experience with the Caribbean landscape, English travel writers occupied a central place in both the creation and reflection of culture through the medium of landscape.
