The original Maroons were the freed or runaway Spanish Negro slaves
(more details) The name Maroon
probably derived from the Spanish cimarron meaning "wild",
"untamed" but the word seems to have been in general use during the
18th century:
the following quote comes from R.L. Stevenson's "Treasure
Island", "Three years!" I cried. Were you shipwrecked?"
"Nay, mate, " said he -"marooned."
I had heard the word, and I knew it stood for a horrible kind of
punishment common enough among the buccaneers, in which the
offender is put ashore with a little powder and shot, and left
behind on some desolate and distant island.
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