In the early 1660s, Aphra Behn traveled to Surinam as a young woman in her twenties. Some critics question the veracity of Behn's claim that she travelled with her family to the colony but the description she provides is very detailed and supported by other contemporary texts. The writing is so vivid in Oroonoko that Laura Rosenthal describes how "the narrator explicitly propagandizes her readers to support English colonization: she tempts readers with the prospect of delicate fruits, curious little animals, perfumed air, golden dust, and innocent natives." The picture to the right is a seventeenth century drawing of the colony of Surinam. Below, images of exotic animals described by Behn as native to Surinam are included.