But Columbus yielded to Pinzon.

The ships were headed southwestward, and about ten o'clock on the night of October 11, Columbus saw a light moving in the distance.

It was made by the inhabitants going from hut to hut on a neighboring coast.

At dawn the shore itself was seen by a sailor, and Columbus, followed by many of his men, hastened to the beach, where, October 12, 1492, he raised a huge cross, and took possession of the country in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain, who had supplied him with caravels and men.[1] He had landed on one of a group of islands which we call the Bahamas.[2] [Footnote 1: Columbus called the new land San Salvador (sahn sahl-vah-dor', Holy Savior), because October 12, the day on which it was discovered, was so named in the Spanish calendar.] [Footnote 2: Three islands of this group, Cat, Turks, and Watlings, have rival claims as the landing place of Columbus.

At present, Watlings Island is believed to be the one on which he first set foot.