Christopher Columbus discovered Little Cayman and Cayman Brac during his fourth and last voyage to the New World, on May 10, 1503. While sailing from Panama to Hispaniola, severe winds pushed his ships off course west.
The ship's log reported "... we were in sight of two very small islands, full of tortoise, as was the sea about, inasmuch as they looked like little rocks." Consequently, Columbus named the islands Las Tortugas after the abundant sea turtles he sighted. The islands were later renamed Lagartos, meaning alligator or large lizard and finally, the name Caymanas was applied around 1540, derived from the Carib word for marine crocodile. This name, in a modified form, has remained since the late 16th century.
Sir Francis Drake visited the islands during a voyage between 1585-86 and reported sighting "great serpents called Caymanas, like large lizards, which are edible." An anonymous author in Drake's fleet also described 10-foot long crocodiles. According to the Cayman Islands National Archive, there are written accounts of Cayman dating back to the 1830's which describe the shooting of crocodiles as a Sunday sport.
During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the islands were replenishment centres supplying abundant fresh water and food, including sea turtles and wild fowl, for English, Dutch, French and Spanish explorers and buccaneers plying the Spanish Main route.
The Cayman Islands came under British control in 1655 when Jamaica was captured from the Spanish by Oliver Cromwell's army. They officially became part of the British Empire under the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, after which Spain recognized British possession of "all lands, islands, colonies and places situated in the West Indies." For almost 300 years after that, the islands were administered as a dependency of Jamaica.
The first recorded settlement was of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac between 1666-1671, while Sir Thomas Modyford was Governor of Jamaica, comprising descendants of emigrants from the British Isles.
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