Christopher Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands in 1503 and named them Las Tortugas, because the only inhabitants found were turtles. By 1530, they were known as the Caymanas, meaning "crocodile" in Carib. Although Sir Francis Drake visited the islands in 1568, they did not come under British rule until 1670. The Caymanians are descendants of the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh seamen who settled the islands and later intermarried with Jamaican immigrants.