d columbus that he would find gold on the great island, known to be the home of their ancestors. There was indeed gold on the island, and this saved Columbus's reputation because otherwise he would have had to return home without any evidence of the riches of the New World. When the fleet encountered such problems as coral reefs and other delays, columbus decided that God was sending a message that Columbus should start a colony at a certain locale with members of the crew of the Santa Maria, and Spaniards volunteered in great numbers because signs of gold were then plentiful. The town so founded as Villa de la Navidad, or Town of the Nativity, the first attempt by Europeans to establish themselves in the New World:
Sixteen men form the flagship and five from the Ni±a volunteere
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