The Bahamas were the first islands to be sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Instead of settling the islands, the Spanish forced the native population there into slavery on neighboring islands. Within a quarter of a century, the Bahamas had been stripped of all their inhabitants. However, in the seventeenth century, British colonists began to arrive and settle there, bringing African slaves with them. By the end of the eighteenth century, there were twice as many Africans as Europeans on the islands.