"Columbus theorized that the world was mostly covered with land and that the distance to Asia was much shorter than previously thought" In August 1492 Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Niña. He sailed west until he reached a small island in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. He took possession of it for Spain and, with the impressed natives on board, discovered other islands nearby. On 27 October it sighted Cuba and on 5 December it reached Hispaniola. On Christmas Eve of that year the Santa Maria sank off the coast of Hispaniola. Columbus left three men on Hispaniola to establish a colon, La Navidad, for Spain as he raced back to Spain aboard the La Niña. His welcome was all he could have wished for; according to his contract with the Spanish rulers he was appointed "admiral of the ocean sea" and governor general of all new lands he had discovered or was to