Leaving 40 men on an island

Michael, Stemprock. "The Confluence". Person. 2003
http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/monday-morning-news-and-views-2/

After Columbus left Ragged island on Dec, 15. The flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef on Christmas Eve. Columbus used the remains of the two ships to build a fort on shore, which he named La Navidad. Las Columbus named the island La Navidad, because they found the island on Christmas Eve. But the tiny Ni could not hold all of the remaining crew, so Columbus eventually decided to leave about 40 men at La Navidad to await his return from Spain. Like that, 40 men had to settle in La Navidad until Columbus' return, and he and the reamining crew departed from La Navidad on January 2, 1493.

This even was significant because not only it supports the feelings that Columbus' voyage is going to be rough, but also it tells us that Columbus decided to name islands that he has been too, and that name of the islands that were named by Columbus were not in certain extreme meaning, but in simple symbolic remembrance.