SAMANA CAY

also called Atwood Cay, islet, eastern Bahamas, 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Acklins Island. About 10 miles (16 km) long and up to 2 miles (3 km) wide and bound by reefs, the verdant cay has long been uninhabited, but figurines, pottery shards, and other artifacts discovered there in the mid-1980s have been ascribed to Lucayan Indians living on the cay about the time of Christopher Columbus' voyages. In October 1986 the National Geographic Society (U.S.), announcing completion of a five-year study, claimed that Samana Cay was the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World on Oct. 12, 1492. (The claim opposed other views traditionally selecting San Salvador Island, or Watling Islandor, sometimes, other cays or islandsas the landing site.) The society adduced computer analyses of Columbus' transatlantic route and courses through the Bahamas and also cited scenic descriptions in Columbus' journal and other evidence.