 Within a few weeks, the settlers chose a permanent inland site for their colony on the James River, naming it Jamestown in honor of King James I.The location was selected as ordered by the sponsors in London with a priority of being a strategic defensive position against possible attacks by ships of competing European factions.However, this came at a terrible price, as Jamestown Island combined swampy and mosquito-infested land, offering poor hunting and little room for farming with brackish tidal river water and no fresh water springs.