The Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes is thought to be the first European to have landed on the islands; he visited them on 21 October 1520 and named the St. Pierre island group the 'Eleven Thousand Virgins', as the day marked the feast day of St. Ursula and her virgin companions. In 1536 Jacques Cartier claimed the islands as a French possession on behalf of the King of France (Francis I). Though already frequented by Mi'kmaq people and by Basque and Breton fishermen, the islands were not permanently settled until the end of the 17th century: four permanent inhabitants were counted in 1670, and 22 in 1691.