The history of conquest, exploitation and migration was different for Trinidad and Tobago, notwithstanding their common Amerindian indigenous base and initial Spanish incursions. Both were claimed by Columbus in 1498, but Tobago was sighted and not invaded at this time. However, Trinidad remained Spanish until 1797, with a strong French presence up to the late-eighteenth century, while Tobago was continuously squabbled over until 1763, but with no lasting linguistic impact either from Spanish or French. Today the two islands share a mesolectal English-lexicon creole, which is alike in most particulars; in addition, a basilectal variety characterizes Tobagonian speech.