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Columbus’ 4th voyage: Stuck in Jamaica
By: Howie Tune
On
Oct. 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus made landfall in what would become known as
the New World. This was the explorer’s first voyage, and it’s his most
well-known. He made four voyages in all, but the other three are seldom
discussed. Columbus’ fourth trip across the Atlantic in May 1502 might have been
his most intriguing and possibly the most revealing of his character.
Following his third voyage to the New World, Columbus served as governor of the
Spanish settlement of Santo Domingo on the southern shore of present-day
Hispaniola. An excellent seaman, Columbus was not a skilled governor. His
hanging of rebellious Spanish settlers caused a representative of the Spanish
crown to place Columbus under arrest. His personal fortune was seized, and he
was returned to Spain in chains.
Upon his return to Spain in 1500, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella forgave
Columbus and returned his property. His titles were restored, but not the rights
and privileges that went with them, indicating he was out of favor with the
royals. For more than a year, Columbus petitioned the king and queen to allow
him one last voyage to search for the elusive route to China. When they finally
relented, Columbus bought four secondhand ships and prepared for the new
adventure.
On May 9, 1502, Columbus began his last voyage to the New World. When his four
leaky ships arrived in the Caribbean, the admiral noted the unmistakable signs
of an approaching hurricane. Arriving off the settlement of Santo Domingo,
Columbus learned that a great treasure fleet was about to set sail for Spain. He
warned those in charge not to let it leave and requested permission to weather
the storm in the harbor. His adversaries on shore scoffed at his advice and
denied his request. Columbus could only watch in frustration as the ships sailed
to their certain doom. While he found safe anchorage nearby, the fleet was
devastated by the hurricane.
Columbus’ four ships went on to explore the coastlines of what would become
Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. However, wood-boring worms crippled
his ships, and he was forced to abandon two of them, transferring the crew to
the remaining ones. Making a desperate run for Santo Domingo, they only got as
far as Jamaica, where Columbus beached his ships.
Columbus and his shipwrecked crew found the Jamaican natives to be friendly and
willing to trade food and water for trinkets and beads. From them, he bartered
two canoes each with 10 natives to paddle. Two of his crewmembers took command
of the canoes, setting off for Santo Domingo and help.
Not long after the two canoes left, some of Columbus’ men mutinied. Seizing a
group of other canoes, they set off in their own bid to return to civilization.
As they traveled along the Jamaican coast, they pillaged native villages,
telling the inhabitants that Columbus would pay for the goods. Soon, however, a
lack of seamanship forced them to return to their starting point.
Back at Columbus’ encampment, the natives grew tired of the increasing needs of
the Spanish sailors. Recognizing the law of supply and demand, they exacted
higher prices for the food and water they supplied. Columbus, knowing that a
lunar eclipse was due, decided to make a bold move. He told the natives that the
Christian God was angry with the Jamaicans and would devour the moon as a sign
of his displeasure. That night during the eclipse, the terrified natives came to
Columbus’ cabin offering abundant goods and pleading to be forgiven.
Meanwhile, the men in the two canoes had made it to Santo Domingo after an
arduous journey that had cost the lives of several of the natives. The governor,
however, refused to pick up the stranded crew, forcing Columbus’ men to spend
months trying to procure a ship. When they eventually did, Columbus and his crew
were finally rescued after being shipwrecked for nearly a year.
During the idle months on Jamaica, Columbus wrote a long, rambling and somewhat
incoherent letter to Ferdinand and Isabella that was posted after his rescue. In
the letter, Columbus chronicles the many wrongs done to him and describes a
vision he had had. In it a voice from heaven tells him he is anointed to do
God’s work on Earth, including the retaking of the Holy Land.
In November 1504, Columbus once again returned to Spain — this time without the
acclaim he had previously enjoyed. Isabella, his chief supporter was desperately
ill and died within weeks of his return. Ferdinand, having read Columbus’ letter
was now certain he could not be allowed a return to authority in any capacity.
Columbus never again went to sea, spending the rest of his life petitioning the
crown for what he saw as rewards due him. Christopher Columbus died in May 1506,
a deeply embittered man. The shackles he had worn after his arrest in Santo
Domingo lay next to his deathbed.
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Sources: “The Worlds of Christopher Columbus” by William and Carla Phillips;
“Columbus: The Great Adventure” by Paolo Taviani
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