The Fourth Voyage of Columbus

Columbus persuaded the Spanish monarchs to sponsor one last voyage to the New World. The objective of this journey was to locate the passage to Asia that no one had discovered yet, but which Columbus firmly believed existed. Accompanied by his brother and son, Columbus departed Spain on May 11th. En route, he sailed to Morocco to rescue some Portuguese sailors.

On June 15th, Columbus' fleet of four ships reached Martinique. Sensing an impending hurricane, he sought shelter in Hispaniola. However, the new governor dismissed his warnings about the hurricane and denied him entry into the colony. As Columbus had predicted, the hurricane struck, decimating a Spanish fleet of 29 ships and 500 men, among which were many of his adversaries.

Subsequently, Columbus set sail for Central America. Between August 14th and October 16th, he explored Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Upon reaching Panama, he anticipated discovering the long-sought passage. Columbus spent five months exploring Panama. However, after one of his ships got stranded on the Rio Belen river and his garrison was ambushed, he navigated north towards Hispaniola. Encountering severe damage near the coast of Cuba, he was compelled to run his ships aground in Jamaica. Stranded on the island for a year, Columbus and his crew awaited rescue. Their salvation eventually came from Hispaniola, after two of his crew, along with some natives, paddled there. Columbus returned to Spain for the last time on November 7th, 1504.