The Fourth Voyage of Columbus

There is evidence from writings that Columbus knew he was not in the Far East, but there is evidence from other writings that he thought he was in the Far East. When the Fourth Voyage was under way, Columbus said he was looking for the Straight of Malacca, which is the body of water between Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra.

Columbus's Fourth Voyage

On May 11, 1502, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain with four ships. He first landed on the Moroccan coast to rescue Portuguese who were under siege. He then landed on the island of Martinique on June 15. On June 29, the group landed at Santo Domingo (the capital port city). His group predicted that a hurricane was building, so they sailed to Hispaniola for safe harbor. Governor Bobadilla (who'd inherited the job two years earlier when Columbus was jailed) rejected the idea of Columbus having safe harbor, so he denied them the use of the port. Columbus pleaded with him that a hurricane was approaching and that they needed the safety of the port and that no ships should depart until the storm passed. Columbus then moved on to the mouth of a river for safety. Bobadilla not only wouldn't let Columbus have safe port, but he sent out the Spanish treasure fleet (a convoy system through the Spanish empire). While Columbus's ships had almost no damage, 29 of the 30 convoy ships were sunk on July 1 from the hurricane, taking a large cargo of gold, 500 lives, and even Bobadilla himself to the bottom of the ocean.

Columbus moved on and landed off the coast of Honduras on July 30, not arriving at the mainland until August 14. He then spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. On October 16, he was in Panama. He learned of a path that opens to another ocean, and he looked for it, but on December 5, a major hurricane hit, hampering some of the search efforts. In January, 1503, he set up a garrison to help with the search. On April 6, one of his ships became stuck in the river near where the garrison was located. At the same time, the garrison was attacked by natives, and the other ships were damaged.

On April 16, they left, heading for Hispaniola. On May 10, they spotted the Cayman Islands. Off the coast of Cuba, they ran into another storm, which damaged the ships further. Battered and unable to travel any farther, his group landed on Jamaica on June 23. A member of the crew and some natives paddled to Hispaniola to get help for the stranded crew, but the new governor detested Columbus and not only wouldn't send help, he obstructed others from helping. Columbus and his crew remained stranded on Jamaica for a year. While on the island, he had to win over the natives so they would help feed them. He was able to do this by successfully predicting a lunar eclipse that occurred on February 29, 1504. Help finally arrived on June 29, 1504. The group finally made it back to Spain on November 7, 1504.