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THE VOYAGE HOME
Columbus was so sure of the divine purpose
ofhis mission that he decided that the
wrecking of the Santa Mariaat Christmas
was a sign from God that he should found a
colony in Hispaniola. He recruited 39 volun-
teers and instructed them to build a base
from which to search for gold. The colony
would be called Villa de la Navidad(Town of
the Nativity).
The Niñasailed for Spain on January 4,
1493.Two days later, the Pintacaught up with
it, with news of having found plentiful gold in
the countryside of Hispaniola. The two ships
sailed together across the Atlantic Ocean until
mid-February, when a storm separated them.
After docking briefly in the Azores and being
battered by violent seas all the way to the
European mainland, Columbus and the Niña
safely reached Portugal on March 4. Hoping to
secure safe passage from the Portuguese king,
Columbus wrote to João II, who invited the
seafarers to visit him at his summer home
nearby.
João II—who had rejected Columbus’s
appeal for help eight years earlier—sus-
pected that Columbus had not visited new
lands, but had instead been meddling in Por-
tuguese territory in Africa. Columbus’s cap-
tive Taino interpreters, however, convinced
João II that the Genoese captain had indeed
visited a place of which Europeans were
unaware. Resisting advice to have him killed
to prevent Spain from profiting by the dis-
covery, the Portuguese king allowed Colum-
bus to travel on. Columbus sent wordto the
Spanish monarchs that he was en route. He
returned to Palos aboard the Niñaon March
- Amazingly, the Pintasailed into the har-
bor the same afternoon.
Columbus’s warm reception bythe royal
court at Barcelona was his greatest moment of
triumph. He felt that his navigational theories
were vindicated. He was awarded all the hon-
ors promised by Spanish royalty. Throughout
the rest of his life, however, Columbus’s life as
anavigator would become secondary to his
battles both in Spain and the lands he called
“the Indies” to hold onto those privileges.SECOND VOYAGE
When Columbus embarked on his first voy-
age, hoping to reach the empires of Asia, he
neither intended nor was equipped to colo-
nize land. He still planned to reach China
when his second expedition set sail from
Cadiz on September 25, 1493, but coloniza-
tion and religious conversion were now overt
goals. In fact, the trip would be successful as a
voyage of discovery, but a fiasco as a colonial
venture.
In contrast to the meager fleet he was able
to assemble for his first voyage, vigorous royal
support showed in Columbus’s second fleet. It
included three large ships, 14 caravels, and
1,500 men. This time he had the benefit of
Arawak interpreters. The kidnapped Indians
he had presented to the king and queen had
learned to speak Spanish. All but one, who
remained at the Spanish court, sailed back to
the Caribbean.
On November 3 the fleet sighted islands in
the chain that became known as the Lesser
Antilles, including Dominica, Maria Galante,
and Guadeloupe. Naming the islands as he
progressed, Columbus followed the islands
northwest to St. Croix, the Virgin Islands, and
Puerto Rico, whose original Indian name was
Borinquén. On November 27 he arrived at La
Navidad, the outpost he had left on Hispan-
iola. The colony was uninhabited. Columbus
learned that the Taino had lost patience with
the settlers’ incessant demands for gold and
women and had killed them all.(^30) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
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