Columbus sailed east along the coast and
made a second attempt at founding a trading
colony, near present-day Puerto Plata on the
north-central coast of the Dominican Repub-
lic. He named it La Isabela, in honor of his
royal patron. Leaving his inexperienced
brother Diego in command of the colony,
Columbus marched into the interior of the
island in an unsuccessful attempt to find a
major source of gold. When he returned, he
found the disillusioned settlers of Isabela at
the point of mutiny. After restoring order by
force, Columbus set sail again in April 1494,
certain that he could discover the Chinese
mainland. Instead, after a brief reconnais-
sance of Cuba’s southeastern coast, he
headed south and encountered Jamaica.
His obsession with reaching Asia, however,
reserved his attention for Cuba, which he
remained convinced was a Chinese peninsula.
He returned to the island’s southern coast and
struggled against the wind almost all the way
to the island’s western tip. If Columbus had
continued 50 more miles, Cuba’s true shapeDuring his second voyage, Columbus built a small fort named Santo Thomas on Hispaniola (near present-day
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), the ruins of which are shown in these four images, taken in 1893.
(Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-107411])
The Four Voyages of Columbus B 31