Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AFTER 1492, WHAT NEXT DID COLUMBUS DO?
Columbus's great achievement is his voyage of discovery. He made three more voyages
to the New World, but after 1492 his career and reputation went on a downward slide. He
claimed to have been only a few leagues from the Asian mainland, but he never sailed west
to make good his claim. Instead, he kept threading through Caribbean waters. As to why he
did this, a few explanations suggest themselves. As a God-driven explorer, perhaps Colum-
bus had received a divine message as to his routes. Perhaps he knew in his heart that he had
arrived in new lands but was too proud (or frightened) to admit it. Or perhaps he shared a
not-uncommon belief that gold was to be found in hot climates. The Portuguese had found
gold in Africa.
Through no fault of Columbus, the Santa Maria ran aground Christmas Day, 1492, and
split at the seams. Columbus took the ship's loss as a divine sign that he was to colonize
the island of Hispaniola. So he put his mistress's cousin in charge of the shipwrecked crew,
and he sailed for Spain.
Homeward bound, with parrots and captive Indians, Columbus composed a letter to his
sovereigns that would soon set Europe's imagination racing. As the ultimate sign of grace
and favor, the Admiral of the Ocean Sea was permitted to kiss his sovereigns' hands and
to sit in their presence. A second, triumphal expedition was mounted in 1493: seventeen
ships, 1,500 men, and numerous horses set out to colonize and conquer the new posses-
sions. But trouble had come to paradise. There was no sign of the crew left behind in 1492
or of the wealth of the Indies. In desperation, the Admiral threatened to lash any seamen
and to cut out the tongues of any boys who denied that they were now in Cathay. Contrary
to expectations and promises to his sovereigns, only chili peppers could be paraded as tan-
tamount to the spices of the Indies. Only the Indians' gold ornaments could be brought to
Spain. Spanish overlords began to brutalize and kill the Indians. To fulfill the promise of
riches, Columbus committed what some historians call the first sin of the New World. He
put Indians in chains and carried them as slaves to Spain. But Queen Isabella was offended
and set them free.
Columbus captained a third voyage in 1498 with six ships, but when reports of mis-
managed New World colonies reached Spain (Columbus was an excellent navigator but a
miserable manager of men), the third voyage was cut short when a court-appointed over-
lord arrived to put Columbus in shackles and send him back to Spain. With the demeanor
of a martyr, the Admiral appeared at court still wearing his bonds. And a pitying Queen set
him free.
Columbus was permitted a fourth voyage in 1502. Despite the promises of the Capitu-
lation of 1492, he went not to govern but only to explore. With his gift of self-importance
and belief that he was divinely inspired, Columbus called this his High Voyage. He jour-
neyed to the Orinoco and, perhaps as a measure of his piety or perhaps as a sign of his
mental deterioration, he claimed to have seen Eden, with Adam and Eve disporting in that
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