HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 158

landfall on October 12, 1492, at an island in
the present-day Bahamas, which he called
San Salvador.
Columbus subsequently sighted C UBA
and sailed on to reach a large island that he
named “La Española”—H ISPANIOLA —now
Haiti and the D OMINICAN R EPUBLIC . Here he
established friendly relations with the
inhabitants and built a fort to be occupied
by some of his men.
Although these islands in the Caribbean
clearly did not correspond to the images of
advanced civilization and great riches con-
veyed by medieval writers such as Marco
Polo, Columbus claimed his “New World”
discoveries for Castile, planted the banner
of the cross there, and returned to Spain
early in 1493 to present an enthusiastic
account of his experience to the queen and
her consort, F ERDINAND V. Even the latter
was intrigued by the evidence of Colum-
bus's accomplishments, including several
“Indians” and a quantity of gold brought
back with him. Columbus made three sub-
sequent voyages, seeking to vindicate his
claim that he had indeed established a
transatlantic route to Asia.
In 1493, only a few months after his
return to Spain, Columbus sailed west
again, this time with a far larger contingent
of men and ships owing to the excitement
aroused by his report. On this second voy-
age he touched at still more islands, nota-
bly J AMAICA and P UERTO R ICO . His fort on
Hispaniola had been destroyed, and the
garrison had apparently perished in a clash
with hostile Indians. Nevertheless, he cre-
ated a new settlement and left colonists to
build a base for future exploration. On a
third voyage, in 1498, Columbus reached
the coast of South America, in present-day
V ENEZUELA , and discovered the mouth of

the Orinoco River. Back in Hispaniola he
found that his brother Diego, whom he
had left in charge, had made enemies
among the colonists, and the subsequent
disputes led to Columbus and members of
his family being sent back to Spain in
chains on charges of undermining royal
authority. After being exonerated Colum-
bus made a fourth voyage, in 1502. Still
searching for the mainland of Asia he sailed
along the coast of Central America sighting
P ANAMA , C OSTA R ICA , N ICARAGUA , and
H ONDURAS . He still found nothing that cor-
responded to his grand vision and no route
that would carry him into the interior of
what he still firmly believed to be Asia.
Back in Spain the self-confidence and
aggressiveness that had enabled Colum-

Christopher Columbus and sons Diego and Ferdinand
(Library of Congress)