_The Fourth Voyage_

(May, 1502--November, 1504)


Columbus's thoughts were suddenly turned to a new enterprise. Vasco da
Gama had recently reached India round the Cape of Good Hope, and immense
wealth was poured by this route into Portugal. Columbus was persuaded
that the currents of the Caribbean Sea must pass between Cuba and the
land which he had discovered to the south, and that this route to India
would be more easy and direct than that of Vasco da Gama. His plan was
promptly adopted by the sovereigns, and he sailed in May 1502, on his
last and most disastrous voyage. He steered to Hispaniola, but was not
permitted to land, and then coasted along Honduras and down the Mosquito
Coast to Costa Rica. Here he found gold among the natives, and heard
rumours of Mexico. He continued beyond Cape Nombre de Dios in search for
the imaginary strait, and then gave up all attempt to find it.

Possibly he knew that another voyager, coasting from the eastward, had
reached this point. He turned westward to search for the gold-mines of
Veragua, and attempted unsuccessfully to found a settlement there. As
his vessels were no longer capable of standing the sea, he ran them
aground on Jamaica, fastened them together, and put the wreck in a state
of defence. He dispatched canoes to Hispaniola, asking Ovando to send a
ship to relieve him, but many months of suffering and difficulty elapsed
before it came.

Columbus returned to Spain in November 1504. Care and sorrow were