GROUP MEMBERS
Leonora Edwards
Shinifa McKenzie
Makail Pitt
Schekeil Rochford
FOURTH VOYAGE
Christopher Columbus was 51 years old and still
fairly sickly when he departed on May 11, 1502 on
his fourth and final voyage. This adventure
included 4 aging ships ( Capitana, Gallega,
Vizcaina and Santiago de Palos) holding about 140
men. They landed at Santo Domingo making a plea
to be let into the docking area and gain protection
from the strong weather which was on its way. It
was June 29, 1502 when they arrived and
Columbus waited for a response. While awaiting an
answer, he sent a recommendation to the new
governor Nicolás de Ovando to delay a fleet
heading for Spain because of the oncoming
weather conditions.
In the end Christopher Columbus was not allowed
entry to the harbor and his recommendation about
the weather was also ignored. Ovando forced
Columbus to anchor his ships in a nearby estuary
and ignored his advice, sending the fleet of 28
ships on to Spain. A tremendous hurricane sank 24
of them: three returned and only one – ironically,
the one containing Columbus’ personal effects that
he wished to send to Spain – arrived safely. A few
miles away, Columbus’ ships were badly battered,
but all of them remained afloat.
Columbus continued exploring to the south,
along the coasts of present-day Nicaragua,
Costa Rica and Panama. He met several native
cultures, observing maize being cultivated on
terraces. They saw stone structures and
discovered some interesting and vital facts
(which made Columbus even surer that he had
found the path he had dreamed of). They
traded also for food and gold whenever
possible. In early 1503, the ships began to fail.
In addition to the battering they had taken
from one hurricane and several major storms, it
was discovered that they were infested with
termites.
On June 25 1503, Columbus made the
decision to abandon ship for Jamaica and
they found themselves stranded on St.
Anne’s Bay. Christopher Columbus then
arranged with one of his captains to
purchase a canoe from a native and make his
way to Hispaniola.
Upon his return, the captain Diego Mendez
was immediately imprisoned for the next
seven months and was denied use of any
vessel to save the stranded Christopher
Columbus and the remaining crew.
Christopher Columbus was therefore left
stranded on Jamaica for about another year.
Diego Mendez was finally released and he
further made his way to Santo Domingo but
found no vessels existed to salvage the mission.
He finally arranged a smaller ship to get the
men and it was on June 29 1504 that the group
was discovered. And on November 7 1504 that
Christopher Columbus set foot on his home
island again and officially finished his last and
most memorable voyage.