Christopher Columbus
From The Worlds of Christopher Columbus by Phillips, W.D. & Phillips, C.R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Seville to Española
A typical Indies fleet a century later would carry 50 to 60 percent adult seamen, and a war fleet would carry 60 to 70 percent adult seamen and gunners. The young crew suggests that Columbus was no longer able to attract the best seamen that southern Spain had to offer; presumably they were off on ex- ploratory voyages of their own or maintaining the regular links be tween Santo Domingo and Cadiz. His ships were not of the best quality either, as we shall see.The fleet assembled in Seville on April 3, 1502, and sailed down- river to dock in Cadiz for final preparations. They sailed from Cadiz on May 9 and cleared the harbor two days later. On the way to the Canaries they stopped at the Moroccan port of Arzilla, where a Por- tugese garrison had just beaten back a Moroccan seige. In Arzila, they met some kinsmen of Felipa Moniz (Columbus's late wife) be- fore sailing for the town of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria, where they arrived on May 20. Departing five days later, they crossed the Atlantic, "without having to touch the sails," as Hernando Colón would later write. Some historians doubt that Hernando wrote the early sections of his father's biography but there is no doubt that he wrote the description of the fourth voyage from personal experience. His wonder at the world his father had claimed for Spain permeates his descriptions of the lands and peoples he saw as an adolescent.
The fleet reached land at the island of Matininó (now Martinique) on June 15. After sailing through the Antilles, the ships arrived at Española on June 29, although Columbus had been expressly forbid- en to go there. To underline the fact that he lacked all authority on the island, Fernando and Isabel had ordered him to avoid Española on his outbound voyage, over his vigorous protests. They conceded only that he only could make a short visit in passing on the return voyage.
Columbus's aggrieved state of mind may have led him to blatantly defy royal orders, but there were practical concerns as well. The San- tiago had sailed very poorly across the ocean, and Columbus hoped to sell it and buy another in Santo Domingo. His visit to Española turned out to be more dramatic than he had planned, however. Co- lumbus knew that Governor Ovando was about to send a fleet home, and as he neared the island he realized that a hurricane was brewing just as the fleet was about to leave. Having experienced one hurricane in the Carribean on his second voyage, which he rode out between the southern shore of Española and the island of Saona, and having experienced the fringes of another, Columbus wanted to tell Ovando of the storm and also to use the harbor at Santo Dom- ingo as a haven for his own ships.
Anchoring offshore, Columbus sent a message about the storm to Ovando, who refused to believe him and ordered the fleet to depart; he also refused Columbus permission to land. The hurricane struck; just as Columbus had predicted, sinking twenty-five ships in the fleet dispatched by Ovando. Among those killed were Columbus's faith- ful friend Antonio de Torres, his old adversary Bobadilla, the Indian cacique Guarionex, and the rebel Roldán and most of his followers. Only three or four ships survived the storm, and the one that made it back to Spain, ironically was the Aguja , which carried 4,000 pesos of gold belonging to Columbus If Columbus had ever entertained doubts that God was on his side, the hurricane and its aftermath laid them to rest.
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