Christopher Columbus’ three subsequent voyages

This map is part of a series of 16 animated maps showing the history of The Age of Discovery.

In the years following his first voyage, Christopher Columbus carried out three more journeys, but with better resources than in the past.

1,200 men accompanied him on his second voyage. Columbus discovered the Lesser Antilles Islands, the island of Porto Rico, and founded a colony called La Isabela on Hispaniola, before setting off to explore a large area along the southern coast of Cuba.

Convinced that he had found a peninsula that was part of the Asian continent, Columbus returned to La Isabela.

However, the young colony was already torn apart by internal conflicts and abuse against the natives, and the navigator was forced to return to Spain to report back to Queen Isabella.

During his third voyage, Columbus explored the regions further to the south, where he discovered the Island of Trinidad and the huge delta of the Orinoco, which made a great impression on him.

When the navigator returned to La Isabela after three years, the colony was facing severe difficulties. Christopher Columbus was imprisoned by Bobadilla, the Queen’s representative, and sent back to Spain.

Christopher Columbus was not permitted to have any more dealings with La Isabela, but the Spanish sovereigns allowed him to set off on a fourth journey, this time with the specific objective of travelling to the rich kingdoms of India, further to the west.

His flotilla of four ships reached Honduras and sailed southwards along the coast in search of a passage.

On returning, his ships were in very poor repair, and Columbus was forced to land on the island of Jamaica and wait a year for help to arrive.

Exhausted, the navigator returned to Spain. He died two years later, still convinced that the lands he had discovered were the far-eastern extremity of Asia.

Abuse of natives

In the colony of La Isabela, the natives were very quickly reduced to an almost slave-like existence, and their revolts against this situation were put down with great cruelty.

Delta of the Orinoco

Impressed by this tremendous quantity of fresh water flowing into the sea and unaware of its source, Columbus thought that he had found the Earthly Paradise.