Though prohibited from touching at Hispaniola, one of his vessels was so bad a sea boat that he ventured to steer for San Domingo, in order to change her for another.
Arriving off the river on the 29th of June, he found a fleet with Bobadilla on board, as well as a large amount of treasure and several unhappy Indian captives.
The agent of Columbus had shipped four thousand pieces of gold, recently collected or recovered from Bobadilla, on board one of the caravels.
Columbus immediately sent to ask permission of Ovando, who had assumed the government, to enter the harbour, stating that the weather looked threatening, and that he believed a hurricane was brewing.
Ovando most ungraciously refused the boon asked for by Columbus, who then again sent on shore, entreating that, although shelter was denied to him, the fleet about to sail might be detained in harbour until the coming tempest had spent its fury.
This request was also refused, the Governor and his officers not believing the warning. Columbus, therefore, steered along the coast, keeping as close to the shore as possible, convinced that the storm would blow from the north. The crews at once began to complain, having lost their reliance on one who was subjected to such ill treatment.
Within two days his predictions were verified. A fearful hurricane burst upon them, during which the ship carrying Bobadilla and an unfortunate cacique foundered, together with an enormous mass of gold,—the principal part of the treasure gained by the miseries of the Indians. Many other ships were lost, some returning to San Domingo sorely battered, while only one, the weakest of the fleet, with the treasure of the Admiral on board, continued her voyage to Spain.
The squadron of Columbus, though having suffered much, safely reached the port of Hermoso, at the west end of San Domingo. Here he remained several days, and then, after touching at some small islands off Jamaica swept by the current, he reached a group near the coast of Honduras, one of which he called the Isla de Pinos, now known as Guanaja, or Bonacca.
The Adelantado, on landing on its beautiful and fertile shore, saw an immense canoe approaching, eight feet wide, and of great length, though formed of the trunk of a single tree. Under a canopy of palm-leaves sat a cacique, with his wives and children, rowed by twenty-five Indians.