Little, Brown and Company, 2005

267 pages, paperback, $14.95

The High Voyage

Five hundred years after the death of Christopher Columbus, one would think little new material is available. Martin Dugard, however, has given us a fresh look at “the Admiral’s” fourth and most extensive voyage. In his notes at the end of The Last Voyage of Columbus, the author explains that he was inspired to write the book by the discovery of La Vizcaino, one of Columbus’s vessels found by a diver in 1998 off of the coast of Panama. As Dugard began his research, he came to realize that the scuttling of La Vizcaino was only one of the many trials Columbus faced on his epic final voyage.

Our story begins in 1500 when we meet the 49-year-old explorer sitting in chains in a Santo Domingo prison. It is not until well into the book that the reader is made aware of the reasons for his imprisonment, namely the jealousy of Spanish subordinates. Columbus was from Genoa and was always more comfortable around Italians who sailed with him on every voyage. Spaniards were envious of anyone from a wealthy Italian city-state, especially someone as prominent as Columbus.

The Last Voyage of Columbus is much more than an account of this longest and most dramatic of the great mariner’s expeditions. The first part of the book focuses on the awakening of medieval Europe, as ancient texts and maps are discovered through contact with the Arab cultures. The author gives us a wonderful analogy of the 15th century view of the earth, “a medieval Frisbee, floating on a large, blue ocean.” Constantinople had fallen to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and the route to the spices of the East Indies was closed. Spain and Portugal were vying for control of the seas and in 1494 Pope Alexander V1 was persuaded to issue the Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the remainder of globe between these two nations. We are introduced to Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal and two of his protégés, Bartolomeo Diaz and Vasco de Gama, as well as to Ferdinand and Isabella, the co-rulers of Spain.

With the historical background in place, Dugard describes the court intrigue that Columbus had to deal with to gain support for his daring idea. When he finally convinced Ferdinand and Isabella, he was under heavy pressure to return with not only with a new route to the spices of the Indies, but also with precious metals. As we know, he found a limited supply of gold and pearls but not a route to the Indies. Indeed, until the late 18th century another Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, was credited with “discovering” the New World, but that is another story.

Always dreaming of new voyages, Columbus by 1500 had become a nuisance at the Spanish court. Along the docks, however, he was still revered as the consummate navigator. As a result he had no trouble recruiting a crew when he received permission from the harassed Spanish sovereigns for one final expedition. Columbus always considered “The High Voyage,” as he called it, the pinnacle of his career. He surmounted every possible obstacle: hurricanes, a waterspout, shipwreck, hostile natives, mutiny and starvation.

Dugard details the various ordeals Columbus faced, focusing especially on the year 1503-04 when “the Admiral” and his crew were marooned on Jamaica. Just when it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse, some new disaster would occur. One has to admire Columbus’s savoir-faire in dealing with each crisis. At one point he even used an eclipse of the moon to subdue an Indian uprising.

History has always had trouble categorizing the “Admiral of the Ocean Sea,” as biographer Samuel Eliot Morison calls him. Born at the crossroads of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Columbus reflected the characteristics of both eras. Seen in the light of each period, the fourth voyage is a gripping story of perseverance and redemption.

Retired from teaching in the Philadelphia area, Harry Gratwick writes on Vinalhaven.