Columbus had sailed from Spain in May 1498 on a more southerly route, hoping to find a continent south of the islands he had already explored. Running short of water, his ships sighted Trinidad from the southeast. Days later, in the Gulf of Paria, he saw the vast outflow of fresh water from the Orinoco and concluded that such a river must drain a great landmass; he became the first European known to reach the South American mainland. He also speculated that he was near the Earthly Paradise.
The third voyage began from Sanlúcar de Barrameda on May 30, 1498, with six ships; three went straight to Hispaniola while Columbus took the others south toward the Cape Verde Islands and then west. The fleet was becalmed in the heat near the equator, and supplies spoiled. By late July, with water running low, Columbus turned north.
On July 31 a sailor named Alonso Pérez climbed to the crow's nest and saw three mountains. Columbus had vowed to name the next land he found after the Holy Trinity, and the three peaks seemed to confirm it. The ships followed the southern coast and entered the Gulf of Paria, where strong currents from the Orinoco delta nearly wrecked them. Columbus sent men ashore on the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela in early August.
The voyage ended badly for Columbus. At Hispaniola he found the colony in revolt, and complaints about his rule led the Spanish crown to send an investigator, Francisco de Bobadilla, who in 1500 arrested him and sent him back to Spain in chains. He was released, but lost his governorship.
Key people: Christopher Columbus