In Columbus’s letter to the sovereigns of Spain, provided in the fourth voyage and detailing his travels between 1502 and 1504, Christopher Columbus tells of his tumultuous and difficult dealings in the New World. Reaching Central America for the first time, Columbus meets new groups of natives and renewed hope for gold fields and pearls. As he writes to the king and queen of Spain, Columbus is clearly cognizant of the fact that he has not brought back lump sums of gold or spices as was expected of him, and is trying to compensate for this.

Columbus remedies this in several ways. He repeats the fact that he did indeed see this gold fields and harbors of pearls (though this is most likely false). He blames his lack of seizure of these prizes on the antagonism of the natives, saying “When I discovered the Indies I said that they were the riches domain in the whole world in respect of gold, pearls, precious stones, spices, and trade and markets, and because all these things were not produces at once I was subjected to abuse. Because of this ill-treatment I now report nothing except that which I learnt form the natives of the land” (299). He then tells of how a stronger Spanish host could take all of these things, and tells of how the geography of Central American may make this task easier or harder. He tells of how “[the Spanish] will bring back gold from here, whereas if they wish to take the products of other lands they would have to take it by force or come back empty-handed, and inland they must entrust themselves to the savages” (299). The further inland that Columbus journeys and maps, the more difficult he finds the acquisition of precious stones. This makes sense: the further from the sea that the Spanish are, the less power they have over the natives who know the land much better.

Lastly, Columbus blames his desire to “keep the peace” as a reason for why he is not returning with gold, a flimsy excuse at best, as he clearly has no compunction about using force when necessary, as seen in the second and third voyages. He says that “I do not think it would be well, or to your Highness’ advantage, for [the gold] to be seized by way of plunder. Fair dealing will prevent scandal and disrepute” (301). In this way, he frames his inefficiency in the way of looking out for the best interests of the king and queen, a smart strategy if he wants a fifth voyage. Unfortunately, as the modern-day reader, we know that Columbus does not receive commissioning for a fifth voyage, and thus all of his convincing does not pay off.