By this time, too, Columbus was no longer the sole explorer in the lands he had discovered. Many of his former shipmates had since been able to gain commands of their own and were busily trying to corner their share of the riches and glory. Back in Spain, Alonso de Ojeda, who years earlier had already caused problems for Columbus, had seen the maps of Trinidad and Paria and the Terrestrial Paradise that the Admiral had sent his Sovereigns. What had particularly interested Ojeda were several references on these maps to native pearl fisheries; already experienced in the treatment of Indians, Ojeda immediately perceived a new opportunity for instant riches. Within a short time he had obtained a royal permit for an expedition to Paria, and in May 1499, he left Cadiz with a small fleet of four ships. With Ojeda sailed Juan de la Cosa, who had accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, and a Florentine merchant named Amerigo Vespucci, who would expand this small adventure into a major accomplishment and in the process gained everlasting fame.
Ojeda’s fleet crossed the Atlantic in surprisingly short time, and arrived at the coast of Trinidad without any problems. The natives on that island had already resisted Columbus’ war dance in the previous year, and they had not changed their opinion toward the white men since then; when Ojeda insisted on free provisions, they were no more intimidated than before and fought the Spaniards off. Ojeda’s ships continued to Margarita, but that island, too, seemed devoid of any pearls; though the Spaniards burned down every village they found and killed many of the inhabitants, they finally left empty-handed. They continued westward to become the first Europeans to sight the islands of Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba, and entered the Gulf of Maracaibo. There they saw an Indian village built entirely on wooden pilings over the water, and they named it Little Venice – Venezuela. Once again, they proceeded to plunder that village and kill many of the inhabitants, but still there were no pearls and no gold to be found anywhere. After sailing around the Guajira peninsula as far as Cape de la Vela, they finally gave up; turning northward across the Caribbean Sea, they anchored at Hispaniola early in September, and immediately proceeded to cut down brazil wood and hunt natives.
Brazil wood, like gold, was royal property, and as the royal governor at Hispaniola, Columbus was forced to put a stop to such activities. Roldan, in his new position as alcade mayor, offered to capture the troublemakers, but after a few indecisive skirmishes, Ojeda grew tired of the game and simply sailed away. They stopped long enough at one of the Bahama Islands to capture some 250 of the peaceful natives there, and then returned to Spain. Despite the fact that he had illegally taken the brazil wood and enslaved hundreds of Indians – many of whom died during the voyage – Ojeda went unpunished for his open defiance of the Governor and Viceroy of the Indies. It was an ominous indication that Don Cristobal Colon’s influence at the Royal Court of Spain had already begun its swift decline. And America had not yet seen the last of Alonso de Ojeda.
Other Spanish expeditions had begun to appear in the Indies as well, all of them under royal patents issued by Ferdinand and Isabella. Though, without fail, these voyages had strict orders not to land within fifty leagues of the coast discovered by Columbus, all of them promptly ignored such orders. Peralonso Nina, pilot of the first Santa Maria, followed Ojeda to the Venezuelan coast and returned home with an impressive amount of gold and pearls. At about the same time, Vicente Yanoz Pinzon, who had piloted the Pinta at the time of the discovery, was given the command of four caravels to further explore the Indies. They sailed so far to the southwest that they crossed the Equator and made their first landfall on the coast of Brazil. From there they coasted back northward, discovered the mouth of the Amazon River, and eventually reached Santo Domingo. It was Pinzon’s ship that took back to Spain many of Roldan’s former rebels who had just been pardoned by the Governor of the Indies.