Isla Juana Summary

Columbus’ greatly details the islands that he discovered such as the San Salvador, Isla de Santa Maria de Concepcion, Fernandina, Isabella, and the Isla Juana. In his first letter he shows a positive attitude towards his experience on the West Indies. He points out how there were too many natives to take count of on the islands, but they gave no opposition upon his arrival. He mentions how long the Isla Juana took for him to travel across water on. In the first letter he mainly describes the attractive physical nature of the Espanola. He goes in good detail when writing by mentioning the plants, animals, and trees on the islands. The Espanola was clearly his favorite island after going on and mentioning it as a marvel compared to the others.

In Christopher’s fourth voyage letter he has a different state of mind while describing his occurrences. He does not feel like his work got appreciation and those who were against his discoveries at the start should not reap a reward. He is upset at the fact that his possessions were taken and his honor was damaged after being shipwrecked. He concludes on how his soul is diminishing and hopes that his work does not become forgotten. His attitude in his fourth letter is the opposite of what the first illustrates.
After reading these letters I believe that Columbus’ does a great job of describing the physical nature of the islands he crossed paths. I do feel for what he saying in his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella before or after he was shipwrecked on two of his voyages. My thoughts in general are that Christopher should not have gone back to the Indies after being shipwrecked in the Caribbean. He already saw what the islands had to offer so another voyage was not necessary.