Third Expedition

On his third expedition，in 1498，Columbus was forced to transport convicts[19]as colonists，because of the bad reports on conditions in Hispaniola and because the novelty[20]of the New World was wearing off.He sailed still farther south and made his landfall on Trinidad[21].He sailed across the mouth of the Orinoco[22]River（in present Venezuela）and realized that he saw a continent，but without further exploration he hurried back to Hispaniola to administer his colony.In 1500 an independent governor arrived，sent by Isabel-la and Ferdinand as the result of reports on the wretched conditions in the colony[23]，and he sent Columbus back to Spain in chains.The admiral was immediately released，but his favor was on the wane；other navigators，including Amerigo Vespucci，had been in the New World and established much of the coast line of NE South America.