Columbus continued making discoveries on his third voyage across the Atlantic, finding Trinidad on July 31, 1498, and setting foot on the South American continent. But he was less skilled as a colonial administrator than as a navigator. Spanish settlers in Hispaniola (today's Dominican Republic) had grown disenchanted with Columbus and his discoveries. Like the captain, they dreamed of the civilized riches of fabled China and India-silk, spices, porcelain. The Caribbean held no such refinements. Columbus's brutal attempts to put down rebellion by both island natives and colonists proved ineffective and unpopular. Word got back to Spain and Francisco de Bobadilla, a royal administrator, was sent to straighten things out. Bobadilla took Columbus into custody, threw the explorer on a boat and shipped him home.

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