Columbus, crew, and the ten Taínos aboard the Niña departed the Azores for Spain on February 24 and suffered more rough weather. Another violent storm enveloped them after sunset on March 3 and, within sight of the Portuguese coast, they almost perished again. The crew vowed yet another pilgrimage—to the church of Santa María de la Cinta on the hill above Huelva, Spain (near Palos)—and promised to fast on bread and water for the first Saturday after landfall (i.e., instead of celebrating with drink and women).
The ten Taínos would have appealed again to Guabancex, the female spirit of hurricanes and destruction, shown below (from M.R. Harrington, Indian Notes & Monographs Cuba Before Columbus. New York: Museum of the American Indian Heve Foundation, 1921):
