Sailing east, Columbus anchored in the bay Martín Alonso Pinzón had named for himself, renaming it Río de Gracia (River of Grace) in reference to Columbus’s pardon for Martín’s desertion. But the bay still bore Martín’s name a century later (see sketch at December 15).
Martín had seized six captives, including two girls, at his bay. Columbus released them back home, explaining that the captives were set free because they were the sovereigns’ subjects on an island filled with gold where the sovereigns already had a settlement. It’s likely Columbus didn’t want Martin to have captives to independently prove that Martín had sailed to the Indies or to serve Martín in any future exploration of the territory.