So King John had to give a royal reception to Columbus, and permit him to send a messenger to the king and queen of Spain with the news of his return from Cathay.
Then Columbus went on board the Nina again and sailed for Palos.

But his old friend Captain Alonso Pinzon had again acted badly.

For he had left the Admiral in one of the storms at sea and had hurried homeward.

Then he sailed into one of the northern ports of Spain, and hoping to get all the credit for his voyage, sent a messenger post-haste to the king and queen with the word that he had returned from Cathay and had much to tell them.

And then he, too, sailed for Palos.
On the fifteenth of March, 1493, just seven months after he had sailed away to the West, Columbus in the Nina sailed into Palos Harbor.