Talk:1504

Pearl Islands
"* February 14 – King Ferdinand V of Castile contracts with Juan de la Cosa to finance an expedition to the Pearl Islands." - I doubt the veracity of this entry even if we have the same assertion in our article on Juan de la Cosa. The Pearl Islands lie in the Gulf of Panama i.e. off the Pacific coast. Vasco Núñez de Balboa will only discover the Pacific in 1513, nine years after the de la Cosa expedition. Actually, our article on de la Cosa states that this expedition was to go to the Pearl Islands and the Gulf of Urabá to found settlements there; the Gulf of Urabá is on the Atlantic coast of Panama and an expedition there makes perfect sense. Now, the Spanish Wikipedia states that the expedition went to the Isla de Margarita (Margarita Island off Venezuela, discovered by Columbus in 1498) and the Gulf of Urabá and our article on Margarita Island says: "The coast of the island was abundant in pearls, which represented almost a third of all New World tribute to the Spanish Crown" though not explicitly saying that the island was called Pearl Island. Nevertheless, this strongly suggests to me that we have a mix-up here and that it actually should read here (and in Juan de la Cosa "Margarita Island" instead of "Pearl Islands". Proofreader (talk) 12:52, 21 May 2023 (UTC)