On August 13, 1504, Columbus once more arrived in Santo Domingo. On his ill-fated fourth voyage he had been shipwrecked in Jamaica and one of his men crossed the ocean in an open boat, to solicit aid of Ovando. The latter, after dallying for months, finally yielded to the murmurings of the colony and sent for the Discoverer. He received Columbus well, but subjected him to humiliation by arbitrarily liberating a mutineer imprisoned by the admiral. Disappointed and sad, the great navigator left the shores of the island he loved and returned to Spain where his death occurred two years later. The golden age of the colony was now at hand. Ovando built up the city of Santo Domingo, constructed forts and other defences, and laid the foundations of most of its public buildings. Fine private residences and great churches and convents were erected. Sugar-cane was introduced in 1506 and gave rich returns, the production of the gold mines continued to increase, and cattle raising brought large profits. The Indians were dying out under the rigorous treatment, and others were imported from the surrounding islands under the pretense of converting them to Christianity; and when these also succumbed, the importation of negroes from Africa was commenced. About 1508 the island began to be called Santo Domingo, but for almost three centuries royal decrees continued to refer to it as Espanola. So flourishing was its state at this time that thirteen of its towns were granted coats of arms and three were declared cities. The colony was and for many years continued to be a starting point for voyages of discovery and conquest in the islands and along the shores of the Caribbean Sea. After the death of Christopher Columbus his son Diego made fruitless efforts to recover the honors of which his father had been despoiled, but it was not until he married Maria de Toledo, the beautiful niece of the Duke of Alba, that he met with partial success, probably more because of the influence of his wife's family than because of the justice of his claims. In 1509 he was appointed governor of Santo Domingo to succeed Ovando and arrived in the colony with his wife, his uncles, and a brilliant suite.