Christopher Columbus, on his fourth and final voyage took him to the modern land of Honduras (1502). The name ‘Honduras’ in Spanish refers to ‘depths’ and one of the theories behind the name is through an observation made by Columbus about waters being deep in that part of Central America. During one of these expeditions, Columbus encountered a massive storm and his ship and crew took shelter in a nearby cape and the etymology of these two places comes from his Spanish quote – “Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de estas honduras!”, (‘Thank God, we have escaped these treacherous depths’). Hence the name ‘Honduras’ for ‘depths‘ and the cape is named ‘Gracias a Dios‘.
