Wayne Davrs, age 11s of Visa at California, for his question:

Who discovered the West Indies?

The West Indies were really discovered by mistake. Columbus, sure that the world was round, was on his way to India by sailing west. He came upon Cuba and other jewel‑like islands in the ocean. He thought they were the Indies or Spice Islands which ships reach by sailing east.

Columbus was right about the world being round. But it was somewhat larger than he supposed. The Americas and the vast Pacific lay between his Indies and the Spice Islands. He did not live to learn his mistake.

Others crossed the Americas and found the Spice Islands across the Pacific. Then it was known that there were two sets of Indies islands. The Spice Islands were called the East Indies and the islands discovered by Columbus were called the West Indies.