"So! That was a savage island of natives, and absolutely not India!..."
Sebastiao's challenge was reasonable and well-founded, sentence after sentence, like a fierce drummer pounding beat after beat against Columbus's heart. Columbus's face flushed red. He wanted to refute him loudly, but did not know where to begin. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and roar like an enraged stubborn donkey.
"You're talking nonsense! Those natives had cotton thread, and it was a hot tropical land. What I reached was India!... As for why those natives were benighted... it was only... only because they were far from the center of India. They were islanders of India's eastern archipelago, uncivilized natives on the fringe, that's all!..."
"What's more, we continued sailing and reached civilized Cipangu, Japan! We even encountered the navy of the kingdom of Cipangu, saw their oared sailing ships and Copper Cannons! Many of those Cipangu soldiers wore Bronze armor in the ancient Greek style and carried golden spears. It was a country that was barbaric yet civilized!..."
"And if not for the conflict with the Cipangu people, we certainly could have reached the Eastern Continent farther west, reached Cathay flowing with milk and honey, reached Seres of silk and porcelain! This is a true new sea route to the wealthy Eastern lands!..."
"...The navy of Cipangu, Japan... oared sailing ships and Copper Cannons..."
Hearing this, Sebastiao was momentarily at a loss for words and did not know how to respond. The sailors interrogated had also honestly confessed the Castilian fleet's clash with the native navy on the great island.
Though that native navy sounded very backward, practically like a city-state from the age of ancient Greece... they had cannons, metal weapons, and vast numbers, and they did indeed represent a powerful, civilized native kingdom.