So single-mindedly did Columbus pursue the westerly route that he failed to take along on his journeys the specialists instinctively sought by later, and far more competent, conquistadors: Arabic translators to tell him that the primitive Carib “Indians” he encountered and brought back with him to Spain were certainly not residents of India; jewelers to ascertain that the massive quantity of yellow metal weighing down his holds was iron pyrite, fool’s gold; or apothecaries like Tomé Pires to warn him that the “cinnamon” and “pepper” he presented to Ferdinand and Isabella on his return were,
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