Columbus may have been the greatest genius in the world; very possibly they admitted it; but in the meanwhile Spain was resounding with the cries of the impoverished colonists who had returned from his ocean Paradise.

No doubt the Sovereigns ignored them as much as they possibly could; but when it came to ragged emaciated beggars coming in batches of fifty at a time and sitting in the very courts of the Alhambra, exhibiting bunches of grapes and saying that that was all they could afford to live upon since they had come back from the New World, some notice had to be taken of it.

Even young Diego and Ferdinand, the Admiral's sons, came in for the obloquy with which his name was associated; the colonial vagabonds hung round the portals of the palace and cried out upon them as they passed so that they began to dislike going out.

Columbus, as we know, had plenty of enemies who had access to the King and Queen; and never had enemies an easier case to urge.

Money was continually being spent on ships and supplies; where was the return for it?
What about the Ophir of Solomon?
What about the Land of Spices?
What about the pearls?
And if you want to add a touch of absurdity, what about the Garden of Eden and the Great Khan?
To the most impartial eyes it began to appear as though Columbus were either an impostor or a fool.