In other words, he got up the subject.

The whole of his geographical reading with regard to the Indies up to this time had been in the travels of Marco Polo; the others--whose works he quoted from so freely in later years were then known to him only by name, if at all.

Behaim, however, could tell him a good deal about the supposed circumference of the earth, the extent of the Asiatic continent, and so on.

Every new fact that Columbus heard he seized and pressed into the service of his Idea; where there was a choice of facts, or a difference of opinion between scientists, he chose the facts that were most convenient, and the opinions that fitted best with his own beliefs.
The very word "Indies" was synonymous with unbounded wealth; there certainly would be riches to tempt the King with; and Columbus, being a religious man, hit also on the happy idea of setting forth the spiritual glory of carrying the light of faith across the Sea of Darkness, and making of the heathen a heritage for the Christian Church.

So that, what with one thing and another, he soon had his proposals formally arranged.
Imagine him, then, actually at Court, and having an audience of the King, who could scarcely believe his ears.