I wish to goodness I had something to send back to the king.

One of the cannon from the Swan, with a supply of ammunition and bullets, would have astonished him.

However, as it is, I suppose that I must make the best of it." When the goods were all displayed, Roger addressed the ambassadors, saying how great was the pleasure that the gifts afforded him.

Not, he said, because he desired gold or jewels or articles of luxury, but because they were proofs of the goodwill of the king, and of the mightiness of his power.
"Will you convey my earnest thanks to him for these presents, and say that I regret deeply that I have come to his country empty handed, and have naught to send him in return; but that there are reasons why I could not bring aught with me, from the place far across the seas from which I came?
There are many strange and wonderful things there.

People move across the water in floating castles as big as your temples.