To pay especial honor to Columbus Their Majesties had caused a magnificent throne to be erected in the public square where they awaited him. As he approached them with the intention of kneeling as usual at the foot of the throne, the King extended his hand to him to be kissed and requested him to sit by his side upon a chair placed there for him. Thereupon he modestly told the story of his discoveries and displayed the proofs of them in the objects he had brought. When he had finished his story, both Their Majesties and the multitude of assembled spectators knelt and thanked God that these great discoveries, so rich in advantage to Spain, had been made in their day. Thereupon all the honors which Columbus had asked as reward were granted. He and his whole family were ennobled, and whenever the King rode out, the much-loved Admiral rode at his bridle, an honor which up to that time had been enjoyed only by princes and the royal family. But what pleased him most was the royal order that an entire fleet for a second expedition should be equipped. In the meantime the King sent an ambassador to Rome praying the Pope that he would confirm the Spaniards in possession of the newly discovered regions and all that might yet be discovered by them in the ocean. The Pope, Alexander VI, drew upon a globe a line of demarcation from one pole to another, at a distance of a hundred miles from the Azores, and issued a bull declaring that all land discovered beyond that line should belong to Spain. At that time it was the rule that a prince could hold possession of a newly discovered country only when the Pope, as the divine representative upon earth, had confirmed it. The fleet was fitted out so rapidly that in a short time seventeen excellent vessels waited at Cadiz in readiness to sail. The desire to secure possessions and honor induced an incredible number of men of all classes to apply for participation in the expedition, but Columbus, not being able to accommodate all of them, selected fifteen hundred and paid special attention to the provisioning of the fleet and the procuring of all articles necessary to colonization. All sorts of implements were provided, besides animals unknown in the new world, such as horses, mules, and cows, all the European species of corn, and seeds of many herbs and plants which he believed would grow in that latitude. As he still labored under the delusion that the region discovered by him was a part of India, he gave it the name of West Indies to distinguish it from the real India, because to reach it he had to sail west from Europe. The Indies lying to the eastward were at that time called the East Indies.