The old emperor evidently resented the criticism of his action--even from his friends, for he loftily answered, “that if the English and Dutch would not grant such a permission, they must indeed be cowardly, since they admitted fear of another nation.” He said that “he had certainly not understood that the Spaniards had any such evil intentions, but that even if they had, he would have given them as ample a permission as he had done. He would have no fear even if the whole of Spain came against him, for he had enough men to defend him, so that this matter did not cause him the slightest anxiety. As to the islands that were to be discovered in his realm, he would like to know where they were--what report had been made about them and what their riches were reputed to be. If they belonged to his crown, he would know how to defend them, and if not, he wished the Spaniards good luck in discovering them, and he hoped that they would find them situated at a convenient distance, so that he could enter into mercantile relations with them, this being what he cared for most.” The Dutchmen then told him that the rumor of the existence of these islands was attributable to some Portuguese, who, being lost at sea, had come across them. They had spent several days on them, saw that they were inhabited, and that the land was fertile and produced gold and silver, but they could not tell in what latitude, nor at how many leagues from Japan the islands were situated. The emperor somewhat sarcastically rejoined that “it would certainly require great good fortune for any one to discover anything so vague.” Although the Dutchmen were dissatisfied at the way in which the emperor had received their communications, they evidently bore fruit. Soon after, a Portuguese frigate arrived, with Don Nuño de Sotomayor, the Admiral of the Fleet of the Indies, as ambassador to Iyeyasu and the shogun. With the presents he offered, he made a request that the Portuguese be allowed to return to trade in Japan, stating that they would like to do so under certain conditions, the principal one being the removal of the governor of Nagasaki, against whom they had made some complaint. The emperor received them coolly and simply said that “if they desired to come to his country, they might do so, but that it was not for them to ask him to reform things therein, and that he did not wish to grant their request.” The Portuguese left without obtaining more than this rebuff, and “with evil disposition towards the Japanese.”