In order to please the king of Portogal, his Majesty ordered the captain and his people to leave that place immediately. The said viceroy and other magistrates in whose districts the captain and his men might land were requested to arrest them, and to confiscate their drugs and spices. His Majesty warned the viceroy that this decree was issued to please the king of Portogal, and requested him to send news of the outcome. Dissembling and secrecy was required, etc.

1559. On September 24, 1559, a decree of his Majesty was sent from Valladolid to Don Luys de Velasco, ordering him to send men to discover the Philippinas islands, and other places where spices could be found; but in doing this they were to avoid Maluco and other places forbidden by the compact.

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Part 45

1560. On May 28, 1560, Fray Andres de Urdaneta wrote from Mexico that he had received the above-mentioned decree of September 24, and offered himself to undertake the expedition. He sent a memorial in which he declared that the Philipina island does not come within the agreement, and that the expedition could be made under the pretext of going to rescue the men who were captured from the fleet of Fray Garcia de Loaysa in the year 1525, from the one which Cortes despatched in the year 1527, from that which Don Antonio sent in 1542, and from another ship despatched by Cortes, which was lost on its course from Nueva España. Don Luys began to get ready the fleet. At his death the _Audiencia_ of Mexico made haste to complete the preparations; and on the first of September, one thousand five hundred and sixty-four, instructions were given to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who had been appointed governor and general of the discovery of the Western Islands. The latter set sail with four ships on November 21, 1564. On April 27, 1551 [_sic_], he reached the island of Çubu, where he built a fort. He took possession in his Majesty's name of the Barbudos Islands, the Ladrones, Çibabao, the bay of Sant Pedro and Maletie in the island of Camiguinni, and Bohol. He despatched the flagship under command of his grandson Phelippe de Salzedo, and Fray Andres de Urdaneta. They set sail on June the first, sixty-five, and on September the eighteenth they came in sight of the first land of Nueva Spañia, the island of Sant Salvador, which is in twenty-nine and five-sixths degrees north latitude. On the first of October, they reached the port of La Navidad; but, without stopping there, they proceeded to Acapulco which is a better port, forty-five leagues nearer to Mexico.

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Part 45