Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón

[1][2] However, the true purpose of the expedition was to find new lands in the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) and to bring back spice plants.

On 15 December, after having sailed 1,170 leagues (roughly 3,000 miles or 4,890 km), the Espiritu Santo and the Santiago swept on ahead, after a sudden squall, never to be heard of again.

On 30 March 1528 the "La Florida" arrived to Tidore, the Spanish stronghold in the Moluccas where the men remaining from the Loaisa expedition were found, and they joined them to fight the Portuguese in the neighbouring Ternate.

They sailed north up to the 31N but not finding westerly winds and also after the death of Pedro Laso, they finally decided to turn around the ship and again return to the Moluccas, arriving to Halmahera next to Tidore on 8 December 1529.

There are some questions as to whether Spanish explorers did arrive in the Hawaiian Islands two centuries before Captain James Cook's first recorded visit in 1778.

There is an old Hawaiian oral story that describes white people arriving in the islands many generations ago, who were welcomed by Chief Wakalana.