[2] Fais Island is an oblong, oval-shaped raised coralline mass with a maximum elevation of 18 metres (59 ft), surrounded by a narrow lagoon and fringing reef except for its northeast and southwest extremities.

[4] First recorded European sighting of Fais Island was by the Spanish expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos on 23 January 1543.

Having known about this story, António Galvão governor of Ternate at the time, in his Tratado dos Descubrimientos of 1563 says that this was because he had sent one Francisco de Castro as commander of a ship on a proselytizing mission to the islands discovered in the area of Fais by the Portuguese Diego da Rocha (Ulithi in 1526).

[6][7] However, while this could be a natural explanation of the incident, it doesn't explain why, according to Villalobos' records the local people greeted them in "perfect" Spanish and not in Portuguese.

The original account of this story is included in the report that the Augustinian Fray Jerónimo de Santisteban, traveling with the Villalobos' expedition, wrote for the Viceroy of New Spain, while in Kochi during the voyage home.