Legaspi and Urdaneta

1559 to 1564

The project for settling the Philippines languished somewhat until 1559, when King Philip of Spain sent orders to the Viceroy of Mexico to prepare an armament for their conquest. Fray Andres de Urdaneta, who had taken holy orders, after accompanying a previous expedition, was commanded by the king to aid the expedition with his abilities and advice. Considerable delay was caused by various factors, including the death of the viceroy, but an expedition of four ships, with Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in command and Urdaneta as navigator, finally sailed from Navidad, Mexico, on November 21, 1564, on the route followed by Villalabos. During the voyage, the packet San Lucas, commanded by Arellano, deserted. Legaspi made the Ladrones and sailed on to the Philippines. Having sampled Leyte and Bohol Islands, he settled in Cebu and, after some fighting, made a formal treaty of peace with the inhabitants.

1565

In accordance with his Orders, Legaspi sent one of his ships back to New Spain with a report. The sole navigator was Urdaneta, whose ship left Cebu on June 1, 1565, and made the Ladrones with southwest winds. Then easterly winds set in and Urdaneta sailed north to latitude 36° N., where a cape on Japan was sighted. The northerly course in search of north-west winds was continued to 40° N., at one time 43° N. Finally, the American coast was reached, but finding Navidad abandoned because of its unhealthful condition, the ship sailed on to Acapulco. It arrived on October 3, 1565, after a voyage of four months.

Arellano and the San Lucas had reached Mindanao, avoiding Legaspi's other ships, and had returned to New Spain three months before Urdaneta arrived. Reporting that the other ships had been lost, he hastily embarked for Spain to claim a reward for his work. However, the appearance later of Urdaneta at the Spanish Court led to his exposure and punishment. Though Arellano was the first navigator to make the return voyage from the Philippines to New Spain, he provided no record of his course. Urdaneta, on the other hand, kept a journal of the voyage and made scientific observations which were followed for a long time on the subsequent voyages from the Philippines to New Spain.