Spice Islands
De Loaísa's expedition was conceived both as a rescue mission and a voyage of discovery. The "Victoria", a vessel from Magellan's expedition to the Pacific, had returned to Spain in 1522 with word that her sister ship the "Trinidad" had last been seen attempting to return home by sailing east from the Spice Islands to South America. De Loaísa was ordered to seek "Trinidad", or news of her fate, by voyaging along her expected return route to Spain. Failing this he was to locate and colonise Magellan's Spice Islands, and also to bring back news of the semi-mythical land of Ophir which Spanish scholars believed might be somewhere near China. For this purpose, de Loaísa was assigned seven vessels and a total of 450 men including tradesmen and administrators for the Spice Islands settlement.