By the royal instructions, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was strictly enjoined not to touch at the Molucca Islands, peace having been concluded with Portugal. Heavy gales forced him, nevertheless, to take refuge at Gilolo. The Portuguese, suspicious of his intentions in view of the treaty, arrayed their forces against his, inciting the king of the island also to discard all Spanish overtures and refuse assistance to Villalobos. The discord and contentions between the Portuguese and Spaniards were increasing; nothing was being gained by either party. Villalobos personally was sorely disheartened in the struggle, fearing all the while that his opposition to the Portuguese in contravention of the royal instructions would only excite the king’s displeasure and lead to his own downfall. Hence he decided to capitulate with his rival and accepted a safe conduct for himself and party to Europe in Portuguese ships. They arrived at Amboina Island, where Villalobos, already crushed by grief, succumbed to disease. The survivors of the expedition, among whom were several priests, continued the journey home via Malacca, Cochin-China and Goa, where they embarked for Lisbon, arriving there in 1549. In 1558, King Charles was no more, but the memory of his ambition outlived him. His son Philip, equally emulous and unscrupulous, was too narrow-minded and subtly cautious to initiate an expensive enterprise encompassed by so many hazards--as materially unproductive as it was devoid of immediate political importance. Indeed the basis of the first expedition was merely to discover a western route to the rich Spice Islands, already known to exist; the second went there to attempt to establish Spanish empire; and the third to search for and annex to the Spanish crown lands as wealthy as those claimed by and now yielded to the Portuguese. But the value of the Philippine Islands, of which the possession was but recent and nominal, was thus far a matter of doubt.