Here the sick men were left, while the others went in search of the rest of their men, but failed to find them where they had been left. A letter was found which directed the searchers to the "islands of Talao, which are forty leagues south of Maluco." Returning to Tandaya, it was found that the men left there had been taken off by the "Sant Juan." Here Santistéban and his party remained for two months, until the king of Tidore sent in quest of Villalobos. A description of these people follows. Finally Villalobos, forced to do so by hunger, cast anchor in Portuguese possessions. Negotiations with the Portuguese followed. The "Sant Juan" was despatched to New Spain May 16, 1545, but it was unable to make the journey and returned within five months. Finally the remnants of the expedition were taken in Portuguese vessels to Ambón [Amboina], where Villalobos died; and thence to Malacca, where only one hundred and seventeen of the three hundred and seventy who left New Spain arrived, thirty remaining in Maluco. Santistéban justifies Villalobos, saying "Your lordship will bear in mind your promise to Ruy Lopez ... to be a father to his children. In the judgment of certain men, Ruy Lopez performed no services for your lordship, for which his children deserve recompense. I know most certainly that, in the judgment of God and of those who regard his works without passion, he did everything possible for the service of your lordship, and that he grieved more over not having fulfilled exactly your lordship's design than over all the other losses, sorrows, and persecutions that he endured." (_Col. doc. inéd. Amér. y Oceanía,_ tomo xiv, pp. 151-165.)