Legaspi sailed for Cebu, but when he began to draw near to the archipelago he sent one of his ships ahead to learn what sort of welcome the expedition might look for from the Cebuans. The commander of this ship brought back a gloomy report. The Cebuans had not been at all friendly. Instead, they had caught and killed one of the men of the landing crew from the ship, and would have killed the others had not the Spanish pulled off from shore and gone back to their ship. When this report was brought to Legaspi he was very sorry. He at once, however, made up his mind to go to Cebu and subdue the people. This he thought was his duty toward his king; so the fleet sailed to Cebu. It came safe into harbor, and the soldiers landed in front of the town of Cebu on the 27th day of April, 1565. The Spanish were amazed and delighted with the beauty and fruitfulness of the island. Weary with their long voyage, they would gladly have made friends with the people and been at peace in that lovely spot. [Illustration: ANCIENT FORT COMMANDING CEBU HARBOR. ] The people, however, would not be friends. They had driven the Spanish from their shore once, and did not mean that the strangers should come back to live there. The chief, King Tupas (tö´päs), was a brave and warlike man, and with a large army he came down to the shore to beat off the newcomers. A fierce battle was fought there by the sea, but it did not last long. The spears and arrows of the Cebuans were of little use against Spanish armor, while the Spanish firearms did deadly work among the lightly-clad Cebuan warriors. After a few hours the Cebuans were forced back from the shore, and the Spanish held the town. Legaspi now set to work to win the liking of the Cebuans. He believed firmly that the king of Spain was by divine right the lawful ruler of these islands; but for himself, he meant to govern kindly and wisely in the name of the king. He could not do this until he had shown the people that he and his soldiers were their friends. To this task, therefore, he bent all his wisdom. So earnestly did the Spanish commander work to win over the people, that in a very few months the whole island was in a state of peace. A little later, Padre Urdaneta went back to Spain to report all that had been done. King Philip II. was much pleased with the friar’s report, and made Legaspi “governor-general of all the territory in the archipelago that he might conquer for Spain.” Matters now went very quietly with the natives for several years; but trouble came to the Spaniards from the outside. At this time there was great rivalry between Spain and Portugal in the discovery and settlement of new lands. In each of these countries there were many daring sailors and brave soldiers who liked nothing better than to go on wild adventures for their kings, to find and to claim new lands.