CHAPTER IV.

VILLALOBOS' EXPEDITION AND FURTHER DISCOVERIES IN PAPUA.

After various treaties, signed at Segovia, Seville and Zaragoza, the King
of Spain renounced at last, his claim to the Spice Islands, for the sum
of 350,000 ducats.

But this agreement did not interfere with other possessions of the
Spanish crown, nor did it prevent the Spaniards from making fresh
conquests within the limits which had been allotted to them.

Meanwhile the Portuguese were more active in their explorations.

Making the Spice Islands the centre of their enterprise, under the
guidance and governorship of Galvano, the "Apostle and historian of the
Moluccas," they sent their caravels in every direction, equipping also
native junks and proas for purposes of trade and discovery. From Japan in
the north, to Timor in the south, and from Java in the west, to the
Carolines and Ladrones in the east, they penetrated everywhere.

The Spaniards on their side continued to lay claim to the islands of the
archipelago of St. Lazarus, discovered by Magellan, and, after Villalobos
expedition, called the Philippine Islands, in honour of Phillip II. of
Spain.

These islands, situated outside the Spanish sphere, had fallen under
Portuguese sway by treaties with the native kings, and by conquests made