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16 Borneo, giving him detailed instructions for his conduct on this expedition. He is to ascertain the condition of affairs there, and gently endeavor to gain the submission of the king as a vassal of Spain. Sadornil goes to Borneo, and conducts various negotiations with the king, but cannot induce the latter to confer with him in person. Finally, seeing that he can accomplish nothing, and that his men are suffering from confinement and illness, he decides to return to Manila; and he advises Sande that a settlement of Spaniards in Borneo must, to be successful, be made in the town where the Moro court resides. In June, 1578, the king of Sulu submits to the Spanish power. From the Moluccas comes the news that the people of Ternate have revolted against the Portuguese, who have been compelled to abandon their fortress there and retreat to Amboina. Their trade in spices is therefore greatly injured, for the time; and other Malayan peoples are also hostile to the Portuguese.

Sande again sends (January, 1579) an expedition to Mindanao and Sulu, under Captain de Ribera, to secure their submission to Spanish authority. His instructions lay special stress on proper care for the health of the troops. The tribute desired from Sulu consists of "two or three tame elephants." Ribera goes to the Rio Grande of Mindanao, but can accomplish nothing; for the natives, in terror of the Spaniards, have abandoned their villages, fleeing to the mountains. Ribera erects a fort at the delta of the river, and receives the submission of a few neighboring chiefs; but, as his men are being prostrated by sickness, he obtains from a friendly dato (chief) a