Spanish East Indies chief consort, and his subjects. Seeking to develop trade between the East Indies and the Americas across the Pacific Ocean, Antonio de Mendoza encouraged the exploration of these Asian territories and commissioned the expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos to the Philippines in 1542–1543. Miguel López de Legazpi set out from Mexico, and established the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines in 1565, which became the town of San Miguel in present-day Cebu. That same year, another member of the expedition, Andrés de Urdaneta discovered a maritime route from the Philippines to Mexico, across the Pacific, leading to the important
East Kangaroo Island East Kangaroo Island The East Kangaroo Island, part of the Big Green Group within the Furneaux Group, is a unpopulated limestone island with granite outcrops and dolerite dykes, located in the Bass Strait, west of the Flinders Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. Prior to its declaration as the East Kangaroo Island Nature Reserve, the island was previously used to graze sheep, with overgrazing causing severe erosion. The island is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area. Recorded breeding seabird and wader species are little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, Pacific gull, silver gull, sooty oystercatcher