 Fresh from the debacle in Mactan, and after having their numbers reduced from 254 to less than a hundred scurvy-ridden sailors, the Spanish party scoured the area of the Sulu Archipelago for a route to the Moluccas (Spice Islands).After passing reefs and bountiful seaweeds, they came to an archipelago, the main islands Pigafetta recorded as "the islands of Zolo and Taghima (Sulu and Basilan) near which pearls are found".Food and water were difficult to come by in this episode of their voyage, however, so they eventually returned to Mindanao.