It was not until 82 years after De Soto’s theft that Governor Rojas y Borja followed up on the promise of pearls. An avid treasure seeker, he sent out three consecutive expeditions, two of them under the joint leadership of a Spanish ensign and a Christian chief. After many hardships the explorers relocated Cofitachique and the lagoon of pearl-producing mollusks. [Note 78: Gov. Rojas y Borja 6/30/1628] But again, exploiting the fishery would have meant extending the conquest, and this the Spanish crown in 1628, the year Piet Heyn captured the treasure fleet, was unready to do. Once more the road to Cofitachique was forgotten. AN113 (Bushnell KC)