Thomas Gage, the British Commander-in-Chief and military…

The aim of de Bonechea's second expedition is the annexation of Tahiti to the Spanish crown, with the approval and encouragement of King Carlos III, and to convert its inhabitants.

Two ships, the Aguila and the Jupiter, had left Callao on September 20, 1774.

After winning over Tu, the most important king of the Tahitians, de Bonechea's men are allowed to establish a mission.

However, de Bonechea dies on January 20, 1775, in Tahiti, where his grave, which had been dismantled on Captain Cook's orders, will be rediscovered in the twentieth century in the village of Tautira.

The Spanish mission on Tahiti is abandoned on November 12 the same year and the whole enterprise comes to an early end.