At Evangelistas sixteen men of the party disappeared on February 17 including the son of Pascual de Iriarte.[38][39] The ill-fated men had attempted to reach one of the islets to install a metal plaque indicating the King of Spain's ownership of the territory.[39] Viceroy of Peru Baltasar de la Cueva issued orders to the governments of Chile, Chiloé and Río de la Plata to inquire about the men who disappeared at Evangelistas Islets.[40] However no information about their fate came forth and it is presumed that the boat wrecked in the same storm that forced the remaining party to leave the area.[40][41] Overall a total of 16–17 men perished in it.[26][41][39] While by 1676 rumours about English bases in Western Patagonia had been dispelled, that year new rumours appeared claiming that England was preparing an expedition to settle the Straits of Magellan.[42] The focus of Spanish attention to repel tentative English settlements shifted from the Pacific coast of Patagonia to the Straits of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego.[42] Such a change, from the western archipelagoes to the strait, meant that any English settlement could be approached by Spain by land from the north, which was not the case for the islands in western Patagonia.[42]