Isabel accompanied her spouse on his last expedition from
Peru to the
Pacific. In the
Santa Cruz Islands, she replaced Mendaña and her brother, Lorenzo Barreto, as
Adelantada and Governor after their death. She and the main pilot
Pedro Fernández de Quirós arrived at
Manila, in the
Philippines, with the 100 survivors of the expedition in the only remaining ship (at the beginning 378 men and women in four ships), after a terrible voyage of twelve weeks from the settlement of Santa Cruz (
Nendö). Doña Isabel was honoured in Manila, and Quirós was commended for his service; with both absolved of any responsibility for the results of the expedition. Isabel was accused of cruelty by the crew. She remarried to general Fernando de Castro, again crossing the Pacific Ocean to
Mexico, and then settled in
Buenos Aires, where they lived for several years, before returning to
Peru. It is said that Isabel crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the last time to Spain to defend her rights over the
Solomon Islands, because the
King had granted the right to colonize the islands to
Pedro Fernández de Quirós. She may be buried in
Castrovirreyna (
Peru) or in
Galicia (Spain), in 1612.
Route Route of Mendaña/Barreto/Quirós 1595 expedition: •
El Callao, April 9, 1595. •
Paita (Perú), June 16. • Las Marquesas de Mendoza (
Marquesas Islands), July 21 – August 5. • Magdalena (
Fatu Hiva) • Dominica (
Hiva Oa) • Santa Cristina (
Tahuata) • San Pedro (
Moho Tani) • San Bernardo (
Pukapuka,
Cook Islands), August 20. • La Solitaria (
Niulakita,
Tuvalu), August 29. •
Solomon Islands: •
Tinakula, September 7. • La Huerta (
Tomotu Noi), Recifes (Swallow Islands), September 8. • Santa Cruz (
Nendö,
Santa Cruz Islands), September 8 to November 18. They attempted to found a colony, where
Álvaro de Mendaña died, October 18. •
Guam, January 1, 1596. •
Manila, February 11. ==In modern literature==