October 14, 1536 with a fleet of three brigantines and 170 soldiers, inherited his title of adelantado. Meanwhile, Buenos Aires had overcome its famine thanks to provisions Gonzalo de Mendoza brought from Brazil, and was left under the provisional command of Captain Francisco Ruiz Galán, who ordered the first planting of corn with the goal of making the fort self-sustainable. Juan de Ayolas Before Pedro de Mendoza left Buenos Aires, having no news of the Ayolas expedition, he sent Juan de Salazar Espinosa upriver in search of him. On August 15, 1537, Espinosa established the fort of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (today Asunción, Paraguay) at the junction of the rivers Paraguay and Pilcomayo. Meanwhile, Juan de Ayolas was further up the river Paraguay in Payagua territory, where he met one of Aleixo Garcia's former companions, who told him how difficult the journey had been, due to all the gold and silver that weighed them down. Hearing this story, Ayolas decided to found the port of Candelaria on the spot (close to present-day Corumbá) and commissioned Domingo Martínez de Irala as provisional Lieutenant Governor until he returned from an overland expedition with 130 soldiers. After a short time, with no news of Ayola, Irala decided to abandon his post and return downriver to the fort of Asunción. However, the Juan de Ayolas expedition had successfully reached a mountainous area where precious metals were mined. On his return trip, his party suffered losses from skirmishes with indigenous people, and before he reached the Paraguay River, he ordered his men to bury most of the treasure they carried. When he returned, he was disappointed to find the port of Candelaria abandoned, so he accepted the invitation of the Payaguas to rest in their village. On his way there, a fight broke out between the Spaniards and the local people, and almost the entire expedition was killed, including Juan de Ayolas. After this, Domingo Martínez de Irala became the expedition's new leader, and he took up the goal of conquering the Sierra de la Plata and the lands of the White King. Irala decided to convert Asunción into the headquarters of the conquest, and ordered the colonists at Buenos Aires to tear down their buildings and move to Asunción. However, their newly planted corn was yielding a good crop, and they refused to move. Six months later, Irala disembarked at Buenos Aires to