The fabled Spice Islands were on the imagination of Europe since ancient times. In the 2nd century AD, the Malay Peninsula was known by the Greek philosopher Ptolemy, who labeled it 'Aurea Chersonesus; and who said that it was believed the fabled area held gold in abundance. Even Indian traders referred to the East Pacific region as Land of Gold and made regular visits to Malaya in search of the precious metal, tin and sweet scented jungle woods. But neither Ptolemy, nor Rome, nor Alexander was able to see the fabled regions of the East Pacific. Afonso de Albuquerque became the first European to reach the Spice Islands. Upon discovering the Malay Archipelago, he proceeded in 1511 to conquer Malacca, then commissioned an expedition under the command of António de Abreu and Vice-Commander Francisco Serrão (the latter being a cousin of Magellan) to further explore the extremities of the region in east Indonesia. As a result of these voyages of exploration, the Portuguese became the first Europeans to discover and to reach the fabled Spice Islands in the Indies in addition to discovering their sea routes. Afonso found what had evaded Columbus' grasp - the wealth of the Orient. His discoveries did not go unnoticed, and it took little time for Magellan to arrive in the same region a few years later and discover the Philippines for Spain, giving birth to the Papal Treaty of Zaragoza.