In 1540 Hernán Cortés arrived in Spain to continue his fruitless efforts to clear up the matter of his estate in the New World and his position in the eyes of the Spanish monarch. His activities in Spain along with the ill-fated voyage of Antonio de Ulloa up the coast of California in 1539 caused some drain on his financial resources. The many and varied business activities of Cortés, however, supplied him with income during the remainder of his life and set the stage for legal action over his estate.