d the banner of Christ and ran up that of Count
Mauricio, the sight of which caused us great anguish. Throughout that
battle our men did not fire a musket or espingarda, [76] and they had
none on the second day, for they tried to escape by swimming. Our men
set fire to this galleon, the almiranta; and when the Dutch saw that it
was burning, they left it, and the fire did its duty until it converted
the vessel into ashes. The flagship held out longer, but the soldiers
did not wait for the Dutch to board, for some of them escaped from
the galleon by swimming. Thirteen or fourteen of them were drowned,
among them Christobal de Fegueredo. Some jumped into a small skiff
belonging to the galleon, for they had taken all the boats from the
city, so that they had none in which to come thence. The galleon was
left with a few men, who were no longer firing and were silent. At this
juncture, the general left by a port, as best he could. Reaching shore,
he ordered the galleon to be set afire, which was done. It began to
burn, to our very great sorrow and to the exultation of the enemy,
for it was an unusually fine vessel; it carried thirty-six pieces
of artillery and a quantity of ammunition. When the fire reached the
powder-magazine, so great was the noise made, that the island of Malaca
trembled and the houses shook. A cloud of smoke arose to the heavens
which hid the clouds, and in that instant we lost sight of the galleon.

In the four galleons ninety-two pieces of artillery were lost. The
wounded and dead reached one hundred. The enemy were insolent
and victorious, and, although we had done them some damage, they
nevertheless attained their purpose, not only of preventing the
relief of Maluco, but of destroying the Portuguese squadron--and that
without the necessity of boarding any galleon, for which there was
no such need; because, before they could reach the galleys, these
were abandoned.

As soon as the enemy were discovered, many said that it would be
advisable to mount some pieces on the island, with some gabions, in
order to attack the enemy, and defend the galleons, which would have
been an admirable relief. But it did not have the desired effect,
for only one piece was mounted, and that late; and no one cared to
guard it, until Antonio Pinto de Fonseca, inspector of forts and one
who insisted urgently that the pieces be mounted, found a homicide,
who with other criminals, guarded the piece. He did considerable
injury