General and of the stadholder being obtained,
some months were spent in making preparations on an adequate scale. The
fleet, which consisted of twenty-three ships of war with four yachts,
armed with 500 pieces of ordnance, and carrying in addition to the crews
a force of 1700 troops, sailed in two contingents, December, 1623, and
January, 1624. Jacob Willekens was the admiral-in-chief, with Piet Hein
as his vice-admiral. Colonel Jan van Dorth, lord of Horst, was to
conduct the land operations and to be the governor of the town, when its
conquest was achieved. On May 9 the fleet sailed into the Bay of All
Saints (_Bahia de todos os Santos_) and proceeded to disembark the
troops on a sandy beach a little to the east of the city of San
Salvador, commonly known as Bahia. It was strongly situated on heights
rising sheer from the water; and, as news of the Dutch preparations had
reached Lisbon and Madrid, its fortifications had been repaired and its
garrison strengthened. In front of the lower town below the cliffs was a
rocky island, and on this and on the shore were forts well provided with
batteries, and under their lee were fifteen ships of war. On May 10 Piet
Hein was sent with five vessels to contain the enemy's fleet and cover
the landing of the military forces. But Hein, far from being content
with a passive role, attacked the Portuguese, burnt or captured all
their ships and then, embarking his men in launches, stormed the
defences of the island and spiked the guns. Meanwhile the troops had,
without opposition, occupied a Benedictine convent on the heights
opposite the town. But the daring of Piet Hein had caused a panic to
seize the garrison. Despite the efforts of the governor, Diogo de
Mendoca Furdado, there was a general exodus in the night, both of the
soldiery and the inhabitants. When morning came the Dutch marched into
the undefended town, the governor and his son, who had refused to desert
their posts, being taken prisoners. They, with much booty, were at once
sent to Holland as a proof of the completeness of the victory. Events,
however, were to prove that it is easier for an expeditionary force to
capture a town at such a distance from the home-base of supplies, than
to retain it.

Governor Van Dorth had scarcely entered upon his duties when he fell
into an ambush of native levies near San Salvador and was killed. His
successor, Willem Schouten, was incompetent and dissolute; and, when the
fleet set sail o