ting for the ships said to be
coming from Japan, Van Noort took one of them on the 1st December, being
a vessel of fifty tons, which had been twenty-five days on her voyage.
Her form was very strange, her forepart being like a chimney, and her
furniture corresponding to her shape; as her sails were made of reeds,
her anchors of wood, and her cables of straw. Her Japanese mariners had
their heads all close shaven, except one tuft left long behind, which is
the general custom of that country. The 9th, they took two barks, one
laden with cocoa wine and arrack, and the other with hens and rice.

[Footnote 79: Luzon is certainly a large island, but by no means such as
represented in the text.--E.]

The 14th of December they met the two Spanish ships returning from
Manilla to New Spain, on which a very sharp engagement took place.
Overpowered by numbers, the Dutch in the ship of Van Noort were reduced
to the utmost extremity, being at one time boarded by the Spaniards, and
almost utterly conquered; when Van Noort, seeing all was lost without a
most resolute exertion, threatened to blow up his ship, unless his men
fought better and beat off the Spaniards. On this, the Dutch crew fought
with such desperate resolution, that they cleared their own ship, and
boarded the Spanish admiral, which at last they sunk outright. In this
action the Dutch admiral had five men slain, and twenty-six wounded, the
whole company being now reduced to thirty-five men. But several hundreds
of the Spaniards perished, partly slain in the fight, and partly drowned
or knocked in the head after the battle was over. But the Dutch lost
their pinnace, which was taken by the Spanish vice-admiral; and this was
not wonderful, considering that she had only twenty-five men to fight
against five hundred Spaniards and Indians.

After this action, Van Noort made sail for the island of Borneo, the
chief town of which island is in lat. 5 deg. N. while Manilla, the capital
of Lucon, is in lat. 15 deg. N. On the way to Borneo, they passed the island
of _Bolutam_, [Palawan or Paragua,] which is 180 miles in length from
N.E. to S.W. They came to Borneo on the 26th December, putting into a
great bay, three miles in compass, where there was good anchorage, and
abundance of fish in a neighbouring river, and the fishermen always
ready to barter their fish for linen. Van Noort sent a message to the
king, desiring leave to trade; but suspecting them to be Spaniards, he
would