His Divine Majesty, was most favorable, when one
considers what might have come. The news was that the flagship--a large
galleon, and, as its actions showed, not a very good sailer--happened
to encounter, without its consort (which was a bark), the three Dutch
ships. These approached the galleon, and ordered it to strike its sails
for Mauricio. Captain and Sargento-mayor Don Fernando de Ayala, warder
of the port at the point of Cavite (whom I had sent out in order that
he might return as commander of the said ships because the person who
went as commander from here was to remain in Nueva Espana--namely, Don
Luys Fernandez de Cordova, a relative of the viceroy of that province)
answered them, as a valiant cavalier and soldier, with his artillery
and firearms. He continued fighting and defending himself all that
day and part of the night, until under cover of its darkness and a
heavy fog that settled down, pursuing their voyage, the Spaniards
left the enemy with the intention of running upon the coast of an
island of the strait, called Ybabao. Our Lord guided them to a port,
where a ship was never known to have entered. There they anchored,
and fearing that the wind with which they entered might shift to that
which generally prevails in that season and with greater fury, they
determined to run the said ship into the mud, and to cut away the
mainmast, in order to render them less liable to drag, and to leave
the port again and encounter the enemy. Accordingly, all possible
haste was displayed in disembarking the men, and the silver and
reals of your Majesty and of private persons, and the most valuable
goods; but scarcely was that done when the storm, coming down upon
the ship, drove it upon some rocks. There it foundered and sank,
although in a place so shallow that but little of the ship's cargo
was lost. For they continued to take out and use many things, except
the articles of luxury. Although no use could be made of the ship's
hull, as it was entirely ruined, the resultant loss is almost nothing,
and inconsiderable when one thinks what it might have been, and what
this event has gained in advantage and reputation for these islands,
and for your Majesty's arms herein. For, although your Majesty,
thanks to God, has had excellent successes in the islands, still it
has all been by superiority of ships and men; and there is nothing,
according to common opinion, so fortunate as this event, considering
what the enemy will ha