First they abandoned the galleon called “Plata,” without taking the precaution to set it afire when they left, so that the enemy could not approach with their artillery.  This the enemy did, entering and capturing it, as was well seen; and afterward they set it afire.

When the enemy saw that the soldiers were deserting the almiranta, they lowered their lanchas and entered it.  One Dutchman, climbing up to the maintopsail, lowered 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 to the enemy, for he fired from a short distance and with safety.  Had there been six guns, they would have sunk the enemy; but that was not the first or the last act of carelessness.