because of their idea of the Spaniards.  If these nations should become insolent on seeing the Spaniards overwhelmed and conquered, their pacification would cost more blood than the first conquest cost, as has been experienced in Mindanao.  Encouraged then, in this manner, the vessels approached.  The Dutch, without any faint-heartedness, raised one anchor, and placed the other apeak, in order to go to meet our fleet.  They made fun of our fleet, and encouraged their soldiers to fight by telling them that the Spaniards were coming to scare them with egg-shells—­alluding to the small size and slight force of the vessels that they had seen.  They bore down upon our flagship.  At this juncture, they did not omit to report a singular providence of Heaven, namely, that our two vessels, the flagship and the almiranta, had some good pieces mounted low down, whose ports had to be shut, whenever the sea was choppy, as was experienced on one occasion of that sort.  On that account the enemy had a great advantage, for all their guns were mounted high up.  Accordingly it was our Lord’s pleasure that there was only enough wind to sail by, and the sea was almost like milk [i.e., calm and smooth].  Finally the vessels closed; and each fired heavy discharges of artillery and musketry.  Our pieces—­which, as I said, were mounted low—­made the enemy’s hull [30] tremble with the damage received from them.  They killed men below decks, where they were sheltered under their rigging, so that scarcely a man appeared.  Our men, who were above deck without a single shelter, also were injured by their artillery and swivel-guns.  However they did not lose any of their spirit.  They grappled the Dutch vessel, and stayed there fighting more than three hours; and amid balls, pikes, and broad-swords, they boarded the hostile vessel, with such courage and valor, that the Dutch themselves were amazed to see them placing themselves in so manifest danger without shelter.  There was one who, when his companions tried to make him retire by force, because he had received a ball in his body, and a nail from a swivel-gun in his throat, tore himself from those who were carrying him, and returned to the fight, with the fury with which a wounded boar turns to avenge itself.  Our men continued to decimate the enemy so thoroughly that they had scarcely five men on deck alive or unwounded.  The commander was one of the first to be killed.  The enemy, seeing themselves without any power to resist, tried to burn the ship.  And they would have done it, to the evident loss of our men, but that was prevented by the master of the vessel, who, as he declared later, had always been a Catholic.  He advised the Dutch not to do such a thing, for, although they had already lost their substance, they should not lose their souls.  At this advice they surrendered with fair conditions.  Of the Spanish captives [aboard the enemy’s ship], only the Augustinian religious Fray Pedro Montejo [31] was killed, by a ball from our vessel.  The