Until now the natives of the Malucas Islands had greatly favored the heretics; but, loving novelty and seeing that the power of the Hollanders had declined, they began to plan a revolt.  When the Hollanders learned of this, they hanged in Machien, one of their best strongholds, a chief whom, it was understood, the natives wished to place at the head of the insurrection.  But in other quarters they could not so quickly effect a remedy.  In the island of Siao the people killed all the Hollanders who had seized their land, except three whom they handed over alive to our governor of Maluco for galley-slaves.  The natives of the island of Vanda [Banda] dealt in the same manner with the Hollanders who were there, and gained the ascendency.  In Ambueno some of the natives revolted.  The Hollanders tried to pacify them by force of arms, but we do not know how the affair ended.  All this, however, was not what most disturbed the Hollanders, but it was rather the fact that they saw that English ships had come and formed an excellent stronghold in Pullovay. [8] Thus, when the Hollanders undertook to eject the English from that port, the two nations were engaged in as bloody warfare with each other as [each was] with us.  From all these circumstances it seems that the strongholds of the Hollanders were about to fall; and that, if at that time it had been possible to go with a fleet to the Malucas, a great exploit might have been performed.  By this means, as wrote the governor of Ternate, Lucas de Vergara Gabiria, everything might, perhaps, have turned in our favor.  But it was not possible to do this as was desired.

As I informed you in my report of last year, two other galleons, called “Leon Rojo” and “Fregelingas,” had separated from the rest of the fleet near the coast of Ilocos, a province of the island of Manila, in order to plunder, to more advantage and with less risk, the Chinese who were accustomed to steer for that coast.  For this reason they took no part in the naval battle.  This was very fortunate for them, since, without loss of men or of artillery, they plundered nine [many—­V.d.A. [9]] Chinese ships, laden with very valuable silks which the Chinese were bringing here to the city of Manila.  When these learned of the destruction of their fleet, they made haste to return to Japon, where they arrived on the seventh of July, 617.  On the way they overtook two Chinese ships loaded with silks.  They captured them, and, as their own were full of the plunder that they had taken, they put seven men as a guard on each of the Chinese ships and took them thus to Japon.  When in sight of Japon the ships were driven by a storm, and one of the Chinese vessels was separated from the other and from the two of the Hollanders.  It made port in the kingdom of Satsuma.  But the authorities of this place, learning that the ship was a captive, and disapproving of a thing so foreign to civilized intercourse, would not consent that they should remain in the port longer than four