of March. They entered by the bar of the river, two hours before
daybreak; and, without being seen, landed the soldiers and four pieces
of artillery. They selected the spot where the river was narrowest, to
see whether they could obstruct the passage of the Chinese ships. They
sent out spies, who returned with the information that the Chinese
were off their guard, and were careless. Upon this the master-of-camp
sent Captains Chaves and Chacon in haste, with nine vessels, in each
of which were about eight men, with orders to approach the Chinese
boats and to try to capture one or more of them--especially the big
ones, so that he might be able with them to obstruct the bar of the
river. He also sent Captain Ribera with twenty-eight men and some
Indians by land, so that, at the same time when the captains were
examining the river in their ships the former could assault the fort,
in order to divert the people in it, and to enable those on the river
to seize the said vessels. The plan for the enterprise failed, but
success came in an unexpected manner; for it pleased God that, when
the Spanish ships discovered the Chinese, thirty-five Chinese vessels
were setting out to look for supplies for the corsair. As they were
sailing along quite free from care, they caught sight of the Spaniards,
and turned about and fled. It happened that, as the Spaniards pursued
them, firing their arquebuses, the Chinese ships almost ran aground;
whereupon all the men jumped overboard and fled to the fort, abandoning
their ships. The same thing occurred to the sailors of the other fleet,
so that in a moment the entire fleet was captured, together with all
it contained; but it was thoughtlessly fired, and was entirely burned.

23. By this time, about ten o'clock in the morning, they began fighting
in the fort under Captain Grabiel de Ribera, and had already forced
an entrance. When Captain Chaves heard them from the ships, he went
to their assistance, where he was joined immediately by Captain