answered that the king of Tidore had agreed with the commander that if
the Spaniards came with such a fleet that he would be unable to resist
them he would be obliged to yield the country; and by consequence,
if the Dutch had a force sufficient to take it from the Spaniards or
Portuguese, he was not sufficiently powerful to defend the country
against them. He knew that the commander had written to Java that
six vessels which he had been informed were to go to Java should come
here; after this had been done, the said commander went back to Patan,
but the ships had not come. This declarant does not know that more
vessels have arrived or set out than the five of which he has spoken.

Being asked if they expect any ships, how many there are, when they
are to come, how many came out in a fleet from Olanda, and at what
time they set sail--this declarant replied that he was certain,
now that the commerce here had been begun and this fort established,
that vessels would come. He does not know the number, but the said
factor will have an account thereof. When this man who is making his
confession set sail, there set out from Olanda and Jelanda twelve
ships. They were divided after the following manner: Two of them
separated from the others at the Cape of Buena Esperanza [_i.e._, Good
Hope], at the island of Sant Lorenço, and two others at Masanvique
[_i.e._, Mozambique]; three remained in Ambueno, to go to Banda to
be laden with pepper; and the five others came to these islands. It
may be two years since they left Olanda and Jelanda. This declarant
does not know what course they followed, more than as a common sailor
who went on board to get his livelihood.

Being asked of what he knows of affairs in Terrenate, and of the
state in which they are, and of the fort and defenses there--he
answered that the artillery was not inside the fort, but in a house