e it was
necessary for the service of your Majesty, owing to new developments,
which I shall here detail. A fortnight after the ships were despatched,
and when the almiranta was about to put out to sea, there arrived
here a fragata belonging to your Majesty, which came from Goa, and
had sailed from Terrenate for Yndia, loaded with cloves. It brought
me a despatch from the viceroy, Ruy Lorenco de Tabora, in which he
informed me of his arrival in that kingdom, and in what desolation he
found the affairs of Yndia, and particularly the trade, on account
of the Dutch. And he said that, in order to make safe the voyage
from Japon, he sent Don Diego de Vasconcelos de Meneses, with eight
galleons, well provided with men, artillery, and supplies of war,
with orders that if I should advise him that he might accomplish some
good for the service of your Majesty, he should attend to it with his
fleet. Likewise General Diego de Vasconcelos wrote to me from Malaca,
that he was crossing to Macan with six galleys and one urca; [44] and
that there he would await advices from me or from Maluco, so that,
if anything could be accomplished for the service of your Majesty,
he could be present with his fleet. The day after the arrival of this
fragata, there entered this port a Dutch patache, which had been taken
by Captain Pedro de Avellaneda, with the galley "San Christobal,"
close to the island of Tidore, after a fight of three hours; and in
it were General Pablos Brancaorden [_i.e._, van Caerden], twenty
others, and five Dutch. This general is the one who was taken in
another galleota by Captain Pedro de Heredia, and who was ransomed
by Master-of-camp Christobal de Axqueta for fifty of our soldiers
and sailors, thirty Indian pioneers and artisans, and six thousand
pesos in money. All the forces that the enemy has in Maluco and Banda
were in his command. The said master-of-camp advises me that only
a patache and one ship of the enemy's had remained in the islands;
and that although he sent a vessel with persons acquainted with the
language to Ambueno to learn whether a fleet had come, there was no
news of one, and the enemy were greatly cast down and discouraged to
see that no fleet was coming to them, as there is little hope that
it will be here this year, for none thus far has waited longer than
May or June to come. When the information was sent [to me] it was
the thirtieth of July, and there was no word of a fleet.

I have already inform