On the first day, Juan Pinto, captain of a galley,
being killed, and his uncle, a valiant soldier, having broken his leg,
his men were disheartened, and deserted the galleon; but they did not
take the precaution to burn it, so that the enemy could not profit,
as they did, by its artillery, food, and other things that it was
carrying; afterward the enemy set it on fire.

At dawn of the next day, December ten, the heretics began to attack
the almiranta. At the first volleys the admiral and five other men
were killed. The men were so disheartened by that event that they
began to jump overboard, and it was impossible for certain commanders
and brave soldiers, who were trying to defend the galleon, to prevent
them. But, as the enemy perceived them deserting the vessel, they
sent their lanchac and entered it; they first lowered the flag of
Christ from the masthead and placed it on their ship below that of
Count Mauricio. The vessel was already burning from the fire set by
our men, and accordingly the enemy deserted it quickly.

Our flagship kept up the fight longer, but at last men were lacking;
for, as the land was near, they tried to reach it in boats or by
swimming. The commander Francisco de Miranda Enriquez was left
with very few men; and they even, seeing that it was impossible to
defend themselves, were forced to land, after having set fire to the
galleon. It was a very fine and strong boat. It earned thirty-six
cannon, and had so much ammunition that when the fire reached the
powder magazine, the vessel blew up with so great a din, that it made
the entire city and the island of Malaca shake, and the vessel was
seen no more. This was different from the almiranta, which, when its
powder had been spent, was two days in burning. The dead and wounded on
our side number about one hundred. The enemy lost one of its vessels,
but was at last victorious. Then they went to the strait to await the
ships expected from China. In the city was little harmony, those of
the fleet and those of the city accusing one another of the fault [of
the defeat]. I reverenced the judgments of God, and considered that,
although there was some excess on both sides, the chief cause of so
great a loss was our sins. _Quia peccavimus tibi Domini_, etc. [88]

The largest fleet ever seen in these islands or perchance in the
Indias was prepared that year of 1615 in the port of Cabite. [89]
It seems a miraculous circumstance that so large a number of shi