hey were already abroad and plundering the abandoned city when the
French forces entered. They had met good treatment as well as bad. Some of
the people had been kind and hospitable to them, and in the sack of the
city that ensued the houses of these charitable citizens were marked and
left untouched.

Otherwise the sack was general, houses and warehouses being broken open,
and quantities of valuable goods which could not be taken off being thrown
into the mud of the streets. Now was the opportunity for the Portuguese to
attack. Trouin was aware of the danger, but was unable to control his men,
and a sudden assault by the garrison might have proved disastrous to the
French. But the opportunity was allowed to pass, the governor, in fact,
surrendering all his forts and marching his troops a league from the city,
where he lay waiting reinforcements from the interior while the French
plundered at their leisure.

Trouin was wise enough to know that his position was perilous. He might be
overwhelmed by numbers, and it was important to finish his work and get
away with little delay. But the plunder of the city was not sufficient for
his purpose, and he sent word to the governor that he must ransom it or it
would be burned. To make his word good he began by setting fire to the
environs.

De Castro, eager to get rid of his foes at any price, offered six hundred
thousand _cruzadoes_. This was refused by Trouin, and to stir up the
governor to a better offer, the admiral took his messenger through the
city and showed him that he was spoiling everything that fire would not
burn. Learning, however, that the expected reinforcements might soon
arrive, anxiety induced him to march his men to the front of the
Portuguese camp, where he began to negotiate for better terms. The only
addition De Castro would agree to was to promise the French a supply of
cattle for food, fifteen days being allowed to collect the ransom.

Trouin, knowing well that he had no time to waste, accepted the terms, and
none too soon, for shortly afterwards a strong body of reinforcements, led
by an able general, entered the Portuguese camp. They came too late, the
treaty had been made, and the new general felt bound in honor to make it
good. So the ransom was paid, and on the 4th of November the triumphant
French set sail, their ships deep laden with the rich plunder of the
Brazilian capital and the gold of the governor's ransom.

The return home was not attende