ounded by some pirate vessels. Esteybar attempted to
secure a free passage without bringing on a contest, to which end he
hoisted a white flag; but the commander of the Dutch ship displayed
a red flag, firing all his cannon against the Spanish vessels. Then,
without heeding the superiority of the enemy, Bobadilla came against
the ship, all his men rowing as hard as they could; and Esteybar
attacked it at the stern. The Spaniards then were going to board the
ship with a rush, when a ball fired from the vessel of Esteybar set
on fire the Santa Barbara [i.e., powder-magazine] of the Dutch ship,
thus blowing it into pieces. Only twenty-four of its crew survived,
and these were drawn out of the sea and made prisoners. Esteybar
continued his voyage to Simuay, the bar of which was fortified with
heavy stockades; moreover, at its ends were two forts, garrisoned
by Malays, Macassars, and Dutchmen. This did not frighten Esteybar,
and he made preparations to capture the posts of the enemy, in spite
of advice to the contrary from his captains. While he was deciding
the best method of accomplishing this, he passed with his squadron
to the river of Buhayen, sending in by one of its entrances the
valiant Bobadilla with some vessels, and by the other Sargento-mayor
Itamarren. The former sacked the villages and ravaged the grain-fields
of Tannil and Tabiran, the latter those of Lumapuc and Buhayen; they
destroyed a powerful armada which had been prepared for raiding the
islands, and carried away as spoil many versos, muskets, campilans,
crises, and all kinds of weapons.

In the village of Buhayen resided Prince Hamo, son of Moncay,
from whom the kingdom had been usurped; he mounted a white flag
and a cross above his house, being desirous of forming an alliance
with the Spaniards, but they, being warned by experience with the
treasons of the Moros, continued the hostilities, without attaching
any importance to that signal. While they constructed rafts with which
to attack the fortress of Corralat, Captain Antonio de Palacios went
to destroy the village of Tampacan and its environs; and Adjutant
Antonio Vazquez disembarked with orders to cut off the retreat of
the enemy's spies. These were twenty in number, thoroughly armed;
Vazquez rushed upon them, and at the first encounter killed five
and wounded six of them, and the rest were shot to death in the
woods. Esteybar returned to the bar of Buhayen; he knew that at a
day's journey from th