that they would all be killed. The Chinese observed this, and learned
from the guide that this was the house of the master-of-camp. They
regarded this as a very important piece of news, and, going to that
house, hurled many fire-bombs, with which they burned it in a very
short time; for it was made, like all the houses there, of wood and
straw. They killed some men who had gathered there; they also killed
the master-of-camp, who had been injured by the fire and wounded by
an arquebuse-shot in one arm, and who threw himself from a window,
on account of the cruel flames. A soldier, although the enemy struck
at him repeatedly with cutlasses and battle-axes, escaped with but
a slight wound. It is believed that if the master-of-camp had left
the house early, he would have escaped; but that he tried to defend
himself in his house, which he was unable to do, on account of his
severe illness. Several other persons were killed there with him. His
wife, who had shouted to them, they stripped, and tore off a ring
which she was slow in drawing from her finger, and a necklace; and
then they stabbed her severely in the neck. She rushed from the house
and hid in the tall grass, thus escaping with her life; and she is now
alive. Another woman and three or four men were killed. In burning that
house, and in the resistance offered there, they were detained some
time; therefore news of this affair reached the city and the house of
the governor, Guido de Lavezares. The first intimation that they had
of the approach of the enemy was the sight of the burning house of the
master-of-camp, which thus revealed it. When the affair at the house
was over, the pirates attempted to proceed once more to the beach.

The delay at the house was important, for in the meanwhile Captains
Velasquez and Chacon, with what soldiers there were, went to the
seacoast; and from the shelter of the houses facing the beach fired
well-aimed volleys from their arquebuses, whereat a number of the