Yndia to this city. The enemy knows very well that the Portuguese
do not carry force enough to fight, and that on seeing the Dutch
they run ashore and place their persons in safety with their gold,
which is the form in which they chiefly invest their wealth. The
ship which would sail from here would enter by a different channel
than do the Portuguese, as the strait has three entrances. Our ship
will be a swifter one, and will sail better against the wind; and a
Dutch ship will not be able to catch it in two rosaries, and their
pataches will not dare to grapple it because of the defense which
they will encounter. Thus by fighting, without losing their route,
the ship, will reach Malaca, and will make its voyage. On its return,
it will stop first at Malaca, where it will hear news of the enemy. In
case they find that the enemy are in the pass, they can wait in those
forts until the former have retired to their own fort at Jacatra.

Thus far, I have mentioned all the advantages, expenses, and
dangers. What still remains is to petition your Majesty to be pleased
to have this matter considered; and if it appear advisable, to order
that this voyage be made every year or every two years, as the governor
shall deem best, and according to the quantity of cloves on hand and
the opportunity offered by the weather. I petition that there shall
be, in this regard, no opposition from the treasury council, in which,
I have understood, your Majesty has ordered that the governor concur
in the opinion of the majority. That may prove, in this country,
to be a source of considerable trouble; for it might some day happen
that an expedition would be determined to be necessary, in a council
of war, and that the majority of the votes of the treasury council in
which the expenses are voted may not concur, either through want of
capacity in the officials, or through an excess of passion and private
interest--and, in a land so remote, experience teaches that there