27 on 10 February. He decided that he could reach and attack them that same day, and he went towards them, but it grew dark, the wind decreased, and the tide fell, so he anchored very close to them and spent the night in preparation. In the dawn watch the whole fleet hoisted sail, and when day broke, he saw the twelve enemy ships approaching him with great determination (and, as was learnt later, great encouragement from Persians) imagining that they would soon have vanquished our ships. Giving the signal for the whole fleet to engage, our Commander attacked the enemy, and saluted the Dutch flagship(1) , which was in the van, by firing a blank volley, but she returned the salute with a cannonball. The battle began with all imaginable fury, the wind being slight and in favor of the enemy, and as a result our ships were unable to go alongside. The Dutch flagship and admiralship(2) engaged our commander’s flagship closely and made it their principal target. The battle raged undecided from before sunrise to after sunset. The enemy flagship, with her yards down, badly damaged and listing, was towed away from the fighting by barges, and on the admiral-ship the banner was furled, which some thought was a sign that her captain had been killed(3). The galleon “Sao Sebastiao” fought well among the enemy, as did the “Santiago”, while the admiral-ship went 1- The “Zuidt-Holland”. 2- The “Nieuw-Bantam”. 3- It was not the Dutch admiral who was dead but the Commander himself, Adolf Becker, in his flagship.
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