Note 3 — Treasury Matters

The danger of this voyage is that of meeting the Dutch at the passage through the strait of Sincapura, near Malaca, which every year the Dutch inhabitants of Jacatra belonging to the Company3 close up, [33] and with a ship or two of little strength, or a couple of pataches, await the Portuguese galliots that sail from Macan to Yndia, and from 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.