Note 8 — FORMOSA LOST TO SPAIN

Governor Corcuera, who regarded with much indifference that goodly conquest,8 failed to recognize its importance as an advanced and strategic point for checking the aggressions of the Dutch; and, engaged in making new conquests which he could not preserve, he had entirely abandoned it [i.e., Formosa]. A wretched company of invalids and raw recruits was the only force allotted for the defense of that island against a victorious enemy, who, flushed with the triumphs that they had obtained over the Portuguese possessions, believed (and with some reason) that everything must give way to their triumphal progress through these seas, [Their first attack on Tanchuy, in 1641, is “almost miraculously repulsed by its feeble garrison;” but in this expedition the Dutch learn the topography of that region, the condition of the Spanish forts, etc., and plan anew its conquest.] Their plans were not hidden from the commandant of the fort, nor from our good religious, who mingled their counsels with those of the men who were defending the cause of religion and native land. All quickly saw the urgent necessity of reënforcing the garrison, and of demanding fresh troops from the government at Manila.