Its turn for assault came in 1710.
In that year a squadron appeared in the waters outside the harbor on which
the people looked with doubt. It flew the French flag, and that standard
had not been a welcome visitor in the past. In fact, it was commanded by a
daring Frenchman named Duclerc, who was on the seas for spoil. But a look
at the strong defences of the harbor entrance, and some exchange of shots,
warned him of the perils that would attend an attempt to pass them by
force, and he sailed on to a point some forty miles down the coast, where
he landed a party of a thousand marines.
His design to attack the city with this small party seemed folly. The
governor, Francisco de Castro, had a force of eight thousand Portuguese
troops, besides five thousand armed negroes and several hundred Indian
bowmen. But he lacked the heart of a soldier, and Duclerc's marines
marched like so many buccaneers through the forest for seven days without
meeting a foeman. Even when near the city the only enemies in sight were a
handful of men led by a friar, who attacked them boldly in defence of his
church.
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