The Portuguese had got ahead of him, the fleet from Lisbon having arrived,
giving warning of the danger and reinforcing the garrison. Three forts and
eleven batteries defended the narrow-mouthed harbor, within which lay four
ships-of-the-line and as many frigates. Had all this force been directed
by a man of ability the French might have found entrance to the bay
impossible. But Francisco de Castro, the hopeless governor of the year
before, was still at the head of affairs, and no man could have played
more thoroughly into the hands of the French.
As it chanced, fortune favored the assailants. A heavy fog descended,
under cover of which the fleet ran with little damage past the forts and
entered the harbor. When the fog rose the Portuguese were dismayed to see
their foes inside. Gaspar da Costa, the admiral of their fleet, was known
as an able commander, but he was old and in feeble health, and such a
panic now assailed him that he ran his ships in haste ashore and set fire
to them, leaving to his foes the undisputed command of the harbor. Admiral
Trouin had won the first move in the game.
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