In the morning, when Trouin was ready to launch his
storming parties, word was brought him that the city was deserted and lay
at his mercy. Some of the richest magazines had been set on fire by the
governor's order, but otherwise the rich city was abandoned, with all its
wealth, to the French.
Of the relics of Duclerc's force, about five hundred remained alive in the
city. These do not seem to have been then in prison, but living at large,
and they were already abroad and plundering the abandoned city when the
French forces entered. They had met good treatment as well as bad. Some of
the people had been kind and hospitable to them, and in the sack of the
city that ensued the houses of these charitable citizens were marked and
left untouched.
Otherwise the sack was general, houses and warehouses being broken open,
and quantities of valuable goods which could not be taken off being thrown
into the mud of the streets. Now was the opportunity for the Portuguese to
attack. Trouin was aware of the danger, but was unable to control his men,
and a sudden assault by the garrison might have proved disastrous to the
French.
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