ABSTRACT
The bombardment that the enemy opened from the Santo Agostinho wharf against the place where the galleons were (which we have already described), was so intense and continuous that there was every likelihood of their being sunk; in view of this, the Captain Simão de Mello assembled the Council, wherein it was agreed that in order to evade such a loss and risk, all the guns that were on board them should be taken out and stored in the fortress, whilst the ships themselves were to be scuttled below the bastion of “Esperito Sancto,” since they would be safer there. This resolution was carried out, and the galleons were stripped of their artillery and tackle, all of which was dumped on shore near the Traitor’s postern-gate; the galleons were then scuttled, being buried for ever, to the great grief and sorrow of all who saw the destruction of such powerful vessels. The Armada of rowing-vessels,—which if wiser counsels had prevailed could have saved those two fortresses,—was likewise left a prey of the waves and of our misfortune.
