within Cannot-shot of the Town and we could both hear and see the old King who kept continually firing upon the Castle and he had raised his Batteries above the tops of the houses that were in the City so that the Enemy might see us with ease so they immediately prepared to prevent our Landing and for that purpose order'd the Main Body to march to the Sea-shore and there raised Batteries to hinder our coming any nearer In the mean while it was not a little satisfaction to the young King to see our Fleet so near at hand as well as to hear of our Forces by Land And besides it gave him some time to take breath and freed him from the danger he was in continually of a Storm for the Walls being almost all down But now the Enemy could not go on with that Design having enough to do to look after us They took most care of a certain place where they thought we designed to Land as indeed we did But in the night time we weighed Anchor with all the stilness that might be and saild on about a League higher and drawing as near to the Shore as we could possibly we let fall our Anchors again Our Cannon on Board was all loaden and all things were order'd so that where-ever we Landed we might fire them upon the Enemy and upon the City The Tenders and other small Vessels were all Mann'd immediately for Landing some with a hundred Men some more some less all which went with all speed to Shore The Enemy having notice of this were ready as soon as we but had not time to raise any Batteries there against us or to fortifie themselves for ' ere the day begun to peep we had got all things ready for our Landing Major General St. Martini with his Life-guard which consisted of sixty Men and the Surgeons came into my Schappon and stood ready to give Order for the Signal by Drums and Trumpets for the whole Body of our Army to Land all together But the Enemy made a very vigorous Defence and being advantageously Posted in a Wood that was there they charged us after so terrible a manner that what with their Fire and what with our Great Guns that played all this while cross-wise upon the City there was need of more than ordinary Courage to stand it out Besides that we all this while being still up to the knees in Water had a very great disadvantage In this condition we Charged them for three hours and could not come to Land all that while at last five of our Companies were quite routed and of the twelve Surgeons that we brought with us there were but five left and we that did remain were not able to do any great feats by reason that we all this while stood in the Water When we saw that we could not get any ground we got some small Vessels which fetch'd us some Haubitzes which is a kind of Field-Piece to load with small Shot with which we rattled so upon the Javans that we obliged them to give ground enough for us to get on upon dry Land and at last we forced them to quit the Wood and to to retire to their Breast-works so we remained Masters of the Field that night And the next morning at break of day we marched to Attack them in their Intrenchments The Major General considering that the Dutch Companies were mightily weakned commanded Captain Jochem who led the Blacks to march in the Front and he sell upon them straightway with admirable Courage and Conduct The Major General behaved himself like a true Soldier and gave such tokens of his Invincible Valour Wise Conduct and Indefatigable Diligence as cannot be well described And tho' he had the mis-fortune to have two of his Fingers shot off from his right hand as he was Riding to and fro to give Orders he could hardly afford himself time to have his hand drest and I had no sooner done but he straight mounted again The best of this Engagement was that most of the Enemies Bullets flew over our heads But I found that they did not all of them take the same course and was a little surprized when talking with the Sergeant of our Company and jeering them for not being good Marks-men a Bullet came and laid him dead at my foot In the mean while our Men made but little on 't And the Captain was not able to do any thing more than just to keep his ground against the Enemy Wherefore the Major General having given some new Orders and briskly encouraged the Soldiers by telling them that the beating the Enemy out of that place would be the chief part of their work and the sure fore-runner of a total Victory promising to the three first that should break into the Enemies Camp an hundred Gilders two Slaves and a Pipe of Sack for a Reward and having by such like Speeches and Promises infused as it were new Spirits into them he took upon him the Management of the Front himself and drawing out Captain Bleutner and Captain Winkler's Companies together with some others he led them in Person fell upon the Enemy with such fury that we soon carried the day for he had so animated the Soldiers that every Man was worth two Our Men being now come too near to use their Muskets took their Cutlaces in one hand and their Hand Granado's in the other and when the Blacks saw the Dutch drive so hard upon the Enemy they took such heart too that with their Sword and Buckler they poured in upon the Enemy and drove all before them So that the Slaughter we made of the King's Army in this place was nothing less than that of Dangerang The Enemy was wholly put to flight and left most of their Arms behind them And we having gained that Post the Admirable gave Orders that the Ships should no longer Fire upon the City lest we our selves might receive some of their Shot amongst us All this while we push'd on forward to their Pallisado's and came to the Forr which they called Speelwick where we found a great many of the King's Men but yet most of our Officers found that we should quickly become Masters of it We sent for some heavy Cannon from our Ships and batter'd it down in a very little time The Seamen forced open the Gate with Hammers and Axes and so enter'd throwing of Granado's But all the Javaus being fled we became Masters of it without any further opposition This served our purpose mighty well and saved us the trouble of any further Entrenchments except a few Gaps that we made up with Wood which our Blacks cut down and brought to us Here we took a little breath and rested that night and the following day and a portion of Biscuit Sack and Brandy was distributed to each Soldier in the Army After this fine Refreshment the Army was put into a new Order and the Right and Left Wings formed anew and provided with
great command of us and we on the other side could hardly reach them Seeing that we could make but slow progress this way the Council of War met and resolved to fall upon their Works altogether Upon this the Front marched forward directly towards the Enemy and the Sea-men succeeded in our place landing and taking possession of the ground which the Army occupied before We carried some of their Forts by Storm in a few hours time tho' with the loss of a great many of our Men. As soon as the Javians saw that they had lost some of their Holds they set fire in most of the others and betook themselves to their heels but did not quite run away from us neither for they kept moving in the Rice-fields on the sides of us with a resolution to charge us all in a Body We had yet a very considerable Army tho' nothing in comparison to theirs but we having by this time got together our Artillery and planted it very advantagiously we were ready for ' em The Admiral gave Orders we should play upon them with our Artillery without intermission which we did The Armies being now come in reach of each other the Javians fell upon us with the greatest fury imaginable the manner of which I could not see being then in the midst of our Men but I heard their usual Out-cry at their falling on Our Army opened it self to the right and left and then our Artillery which was ready for 'em was all at once discharged upon them which made a hideous Slaughter amongst them After which our Men closed in again while it was charging again Our Front moving always with movable Pallisado's before them which was a very great defence to our Men and enabled them to keep their Order the better All this while tho' thousands of their Men dropt they would not give ground an Inch nor did we And the day was now so far spent that we were both forced to give over yet were we wholly set upon pursuing the Stroke and hoped that the night should prove rather more commodious and successful than the day had done As soon as the night drew on we begun to play upon them with our Mortars and sent such a quantity of Bombs among them and at the same time fell on one of their Wings so furiously that we gain'd ground and pouring our Shot so thick upon them we put them into such a consternation that they were not able to defend themselves so that we thought of nothing more but to prepare to pursue them but they did not design to put us to that trouble for we could hear some of them in the front of their Army cry Dida mou boggel ada orang Hollando which is as much as to say I will fight no longer against the Hollanders This was made known to Admiral Tack and further confirmed by some of the chief Officers of the Enemies Army which the Admiral had permitted to come to him and were sent to parley and to beg him to grant a Truce or rather make a Peace The Admiral durst not do any thing in this matter of his own accord but was obliged to send to the General at Batavia who sent him word again that he should be sure not to hearken to any Proposals of Peace During this Suspension of Arms I conversed much with those Javian Deputies and I found them very inquisitive and curious to know what our Army was composed of whether of real Men or of Devils in humane shapes We told them they were only Men but brave Men and most Germans and indeed they behaved themselves with such inexpressible Bravery that it might have amazed a polite and well-disciplin'd Nation and much more might it do so with a Barbarous and Heathenish People When the Admiral had received his Answer from the General at Batavia he told the Deputies that the Dutch would not hear talk of a Peace and so sent them away and bid them tell the old King that they would now have as little regard for him as he had formerly shewed for Batavia Upon which our Artillery was fired again and we charged them with greater fury than before so that we put their whole Army to flight which they took directly towards Dorjasse and there we put them all in confusion totally routed them and made a most dreadful Slaughter amongst them We did not pursue them as we might have done for we thought best to keep together and to continue in our Entrenchments while we made all the preparations requisite for a more effectual pursuit of 'em and in order to Attack the said Town of Dorjasse Here our Men rested three days and had all the usual Refreshments and in that time our Dead were buried But in the third night about twelve of the Clock we saw the City of Dorjasse in a blaze and heard the blowing up of some of their Building and Fortification great pieces of which fell into our Camp which was half a Mile from thence all which was very agreeable to our Admiral and to our Army too because it would have cost us a great many brave Men's Lives if we had been put to fighting for it We sent immediately a Party towards the place to see what they were doing there and in what condition they were But when they came near to the place the old King withdrew with all speed and passed over the River Dorjasse with all his remaining Forces and fled to the Blawe Peperbergh which was about four Leagues from thence so that our Men found Dorjasse quite empty and the Coasts all clear As soon as the Admiral had Advice of it he march'd thither with the greatest part of the Army We found nothing there but Houses ruinated most of them still smoaking and no Inhabitants but a vast parcel of Ducks and Hens flying about the Streets to seek a habitation which our Soldiers were very glad to see and regaled themselves bravely with I went to take my Rounds in the City and as I came near to a parcel of Ducks I fired amongst 'em and shot a good many of 'em and the rest ran into a House there hard by So I followed them with my Fusil in my hand designing to knock them down with the Butt end of it But as soon as I came within the doors I saw an old Woman sitting on a Bedstead with a naked Kriz in her hand But she seeing me come with a Gun in my hand fell down dead for fear Our Men found a great many Javians that were hid in corners and holes who could not flee away with the rest being exceeding old or otherwise disabled Our Soldiers were Quartered upon the Bastions The Admiral took his Quarters in the middle of the City in the Court of the Old Palace which before was the greatest place for Trade The chief of my care was to see if I could not get some Plunder which while I was looking for about the Old Palace
over after them I for my part finding I could not escape death if I staid there threw away my Arms and my Surgeons Box and leapt into the River tho' with little hopes of getting over however it gave me a chance for my Life and it pleased God to carry me over safe to Shore where our Men were got and stood spectators of the dreadful slaughter the Javians were making among the poor Dutchmen that were left among them on the other side There was no less than two hundred of 'em who were all cut in pieces but behaved themselves with an unparallel'd bravery as Men in such desperate conditions use to out-do themselves and as they held it out a long while so they sold their Lives at the dearest rate that ever men did The Admiral exceedingly concern'd at this sad misfortune and desirous to revenge the loss of so many brave Men took the rest who had made their escapes and marched with them in all haste to Dorjasse with a design to go over with a Body of Men and pursue the Enemy It was upon consideration found impracticable being we had no way of passing the River for it was very broad every where and we had not above three or four small Boats So that we were forced to quit our designs but that we might not go altogether unrevenged we set fire to all that remained standing in Dorjasse after we had staid three or four days in it The main Body of our Army continued along the Sea Coast very well entrenched under the Command of Captain Harzing while the Admiral went with some small Ships and some Men down the River Dorjasse and so to Bantam by Sea CHAP. VI. The Author among others going along the River Tangburang meets with several Parties of the Enemy and have several Skirmshes with them The Town Anier besieged Bravely defended by the Javians by the means of two Renegade Dutchmen one of which was taken and immediately hanged Anier plunder'd and sack'd The Author shot in the Leg. The whole Country brought into subjection The Young King 's base dealing with some of the Chief Nobles who came in to submit themselves to him notwithstanding his Gracious Promises to them An end of the Wars The danger that a Man exposes himself to that will take any of the Indian Commodities for his own private Gain An instance of it in the Author himself A very strange and barbarous Grulty committed by the Javians upon some Dutchmen who fell into their Hands They are discover'd and punish'd after the most cruel manner that could be invented The manner of their Death AS soon as we were come upon the Road of Bantam the Young King came to meet our Admiral and to thank him for his Signal Services and after some Complements passed between them they went both of them on Shore in the same Boat and all the Men got ready and landed soon after them and were divided among the rest of the Soldiers that were in the place I was order'd to go to my old Post in the Hospital But another Order came not long after to me to get ready to go to Captain Ruiter to view the Country along the River Tangburang which runs thro' the Province of that Name and comes by Bantam In our march we saw very pleasant Negeryen on both sides the River tho' all without Inhabitants But one Night as we were very silent in our march we were surprized with a sudden alarm and out-cry in one of the neighbouring Villages We were not very much corncerned at it because we were 400 of us however we stood all to our Arms and moved according to our Captains Orders towards the Village and there we met with 'em upon the march but it was not intended against us Some of our Front only could fire upon them yet that served to bring down several of the Javians but the Blacks or Amboineeses of which we had a Company with us pursued them so long that they brought us seventy Heads of 'em when they came back to us the next Morning according to the Custom of all those Nations whether they fight for us or against us which is always to cut off the Heads of as many of their Enemies as they kill and to bring them to their Commanders as tokens of their Valour Having had good success thus far our Captain was for moving forwards and pursuing our good Fortune which we did till we came to a small River that runs into Tangburang There we found some Forts and some Negeryen well provided with Men. We were about going over to them and we could have done it the River not being very deep but our Captain did not think it safe because we did not know what Numbers there might be of the Enemy or whether they might not lie there in ambuscade He immediately dispatch'd some of our Men to Bantam to Admiral Tack for Recruits and according to his desire he had the very next day three Companies of Dutch sent him and two of Blacks that were Bandaneeses With this Reinforcement we crossed the River briskly and marched directly towards their Villages and Forts But we had not marcht long before our Front which was hardly got in rightorder after passing through the River but a parcel of about a hundred and fifty of our Men fell in with a Party of near four hundred of the Enemy they would at first have been glad to have been a little farther off but there being no retreat they engaged them so vigorously that they killed above an hundred and seventy of 'em and wounded several and made the rest retire to Tangburang As we pursued them we took some of them who had deserted the others and hid themselves in the Woods who all told us that all the Enemies Force was within three or four miles of us and more than eight thousand strong That it was the same Army which had continually been commanded by the Old King and that they lay there in order to hinder our coming over that River Upon this information our Captain sent some Expresses with all speed to Bantam to give an account of it to the Admiral who without delay sent some hundreds of Men more and some Field-Pieces likewise Then were all the Officers commanded to take especial care that all their Men might be well provided with Powder and Ball. All our Body was divided into five Parties each consisting of four Companies and all the necessary Orders were given then all our Army went to Prayers after which we marched straight upon the Enemy A Lieutenant with fifty Men was sent out before to sec what he could discover of the Enemy and so to give us information We had not moved half an hour e're we had an account that the Javians were coming to give us battle and that they were eight thousand strong All our Parties put together made but four thousand yet were we in hopes that we might encompass them as indeed
about the Country and I desired I might be one with ' em We marched about for a matter of an hour or or two thro' nothing but Woods and Coco-Trees and then we came to a River but we could not pass it so we continued moving along the side of it till night and then not meeting with a conveniency of passing the River we took up our lodging there that night but for fear of the Enemy we hardly durst speak or stir all that night The next morning early we heard a noise not very far from us and we began to fancy that we might insensibly be got round upon our Army again but when we were got a little further we discovered the Enemy on the other side of the River as busie as might be cutting of Coco-Trees with a design to go and raise some new Bachers as they call 'em that is Fortifications The River was very narrow but very deep and seeing they could not come at us and that we could easily retire if need was to our Army which was but a mile from us we took a resolution and fired so briskly amongst them that we fetch'd several of 'em down off the Trees They on the other side did not fail tomake good use of their English Firelocks and to give fire upon us so that four of our Men fell Two of them that were only wounded I brought away and appli'd what was requisite to their wounds and having done that I went forward to overtake the rest of our Men but I was no sooner come up to them but I my self received a wound in my Thigh from a Black that was upon a Coco-Tree and the Ball lodged within me The small Skirmish being over some of our Men took me up and carried me to Anier where the Army was and from thence I was carried to the Hospital at Bantam There I was the daily care of the chief Surgeon of that place who was a very able Man named John Hanss a Leydener He used his utmost endeavours to get the Bullet out of the wound but all in vain And after I had undergone a long and grievous pain and had all the Splinters clear'd out we were forced to leave the Bullet in and to let the wound heal over it In two months time I was fully recover'd and found no pain nor did my Bullet ever trouble me till I came into Holland again I was now got again to my Employment in the Hospital that was committed to my care where we enjoy'd our selves with great security Only for fear of the worst we took care to man our outward Garrisons and to fortifie our Frontier Places But e're three Months were at an end we were sufficiently satisfied that there was no great need of fortifying our selves any more for the Javians came over to us in mighty numbers And to convince us of their sincerity and entire submission to us they sent us some hundreds of Carts full of Musquets Lances Pikes Bows and Arrows and other Warlike Instruments After this some of their Nobility and some Persons of greatest Note who had great Estates in those parts came to surrender themselves and to beg for Pardon of the Dutch Company But for that time the Company thought fit to leave that to the discretion of the Young King who pretended himself willing to receive them graciously and to pardon all that was past But he having got some of 'em into his power he forgot his Royal Word and commanded some of them to be cast to Tygers some to Venemous Serpents some to be strangled others were drown'd others had their Throats cut by his especial Command and all variously and miserably put to death Things being come to this pass the Company thought it was high time to put a stop to such Barbarity And therefore they acquainted him with their resentment of this his base dealing and made him sensible of the great imprudence as well as baseness he had been guilty of seeing he ought to have been glad to have seen these Persons come to submit themselves to him and furnish him with Subjects which he was now like to want and that so he might have his Towns and Cities once again raised and filled with Inhabitants The rest of them that came in being hereupon more civilly used and kindly treated insomuch that in the eighteen Months time that I was there all the Places were rebuilt and made finer than they were before For then the Chineeses who are willing to be under the Dutch Government came and settled there in greater numbers than ever For as they love to live among the Dutch because of the Priviledges they give them so the Dutch are very glad of their company because where-ever they are among them they cause a brisk Trade which turns to the advantage of the Dutch as well as of the Chineeses themselves The Country being now again pretty well Peopled with Neighbours and Forreigners and by the coming in of the Javians I thought it high time to look about me and to try to recruit my Pockets which were now very low all Provisions being exceeding dear and I had had no opportunity in a great while to get a Farthing by my Profession any other than what my Salary brought me in So I applied my self to the Javians among whom I thought there might be a great many wounded and accordingly I found pretty much practice amongst ' em With all this help I made shift to live handsomly enough but truly it was as much as I could do For considering the scarcity there was and the great fatigues I had born as well as the rest I thought it the prudentest way to look after my Health and to afford my self what my Constitution required rather than pinch my self and contract a fit of Sickness as several and indeed most People do who go over to the Indies with no other design but to enrich themselves at any rate Tho' by the by after all the pinching saving and scraping together that is not so easily done as People imagine For nothing is more common than the vulgar opinion that there 's no more to be done to get an Estate than just to go to the Indies from whence they reckon they may come home with a burden of Gold Pearls and Diamonds as if it was but picking them up and come away But it may be worth the while seeing we are speaking of this Vulgar Error to shew that these pretious things are so far from being thus easie to come at that it is even a very dangerous thing to attempt to carry off any of those things if a Man hath got any of them in his possession I my self went once to Amboyna and got intimately acquainted there with a Sergeant that had lived about nineteen years in that Country and was an Overseer over several Blacks that work in Press-Mills We came to trucking at last and I exchanged some of my Cheese Tobacco c. for for some
did not please him Upon which without more ado he gives Orders to Fire the Great Guns from the Castle upon the City and particularly that some of them should play upon his Fathers Quarters against which sixteen Pieces of Demi-Cannon were planted which were fired briskly upon him by his positive Orders and some of them too by his own hand Being thus satisfied that his Fathers Intentions were to Depose him he wholly forgot all Duty and sent him word by one of his Concubines that he did not reckon himself now bound to him in any Bond of Duty and that he would pay him no other Homage but Powder and Ball which he would not spare for he had enough of it and that should be at his service Besides the Message that had made him so desperate he relied much upon the strength of the Castle which was very well fortified with very good Walls lined with Earth like those of Batavia and very strong Bastions upon them besides very large Canals round them with Draw-Bridges Neither did he want Provisions or Ammunitions and the Bastions were provided with very good heavy Cannon But the number of his Men was not above three hundred yet with them he had resolved to stand it out to the last So that his Garrison was not so considerable as his Court which as it chiefly consists of Women according to the general Custom of Heathen Princes so he had of them no less than one thousand two hundred that were his Concubines With this continual Firing the City was miserably shatter'd and lookt like a Wilderness for every Man had got away that could and all the English and Danes together with the Nobility and the most considerable Inhabitants went over to the old King And having formed a considerable Body they went and besieged the Castle raised several Batteries and planted their best Cannon upon them and then fired briskly in their turn upon the Castle Notwithstanding all these preparations the young King remained undaunted and only applied himself to get supplies and support abroad and by Advice of two Dutchmen who were of his Party and who had formerly run away from Batavia to shelter themselves from Justice he resolves to send to the Company of Batavia for Assistance One of these Dutch-men was appointed for the Negotiation and immediately was let down from the Wall of the Castle and having pass'd the Canals in a little Boat that used to lye there he came to the Enemies Army thro' which he was unavoidably to pass but he being very ready in the Javan and Malleish Languages having been fifteen years in those Countries and having been Circumcised at his Abjuration of the Christian Religion he easily pass'd thro' all difficulties and came to the General at Batavia and by word of mouth without any further Credentials delivered his Message to him in the young King's name This was an opportunity which the Dutch had long wish'd for so that the Messenger needed no great Rhetorick or Art to induce them to take it by the forelock But immediately Orders were dispatched and the Forces had their Rendezvous appointed I my self had Orders to attend the Major General St. Martini's own person and was in the whole Expedition so that I may justly speak of the matter and be the more particular in the relation of it The Major General above mentioned commanded the whole Fleet and one Captain Harzing of Cassel had the whole command of the Land-Forces Both set out at one time as I said before the one march'd out straight upon Dangerang The Fleet went directly to Bantam Captain Hartzing was forced first to Attack Dangerang by which means he reckon'd he should have drawn off the old King and his Army from Bantam but found himself very much mistaken For the place made such a vigorous Resistance that it appeared they neither wanted necessary Assistance nor Courage We lost there a great many of our best Men insomuch that we found our selves forced to Intrench left they should have routed us quite so we made our Lines of Approach which we fortified with as good Pallisado's as we could and so secured our selves that the Enemy could not come at us In the mean while we continued our Approaches with all the diligence that might be till we came within Musket-shot of the Fort. There we made use of a cover'd way with which we came up close to the Enemies works and in some measure within them And having finished our Mines we set them on fire with a resolution that as soon as they should blow up to any purpose we would assault them One of our Mines made a breach that three or four Waggons might stand abreast in Upon which it was order'd we should immediately enter And so we did but so with much ado that we had reason to fear we must have retired but after a little resistance they seeing us pour in so thick upon them took their heels and most of them threw down their Arms. All this while we pursued them and made the most heavy slaughter amongst them that ever any History can shew For the Gates of their Castle or rather their Doors being so little that one could not go under them without stooping they were all forced almost to creep thro' them one by one and as they were all in a cluster and unarm'd to the number of near five thousand we fired continually upon them so that they lay like heaps of Stones one on another which made the most dismal fight in the World And to prevent the Air being infected with them we made our Blacks to carry them off and throw them in the River Dangerang Having gotten this Post we fortified our selves in the best manner we could for we were sure that we should not enjoy our rest there long and that we were to be upon our Guard In this six weeks time that we had besieged this place we had lost a great many Men and a great many were fallen sick by reason of the bad Water which had much of the tast of Salt-peter in it which made Captain Hartzing at a stand whether we should go on or not At last he thought it best for us to stay there till we could hear of the safe Arrival and Landing of our Fleet before Bantam which we did in a few days after Major General St. Martini being come before Bantam with twenty stout Men of War each of which carried between four and five hundred Men besides a hundred Fire-ships Tenders c. gave Orders for their Landing about two a Clock the next Morning But first he took a general Review of the Men and a Gill of Brandy was given to every one of the Soldiers and after that six and thirty of the lustiest Soldiers were provided with a good quantity of Powder and some hundreds of Sea-men were set out with Pole-Axes or Hatchets and eight or nine Hand-Granado's to each Man all which were to Land with the Army We lay
Field Pieces loaden with small Shot Then we march'd against the Enemy who lookt at first as if they were able to have eaten us all up for a Breakfast they being above thirty thousand of them But our Officers were not in the least dismayed at their numbers but very couragiously Attack'd them on the two sides of 'em yet taking such measures that we could joyn together again at any time I must own I never expected the Dutch should have escaped a total overthrow considering the vast disproportion of Men and while I was in this contemplation on a sudden the Javans sallied out upon us with such a terrible and horrid Out-cry as their Custom is that one would have thought it had been a Hurricane rather than a Body of Men But for all that our Men stood their ground bravely and gave Fire continually upon them We had so order'd our Army that behind each Rank of Musquetiers we had a Rank of Pikes lest they should break in upon us And all the while we played so thick upon them with ten or twelve Field-Pieces that they fell like Bees before us Our other Wing observed the same Order and we at last joyned together again into a Body Having sustained this for near 3hours they sent some of their Muck Speelers amongst us which are a sort of giddy resolute Fellows that are ready to be hired upon any kind of Exploit how rash and mischievous soever it be be it to stabb a Man for any private Affront or any thing else of that kind And the more famous Cut-throats they be the more they value themselves on their Reputation of being such Before they go upon any such sort of undertaking they eat of a sort of Herb which they call Avion which for a time makes them giddy and altogether unsensible of any danger so that they are as fool-hardy as they are dangerous They rnsht in upon us with an incredible Fury and being incapable of consulting their own safety they came running head-long against our Men and spitted themselves upon our Pikes and destroyed themselves without doing us any hurt And in a little time after having killed several thousands of the King's Party we utterly routed them and made them leave all their Arms behind them Upon which we fell from fighting to plundering After this the Major General went accompanied with his Life-guard and others to the Castle where the young King was who immediately upon his approach opened the Gates came to meet him and with all the humble acknowledgment fell down at his feet and afterward embraced him with all the demonstration of a grateful and sincere Affection Before this the Admiral had given Orders for the Army to Encamp all round the Castle and the Gunners to be ready in their Posts with the Artillery which consisted of above three hundred Pieces of Cannon After this the Army having had 3 days rest and all the refreshment that might be was order'd to march into the City and there they had the chief Posts in their hands as the Boom the Speelwick and other Bastions and the rest were quartered in the English Danish and French Quarters Some were order'd likewise to keep Garrison in the Castle so that all places of consequence were sufficiently secured in order to make the whole our own when time should serve a little more commodiously Here I received Orders to repair to the Hospital where I had five Surgeons under me But there being so many sick and wounded that we could not well look after them the best part of them we sent to Batavia The old King after this Overthrow retired with his shatter'd Army to his ' Fort Dorjasse where having made ready some hundreds of Prawen and small Vessels he resolved to be revenged on us And having the conveniency of the two Rivers Dorjasse and Bantam which run from that Fort into the Sea he Mann'd them in order to go as far as Batavia and to do us some mischief which accordingly he did For being come into the Road of Batavia they set fire on some of our Ships and either kill'd the Men or took them Prisoners and went on Shore on the little Island call'd Onrust and made sad Havock of the few Inhabitants that were there To prevent their doing any further mischief some of the largest of our Men of War were straight got ready besides a considerable number of Prawen and small Vessels all which were as well Mann'd as we could wish And with these we went in search of the Javians In this Expedition I was made Captain of the Ship call'd the Europa which had eight hundred Men and three Surgeons and one Captain De Ruiter commanded the whole Fleet. We straight put to Sea and with our whole Fleet we made directly to Bantam and Dorjasse the two Rivers which I told you lay so conveniently for the Javians to run in and out at and there we lay to cut off their Pass when-ever they should attempt to come in there for shelter Being come there one half of the Fleet was order'd to stay there and the other half of which number I was went in search of the Enemy The next morning as we were come about the Island call'd the Toppers Hoadie we saw them about a League off of us with more than a hundred Prawen c. cruising to and fro Our Admiral De Ruyter judged himself strong enough to Engage them so having call'd a Council it was resolved to fall upon them Upon this a Gill of Brandy the best thing in the World to inspire Courage into a Dutch-man was given to every one of them And we were divided into two parts with Instructions that upon the Signal given we should fall upon them all together All that day we lay still but on the Evening we did so surround our Enemy that they had no way left them by the next Morning but to fight their way thro' us or else be forced to shelter themselves on a little Island call'd Schlepse but that being not above a League in compass and besides so barren that it would not afford them any Provision or Relief they were necessitated to Attack us and indeed they were not long resolving upon it having four times at least the number of Men that we had They stood to the Windward off us so that having that advantage too over us they came very briskly upon us with twenty Prawen well Mann'd and with forty Double Haekken hoping with them to lay fast hold of our greatest Ships first and so to board them and then the smaller would easily be dispatched The Admiral all this while did not let us fire one Shot and had order'd a kind of Breast-works to be got ready upon the Deck by the Main Mast and under Deck in the Fore-castle Our Prawen and small Vessels kept behind us ready to fall upon the Enemy when-ever he should Attack us We had planted some of those Haubitzen I made mention of before