purpose of trading with the West Indies and South America. Hein accepted the honour, and sailed under Admiral Willekens from Texel on the 21st of December, 1623, with a fleet of twenty-six vessels. On starting nobody knew what was to be done; for the exact orders were contained in a sealed letter, which was not to be opened until they reached the Brazilian coast. On the 26th of March the following year the island of St. Vincent appeared in sight; but as all the ships had not yet arrived the Admiral determined to keep the letter sealed until the commander of the soldiers should have joined them, employing his time meanwhile in drilling and exercising his troops. After having waited for the commander until the end of April, the Admiral at last sent for all the captains to come on board his ship, and when they had all seated themselves round the table, the Admiral at the head and Hein at his right hand, the letter was solemnly unsealed and read. The orders were to sail as secretly as possible to the town of St. Salvador on the Brazilian coast, take it at any price, leave a strong garrison behind, and inflict as much injury upon the Spanish vessels as they were able. The very same night the plans were made; each captain received his orders, and after having solemnly promised each other to remain true till death, they shook hands all round, and went back to their ships.

St. Salvador, the capital of the Spanish settlement of Bahias, was known to be very strong; it was also

known that a large fleet was anchored in the bay, and would help to defend the town. Nevertheless, without hesitation, they sailed on, determined to execute their orders. On the 4th of May, towards the evening, the Dutch fleet dropped anchor about nine miles from shore, so that they could not be perceived by the enemy. There happened to be two men on board who had visited the town before, and who were intimately acquainted with the situation. Like Gibraltar, the city was situated on the shore of a bay, and very powerfully constructed. It was built by the Spanish Governor of Bahias on the summit of a hill, which rose very abruptly to a height of several hundred feet from the sea. It was surrounded by a strong wall, and contained many magnificent houses and palaces. The business offices and warehouses were at the foot of the hill, where a spacious quay had been erected. Three fortresses on the summit commanded the bay, the quay was flanked by two stone redoubts, and within the last years the Governor had built a formidable battery on a rock in front of the quay, which, rising almost perpendicularly out of the water, was all but inaccessible. The council of war having been called together in the admiral's cabin, these things were drawn as correctly as their limited knowledge would permit. Then it was arranged that all the soldiers, about twelve hundred in number, should in the early morning go over to four of the largest vessels, one yacht, and seven sloops. These were to anchor at the entrance of the bay, and hold them

selves in readiness to march towards the town at the right moment. The other ships were to sail straight on, and engage the enemy as best they could. ViceAdmiral Hein was to lead the attack.

Next morning at break of day the fleet commenced its movements. The soldiers were all sent over to the four ships, the decks were cleared for action, the guns looked to, the anchors weighed, and Piet Hein, with his ship' Gelderland,' led the way into the bay. He had no sooner shown his white sails than he was greeted with a shower of bullets and shot from the six forts; but he sailed coolly onward without firing a gun. He saw at once that the fort which had been built on the rock was most strongly manned, and could do him the greatest damage. Round about it on both sides lay fifteen large Spanish vessels, all of them well filled with soldiers from the town. Hein sailed straight at them until he came within musket shot, and then he let them have it as hot as he could. Two other ships, the Groningen' and the 'Nassau' had followed him closely and were lying by his side; but the others, for some unexplained reason, remained behind and kept up a distant fire on the town. Against this superior force, then, Hein and his three. ships had to contend. The fire was terrifying. From all sides the shot struck their rigging and sails and masts. The decks were covered with blood, but they advanced not an inch. For three long hours they fought, but not one of the enemy's ships had given in, and the captain of the Nassau' sent word.

that his ship was shot through. Hein was frantic with rage. If he received no reinforcement from the rest of the fleet he would be obliged to retire, but rather than retire he determined to risk a last chance.

'Boys,' he exclaimed, drawing his sword, 'we must get at them somehow. Follow me into the boats.' Three small boats were immediately filled with twenty men each, and rowed towards the Spanish galleons. It seemed the madness of despair, thus to advance against the formidable ships of war, amidst smoke and thunder, and a perfect hail of bullets. They reached the first vessels. The Dutchmen climbed up the rigging like cats and flew at the Spanish sailors, sword in one hand and axe in the other. The Spaniards, still with the memory of Gibraltar fresh upon them, were seized with terror. They fall on their knees and cry for mercy. They jump overboard, leaving their ships in the hands of the Dutchmen, and swimming towards the shore, they exclaim that they will all be blown up. In the meantime Piet Hein, with some of his men, had again jumped into his boat and rowed to the next ship. A panic now seized the whole Spanish fleet. Everybody jumped overboard or rowed to shore. Some set fire to their ships, others bored holes in the bottom. In the space of half-an-hour the Spaniards had lost their fifteen ships-seven were in flames, eight in the Vice-Admiral's hands-and the victory had been gained with less than a hundred men.

But now came the real tug of war. The sudden