Page 202 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

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202 EARLY ENGLISH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST

be more equalized, though the Dutch ships were only
seven to the enemy’s eleven and several of them were in a
very poor condition.
On the morning of December 30, the English fleet hove
in sight off Jakatra. Coen, who had by this time become
Governor-General, assuming the command of the Dutch
ships, went out to meet the enemy, not omitting, how­
ever, beforehand to dispatch a small craft to Amboina
with instructions for a concentration of the entire Dutch
forces in the Moluccas with a view to further eventualities.
When the two fleets had approached within about a gun­
shot of each other, Dale sent off a herald to proclaim the
reason for his warlike operations and to demand the sur­
render of the Dutch commander. Needless to say, the
answer was a defiant negative. The rest of the day was
spent in manoeuvring to secure a Dutch ship which in
ignorance of the state of affairs had arrived outside the
harbour.
The next morning the action commenced in earnest.
From eleven in the morning until three in the afternoon
the contest continued without intermission, “ a cruelle
bloodye fight ” in which 3,000 great shot were exchanged
between the fleets and many men were killed and wounded
on each side. Night closed in with the two fleets anchored
close to each other without any decisive result having been
reached. On the Dutch side a council of war was held
to decide a future course of action. The outlook for
them was gloomy. Ammunition on all the ships was Tun­
ing short, there were many casualties, and several of the
vessels were so damaged as to be scarcely seaworthy.
To renew the fight in such circumstances would be perilous
in the extreme: yet surrender was not to be thought of.

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