We Held A Council In The Stern Sheets Of One Of Our
Boats, To Consider Whether We Should Land Immediately
Or wait till
day-light; and, as the barks were not come up, in which were the
artillery and half
Of our men, and as we did not know the ground
sufficiently to act in the dark, it was agreed to wait till day, by
which time it was hoped the barks would join. We accordingly fell down
the river a short way, to meet our barks, hearing several musket shots
by the way. On the 23d April at day-break, we saw one of our barks at
anchor within a mile of the town, close under the shore, and the other
coming up the river with the tide of flood. We then rowed up to our
bark, which had fired the shots we heard in the night at some fishermen
passing by, whom they took.
All our force being now joined, we proceeded up the river, and sent a
flag of truce on shore, accompanied by Don Joseph Arizabella, the
governor of Puna, and another prisoner; and then towed up our barks over
against the town, where we came to an anchor. When Captain Arizabella
came with our flag of truce before the corregidor or mayor of
Guayaquill, he enquired our numbers, which the captain magnified, on
which the corregidore said we were boys, not men. To this the captain
answered, he would find them men, and brave ones too, for they had
fought him gallantly in their open boats, although he had slain the
brother of their commander and others; and therefore advised him to
agree for the ransom of the town, as even if he had 3000 men he would be
unable to withstand the English.
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