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In reality it signified the victory of the Portuguese, who had fallen upon, defeated, and slaughtered one of his detachments. A second detachment, which had entered and begun to plunder the magazine, was set upon by the rabble and completely butchered. Duclerc’s defence soon grew hopeless, and he was forced to surrender at discretion.
Some of the richest magazines had been set on fire by the governor’s order, but otherwise the rich city was abandoned, with all its wealth, to the French. Of the relics of Duclerc’s force, about five hundred remained alive in the city. These do not seem to have been then in prison, but living at large, and they were already abroad and plundering the abandoned city when the French forces entered.
The governor, Francisco de Castro, had a force of eight thousand Portuguese troops, besides five thousand armed negroes and several hundred Indian bowmen. But he lacked the heart of a soldier, and Duclerc’s marines marched like so many buccaneers through the forest for seven days without meeting a foeman.
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