VALENTYN’S ACCOUNT OF MALACCA. 231 
Artillery. 
At that moment Commander KAARTEKOE having risen from 
his sick-bed and making his appearance on the town ram- 
parts, most inopportunely prevented, by his want of judg- 
ment, the successful completion of the attack which our troops 
had now entirely in their hands, for (most unwarrantably and 
contrary to the custom of war) he entered into an agreement 
with the Portuguese Governor and (at his request) some 
priests, promising them and all the inhabitants of the town 
(with the exception of the King’s soldiers) a free and safe 
retreat. The enemy then having abandoned that strong 
bulwark “ Curassa”’ and the old fortress, our troops marched 
into those places and occupied them and all the other points. 
The soldiers of the enemy were then immediately lodged 
in our camp, and ours in the town, whilst the respectable 
Portuguese inhabitants and their families were left peaceably 
in their houses, but ordered to carry all the gold, silver, jewels 
and money which they possessed to the Church of St. Paul.(*) 
Such good order was maintained that nothing was heard of 
murder, brutality or ravishing, though some of our soldiers 
(after having endured so much want and misery) in their 
first transport plundered some churches and brothels. 
The Johor Malays, who had been ordered at daybreak to 
raise a false alarm near the bulwark “St. Jago,” did not show 
themselves till after sunrise, when most of the bulwarks had 
already been taken by our soldiers; they then meant to get 
into the town by the conquered breach, but Heer LAMOTIUS 
wisely stopped them to prevent the further shedding of 
Christian blood, especially by the Moors, who intended to 
plunder and to destroy the whole town. ‘Thus, not without 
great loss of men and money to the Hon’ble Company, we at 
last conquered that famous, strong and powerful mercantile 
place of the Portuguese, the matchless Malacca, which they 
had possessed 120 years. ‘This being a strongly fortified and 
large place, superior to any other place in the East (save 
Goa), for its importance and many other advantages for 
which reason it was of old selected as the seat of the Malay 
(1) On the top of the hill. 
