24 
MOSAMBIQUE. 
the works with us. They contained about eighty pieces of cannon 
mounted, and plenty of balls piled near them, which seemed to 
have rested long undisturbed, if a judgment might be formed by 
the rusty coat of antiquity which adhered to them. Some of the 
cannon were marked 1660, Alonzo II., others were of Dutch ex- 
traction ; and there was a very large howitzer made to cast stones of 
1001 bs. weight, which might probably boast a Turkish origin. 
The situation of the fort is judiciously chosen, and if the cannon 
were well served would most etfectuallv command the entrance 
into the harbour, as upwards of thirty of its guns would bear 
on any ship attempting to force the passage. There did not, at 
this time, appear much note of preparation,'' a few sentries, 
some confined felons, and two or three old women, with cakes to 
sell, seemed to constitute the whole of the garrison, and in truth 
it was not of a description to be marched thro' Coventry." It 
would appear that in earlier times a more vigilant attention was 
paid to its defence, for in the year 1608 this fort made a most 
gallant resistance against an attack of the Dutch, who landed on 
the Island in considerable force, and after remaining from the 
29th of July to the 18th of August, were obliged to re-embark 
with disgrace and a loss of more than a hundred men killed and 
wounded.* 
* Vide Recueil des Voyages de la Comp. des Indes Orient, formee dans les Provinces 
Unies. Amsterdam, 1705, Vol. IV. p. 23-7. The following extriict mny serve to give the 
reader a p' ettyjust idea of the cool kind of butchery practised by the Dutch in t lit ir Oriental 
expcdidons. " Le 1/ Aout" (immediately before their re-emharkation ) " on lia tous les pri- 
" sonnii rs, on les conduisit a latrancliee, et Ton cria aux assie^ez que s'ils nereudoitnt k 
I'instant le deserteur,t on les massacreroit tous a leur vue. L.i leponse fut, que les 
t A soldier who had deserted the preceding day. 
