Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/519

 OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 475 of two thousand three hundred men, partly Eu- ropeans, and partly Sepoys, with nine men-of-war, appeared in the bay before the town of Manila, To oppose this force, the Spaniards had, by their own accounts, but five hundred and fifty regular troops, vv^ith a few militia, and by our's but eight hundred. In a few days five thousand Indians, by the Spanish account, and twice that number by the English, presented themselves, armed with ja- velins, and with bows and arrows, for the re- lief of the garrison, unprepared against an at- tack by the slovenly administration of the Spa- niards, and even by an ignorance of the exist- ence of a war with Britain. All that is connect- ed with the military and naval management of the expedition cannot be too much praised. The European troops, who were veterans dis- tinguished in the wars of Coromandel, behaved with the most determined gallantry and resolution. They landed in open day in a heavy surf, with the water breast-high, carrying their cartouch-boxes and muskets on their heads. Struggling against the difficulties of a season, too far advanced for military operations in these climates, they raised works against the fortifications of the town, and with great spirit and success repelled the sorties of the besieged. On the 6th of October, but twelve days after the landing was effected, the English Jiad made a practicable breach, and they stormed