Van Spilbergen's attacks the town of Payta

On the 8th of August 1615 the expedition of Joris van Spilbergen reached the town of Paita, to the north of Lima. The next day, Van Spilbergen attacked the town with hundreds of soldiers, but was repelled by the garrison. The next day, after much shelling from the Dutch ships, the town fell and the garrison and townspeople fled. The town was then pillaged and torched.

The image shows the events at Paita as described in the journal of Joris van Spilbergen’s expedition. A. shows how the soldiers are transported to the shore and array themselves in battle order. B. shows the Spanish soldiers fighting the Dutch soldiers while fleeing. C. are three Dutch ships, the Aeolus, the Morning Star and the Hunter, which are shelling the city. D. is a small indigenous vessel called balsa, which they used to fish and could also sail with. E. is a small balsa without a sail. F. are the Sun and Moon anchored in front of Paita. G. is the captured Spanish ship. H. is a bird, described as very large by the Dutch (2 el high and 3 el wide). It was captured at the island “Loubes”, which might refer to the nearby island of Lobos de Tierra. An el was a Dutch measure of length.