1608, to whom Matelief communicated the necessity of first attending to Molucca affairs, giving him also information and advice concerning those islands and the Dutch and Spaniards there. Shortly after Admiral Matelief returned to Holland, where he anchored on September 2, 1608. Admiral Matelief drew up while on this expedition a good résumé of Dutch aspirations in the East Indies that shows the compelling motive in their expeditions thither. This memorial is as follows. * * * * * Memoir by Admiral C. Matelief, on the subject of the condition and the commerce of the Indies When I consider the condition of our country, and the wars that afflict it, on the part of an enemy so powerful as Albert of Austria, who is sustained by the house of Austria, and by his own house of Spain, it seems to me that one cannot be more assured of the prosperity of affairs in the Indias, than by leaving them solely in the hands of the directors [of the trading company]. The Spaniards and the Portuguese are our adversaries. More than a century ago they began to establish themselves there. They have gained an entrance into several countries, where they have fortresses, many men, and an established government. Consequently they are enabled to attend to their business with greater certainty and by more convenient methods than we, for we have to bring men from Holland, who become weakened by the fatigues of the voyage, while the subjects of the Portuguese, who live in the country, are fresh and full of health. For, although the Portuguese have an insufficient number of men in the Indias, to attend to all matters that arise, and at the same time defend themselves against our nation, they can send men there much easier than we. Vessels from Portugal are obliged to go only as far as Goa, where their men disembark and rest. Then they form their fleets from them; and the other Spaniards who come from the Manilles do the same.