The troops were landed at _Villa Velha_, beneath the “Sugar Loaf.” Hardly had they intrenched themselves when they were attacked by the _Tamoyos_, who, however, were routed. The war was carried on with dilatoriness, a quality which has not unfrequently distinguished the military operations of Portugal and of _Brazil_. More than a year was wasted in petty skirmishes; at the end of this time the governor, Mem de Sa, appeared in person on the scene, exactly two years after the expedition had sailed from _S. Vicente_. On St. Sebastian’s day the French stronghold was assaulted: not one of their native allies escaped; two Frenchmen were killed, and five, who were made prisoners, were hanged. The victors then proceeded to another fortress of the enemy on _Cat_ Island. After a bombardment this too was carried, but in the assault Estacio de Sa received a mortal wound. Most of the French escaped, and having with their allies been totally defeated, sailed in their four vessels to the province of _Pernambuco_, where they took possession of _Recife_. They were, however, attacked by the Portuguese governor of _Olinda_, and were compelled again to have recourse to their ships. Thus was _Rio de Janeiro_ finally lost to the French. Those of the sons of France who should have formed the enduring colony marked out by Coligny were, through the treachery of Villegagnon, employed in bearing arms against their countrymen in France. According to his instructions, the governor’s first act was to lay the foundations of a city, which, in honour of the Portuguese monarch and of the saint on whose day the victory had been won, was called _S. Sebastian_. The fortifications commanding the entrance to the harbour were completed by the natives, under the eye of the Jesuits, without any cost to the state; and it was but fair that the company should have assigned to it the space within the city for a college, together with a donation sufficient for the support of fifty brethren. The French soon afterwards made an attempt to establish themselves at _Paraïba_, where for some time they carried on a profitable trade, and where they became allied with the natives; but they were not more successful in maintaining themselves here than they had been at _Rio de Janeiro_, and _Paraïba_ too became a Portuguese settlement. [Sidenote: 1570.]