The next attempt made by the Dutch was against _Rio Grande_, their guide, as usual, being Calabar. The fortress was defended by thirteen guns; but it was commanded by a sand-hill, to which Calabar led the besiegers. _Rio Grande_ fell almost immediately; and five hundred men, who arrived from _Paraïba_ to its assistance, had the mortification of seeing the Dutch flag flying over its walls. Indeed, the Dutch were now victorious on all sides; for they had, by means of emissaries, been able to rouse against the Portuguese the _Tapuyas_, a barbarous tribe who had been driven by the latter into the interior, and who now took a merciless vengeance upon their women and children; and the Portuguese were still further harassed by a collection of negroes, who had from time to time escaped from slavery, and who had settled in a tract of country called the _Palmares_. [Sidenote: 1634.] In February 1634 the Dutch commander quitted _Recife_, leaving that place with so diminished a force that Albuquerque determined to attempt to surprise it--an attempt which only failed owing to the lukewarmness with which it was carried out. The Dutch had gone in force to _Paraïba_, their object being to get possession of _St. Augustines_, the point at which stores and troops for _Brazil_ usually landed, and whence much of the produce of _Pernambuco_ was shipped. Having thrown the Portuguese off their guard by a feint, the Dutch proceeded along the coast to a place called _Pedras_. Eleven of their vessels ran in across the bar, whilst they were followed through an opening in the reef by the launches with Calabar and a thousand men on board. The port of _Pontal_ was now in the possession of the Dutch, but as the bar was still commanded by the Portuguese, the former could only communicate with their main force outside by means of the opening in the reef by which Calabar had entered. Albuquerque and his general arrived ere long from the camp with three hundred men, and, having collected a force of eight hundred, proceeded to attack the Dutch in the town. The latter were thrown into confusion, and the Portuguese would have easily regained _Pontal_ but for a party of their own men who were sent to surprise the Dutch by attacking them on the flank, but who surprised their comrades instead. The Portuguese, however, were in such strength that their opponents could not push their advantage against them. Indeed, the Portuguese general felt confident that the Dutch ships in port must fall into his hands; but he had not realized the resources of their ingenuity. Although it was impossible for them to escape without loss over the bar as they had entered, they were yet enabled to enlarge the opening in the reef sufficiently to admit of the egress of their vessels. They, however, left a garrison of two thousand men to defend the town of _Pontal_.