They had to depend for the necessaries of life upon stores sent to them in relief fleets from Holland.

It was a strange and grim struggle of endurance, in which both Dutch and Portuguese suffered terribly, the one on the barren sea-shore, the other in the pathless woods under the glare of a tropical sun, both alike looking eagerly for succour from the Motherland.

The Dutch succours were the first to arrive.

The first detachment under Marten Thijssen reached the Reciff on December 18, 1630; the main fleet under Adrian Jansz Pater on April 14, 1631.

The whole fleet consisted of sixteen ships and yachts manned by 1270 sailors and 860 soldiers.