Chap XXII. front the Conquest, to the Death o/'g^Mary 1.

*54^. of Portsmouth , in the latter of whichPlaces the Naval Force of Englandthen lay.

The Admiral being arrived off ofthe Ise of Height, on the eighteenth,sent the Baron de la Garde , with fourGallies, as well to take a View of theIsland, as far as St. Helen's Point, as tosee in what Posture the Englijh lay, itbeing his Resolution to attack them.He returned with the Report, thattheir Fleet consisted of sixty tall Ships,excellently well equip’d for War, four-teen of which had taken the Opportu-nity of a Land-wind to get out of Ports-mouth , with as much Alacrity, goodOrder, and seeming Unconcern, as iftheir Design was to stand the Brunt ofour whole Fleet. But our Admiral ad-vancing, with the Rest of the Gallies,the whole Englijh Fleet came out ofj. The first the Harbour, and faced him. After a’ sit ' long, but distant Fight, the English be-gan to retreat under Shelter of theLand, to a Place where they were se-cured, on the one Side, by the Can-non of certain Forts, which were onthe Eminences on Shoar, and, on theother Side, by blind Sands and Rocks,which traverse the Road, and leaveonly a narrow and oblique Passage,just enough for a few Ships to pass inFront. This Retreat, and the ap-proaching Night, put an End to theBattle, for thatDay, And, notwithstand-ing the continual Fire from the Ene-my’s Cannon, and small Arms, ourGallies received no considerable Da-

mage.

fe o r/ .] e During the Night, the Admiraldisposed the Order of Battle, for theL eef rencl1 next Day; which was in the followingManner. He placed his own Ship,supported by thirty other select Ves-sels, in the Front. The Lord de Bou-tieres commanded a Squadron of six andthirty Ships on the Right, as the Baronde Curton did another, of the sameNumber, on the Left. And, in Consi-deration of the advantageous Situation ofthe Englijh , it was order’d, that, atDay-break, the Gallies should advancetowards their Fleet, while at Anchor,and by firing upon them, with all possi-ble Fury, provoke them to an Engage-ment, and then, retreating, endeavourto draw them out of their Hold, to-second War ^s the main Battle. This Order‘ Sht - was executed with a great deal of Intre-pidity, and the Weather favoured our

Attempt, beyond our Wi sites j For itproving, in the Morning, a perfectCalm, our Gallies had all the Advan-tages of Working, which they coulddesire, to the great Damage of the Eng-lijh, who, for Want of Wind, not beingable to stir, lay exposed to our Cannon:And being so much higher and bulkierthan our Gallies, hardly a Shot missedthem; while they, with the Help oftheir Oars, shifted, at Pleasure, andthereby avoided the Danger of the Ene-my's Artillery.

Fortune favoured our Fleet, in thisManner, for above an Hour, duringwhich Time, among other Damageswhich the Englijh received, the Mary-R ose, one of their principal Ships, wasfunk by our Cannon, and of five or sixHundred Men, which were on Board,only five and thirty escaped. TheirAdmiral-Ship, the Great Henry, wasso distressed, that if she had not beenrelieved, by the Ships which were near-est her, she would have undergone thefame Fate. Their Damage would havebeen far greater, if the Weather hadnot changed in their Favour, and de-livered them from this Peril j But aLand-wind arising, and the Tide favour-ing them, at the fame Time, they boredown full Sail upon our Gallies. ThisChange was so sudden, that our Gallieshad hardly Time and Room to managetheir Oars, to tack about: For duringthe Calm, and in the Height of theBattle, they were got so near to theEnemy, that they must inevitably haveperished, by the Bearing down of theirShips upon them, if, by the Resolutionof their Commanders, and the Alacrityand Experience of the Mariners andRowers,they had not shifted their Prows,and by this Management, with the Helpof their Sails, got, in a few Hours, tothe Distance of a Cannon-shot. Theythen retreated, or slacken’d their Course,just as it was most conducive to theirmain Design of drawing the Englijh outof their Cover.

The Englijh had a Sort of light Ves-sels or Pinnaces (the French called themRambarges ) which were longer thanordinary, in Proportion to their Breadth,and were much narrower than the Gal-lies ; But were worked, like them, withOars and Sails. These Vessels, theirSailors knew how to manage, with suchDexterity, in the Currents of those Seas,that for Swiftness they vied with the2 E Gallies %