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to the "Death os ^Mary L iop

1545. the Pilots had said, the Day before;But observed farther, that the Channelwas not streight but serpentine, andbearing towards the Enemy; Insomuchthat it would be hazardous for a foreignShip to attempt entering, without a Pi-lot, even tho’ she had no Enemy to en-counter. This Report being made, inthe Presence of all the Officers, the Ques-tion was next, What was most expedientto be done for the King’s Service ?

In the meanTime, the (sallies got rea-^he French ( ty to depart in the Evening, towardsTetr eat. Calais, coasting along the Ijie of Wight,to stretch over from thence to Boulogne.Towards Evening, likewise, the Ad-miral retreated, and the next Day thewhole Fleet stood off from the Coast,

the Admiral remaining in the Rear,with the (sallies, to bear the first Shockof the EngUJh, if they should ventureout of their Harbours. When ourFleet put to Sea, the Wind was so favo-rable, that they got the Height of Wal-sau, 14 Leagues from the Jjle of Wight,before the (dallies could come up withthem. The Wind, however, blowinghard, from the Westward, our Fleetbeing obliged to seek a Harbour,stretch’d away again towards the Coastof England, for Shelter. Being arriv-ing at a Place called Perrais, and de-tained there by the Force of the Wind,^ and the Swelling of the Sea, the King

of England began now to think it aUe them - proper Time, to attack us in his Turn.To this End, he ordered his Fleet,which now consisted of a Hundredgood Ships, to put to Sea, with allExpedition, and to take the Advan-tage of the Wirtd, which carried them,with full Sail, towards our Fleet. A-mong other Reasons he had two, whichseemed to promise him a certain Vic-tory. One was, that theViolence of theWind,and the Swelling of the Sea,woulddeprive us of the Use and Service of ourGallies j and the other, that his Fleet,failing down upon us, before theWind,would oblige us, without fighting, ei-ther to run our Ships aground, wherethey would of Course perish, or to^>ass the Streight of Calais , whichcould not be done without great Dis-order, as well as Danger.

_< n e Pe r Either of these Events seemed

the Ver y natural to him. For if we wereh Ilc h 10er e to wait, and not , unmoor, till theycame near us , the Wind andTide, which brought them down up-on us, would force us alhoar. On the

she

contrary, if we were to unmoor, be- IC45.fore they came so near us, they wouldfind us separated, it being impossiblefor us to keep united, because of theW eather ; And they would then attackus, with a very great Advantage, on thatAccount. Or again, if, to obviate allthese Inconveniences, we should beaforehand with them, and unmoor,longbefore they came so near us, the Windand Currents would drive us upon theCoast of Flanders, and being once pas-sed the Streight of Dover, it would beeasy for thaEnglish to cut offourPaffage,and prevent our Return. Besidessit mightvery possibly happen, that we mightbe so long detained on that Coast ’tillwe were in Want of Provisions; And,in the mean Time, the EngUJh, whowould probably wait for us at Boulogne,might be a Hmderance to the King’sIntention of raising Forts there. TheAdmiral foresaw all these Inconveni-ences, and was thoughtful how to re-medy them, by all Means possible;

And, indeed, there was no Time tolose ; For they had Information bya Flemming, who had left the Fleet theNight before, that we might expectto see them the same Day, or the nextMorning.

The Admiral, having maturelyweighed all these Circumstances, with foS .the Advice of the Rest of his Officers,came to the following Resolutions. Thatat High Water, if the Wind shouldhappen to change, or become calm,the whole Fleet should unmoor, andput out to Sea. That they should ad-vance towards the Enemy, in Order toengage on the Main, and to gain theWind j and whenever the Weathershould oblige them to come to Anchor,it was ordered, that the Gallies shouldanchor to the Windward of the Ships,having the small Vessels near them,with their Sterns close in towards theShoar, and that the large Ships shouldanchor a little below them, as close to-gether as the Weather would allow.

That so the EngUJh Fleet, if they shouldcome to attack ours, might be obligedfirst to pass by the Gallies, and therebygive them the Advantage of the Wind :

Or if, to avoid this Inconveniency, theyshould think to attack the Gallies first,they might not be able to do it, becauseof the Shallowness of the Water, whichin that Situation, would not let eventheir smallest Ships approach themBesides, as the Interval between the

Gallies