2^6 Eliz. Naval Expeditions ? &c. of the English, BookJ^

1588. next Morning they were as far to theLeeward as the Berry. Sir FrancisDrake, and the Rest: of theFleet did notget up with the Lord Admiral till thenext Evening; For he, with only theBear and the Mary Rose, had pursuedthe Enemy within Culverin-Shot all thepreceding Night; While his wholeFleet was so far behind, that, in theMorning, the nearest: could scarce beseen half Mast high, and very manywere out of Sight.

A second This whole Day the Sfanijh Admi-Messenger ral spent in the Disposition or his F leet,sent to haften into Order. He commanded AlphonsoParma ^ Leva to bring the first and the lastSquadron together, and then, assigningeach Ship it’s Station in Battle, accord-ing to the Plan agreed on in Spain, en-joined their respective Commanders tokeep the fame, on Pain of Death. Ghch,an Ensign was difpatch’d to hasten theDuke of Parma, to advise him of hisnear Approach, and to inform him ofthe State of the Navy. The aforemen-Oquendo'i tioned Ship of Qquendo \being much da-ip ta en. ma g e j gy the Fire, the Spanish Admi-ral ordered her, after the Officers, Men,and Mony were removed into anotherShip, to be set adrift. The Lord HighAdmiral ordered the Lord Thomas How-ard, and Captain John Hawkins to goin a Skiff on Board her, who found herin very pitiful Plight. Her Decks fal-len in, her Steerage ruined, the Sternblown out, and about fifty poorWretches burnt in a most miserableManner. The Stench as well as horribleSight soon made them return to the Ad-miral, who ordered a small Bark totake Possession of her, and, in thatshattered Condition, she was carried intodVeymouth.

The next Night proved very calm,and the Enemy’s four Galleasses, sing-ling themselves out from the Rest oftheir Fleet, gave Reason to suspectthat they had a Design upon some of thesmall English Vessels, which were shortof the Fleet; But, their Courage fail-ing them, they attempted nothing.

A second On the twenty-third, by Break of

Engagement j) a y > the Spaniards tacked about, withthe Wind at (b) North, and bore downupon the English, who presently tackedlikewise, and stood to the Westward.

Several Attempts, on both Sides; weremade, to get the Weather-gage, ’till,at Length they came to another En-gagement, which was managed withsome Confusion and with Variety ofSuccess. While, in one Place, theEnglish, with undaunted Courage, res-cued some Ships of London, which weresurrounded by the Spaniards, they withno less Bravery, delivered, in anotherPlace, their Admiral Recalde from theHands of the Engliso. The greatGuns, on both Sides, rattled like somany Peals of Thunder; But the Shotfrom the high-built Spanish Ships flew,for the most Part, over the Heads ofthe English, without doing any Execu-tion. One Mr. Cock was the only En-glishman who fell, while he was brave-ly fighting against the Enemy, in asmall Vessel of his own. (c) Besides,the English Ships being so much less Thethan the Spanish, and infinitely morenimble and better Sailors, attacked andretreated, gave Broad-sides, and sneer- the Sp z ' ; ‘^'ed off again, just as they pleased, whilethe Enemy’s heavy Slugs, as flow astheir Masters, lay like so many Buttsfor the English, against which theycould not well miss their Aim.

Some there were, who advised the ^Lord High Admiral, with more Cou- pfsfigblirage than Discretion, to grapple and ^board them ; but he prudently thought Jdt»> ra 'it would be neither safe nor proper;

Because the Spaniards had an Army ofSoldiers on board, which the EnglishShips had not; not to mention thegreat Disproportion in the Bulk andNumber of Ships: And besides, hewisely considered, that the Damage andDisgrace of a total Defeat, would weighmuch heavier, than the Advantage of aVictory, should he happen to gain it.

This, at best, could be no more thanthe bare Credit of putting a Fleet inDisorder, and baffling the Designs ofan Enemy, whereas a Loss, on his Side,would have endangered the Safety of thewhole Kingdom.

Our printed Historians are silent asto the particular Circumstances of thisDay’s Engagement; But in one of theManuscript Relations, in the Cotton-Li -brary, we find the following Account.

The Spaniards, at first, bore down up-on

MS. in Bibl. FO A Manuscript, in the Cottonian Library, rails him William Cope, and the Vessel a small

Cotton says, North-East, and thatthtErigiss stood in Pinnace of Sir fVilltam Winter §, named the Ds-

1 0 the North-West. . -light.

(c) A Manuscript, in the Gotten Library,