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And Stay a,Flores.

The Fleetset upon bythe Spani-ards at theAzores.

A braveDe-fence of SirRichardGreenyil.

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Naval Expeditions 7 &c of the Engliili,

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King of Spain having given Orders forthis Fleet to come away as late as possi-ble, thinking thereby to weary the En-glish to a Return.

In the mean Time, Don AlphonstoBajsano, who was sent out from Spain,with three and fifty Ships, to convoythe Fleet home, came upon the Eng-lish so unexpectedly, that the Admiralhad much ado to get out to Sea, withmore than half of his Men lick andunserviceable.

The first Intelligence the Admiralhad of this Fleet was by the Moonshine,which the Earl of Cumberland, dispatch-ed with this Advice, as the Reader hasseen in the foregoing Chapter. Hack-luyt says, it was one Captain Middleton,(probably Commander of the fame Ves-sel) who being in a very good Sailer,had kept Company with this Fleet, longenough to discover the Force and Cir-cumstances of it, and then out-sailedthem to bring the Advice. It was thelast Day of August, in the Afternoon,that he came up with the Admiral, buthe had hardly delivered his Messagebefore the Fleet was in Sight. Sir Wil-liam Monston, however, fays, it wasthe Night before.

Sir Richard Greenvil, in the Vice-Admiral-Ship, called the Revenge,staying for his Men, who were stragg-ling ashoar; Or, as Camden fays, who,out of a rash Piece of Bravery, wouldnot let his Pilot fail his Ship so as toturn Back upon the Enemy, was hem-med in between the Island, and theSpanish Fleet. Being thus pent up, heresolutely attempted to break thro’, and,notwithstanding he had ninety sick Menon Board, maintained a gallant Fightwith the best of the Spanish Ships, forfifteen Hours together.

During this Engagement, the Spa-niards several Times boarded him, andwere as often repulsed, and their Menthrown over Board. He was laid a-board, at one and the same Time, bythe St. Philip, a Ship of fifteen Hun-dred Tuns, and seventy-eight Guns,and four more of the largest Ships inthe Spanish Fleet, filled with Sol-diers ; In some two Hundred, in othersfive Hundred, and in lome eight Hun-dred, besides Mariners. He never hadless than two large Gallions by his Side,which were, fromTimeto Time, reliev-ed by fresli Ships, Men and Ammuni-tion; So that between three in the Af-ternoon, and Day-light, the next Morn-

ing, this single Ship maintained a closeFight with fifteen of the stoutest Ves-sels in the Spanish Fleet, funk some ofthem, particulary one of the great Gal-lions, and the Admiral of the Hulks,and obliged them all to leave her.

In the Beginning of the Fight, the’George Noble, of London, having receiv-ed some Shot thro' her, by the Arma-da's, fell under the Lee of the Revenge,and asked Sir Richard, if he had anyThing to command him ; But, as hewas one of the Victuallers, and but ofsmall Force, Sir Richard bid him shiftfor himself, and leave him to his For-tune.

This brave Officer, tho'wounded,in the Beginning of the close Fight,which was at three in the Afternoon,never forsook the Upper Deck, ’till anHour before Midnight, when, receiv-ing a Wound in the Body, by a Mus-ket-ball, he went down to have hisWound dressed, and there, while hewas under the Surgeon’s Hand, he re-ceived another Shot in the Head, andhis Surgeon was killed by his Side.

Bv this Time, likewise, his bravestMen were kill’d, his Ship much disa-bled, his Masts split, his Deck coveredwith Dead and Wounded, and his Pow-der lpent to the very last Barrel. Inthis Condition he ordered the Vessel tobe funk, with all who were in her;But this the Rest of the Officers wouldnot consent to; However, notwithstand-ing the miserable and helpless Condi-tion they were reduced to, they obligedthe Spaniards to come to Terms, andyielded her up at last, on no other Con-ditions, than a Promise of their Livesand Liberties. And she was the firstShip, fays Sir William Monston, whichthe Spaniards took from the English.

When the Ship, or rather Wreck,surrendered, she had six Foot Water inthe Hold, three Shot under Water, butpoorly stopped, her Masts all carriedby the Board, her Tackling quite rui-ned, her upper Work, and in Shortthe whole Vessel, laid almost even withthe Water. She had been engaged notonly with the fifteen Ships that boardedher,. but in Reality with the wholeSpanijh Fleet, of three and fifty Ships;had received, upon a Computation,eight Hundred Cannon-shot, and with-stood the Fire of near ten ThousandSoldiers and Seamen, and that with aHundred Men, which were all she had,fit to bear Arms, from the Beginning.

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