330 Eliz, Naval Expeditions , &c of the English, Bcok H

1596. The Officers had a sealed Rendez-J paled vous (appointed, as it afterwards ap-peared/ to be at Cadiz) delivered to(t nuts.. ^ ac k of them, which was not to be

opened ’till they were passed Cape St.Vincent (unless they happened to beparted from the Fleet by bad Weather)and which they were to throw over-board, in Cafe of Danger from theEnemy.

^ f They being now going to approacha-lead. the Enemy’s Coast, it behooved the Ge-nerals to be vigilant in keeping themfrom having any Intelligence of them.They therefore appointed the Litnes,the True-love, and the Lion's Whelp (thethree choicest Sailors of the wholeFleet) to run a-head, suspecting theSpaniards had Caravels of Adviceout, which they used to send to dis-cover at Sea, upon any Rumour ofa less Fleet than this made ready inEngland.

No Ship or Ca track escaped them,which was a great Flappiness to theirVoyage, as we shall fi nd in the Sequel,by the Inconvenience that might havehappened upon their Discovery,y heir De- They kept, therefore, at a DistanceEs n - from the Coasts of France and Spain, forFear of alarming the Spaniards, theCommanders intending, as we shall find,to surprize Cadiz.

Three Ham- T»E tenth of June, the three Ships,burg Ships I mentioned above, two of which weretaken. commanded by Sir Richard Levison, andSir Chrijlopher Blunt, took three Fly-boats, of Hambwgi which came fromCadiz fourteen Days before. By themthey understood the State of the Town,and that they had no Suspicion of theEnglijh, wlstsh they look’d upon as a-nother Omen of a good Fortune tocome.

Fight with The twelfth of June, the Swan, a- a FJemmish Ship of London, commanded by SirFly-boat. Richard JVejion, being ordered, as theother three, to keep a good Way off theFleet to prevent Discovery ; She metwith a Flemijh Fly-boat, which madeResistance, and after a warm Engage-ment, which lasted some Time, escap-ed her. This Fly-boat came from theStreights, bound home, who discoveringour Fleet, thinking to gain Reputation,and Reward from the Spaniards, shapedher Course for Lisbon ; But she wasluckily prevented by the John andShe escapes : Francis, another Ship of London, com-manded by Sir Mannaduke Dorr ell, whotook her the next Day, within a League

of the Shoar ; And this they reckoned 1 ^96-another great Happiness to this Voyage* But st ajt J nSir fvil tarn Monjon reckons four fortu-nate Events at the Beginning of this Voy-

age.

" The first (fays he) was; the Four fortu*" Wind to take us so suddenly, and to nateEve*^" continue so long; For our Soldiers be-" ing shipped, and in Harbour, would" have consumed their Victuals and" have been so pestered, that it would" have endangered a Sickness amongst" them. The second was, the Ta-“ king all Ships that were seen, which" kept the Enemy from Intelligence :

" The third was the intercepting the" Fly- boats from Cadiz, whither they" were bound; And they assured them“ that their coming was not suspected,

" which made them more careful to“ hale from the Coast, then otherwise" they should have been. They told" them, likewise, of the daily Expec-ts tation of the Gal lions, to come from" St. Luc ar to Cadiz, and of the Me r-" chant-men that were bound for the“ Indies.

" T h es e Intelligences were of great" Moment, and made theGenerals pre-" sently to contrive their Business, both" by Sea and Land, which otherwise" would have taken up a longer Time,

" after their Coming thither; And,

" whether all Men would have con-" sensed to attempt their Ships in Har-" hour; Is they had not known the" most Bart os them to consist of Mer-“ chants, I hold very doubtful. The" fourth and most fortunate of all, was" the Taking of the Fly-boat by the" John and Francis, which the Swan" let go ; For, if she had reached Lis~

“ hon, she had been able to make Re-" port of the Number and Greatness of" their Ships, and might have endan-" gered the Loss of the whole Design,

" she seing the Course they bore, and" that they had passed Lisbon ; which" was the Place the Enemy most fus-" pected, and made there his greatest" Preparation for Defence; And being" freed of that Doubt, he had no Place

to fear, but Andaluzia, and Cadiz

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duuve me reit; do rnat Having naathe least Warning, the Town mighthave been strengthened, and haveput us to great Hazard ; He might,likewise, have secured his Ships, bytowing them out with Gallies, andhowsoever the Wind had been, havesent them into the Streights, where

“ it