Eliz. Naval Expeditions, 6cc. of the Englisli, Book II.
1596. " the Mayor of the Town, and to use“ the Advice and Information of such" Gentlemen, as are of greatest Credit“ and Experience, of the State of the<c Country. And above all Things, feethat you do use some nimble Pinnace,and direct him how to find the Fleet," that they may know Pier Majesty’s" Purpose, whilst the Victuals are ma-" king ready, and fend in that Pinnace" some discreet Person, that may soon-" est find them. And so we commit" you to God. From the Court, the" 6th of August, 1596.
The King of The Kin S of S P ain waS enraged toSpain ajfem- be thus disappointed in all his Projects,hies his by Queen Elizabeth, and to find, thatLisbon^ instead of conquering England, he wasunable to defend his own Dominions.To revenge, therefore, the Dosses he hadsustained, in this so fatal an Expeditionto him, and to recover, in some Mea-sure, his faded Glory, he determined tomake another Effort this Year, and as-sembled his Ships from all Parts to Lis -bon.
He took up all the Foreign Ships 1^96.which were found in his Kingdom,,, and But man y °fembarked a large Body of new levied h ^fifoyed byTroops, with a great Number of Irijh a Tempest atFugitives, at the Port of Fen ol, so or- Sea -der to transport them to Ireland andEngland ; But in their Way they metwith so violent a Tempest as destroyedthe greatest Part of the Ships, render-ing the other unserviceable, and put anEnd for the present to the Design.
The Preparations for this Descentwere so sudden, and carried on withsuch Secrecy, that the Queen had theSatisfaction to hear the Enterprise wasdefeated, and the Fleet disabled, be-fore she had any Account of its beingfailed: However, not to be exposedagain to the like Danger, foe gave Or-ders for the fortifying of those Places,where the Spaniards might, with thegreatest Ease have landed, as Sandsfort,
Portland, Hurst, South-Sea, Caljhot „
St. Andreves's and St. Maudit's.
CHAP. LIV.
The Earl of Cumberland’.* ninth Expedition.
HIS Year the Earl fitted out, aI 59^* I a second Time, his large new
VaTlv’ p. '“**■ Ship called the Scourge of Ma-
1148. ' lice, in which he went in Per-
The Earl f on> accompanied with theDreadnought,goes to Sea : q £ t p e Que en ’ s> and some other small
Ships; But, about thirty or fortyLeagues from the Englisio Coasts he metBut is olli- w kh so violent a Storm, that the ScourgegedbyStorms spent her Main-mast, and was made un-to rk-mr-r. serviceable for that Voyage; So that hewas forced to return for England, in theDreadnought.
T h e fame Year, His Lordship hav-ing Notice, that the Larl of Estex, andthe Lord High Admiral, were to go tothe Coast of Spain , with a great Fleetof the Queen's, together with a Squa-dron of Flemmijh Men. of War, he re-solved to be in the Way of some Glean-ings of so great a Vintage. He there-fore fitted out the Ascension, of threeHundred Tuns, and four and thirtyGuns, manned with one Hundred andtwenty Men, and commanded by Cap-
Sends out aShip tocruise.
tain Francis Slingsby, whose chief Or- r 59^'ders were to cruise upon such Ships aswere expected from Lisbon.
The Ascension thus furnished put toSea; But before they had been long out,they met with such a Fret of Wind,that tho’ they handed in all their Sails,with all the Expedition possible, beingwithin the Hook of the Good-win-Sands,they drove with two Anchors a head,
, ’till they were but two Cables Length yp^ch Hfrom the Shoals. They then let fall ukeiust E'their Sheet-Anchor, which held them ma ^f n i’till the next Day at Noon, (in which ferns'Time they expected every Minutewould be their last) and then, cuttingtheir Cables, with great Difficulty, gotto Plymouth.
Having refitted there, they set out ^\ er ^ 5 toagain, and coming to the Rock, lay o^ a g ea %sti»'and on. After some fruitless Attemptsmade by their Boat on a Caravel, inwhich the Captain was sorely wounded,theKmg of Spain's Admiral, Sir i ago ,sentsix Ships out against them, and himself,
with