Chap. LIX.

during the Reign of §yeen Elizabeth.

355

The Fleet. ails :

* 597 * t ^ ie fiords Grey, Cromwel and Rich,with several Knights and Persons ofQuality, as Volunteers, in this Expedi-tion.

^Mhis^Ex T HE design of this Armament wassedition. " to surprize and ruin the Preparationsmade by the Spaniards ,to invade Ireland,in theHarbours of the Groyne an dFerrol,then to take and keep Possession of theIsland of Terzera, and to wait for thehomeward-bound Indian Fleet there, orat some other Islands of the Azores.

The Fleet set Sail accordingly, onthe ninth of July, from Plymouth ; Butafter having suffered several Repulsesby bad Weather, in which they su-stained very great Damages, wasobli-%ut returns, ged to return to Plymouth, from whencethey were not able to get out again, ’tillthe seventeenth of August .

Sir William Monson says, that beforethis second Departure, it was thoughtneceflary, for the Lengthning out oftheir Provisions, to discharge the fiveThousand new-raifed Land-Forces, andonly to keep the one Thousand Vete-rans on Board the Fleet.

The Earl of EJsex, in his Accountof this Expedition, signed by himself,together with the Lord Phonies Howard,the Lord Mont joy, Sir Walter Raleigh,Sir Francis Vere, Sir Anthony S her ley,and Sir Christopher Blunt, after havingdeclared, that be had Her Majesty’sOrder for discharging these Forces,adds:

" By this Means, tho’we were dif-" abled to land at Ferrol, to beat the" Land-Army there, &c. Yet, I, the“ General, offered Her Majesty to fend,c in certain Fire-ssiips, and to second" them with the St. Matthew, and the" St. Andrew, and some great Fly-boats," and Merchant-Ships, by which I" would destroy the most of the Ene-“ my’s principal Shipping, and leave" all the Queen’s own Englijh- built" Ships at the Mouth of the Harbour," to secure our Retreat. By this Means," I should ha zard to lose nothing but two" great Carts, which before I had won," and for the adventuring of those de-" feat the Enemy’s wholeNavy. Which%t Advice being allowed, tho' with Re-“ straint of my own going in with those

“ two Ships, and an absolute Command 1597.

" not to hazard any other, we went“ out the second Time to put this Pro-" ject in Execution.

Before they got Sight of the Spanijh Sets Sail aCoasts they were again scattered by a f econi Timesevere Tempest, in which the Admiralsprung a dangerous Leak, the largeShip called the St. Matthew, havingspent her Main-mast and Yards, wassplit upon a Rock, (<?) and the St. An-drew was parted from the rest of theFleet. The Remainder of the Fleet,being, in a littleTime,got together again,pursued their intended Course; But un-advisedly hovering too near the Shoarsof AJturia, and Gali-cia, instead of rim-ing in directly to Ferrol and the Groyne,the Enemy were forewarn’d of their Ap-proach, and had all the Time they couldwish to prepare for a vigorous Defence.

The English were in Hopes to have in-ticed them out of the Harbour to fightwith them ; But after having spent someTime thereabouts, and finding no suchDisposition in them, it was thought sitto linger no longer on the Coast, where-by they might lose the Opportunity ofintercepting the India -Fleet. The Ex- i m p ra ff tca ,ecution of the first Design was therefore ble to at-thought impracticable, and they came tempt r-eto a Resolution, in a Council of War, ^ndto proceed to the Azores. At the same Ferrol.Time,they made the Disposition of eachSquadron, to the Station it fliould take,at those 1 stands, whereby the Earl ofEJsex, Admiral and Commander inchief, was alotted the Istand of Fayal,that of Gratiosa was assigned to theLords Howard, and Vere, and the Istandof Rio to Sir Walter Raleigh. The lat-ter having broke his main Yard off ofCape Finijterre, was not come up to theFleet when this Resolution was taken ;However, judging rightly what wouldbe determined, as soon as he had repair-ed his Damage, he pursued his Courseto the Azores, where, at the Istand The FleetFlores, he met the Fleet again.

Sir Walter Raleigh, being in Wantof Water, sent some of his Men onShoar, without previous Leave had fromthe Earl of EJjex, to supply his Want;

But they had hardly begun to fill theirCasks, when the General gave him im-

4 X mediate

arrives atthe Azores,

(e) According to some Authors; But SirArthur Gorges fays, ihe had like {only) to have runupon the Rocks, had not her Commander, SirGeorge Ca mo, resolutely kept her, w h en a great

Part of his Sailors and Soldiers would have aban-doned her, and betaken themselves ro theirBoatsby which, and his prudent Orders, he preservedboth the Ship, 2nd her Company.