4 6 2
1620.
The Designmiscarries •
The Loss su-stained-
Kir WilliamMonson'rTrass j.
James I, Naval Expeditions, &c ofthe English, Book III.
of this Project. They were filled withdry Wood, Oakbam, Pitch,Rosin, Tar,Brimstone, and all Manner of combu-stible Matter, and provided with Chainsand grappling Irons, and Boats to bringthe Men off; Next them followed thethree Brigantines, which the Admiralbought at Alicant , with Fire-Balls,Buckets of Wild-fire, and Fire-pikes,tofasten their Fire-works to the Enemy’sShips. They had also a Gunlod, fit-ted up with Fire-works, Chains andGrappling-Irons: The Gunlod was tobe fired in the Midst of the Ships in theMold, having likewise a Boat to bringoff her Men. There were also sevenBoats, manned with armed Men, torescue the Boats of the Fire-ships, ifpursued by other Boats and Gallies, attheir coming off: These had some Fire-works too, to fire the Ships withoutthe Mold.
The Wind not offering, the Attemptwas put off ’till the four and twentieth ;The Wind being then at S. S.W. theShips advanced, with a brisk Gale, to-wards the Mold, but when they werewithin less than a Musket-lhot of theMold’s Head, the Weather grew socalm, they could not enter. However,the Boats and Brigantines, finding theywere discovered by the Brightness ofthe Moon, which was then at Full, andhearing by a ChriJHan Slave,who swamfrom the Town, that the Turks had lefttheir Ships unguarded, with only aMan or two in a Ship, not being ap-prehensive of any Attempt; And be-sides, hearing the Alarm given to theTown, by the Sentinels on the Walls,went on, with a full Resolution to per-form their Part of the Design ; Butwanting Wind to nourish, and dispersethe Fire, the Fire-works took no Ef-fect.
In this Service, only six Men werekilled, four or five dangerously wound-ed, who died soon after, and aboutthirteen slightly hurt. A small Num-ber, considering the Attempt was madeunder the Walls of the Town, fromwhence both their Ordnance and smallShot play’d continually upon them. The
Damage they did sustain was at their 1 620.coming off; For they got into the Moldbefore the Town was alarmed, andwhile they were in it, the Ships lyingbetween them and the Town screenedthem from the Enemy’s Shot. Andthus this Expedition ended with littleSuccess, and as little Honour.
The five and twentieth, the Fleetweighed Anchor, and stood off to Sea ;
And the fame Day, four Sail of Piratsgot into the Harbour by the Wester-nmost Point of Land, notwithstanding alltheir Endeavours to prevent it. Theeight and twentieth, the Bonaventure andthe Hercules run a Pirat aihoar, whohad a Hundred and thirty Turks aboard asioar^ ^and twelve Chrijhan Captives. They ’were all drowned but twelve Turks , whosaved themselves by Swimming.
The thirtieth, they entered the Bayagain, and anchored at three Miles Di-stance from the Town ; And, the nextDay, two Genoese Slaves, who ventur-ed to swim from the Town, told them,that the same Night they put out toSea, seven of the best Ships belongingto Algiers came into the Molds whichwould necessarily have fallen into theirHands. They likewise told them,that since the last Attempt, the Turkshad boomed up the Mold, so that it wasimpossible for either Ship or Boat toget in, to fire their Ships, which, be-sides, they had now filled with armedMen, and had placed three Gallies,with fifteen Boats, without the Mold,before the Boom, to guard it.
They continued, however, in the A PriseRoad, till the fourth of June , during made.which Time, their Cruisers took andbrought in a Ship coming from Leghorn ,and bound for Algiers , laden with Ve-nice-Cloth, Leghorn Dishes, and otherCommodities, besides two or threeThousand Pounds in Ready Mony.
I omit, for Brevity’s Sake, the far- The Fleesther Circumstances of the Fleet’s De- returns.parture from Algiers , and failing for theCoasts of Spain , where they separated,some going to Cadiz , and some return-ing to England, (a )
CHAP,
(a) SlR William. Monson observes of this Ex-pedition ; That tho’ the Design of it was to findout and destroy the Pirats of Algiers , yet theFleet sent out for that Purpose, besides their go-ing and coming, did not spend twenty D?ys at Seawhilst they continued in th eStr eights, but retiredinto Harbour, where the Pirats might fine them,but not they the Pirats: A Practice not forgot inlater Times.
- This ill-carried Action (continues he) was a
sufficient Subject of Scorn for all Nations to laugh,at, considering the Reputation, this Realm hadgained in their former Expeditions by Sea: And: yet the chief Actors in that Voyage, like Mennaturally given to excuse their Errors, gave outto justify themselves, and it was afterwards believ-ed by all Men, That the Want of Authority, andtheir limited Commission, was the Cause of theiriil Success.