494 Charles I, Naval Expeditions , &c o /'the English, Book lH

1625. * c needful to leave a third Part of the" Shipping there to keep the Harbour;Which the Fort could not do alone;For, so soon as we were gone with ourShipping, they would have their Fortback again, and it would be so manyMen certainly lost, which every onewas against; And my Lord Marshalwould not hear of leaving Shipping to

The Fort left kee P the Harbour -

7 The eight and twentieth of OBober,

our Men were drawn out of the Fort,on Ship-board, and the whole Fleet felldown that Night towards the Entranceinto the Sea.

The nine and twentieth, a Councila of War was called, to consult what was

to be done. Opinions were various;Some were for going into the Streights,to attempt some Harbours there : Otherswere for the Southern Islands, to try ourFortune there. St. Mary 1 s-Port was notthought a feasible Thing ; Because wehad been long in the Bay, and it waslikely they were top well provided forus. Others again w/ere chiefly for Re-garding what my Lord Marjhal had ex-presty in his Instructions, which, as hehad declared to us, was chiefly to inter-cept the LMes-Indian-Ylset ; And thesetwo Places are both out of the Way forthat Design. In this Consideration, itwas proposed and concluded, to set Sail,and ply to the Southward-Cape, andstand our CourseWestward, sixty Leaguesfrom the Land, in the Latitude of thir-ty-seven, and thirty-seven and a half,Resolved to and thirty- sixand thirty- six and a half, tow ay apA he look for the Weft-Indian- Fleet, with In-Fleet. n instructions, if forced by Westerly Winds,our Rendezvous at Bugger ow, if bySoutherly Winds, at the Ifles of Bayon,in Galicia, where it was proposed to wa-ter.

Great Wants At a Council of War held the firsttn the FleeU of November, it was concluded, that weshould yet ly twenty Days, at the afore-said Streights, to attend the Fleet; In

st) The last Article presented me is. That Iwould not break Bulk, and command Wine to bedeliver'd, in the Name of sick Men. My Answeris, that if I had,the sick Men would have had theleast Share of it; And that the most Part of oursick Men had the Calenture, for which Wine washeld improper j For we found our Beer did not dothem that good we wished, by Reason of theStrength of the Hop,- And, besides, there wasno Ship wholly loaden with Wine, nor no Quan-tity to have satisfied the whole Fleet; And tosatisfy some, and leave the greater Part unsatisfied,

. would have been but Labour lost; So that this may

which Time there came many Com- 1625*plaints of the Delect of our Fleet; AsWant of Drink, and a general Want ofWater, great Sicknefles and Infectionsamong our Men ; Many Ships growingleaky, with beating it out, in Storms,and high Seas; Insomuch that it wasthought fit to fend Home the unablestand most useless Vessels, as the Horse,and some Prizes we had taken, andsome other Merchant-Ships, that hadDefects, and with them Sir John Chid-ley\ Ship, the Rainbow, of the King’s,which was likewise held defective.

When seventeen Days of our twentywere past, the Complaints of these for- pp e tmer Defects encreased, so as, by a Conn- Returns-cil of War, it was generally thoughtbest to bear for England, which we

In our going out, the Long Robert, of Si> $ 5 ^Ipswich, foundered in the Sea, with twoLand-Companies in her, and not a Mansaved.

In our coming Home, the ’ MaryCon/lance perished, with two Land-Companies in her, the Captains and someothers saved by a Ship that was nearthem.

Our greatest Wants were Drink andWater; We took a Ship laden withWine. It was moved to my Lord Mar-shal, by Sir Michael Gore, and others, todistribute the Wine among the Fleet;

(y) It would have much eased ourWants of that Kind, and have givenmuch Comfort to weak and feeble Men ;

And the worst had been but His Maje-sty’s paying for it, if the Ship had notbeen proved good Prize ; But his Lord-ship would give no Ear to it, by Reasonon Board the Ann Royal, Sir JVMam St.

Leger told him; " That if he broke" Bulk, and gave any Thing out, he" could not answer it, and would pay" for it out of his Purse, at his Re-" turn.”

We

go among the other forced Articles, that mayserve for Number, but not for Substance.

Thus hoping that this Relation is fully satisfiedand answered, tho' by one Defendant, and in twoDays, tho’the Plaintiffs had fourteen Days to com-pose theirs, and ten Persons to contrive it. But agood Cause needs uot so much Help before judi-cious Hearers. But this Course of Bill and An-swer was never used, I think, in our Professionbefore ; For it would better have become Pen-menthan Pike-menBut Defendants may be best ex-cused.

Wl As B L E D 0 N.