Chap. II. from the L os George I. to the Tear 1734.

1^18. ftaid by their Flags till we came nearthem. The Captains of the Kent, Su-per be ,Gr a f ton and Or ford, having Ordersto make what Sail they could, to placethemselves by the four head-most Ships,were the first that came up with them.The Spaniards began, by Firing theirStern-chafe at them ; But they havingOrders not to fire, unless the Spanijh Shipsrepeated their Firing, made no Returnat first ; (y) But the Spaniards firing a-gain, the Orford attacked the Santa Ro-sa, which some Time after she took. (r)The St. Charles struck next, withoutmuch Opposition, and the Kent took Pos-session of her. The Grafton attack’d thePrince of AJlurias, formerly called theCumberland, in which was Rear-Admi-ral Chacon ; But the Breda, and Captaincoming up, she left that Ship for themto take,which they soon did, and stretched, a-head, after another sixty-Gun-Ship,which was on her Star-board, while shewas engaging the Prince of Afurias, andkept firing her Stern-chafe into theGrafton. (i)

About one o’Clock, the Kent and Su-per be engaged the Spanijh Admiral,which, with two Ships more, fired on

them, and made a running Fight ’till a-bout three ; When the Kent, bearingdown upon her, and under her Stern,

s ave her a Broad-side, and went away to.eeward of her. Then the Superbe putfor it, and laid the Spanifo Admiral onBoard, falling on her Weather Quarter ;But the Spanijh Admiral Shifting herHelm, and avoiding her, the Superberanged up, under her Lee-Qu,arter, onwhich she struck to her. (t) At thesame Time, the Barfleur, being withinShot of the said Spanijh Admiral a-stern, inclining on her Weather-Quar-ter, one of their Rear-Admirals, and a-nother Sixty-Gun-Ship, which were toWindward of the Barjleur bore down,and gave her their Broad-sides, and thenclap’d upon a Wind, standing in for theLand. The Admiral, in the Barfleurstood after them, ’till it was almost Night;But it being little Wind, and they gal-ing from him, out of Reach, he left pur- 1suing them, and stood away to the Fleetagain, which he joined two Hours afterFlight. The EJfex took the Juno, (u)the Mount ague and Rupert took the Vo-lants. (x) Vice Admiral Cornwall fol-lowed the Grafton to support her; But10 O it

{q) The Spanijh Accounts say, we attacked e-very one of their Ship* singly, and each with five,fix or seven, at a Time, or else, says BerettiLandi , in particular, the Battle would have end-ed more to the Advantage of the Spaniards ; Butwhy then did they not prevent it, by making headagainst our Ships in a Body ? For they exceeded usin Number, as we shall fee. below. The Truth is,they began their Retreat in a Line; But soon fellinto Disorder; And so were pick’d up by our Ships,as they could get up with them ; But for the vainInsinuation of their single Ships being attaked byso many of ours, I shall shew the Absurdity of itbelow. They give extravagant Accounts of thebloody and obstinate Resistance some of their Shipsmade, before they furrendred. I shall give myReaders some Instances of their Vanity, more outof Curiosity, than for any Credit they deserve.

( r ) Beretti Landi says, the Commander,Don Antonia Gonfales , defended himself abovethree Hours against five Englijh Ships, who didnot take him till after they had ruined all his Mastsand Sails.

(s) The Prince of Asturias (fays the fame Mar-quis) commanded by Admiral, Don Fernande Cha-con, was attack’d by three Ships, of equal Force,at the fame Time, the Admiral was, against whichhe defended himself valiantly, and avoided beingboarded ; But being himself wounded, and most ofhis Men killed, he was obliged to surrender hisShip, which was ail shot thro’ and thro’, after hav-ing beat down the Masts of an Englijh Ship, whichretired out of the Fight.

ft) The whole Division of the Englijh Admi-ral (fays the Spanijh Accounts) which consisted ofseven Ships of the Line, and a Fire-ship, having at-tacked the Royal St. Philip , about two in the Af-ternoon, the Fight was begun by a Ship of seventy

Guns, and another of sixty, from whom she receiv-ed two Broad-sides, and advancing towards theAdmiral, Don Antonio de Cajlagnetta, who com-manded her, defended himself so well, thatthose two Ships retired, and two others, viz. oneof eighty,and the other of seventy Guns, renewedthe Attack. The eighty-Gun-Ship retired verymuch shattered, without making into the Line; Butthe others making towards the Spanijh Admiral,they fired upon him, while it was impossible for himto hurt them, and shot away all his Rigging, with-out leaving him one intire Sail; While two others,one of thirty, and the other of sixty Guns, attack-ed the Starboard of his Ship, to oblige him to sur-render. He defending himself still, the EngliJJjAdmiral was resolved to board him, and carried aFire-ship, to reduce him by the Flames, which theSpanijh Commander prevented ; And after hav-ing lost two Hundred of his Men, continued yetto defend himself, tho’ wounded by a Shot, which,pierced his left Leg, and hurt his right Heel; But,at Length, a Cannon-ball having cut one of hisMen in two, the Pieces fell upon him, and left himhalf dead, so he was obliged to surrender, whenNight approach’d.

■ («) The Juno (says my Spanijh Author) wasengaged with three Englijlo Ships, yet maintainedthe Fight above three Hours, and did not surren-der, ’till after most of her Men were killed, andthe Ship just selling in Pieces.

(*) The Volante (fays the fame Spanijh Au-thor) defended herself three Hours and a half, g.gainst three Englijh Ships, and having lost all herSails, her Commander, Don Antonio Escudero , aKnight of Malta , ordered a new Suit of Sails tobe bent, and was just upon Boarding one of thethree Ships which attacked him ; but his ownShip being pierced thro’and thro’,by Cannon-Balls,