of this body, and shall always leave behind it an everlasting fame of a valiant and true soldier, that hath done his duty, as he was bound to do." When he had finished these or such other like words, he gave up the Ghost, with great and stout courage, and no man could perceive any true sign of heaviness in him.

The Spanish army stayed at the Island of Corvo till the last of September, to assemble the rest of the fleet together; which in the end were to the number of one hundred and forty sail of ships, partly coming from India, and partly of the army. But, they being altogether ready unto sail in Terceira in good company, there suddenly rose so hard and cruel a storm that those of the island did affirm that in man's memory there was never any such seen or heard of before; for it seemed the sea would have swallowed up the islands, the water mounting higher than the cliffs, which are so high that it amazeth a man to behold them. But the sea reached above them, and living fishes were thrown upon the land. This storm continued not only a day or two with one wind, but seven or eight days continually, the wind turning round about in all places of the compass at the least twice or thrice during that time, and all alike with a continual storm and tempest most terrible to behold, even to us that were on shore, much more then to such as were at sea.

Only on the coasts and cliffs of the Island of Terceira, there were about twelve ships cast away, and not only upon the one side, but round about it in every corner, whereby nothing else was heard but

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complaining, crying, lamenting, and telling, “Here is a ship broken in pieces against the cliffs, and there another, and all the men drowned." So, for the space of twenty days after the storm, they did nothing else but fish for dead men, that continually came driving on the shore.

Among the rest was the English ship called the Revenge, that was cast away upon a cliff near to the Island of Terceira, where it brake in a hundred pieces and sank to the ground, having in her seventy men, with some of the captive Englishmen. Of these but one was saved, that got up upon the cliffs alive, but had his body and head all wounded; and he, being on shore, brought us the news, desiring to be shriven, and thereupon presently died. The Revenge had in her divers fair brass pieces, that were all sunk in the sea, which they of the island were in good hope to weigh up again.

On the other islands the loss was no less; so that of the whole fleet and Armada, being one hundred and forty ships in all, there were but thirty-two or thirty-three arrived in Spain and Portugal, yea, and those few with so great misery, pain, and labour, that not two of them arrived there together. All the rest were cast away upon the islands, and overwhelmed in the sea; whereby may be considered what great loss and hindrance they received at that time.

And hence it may well be thought and presumed that it was no other than a just plague purposely sent by God upon the Spaniards, and that it might truly be said that the taking of the Revenge was

A True Report of the Honourable Service at Sea performed by Sir John Burrough, knight, Lieutenant-general of the fleet. Prepared by the Hon. Sir Walter Raleigh, knight, Lord Warden of the Stanneries of Cornwall and Devon, 1592.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH, upon commission received from her Majesty for an expedition to be made to the West Indies, slacked not his uttermost diligence to make full provision of all things necessary, as, both in his choice of good ships and sufficient men to perform the action, evidently appeared.

His ships were in number fourteen or fifteen, and two of her Majesty's, the Garland and the Foresight, were the chiefest; the rest were either his own or his good friends' or adventurers', of London.

The gentlemen, his consorts and officers, to give them their right, were so well qualified in courage, experience, and discretion, as the greatest prince might repute himself happy to be served with their like. The honour of Lieutenant-general was imposed upon Sir John Burrough, a gentlemen, for his manifold good and heroic parts, thought every way worthy of that command; with whom, after Sir Walter Raleigh returned, was joined in commission Sir Martin Frobisher, for his special skill and knowledge in marine causes. The rest of the captains,

soldiers, and sailors, were men of notable resolution, and for the most part such as heretofore had given to the world sufficient proof of their valour in divers services of the like nature.

With these ships thus manned, Sir Walter Raleigh departed towards the west country, there to store himself with such further necessaries as the state of his voyage did needfully require; but the westerly winds, blowing for a long time contrary to his course, bound and constrained him to keep harbour so many weeks that the fittest season for his purpose was gone, the minds of his people much altered, his victuals consumed; and, withal, her Majesty, understanding how crossly all this sorted, began to call the proceeding of this preparation into question. Insomuch that, whereas the 6th of May was first come before Sir Walter could put to sea, the very next day Sir Martin Frobisher in a pinnace of my Lord Admiral's, called the Disdain, met him, and brought to him from her Majesty letters of revocation, with commandment to relinquish (for his own part) the intended attempt, and to leave the charge and conduct of all things in the hands of Sir John Burrough and Sir Martin Frobisher.

But Sir Walter found his honour so far engaged in the undertaking of this voyage, as, without proceeding, he saw no remedy either to salve his reputation or to content those of his friends who had put in adventures of great sums with him. making construction of the Queen's letters in such sort as if her commandment had been propounded in indifferent terms, either to advance forward or

So,

to retire, at his own discretion, he would in no case yield to leave his fleet now under sail. Therefore, continuing his course into the sea, he met, within a day or two, with certain sails lately come from Spain; among which was a ship appertaining to Monsieur Gourdon, governor of Calais; and he found aboard her one Mr. Nevel Davies, an Englishman, who, having endured a long and miserable captivity for the space of twelve years, partly in the Inquisition in Spain, was now by good fortune escaped and upon return to his country. This man, among other things, reported for certain that there was little hope of any good this year to be done in the West Indies, considering that the king of Spain had sent express order to all the ports both of the islands and of Terra Firma, that no ship should stir that year, nor any treasure be laid aboard for Spain.

But neither this unpleasant relation nor ought else could stay his proceedings, until a tempest of strange and uncouth violence arose upon Thursday, the 11th of May, when he was athwart the Cape Finisterre. This so scattered the greater part of the fleet and sunk his boats and pinnaces that, as the rest were driven and severed, some this way and some that, Sir Walter himself, being in the Garland of her Majesty, was in danger to be swallowed up the sea. Whereupon Sir Walter Raleigh, finding that the season of the year was too far gone to proceed with the enterprise which he had upon Panama, and considering withal that to lie upon the Spanish coast or at the islands to attend the return of the East or West Indian fleets was rather a work

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