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The arms of the natives were lances and stones. | ished from the whole was the want of glass, as they When a musketeer levelled his weapon at them, had only canvas or wooden shutters in their they threw themselves flat on the ground, and the windows" ("Atlas Geographus," London, 1717). moment he fired, they sprung up, hurled their Its port was deemed by the Spaniards as the key missiles, and fled. The town, consisting of a hun- of South America. dred houses, roofed with canes and mud hardened in the sun, was pillaged of all that was worth taking; and also "an old tattered church," which had an altar at one end, but was without chancel or vestry. Sailing thence on the 21st of April, on the 23rd of May the fleet was off Dominica and the Virgin Isles, where the earl remained a month. Helanded, mustered all his men, and announced to them that his next desire was to capture San Juan de Porto Rico, the attempt in which Drake had failed

so recently, and the intelligence was greeted by reiterated cheers.

On the 6th of June he was off this island, which is the most eastern of the Great Antilles, and his plan of attack differed from that of Drake. He landed 1,000 men at a considerable distance from the town; and, seizing a negro, "who was half frightened to death, for their guide," marched towards it. Both the earl and Sir John Berkeley were

Cumberland's force was without boats by which to cross the little strait, and for a time he and his other captains were much perplexed, till a communication was discovered between the city and the mainland, by means of a narrow causeway that led to a bridge which was drawn up. Beyond this bridge was a strong barricade, and higher up was the fort, whence the Spaniards swept the causeway with ordnance and small- arms. This causeway was so rough and difficult to traverse, that the English preferred to wade through the sea by the side of it. A very dark night had succeeded a hot and brilliant day, when the attack was resolved on, "and though the earl was carried away very ill, by a fall from the causeway into the sea, when the weight and incumbrance of his armour nearly drowned him," his soldiers pressed on with ardour, passed the drawbridge in the sea, which

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POWDER-FLASKS AND SPANNERS FOR OFFICERS OF HORSE.

THE LOWER FOR INFANTRY (END OF SIXTEENTH
CENTURY).

in complete armour. Their way, we are told, was by steep cliffs and rugged rocks, till they reached an arm of the sea about a musket-shot in breadth, which separated them from the town, and where they found themselves exposed to the fire of a fort.

Opposite, on a slope, rose San Juan, on an isle, or isthmus rather, about half a league long, "fairly built, neat, and strong, after the Spanish manner. It had several large streets, was bigger than Portsmouth, was more agreeable to the eye, and had a good monastery and a cathedral: but what dimin

came up to their waistbelts, and assailed the gate of the barricade with their bills and hatchets; but so stout was the resistance of the Spaniards, and so heavy their fire upon the English, who were compelled to fight in the water, that the assailants were compelled to retire.

The next attack was attended with better success; and, flushed with rumours of the gold mines that were alleged to be in the rocky parts of the isle, and the precious ore found in the sand of its rivers, Cumberland's men advanced with fresh ardour. While a party of musketeers, levelling their weapons over rocks or their rests, picked off

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the Spanish cannoniers at their guns, another, ployed vast numbers of negroes from Guinea; and which was composed of pikemen and musketeers, Lait records that they forced these wretched slaves was set ashore on the other side, midway between to such excessive labour, that many killed themthe fort and town. Finding their retreat about to selves in despair, while others were drowned and be cut off, the garrison of the former were com- maimed by sharks. But great though the prize pelled, after a sharp resistance, to abandon it, and looked for at Margarita, the earl's ships were fell back on the town; but this they soon after driven back by adverse winds, and he, now bedeserted. coming more than ever convinced that the Spaniards of the captured island had some ulterior and, perhaps, savage ends in view, sailed from Porto Rico with less than half his fleet, in search of fortune elsewhere, leaving Sir John Berkeley with the other half of his armament, and full power to act in his absence.

El Moro, a place of great strength, together with the strong castle in the western part of the town, and a third fort between it and the Moro, all surrendered in quick succession to the adventurous earl, who then found himself in undisturbed possession of the place.

He now resolved to retain it, to increase its fortifications, and to make it a point whence fleets might cruise against the Spaniards, now deemed, as the Scots had been for centuries, the natural enemies of England. This plan met with the warm approval of his followers; and a roll was prepared of those who volunteered to remain there as the nucleus of an English colony and garrison. In furtherance of this great scheme, the earl ordered all the Spanish inhabitants to depart to other isles, notwithstanding the offers they made him of rich goods and gold and silver plate, to be permitted to remain.

But an unforeseen misfortune came, in the form of a deadly sickness that decimated his slender force. Of the 1,000 men who landed, Camden records that 700 died, exclusive of those slain by the Spaniards. This mortality so scared the survivors, who were led to expect the same fate, that all resolved to quit the island as speedily as possible. The earl wished, ere doing so, to make some profitable terms with the Spaniards for its ransom. To these proposals they pretended to listen, and several messages passed between them and the earl; but the negotiations proceeded so slowly that he began after a time to perceive that they were only seeking to delay till death had further weakened his force, and to suspect that they had some treacherous design on foot.

While these negotiations were pending, there came into the harbour of San Juan a caravel from Margarita, an island of Venezuela, in theCaribbean Sea, with passengers bound for Spain; and these were very much surprised to find the island of Porto Rico in possession of the English. In the caravel the earl found pearls to the value of a thousand ducats; and learning from her crew that the pearl-chest at Margarita was very slenderly guarded, he sent three ships of his fleet to seize it. In the rich pearl-fishery there the Spaniards em

The separation took place on the 14th August. The earl hoped to be in time to intercept the Mexican home-fleet, or some of the East Indian caracks off the Azores, but he came there too late, luckily for himself perhaps, as but a few days before his arrival at Flores, no less than twenty-nine large Spanish men-of-war had been there. How long Sir John stayed at Porto Rico after the earl is uncertain, and what terms he made with the colonists are unknown; but after a dreadful storm, in which all their vessels nearly perished, and were severely damaged, the fleet was reunited at Flores, and eventually returned to England in the month of October.

The earl held possession of Porto Rico for only forty days, but in that time he collected and brought away a vast quantity of hides, ginger, and sugar; eighty pieces of cannon; some ammunition; the bells of the churches; and a thousand ducatoons' worth of pearls. This is the general account given of the results of the expedition; but it is supposed that, as a matter of fact, he collected a much greater quantity of plunder, in the form of ingots and gold dust.

He lost only sixty men at the storming of Porto Rico; but forty were drowned in The Old Frigate, in a storm off Ushant.

The character of the Earl of Cumberland, is tersely summarised by an old naval historian, who speaks of him as a man of admirable qualities, both in civil and military affairs. He knew as well how to fight as to govern, and had virtues capable of rendering him equally illustrious both in war and peace. He was so excellent a person that it can hardly be said what was lacking in him, and yet he had one very considerable want, viz., a steady gale of good fortune; and, considering the vast expenses he was at, in building, hiring, and furnishing ships, it is a question whether his expeditions increased his estate." His earldom became extinct in the year 1643.

The Bay of Cezimbra.

THE GALLEONS.

189

CHAPTER XXXIV.

IN THE BAY OF CEZIMBRA, 1602.

THE last but one important event in the long and stirring reign of Elizabeth was the great sea-fight in the roadstead of Cezimbra, between her ships and those of the Spaniards. A rich carack of which the former were in pursuit had taken shelter there. "The harbour," says Hume, "was guarded by a castle; there were eleven galleys stationed in it, and the militia of the country, to the number of 20,000 men, appeared in arms upon the shore; yet, notwithstanding these obstacles, and others derived from the winds and tides, the English squadron broke into the harbour, dismounted the guns of the castle, sunk, burned, or put to flight the galleys, and obliged the carack to surrender. They brought her home to England, and she was valued at a million of ducats; a sensible loss to the Spaniards, and a supply still more important to Elizabeth."

The details of this gallant sea-fight, as given by one of the commanders, and other authorities, are as follow:

To prevent the Spaniards from invading the coast of Ireland, the queen fitted out a squadron of eight ships of war, which she placed under the command of Monson and Levison, who, since the death of Drake and Hawkins, were deemed the most skilful officers in the English navy. These vessels were the Repulse, Sir Richard Levison, Admiral; the Garland, Sir William Monson, Vice-Admiral; the Defiance, Captain Gore; the Mary Rose, Captain Slingsby; the Warspite, Captain Sommers; the Dreadnought, Captain Manwaring; the Adventure, Captain Trevor; and an English caravel, Captain Tawkell.

The Dutch had promised to aid the queen with twelve ships of war, that together they might scour the seas and molest the Spaniards. The new expedition was prepared in great haste, so much so, that the squadron was not fully equipped either with men, ammunition, or provisions; when, on the 19th of March, 1602, Sir Richard Levison set sail with five vessels, leaving his vice-admiral, Monson, with three, to await the arrival of the Hollanders. Ere the latter arrived, and three days after Levison's departure, Sir William received a dispatch from the queen to go to sea with all speed, as she had received tidings that the Plate fleet was off the Isle of Terciera.

other ships, on the 26th of March, and stood down
the Channel.

The queen's intelligence had been true, as the
fleet had been at Terciera, which is the central
island of the group named the Azores, but had
shaped its course to Spain. On the voyage they
were met by Sir Richard Levison, who, though the
Spaniards mustered thirty-eight sail, bravely attacked
them with his five.

But being without Monson's
vessels, and still more the twelve Hollanders, his
bravery was exerted in vain, and he was beaten off,
while the Plate fleet stood on its homeward course.
Levison was naturally exasperated with the Hol-
landers for their delay, by which so much treasure
escaped him. He now steered towards the Rock of
Lisbon, which had been previously appointed by him
as the place where he and Monson were to rendez-
vous; but Sir William having spent fourteen days
cruising off the coast of Portugal, and seeing nothing
of him, stood around the South Cape, "where he
was likewise frustrated of a most pleasing expecta-
tion."

He came in sight of some ships, which showed
the Scottish and French colours.
These were
merchantmen from San Lucar, where, as the
Scottish skippers reported, there were five great
galleons ready to sail with the next tide for India.
They also told him that three days before two
others had sailed, having on board Don Pedro de
Valdez, the Governor of Havannah, and his retinue

the same Don Pedro who held a command in
the Great Armada, and had been prisoner of war
in England in 1588.

These two ships were met one night by Captain Sommers, in the Warspite; but, in consequence of the extreme darkness, and perhaps of their own strength, no engagement ensued.

This news of the five galleons at San Lucar, made Sir William Monson steer in the direction where he would be most likely to meet with them; and, in a shorter time than he anticipated, he discovered five ships, which he conceived to be, from the size and number, the identical galleons he was in quest of. But he was again doomed to disappointment, for on coming within gunshot they showed their colours, and proved to be English.

Next day he captured a Spanish Indiaman; "but he had better been without her, for she Sir William put to sea, with the Garland and two brought him so far to the leeward that the same

!

night the five galleons passed to windward" unseen, and not above eight leagues off, as he was informed by the skipper of an English pinnace.

"These misfortunes," says Lediard, "lighting upon Sir Richard first and Sir William after, might have been sufficient reasons to discourage them; but they, knowing the accidents of the sea, and that Fortune could laugh as well as weep, and having good ships under foot, their men sound and in health, did not doubt that some of the wealth which the two Indies sent yearly to Spain would yet fall to their share."

On the 1st of June, the squadron, now united, was hovering off the Rock of Lisbon, as that round promontory in which the ridge of Cintra ends is named by seamen. There they captured two Easterlings; and while overhauling their cargoes, they descried a caravel coming round Cape Espichel, a headland twenty-one miles south-west of Lisbon. She proved to be English, and reported to Sir Richard Levison that "a large carack, of 1,600 tons, was just arrived at Cezimbra, near St. Ubes, from the East Indies, richly laden; and that there were eleven galleys in the same harbour, three of them Portuguese, under the command of Don Frederick Spinola, to cruise against the Dutch." Her master added that he had been sent with this message by the captains of the Nonpareil and Dreadnought, who were thereabout, looking out for the admiral.

With cheers and joy this news was received. Sir Richard immediately signalled Sir William to stand on with him, "and, lest the signs should not be discerned, sent the caravel with a message to bear up for the roads of Cezimbra; but before they had rounded Cape Espichel night had closed in, and nothing took place but the exchange of a few cannon-shot between the admiral and the galleys of Spinola, who is called by Rymer a Genoese.

On the 2nd of June, when day dawned, "every man looked out early for what ships of Her Majesty were in sight," and there were but five-the War spite (having the admiral on board, as the Repulse had become leaky, and been sent to England), the Garland, the Nonpareil, the Dreadnought, and the Adventure, besides the two Easterlings, with prizecrews on board.

A council, at which all the captains were present, was held on board the Warspite, and it lasted the most part of the day. Some alleged that it was impracticable to cut out the carack, defended as she was by eleven galleys, and lying close under the guns of the castle of Cezimbra; but Sir William Monson urged so vigorously that the attempt should be made an attempt which he affirmed would be

crowned with brilliant success-that it was resolved to make an attack next day, in the following

manner,

He and Sir Richard were to come to anchor as near the carack as they could venture; the rest to keep under sail, and ply up and down without anchoring. Sir William Monson, we are told, was glad of this opportunity of having vengeance on these same galleys, "hoping to requite the slavery they had put him to when he was a prisoner in one of them."

He now sailed a league in front of the squadron, with his colours flying in defiance of the galleys. The Marquis of Santa Cruz and Frederick Spinola, the former general of the Portuguese, and the latter of the Spanish galleys, accepted the challenge, and came out to fight him; but we are told that, "being within shot, they were diverted (from their purpose) by one' John Bedford, an Englishman, who pretended to know the force of the ship, and Sir William, who commanded her."

The town of Cezimbra lies at the bottom of a bay which affords excellent anchorage. It was then, as now, built of stone; and near it was the ancient fort or castle still named the Cavallo, strong, spacious, and then well mounted with heavy ordnance. On the summit of the hill behind it was an old priory, the situation of which, with cannon, rendered it impregnable, and able to command the town, the castle, and the roadstead. Close to the shore, and under the guns of the Cavallo, lay the rich carack, which was the object of so much warlike solicitude.

The eleven galleys had secured themselves beside a small neck of rock on the western part of the roads, anchored side by side, with the stems outward, to play upon the English as they entered; for each galley carried a very large cannon in her lofty beak, besides four other pieces in the prow below it; and they were secure from the fire of the English till the latter were under that of the castle and town. So advantageously were they placed that, as the captain of one of them confessed after his capture, their officers confidently expected with their great guns to sink the English easily. The latter saw vast quantities of tents pitched near the shore, and troops, as we have said, to the number of 20,000 men, under the Conde de Vitageria, were mustered there. Boats were seen passing all day long between the carack and the town. At first it was supposed the Spaniards were unloading her; but instead of this, they were filling her with men and ammunition.

At daybreak on the morning of the 3rd of June, the admiral fired a gun and ran his ensign to the

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