sent her away putting into her all the Spaniards and Portugals, (saving that gentleman Pedro Sarmiento, with three other of the principal men and two Negroes) leaving them all within sight of land, with bread and water sufficient for 10. dayes if neede were.

Thus setting our course for England, being off the Islands in the height of 41. degrees, or there about, one of our men being in the toppe discried a saile, then 10. saile, then 15. whereupon it was concluded to sende home those prizes we had, and so left in both our Pinasses not above 60. men. Thus wee returned againe to the Fleete wee had discried, where wee found 24. saile of shippes, whereof two of them were Caracks, the one of 1200. and the other of a 1000. tunnes, and 10. Galions, the rest were small shippes and Caravels all laden with Treasure, spices, and sugars, with which 24. shippes we with two small Pinasses did fight, and kept company the space of 32. houres, continually fighting with them and they with us, but the two Caracks kept still betwixt the Fleete and us, that wee could not take any one of them, so wanting powder, wee were forced to give them over against our willes, for that wee were all wholly bent to the gaining of some of them, but necessitie compelling us, and that onely for want of powder, without losse of any of our men, (which was a thing to be wondered at considering the inequalitie of number) at length we gave them over. Thus we againe set our course for England, and so come to Plimouth within 6. houres after our prizes, which we sent away 40. houres before us, where wee were received with triumphant joy, not onely with great Ordinance then shot off, but with the willing hearts of all the people of the Towne, and of the Countrey thereabout; and we not sparing our Ordinance (with the powder wee had left) to requite and answere them againe. And from thence wee brought our prizes to Southampton, where sir Walter Ralegh being our owner, rewarded us with our shares.

Our prizes were laden with sugars, Elephants teeth, waxe, hides, rice, brasill, and Cuser, as by the testimonie of John Evesham himselfe, Captaine Whiddon, Thomas Rainford, Benjamin Wood, William Cooper Master, William Cornish Master, Thomas Drake Corporall, John Ladd gunner, William Warefield gunner, Richard

Moone, John Drew, Richard Cooper of Harwich, William Beares of Ratcliffe, John Row of Saltash, and many others, may appeare.

A briefe relation of the notable service performed by Sir Francis Drake upon the Spanish Fleete prepared in the Road of Cadiz: and of his destroying of 100. saile of barks; Passing from thence all along the coast to Cape Sacre, where also hee tooke certaine Forts and so to the mouth of the River of Lisbon, and thence crossing over to the Isle of Sant Michael, supprized a mighty Carack called the Sant Philip comming out of the East India, which was the first of that kinde that ever was seene in England: Performed in the yeere 1587.

HER Majestie being informed of a mightie preparation by Sea begunne in Spaine for the invasion of England, by good advise of her grave and prudent Counsell thought it expedient to prevent the same. Whereupon she caused a Fleete of some 30. sailes to be rigged and furnished with all things necessary. Over that Fleete she appointed Generall sir Francis Drake (of whose manifold former good services she had sufficient proofe) to whom she caused 4. ships of her Navie royall to be delivered, to wit, The Bonaventure wherein himselfe went as General; the Lion under the conduct of Master William Borough Controller of the Navie; the Dreadnought under the command of M. Thomas Venner; and the Rainebow, captaine whereof was M. Henry Bellingham: unto which 4. ships two of her pinasses were appointed as handmaids. There were also added unto this Fleet certaine tall ships of the Citie of London, of whose especiall good service the Generall made particular mention in his private Letters directed to her Majestie. This Fleete set saile from the sound of Plimouth in the moneth of April towards the coast of Spaine.

The 16. of the said moneth we mette in the latitude of 40. degrees with two ships of Middleborough, which came from Cadiz; by which we understood that there was great store of warlike provision at Cadiz & thereabout ready to come for Lisbon. Upon this information our Generall with al speed possible, bending himselfe thither to cut off their said forces and provisions, upon the 19. of April entered with his Fleet into the Harbor of Cadiz :

where at our first entring we were assailed over against the Towne by sixe Gallies, which notwithstanding in short time retired under their fortresse.

There were in the Road 60. ships and divers other small vessels under the fortresse: there fied about 20. French ships to Port Real, and some small Spanish vessels that might passe the sholdes. At our first comming in we sunke with our shot a ship of Raguza of a 1000. tunnes, furnished with 40. pieces of brasse and very richly laden. There came two Gallies more from S. Mary port, and two from Porto Reale, which shot freely at us, but altogether in vaine: for they went away with the blowes well beaten for their paines.

Before night we had taken 30. of the said ships, & became Masters of the Road, in despight of the Gallies, which were glad to retire them under the Fort: in the number of which ships there was one new ship of an extraordinary hugenesse in burthen above 1200. tunnes, belonging to the Marquesse of Santa Cruz being at that instant high Admiral of Spaine. Five of them were great ships of Biskay, whereof 4. we fired, as they were taking in the Kings provision of victuals for the furnishing of his Fleet at Lisbon: the fift being a ship about 1000. tunnes in burthen, laden with Iron-spikes, nailes, yron hoopes, horse-shooes, and other like necessaries bound for the West Indies we fired in like maner. Also we tooke a ship of 250. tunnes laden with wines for the Kings provision, which wee caried out to the Sea with us, and there discharged the said wines for our owne store, and afterward set her on fire. Moreover we tooke 3 Flyboats of 300. tunnes a piece laden with biscuit, whereof one was halfe unladen by us in the Harborow, and there fired, and the other two we tooke in our company to the Sea. Likewise there were fired by us ten other ships which were laden with wine, raisins, figs, oiles, wheat, & such like. To conclude, the whole number of ships and barkes (as we suppose) then burnt, suncke, and brought away with us, amounted to 30. at the least, being (in our judgement) about 10000. tunnes of shipping.

There were in sight of us at Porto Real about 40. ships, besides those that fled from Cadiz.

We found little ease during our aboad there, by reason of their continuall shooting from the Gallies, the for

tresses, and from the shoare: where continually at places convenient they planted new ordinance to offend us with: besides the inconvenience which wee suffered from their ships, which, when they could defend no longer, they set on fire to come among us. Whereupon when the flood came wee were not a little troubled to defend us from their terrible fire, which neverthelesse was a pleasant sight for us to beholde, because we were thereby eased of a great labour, which lay upon us day and night, in discharging the victuals, and other provisions of the enemie. Thus by the assistance of the Almightie, and the invincible courage and industrie of our Generall, this strange and happy enterprize was atchieved in one day and two nights, to the great astonishment of the King of Spaine, which bread such a corrasive in the heart of the Marques of Santa Cruz high Admiral of Spaine, that he never enjoyed good day after, but within fewe moneths (as may justly be supposed) died of extreame griefe and

sorrow.

Thus having performed this notable service, we came out of the Road of Cadiz on the Friday morning the 21. of the said moneth of April, with very small losse not worth the mentioning.

After our departure ten of the Gallies that were in the Road came out, as it were in disdaine of us, to make some pastime with their ordinance, at which time the wind skanted upon us, whereupon we cast about againe, and stood in with the shoare, & came to anker within a league of the towne; where the said Gallies, for all their former bragging, at length suffred us to ride quietly.

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We now have had experience of Gally-fight: wherein I can assure you, that onely these 4. of her Majesties ships will make no accompt of 20. Gallies, if they may be alone, and not busied to guard others. There were Gallies that had better place and fitter opportunitie for their advantage to fight with ships: but they were still forced to retire, wee riding in a narrow gut, the place yeelding no better, and driven to maintaine the same, untill wee had discharged and fired the shippes, which could not conveniently be done but upon the flood, at which time they might drive cleare off us. Thus being victualed with bread and wine at the enemies cost for divers moneths (besides the provisions that we brought from home) our Generall dispatched Captaine Crosse into

England with his letters, giving him further in charge to declare unto her Majestie all the particularities of this our first enterprize.

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After whose departure wee shaped our course toward Cape Sacre, and in the way thither wee tooke at severall times of ships, barkes, and Caravels well neere hundred, laden with hoopes, gally-oares, pipe-staves, & other provisions of the king of Spaine, for the furnishing of his forces intended against England, al which we burned, having delt favorably with the men and sent them on shoare. We also spoiled and consumed all the fisher-boats and nets thereabouts, to their great hinderance and (as we suppose) to the utter overthrow of the rich fishing of their Tunies for the same yere. At length we came to the aforesaid Cape Sacre, where we went on land; and the better to enjoy the benefite of the place, and to ride in harborow at our pleasure, we assailed the same castle, and three other strong holds, which we tooke some by force and some by surrender.

Thence we came before the haven of Lisbon ankering nere unto Cascais, where the Marques of Santa Cruz was with his Gallies, who seeing us chase his ships a shoare, & take and cary away his barks and Caravels, was content to suffer us there quietly to tary, and likewise to depart, and never charged us with one Canon-shot. And when our Generall sent him worde that hee was there ready to exchange certaine bullets with him, the marques refused his chalenge, sending him word, that he was not then ready for him, nor had any such Commission from his King.

Our Generall thus refused by the Marques, and seeing no more good to be done in this place, thought it convenient to spend no longer time upon this coast: and therefore with consent of the chiefe of his Company he shaped his course toward the Isles of the Açores, and passing towards the Isle of Saint Michael, within 20. or 30. leagues thereof, it was his good fortune to meete with a Portugale Carak called Sant Philip, being the same shippe which in the voyage outward had caried the 3. Princes of Japan, that were in Europe, into the Indies. This Carak without any great resistance hee tooke, bestowing the people thereof in certaine vessels well furnished with victuals, and sending them courteously home into their Countrey: and this was the first Carak