All The Others, Except The Bark Raleigh,
Commanded By Captain Thin, Were Victuallers, And Of Small Or No Force.
The
Approach of the Spanish fleet being concealed by means of the
island, they were soon at hand, so that our
Ships had scarce time to
weigh their anchors, and some even were obliged to slip their cables and
set sail. Sir Richard Grenville was the last to weigh, that he might
recover the men who were a land on the island, who had otherwise been
lost. The lord Thomas Howard, with the rest of the fleet, very hardly
recovered the wind, which Sir Richard was unable to do; on which his
master and others endeavoured to persuade him to cut his main sail and
cast about, trusting to the swift sailing of his ship, as the squadron
of Seville was on his weather bow. But Sir Richard absolutely refused to
turn from the enemy, declaring he would rather die than dishonour
himself, his country, and her majestys ship, and persuaded his company
that he would be able to pass through the two squadrons in spite of
them, and force those of Seville to give him way. This he certainly
performed upon divers of the foremost, who, as the sailors term it,
sprang their luff, and fell under the lee of the Revenge. The other
course had certainly been the better, and might very properly have been
adopted under so great impossibility of prevailing over such heavy odds;
but, out of the greatness of his mind, he could not be prevailed on to
have the semblance of fleeing.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 660 of 842
Words from 180120 to 180386
of 230997
