escaped by speedy flight. The English, indeed, suffered considerable loss: they had one and twenty slain. Antony, their vice-admiral, was killed; Downton, the rear-admiral, crippled for life; and Cave, who commanded the earl's ship, mortally wounded by a shot through both legs. But the privateers, in the heat of action, seem to have forgotten that booty was their object, and, instead of endeavouring to take possession of the carrack, aimed at destroying her. "After many bickerings," says the writer in Purchas, "fire-works flew about interchangeably. At last, the vice-admiral, with a culverin shot at hand, fired the carrack in her stern, and the rear-admiral her forecastle, by a shot that gave fire to the mat on the beak-head, from thence turning to the mat on the bolt-sprit, and so ran up to the topsail-yard; they plying and maintaining their fires so well with their small shot, that many of those which came to quench them were slain. These fires increased so sore, that the vice-admiral's fore-sail and fore-topsail were both burnt; the rear-admiral being in like predicament; while the admiral, with much danger and difficulty, quenched the fires thrown into her from the carrack. To save themselves in this heat and fury, the admiral and vice-admiral fell off, leaving the rearadmiral foul of the carrack's spritsail-yard, in great danger to have been consumed with her, had they not helped her off with their boats.” *

A scene more dreadful than the action itself ensued. P. Frey Antonio, a Franciscan, was seen, with a crucifix in his hand, encouraging the poor wretches to commit themselves to the waves and to God's mercy, rather than perish in the flames. The greater part threw themselves overboard, clinging to such things as were cast into the sea for them to float by. The English boats, it is said, made no endeavour to save any of them it is even affirmed that they butchered in the water those who came near and entreated to be taken on board. The rear-admiral's boat must, however, be ex

Historia Tragico-Maritima, ii, 515-519. Purchas. 1147.

empted from this atrocious charge; for by that boat Nuno Velho was picked up, Braz Correa, the captain of the Nazareth, and three other persons: ten more, it appears by the Portugueze account, were in like manner saved. Among the passengers in this unfortunate ship were two Portugueze ladies of high birth, Doña Isabel Pereira, a widow, whose father had been chief captain of the island of Goa, and whose husband, Diogo de Mello Coutinho, had held the command in Ceylon : her daughter, Doña Luiza de Mello, a young and beautiful damsel, was with her. They had been wrecked in the Santo Alberto, and had performed a journey of nearly 1000 miles after that wreck, through Caffraria, on foot; and when many of their fellow-sufferers returned from Mozambique to India, they had resolved on resuming their voyage, because the young lady was going to take possession of her entailed property at Evora. Mother and daughter, when they saw that no help was to be hoped for from the privateers, and that they had to choose between the fire and the water, fastened themselves together with a Franciscan cord; and their bodies, thus fastened, were cast ashore upon the island of Fayal. According to the Portugueze statement, about 500 persons perished in the ship; according to the English, there were more than 1100 on board when she left Loanda, of whom only fifteen were saved! Nuno Velho and Braz Correa were brought prisoners to England, where the earl is said to have treated them well, and to have entertained them a whole year as his guests: they were then ransomed for 3000 cruzados, which Nuno Velho paid for both.*

It was not, however, immediately after this deplorable action that the earl sailed homeward: he continued cruising among the islands about a month longer, when they came in sight of another carrack of 1500 tons, homeward bound from India. They took her for a Spanish ship of war, and under that mistake began a more cautious action. After a while a boat was sent

* Historia Tragico. Maritima, ii. 520-526. Purchas, 1148.

SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE OF D. LUIS COUTINHO.

33

to summon her to surrender to the queen of England's ships under the earl of Cumberland's command, unless she would undergo the same fate as the Chagas; to bear testimony of which two prisoners were put in the boat, and, the Portugueze say, bound. The Portugueze captain returned a brave answer: he acknowledged Don Philip, king of Spain, he said, not the queen of England; and if the earl of Cumberland had been at the burning of the Cinco Chagas, so had he, D. Luis Coutinho, been at the defeat and capture of sir Richard Grenville in the queen of England's ship the Revenge. Let the earl do what he dared for his queen, and he, D. Luis, would do what he was able for his king: his ship was homeward bound from India, laden with riches, and with many jewels on board; let the English take her if they could !” The fight was then renewed*, but intermitted by the calm, and remitted (as the English relater allows) by the remisser company; their captains being slain and wounded ; whereupon they gave over," and sailed for England, “having done much harm to the enemy, and little good to themselves."†

"The earl, not liking his ill partage in the Madre A.D. de Dios, nor this unhappier loss of two carracks for 1595. want of sufficient strength to take them, built a ship of his own of 800 tons at Deptford, which the queen,

*The Portugueze account states, that the English attempted to destroy this ship, by converting the earl's vessel, which was an old one, into a fireship; but that they were prevented from grappling the carrack, first, by a shot that carried away the earl's foremast, and then by a thunder-storm, during which Coutinho got so much ahead of the disabled ship, that the other two dared not pursue them farther.-(p. 527.) This is less probable than the English account. It is unlikely that the earl would have sacrificed his own ship, and still more so, after the recent fate of the Chagas, that he should have sought to destroy the carrack, instead of attempting to capture it.

† Purchas. 1148. Hist. Trag. Marit. ii. 526-528.

+ Purchas says 900; but Monson is better authority; she was proportioned in all degrees to equal any of her majesty's ships of that rank, and no way inferior to them in sailing, or other property or condition of ships." Monson states the earl's motives for building her. "At last my lord," he says, "began discreetly to consider the obligation he had to the queen or the loan of her ships from time to time; and withal weighed what fear of danger he brought himself into, if, unluckily, any of those ships should miscarry; for he valued the reputation of the least of them at the rate of his life. Upon these considerations, no persuasions being of force to divert him from attempting some great action on the sea, where he

1596.

at her launching, named the Scourge of Malice*, the best ship that had ever before been built by any subject." In this, with three other vessels in company, he would have made what is called his ninth voyage; but when he had reached Plymouth, the queen recalled him; and the ships took only three Baltic vessels laden with Spanish property of little value. He set forth again in the ensuing year, but sprung his mainmast, A. D. and was forced to return. His next enterprise was upon a smaller scale; for Essex and the lord admiral going to the coast of Spain with a large fleet of the queen's, together with a squadron of Flemish men of "his lordship thought good to await some gleanings in so great a vintage." So he sent out captain Francis Slingsby, in the Ascension of 300 tons, carrying thirty-four guns and 120 men, "chiefly to look for such ships as should come from Lisbon." The captain got sore wounded in a vain attempt made with his boats against a caravel: after which the Spanish admiral set forth six ships against him; and himself and another ship, falling in with the Ascension, laid her aboard, one on the bow and the other on the quarter ;

war,

and now the mouths of the great ordnance, being near in place to whisper, roared out their thunders, and pierced thorow and thorow on all hands; which ended, the Spaniards leaped into the fore chains and main chains, thinking to have entered the ship, but were bravely repelled. And the English, seeing many together under the admiral's half deck, discharged among them a fowler laden with case shot, to their no small harm, so that the Spaniards were content to fail off. Of ours, two and twenty were slain and hurt; which loss lighted as much on them which hid them

had spent much time and money; and thinking thereby, as well to enrich himself, as to show his forwardness to do his prince and country service, he resolved to build a ship from the stocks, that should equal the middle rank of her majesty's: an act so noble and so rare, it being a thing never under. taken before by a subject, that it deserved immortal fame." (p. 189.)

The Malice-Scourge, Monson calls it; " for by that name, it seems, he tasted the envy of some that repined at his honourable achievement."(p. 189.)

selves, as those which stood to the fight. To prevent the like afterwards, they put safe in hold the chirurgeon, carpenter, and cooper, for the public dependence on them; and made fast the hatches, that others should not seek refuge. But the Spanish admiral tacked about and went in for Lisbon; and the Ascension, continuing till they had but a fortnight's provision left, returned, with hurt to themselves and loss also to his lordship."

From the conduct of the men in this action, and from other instances, it appears that an English sea captain could not, in those days, rely with that perfect confidence upon his crew, which has uniformly been felt within our remembrance. The national character was always brave; but that national spirit had not yet been formed among our sailors, which renders courage as much a moral principle as an animal impulse.

The earl's success in so many adventures had not been such as would have encouraged a prudent man to repeat them ; but a prudent man would not have engaged in them at first. He now obtained letters patent authorising him to levy sea and land forces, and prepared for the greatest expedition that had ever been undertaken by a subject without the assistance of the sovereign, both in number of ships and land forces. The force consisted of eighteen sail; and the earl "having by several voyages before attained to a perfect knowledge in sea affairs," took the command in person. "Besides his general design to take, destroy, or any way else to impoverish and impeach the king of Spain or his subjects, he grounded his voyage upon two hopes." The first was that of intercepting the outward-bound East Indiamen as soon as they should sail from the Tagus.' The time of their departure was certain; it could not be later than April; and as in burden they exceeded all other European ships, and went out full freighted with commodities for the East Indies, and much money also was sent out in them, they would have abundantly enriched him and the other adventurers. This was his first hope. His other was, if this should fail, to make an

A. D.

1597