And after that, Sir John Norris marched from Peniche in Portugal with a handful of soldiers to the gates of Lisbon, being above 40 English miles: Where the earl of Essex himself, and other valiant gentlemen, braved the city of Lisbon, encamping at the very gates: from whence, after many days abode, finding neither promised parley nor provision wherewith to batter, they made their retreat by land, in spite of all their garrisons both of horse and foot. In this sort I have a little digressed from my first purpose, only by the necessary comparison of their and our actions: the one covetous of honour, without vaunt or ostentation; the other so greedy to purchase the opinion of their own affairs, and by false rumours to resist the blasts of their own dishonours, as they will not only not blush to spread all manner of untruths, but even for the least advantage, be it but for the taking of one poor adventurer of the English, will celebrate the victory with bonefires in every town, always spending more in faggots than the purchase they obtained was worth. Whereas, we never thought it worth the consumption of two billets, when we have taken eight or ten of their Indian ships at one time, and twenty of their Brazil fleet. Such is the difference between true valour and vain ostentation, and between honourable actions and frivolous vain-glorious boasting. But to return to my purpose:

NARRATIVE.

The Lord Thomas Howard, with six of her majestys ships, six victuallers of London, the bark Raleigh, and two or three pinnaces, riding at anchor near Flores, one of the western islands called the Azores, on the last of August 1591, in the afternoon, had intelligence by one captain Middleton, of the approach of the Spanish armada. This Middleton, being in a very good sailing ship, had kept them company for three days before, of good purpose, both to discover their force, and to give the lord admiral advice of their approach. He had no sooner communicated the news, when the Spanish fleet hove in sight; at which time, many belonging to our ships companies were on shore in the island of Flores, some providing ballast for the ships, others filling water, and others refreshing themselves from the land with such things as they could procure either for money or by force. Owing to this, our ships were all in confusion, pestered, rummaging, and every thing out of order, very light for want of ballast; and what was most of all to their disadvantage, the half of the men in every ship was sick and unserviceable. For in the Revenge, there were ninety sick; in the Bonaventure, not so many in health as could hand her mainsail, insomuch, that unless twenty men had been taken from a bark of Sir George Careys which was sunk, and appointed into her, she had hardly been able to get back to England. The rest of the ships for the most part were in little better state.

The names of her majestys ships were as follows: The Defiance, admiral, the Revenge, vice-admiral, the Bonaventure commanded by captain Crosse, the Lion by George Fenner, the Foresight by Thomas Vavasour, and the Crane by Duffild. The Foresight and Crane were small ships, the other four were of the middle size. 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.

In the meantime, while Sir Richard attended to those ships of the enemy that were nearest him and in his way, the great San Philip being to windward of him, and coming down towards him, becalmed his sails in such sort that his ship could neither make way nor feel the helm, so huge and high was the Spanish ship, being of fifteen hundred tons, and which presently laid the Revenge on board. At this time, bereft of his sails, the ships that had fallen under his lee, luffed up and laid him on board also, the first of these that now came up being the vice-admiral of the Biscay squadron, a very mighty and puissant ship, commanded by Brittandona. The San Philip carried three tier of ordnance on a side, and eleven pieces in each tier, besides eight pieces in her forecastle chase, and others from her stern-ports. After the Revenge was thus entangled by the huge San Philip, four others laid her on board, two to larboard and two to starboard. The fight thus began at three in the afternoon, and continued very terribly the whole of that evening. But the great San Philip, having received a discharge from the lower tier of the Revenge, loaded with cross-bar shot, shifted herself with all diligence from her side, utterly disliking this her first entertainment. Some say the San Philip foundered, but we cannot report this for a truth, not having sufficient assurance. Besides the mariners, the Spanish ships were filled with companies of soldiers, some having to the number of two hundred, some five hundred, and others as far even as eight hundred. In ours, there were none besides the mariners, except the servants of the commanders, and some few gentlemen volunteers.

After interchanging many vollies of great ordnance and small shot, the Spaniards deliberated to enter the Revenge by boarding, and made several attempts, hoping to carry her by the multitudes of their armed soldiers and musketeers, but were still repulsed again and again, being on every attempt beaten back into their own ships or into the sea. In the beginning of the fight, the George Noble of London being only one of the victuallers, and of small force, having received some shot through her from the Spanish armadas, fell under the lee of the Revenge, and the master of her asked Sir Richard what he was pleased to command him; on which Sir Richard bad him save himself as he best might, leaving him to his fortune. After the fight had thus continued without intermission, while the day lasted, and some hours of the night, many of our men were slain and hurt; one of the great galeons of the armada and the admiral of the hulks both sunk, and a great slaughter had taken place in many of the other great Spanish ships. Some allege that Sir Richard was very dangerously hurt almost in the beginning of the fight, and lay speechless for a time ere he recovered: But two men belonging to the Revenge, who came home in a ship of Lyme from the islands, and were examined by some of the lords and others, affirmed, that he was never so much wounded as to forsake the upper deck till an hour before midnight, and being then shot in the body by a musket ball, was shot again in the head as the surgeon was dressing him, the surgeon himself being at the same time wounded to death. This also agrees with an examination of four other returned mariners of the same ship, taken before Sir Francis Godolphin, and sent by him to master William Killegrue of her majestys privy chamber.