warping, the admiral's
ship and six more got out of the haven, and by daylight, on the 20th,
sixty others joined him; with these he sailed, and when off the
Eddystone caught sight of the enemy to the westward. Notice of the
appearance of the Armada was spread far and wide throughout the land.

"Night sank upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea;
Such night in England ne'er had been, nor ne'er again shall be.
From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford Bay,
That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day;
For swift to east and swift to west the ghastly war-flames spread,
High on Saint Michael's Mount it shone, it shone on Beachy Head.
Far on the deep the Spaniards saw, along each southern shore,
Cape beyond cape in endless range, those twinkling spots of fire."

Onward came the Armada in perfect order, forming a crescent, the horns
of which were seven miles apart, the concave part to the rear.
Formidable, indeed, from their size and number, did they appear, like so
many floating castles, such as had never in the world's history sailed
over the surface of the deep. The English captains were eager for the
attack, but Lord Howard wisely checked their ardour, pointing out the
enormous size of the enemy's ships, which also being full of troops,
they could hope to do nothing with by boarding. Had, indeed, the
Spaniards ventured to attack the English on that day, it would have been
difficult to escape from them. Having wisely waited till the following
morning, Sunday, the 21st of June, the admiral was joined by the rest of
the fleet, which had got out of the sound, and had, moreover, the wind
in its favour. The battle commenced at nine o'clock in the morning,
when Lord Howard attacked a Spanish ship commanded by Don Alfonso de
Lara. Lord Howard pressed in upon her, tore her hull with his
broadside, and brought her to the verge of sinking. Drake, Hawkins, and
Frobisher attacked, also, the rearmost of the Spanish ships, commanded
by Recaldo, the vice-admiral, ship engaging ship, till the Spaniards
were so disabled that they took to flight, and were received into the
main body. The British seamen, elated by their success, pressed on more
and more boldly, till, darkness coming on, the Lord High Admiral, by
signal, ordered them to desist. About midnight the English saw a large
ship in the centre of the Spanish fleet blow up. As it proved
afterwards, she had on board a large amount of