on the enemy,
anchored at a short distance from them. The Spanish admiral had
anchored in the hopes of being joined by the Duke of Parma, but the
fleets of Holland and Zealand blockaded him in the ports of Dunkirk and
Niewport, and he dared not sail out. Seeing that the Spanish ships lay
very close together, Lord Howard planned a new method for their
destruction. Eight of the least valuable vessels being fitted out as
fire-ships, and having their guns loaded, were conducted towards the
Spaniards by Captains Young and Prowse, who, in the most undaunted
manner, firing the trains as they got close to the Spaniards, retired.
As the burning ships bore down upon them, the Spaniards, struck with
dismay, cut their cables, and put to sea. The largest galliasse in the
fleet ran on shore, and was captured by the boats of the squadron, after
all her fighting men had been killed--the slaves at the oars alone
escaping. Several thus ran on the shoals on the coast of Flanders.

The greater number were attacked fiercely by the English, who disabled
many of their ships. The Earl of Cumberland sent a large galleon to the
bottom, another was sunk by the Lord High Admiral, and two other vessels
by Drake and Hawkins. Another large galleon, the _Saint Matthew_, was
captured by the Dutch, as was the _Saint Philip_, after in vain
endeavouring to escape, having been driven by the English towards
Ostend.

One of the most gallant of the English commanders was Captain Robert
Cross, who, in a small vessel, sunk three of the enemy; while the
Spaniards fled whenever they were attacked--indeed, the whole engagement
this day was more a pursuit than a battle. On the 31st of July, the
Spaniards, who had attempted to regain Calais Roads, were driven towards
the coast of Zealand, when, the wind favouring them just as they were
almost on the shoals, their admiral came to the resolution of returning
home round the northern end of the British Isles, and making all sail,
they steered the course proposed, throwing overboard their horses and
mules, and everything that could impede their progress. Lord Howard,
leaving Lord Henry Seymour with a squadron to assist the Dutch in
blockading the Duke of Parma, sent Admiral Winter with another into the
narrow seas to guard the coast, while he himself pursued the Spaniards.
Many more were lost in their hurried flight; some were wrecked on the
coast of Scotland, and others on the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Th