fleet, which
originally amounted to upwards of a hundred, seventy were lost. While
the English sailors were scattered among the Spanish fleet, they
received a visit from a traitor, one of the Earl of Desmond's family,
who endeavoured to persuade them to serve the King of Spain, but in most
cases without success. In 1592 an expedition was fitted out by Sir
Walter Raleigh, consisting of several queen's ships and some of his own,
with which he intended to attack Carthagena and other places in the West
Indies; but as he was about to sail, he was superseded in the command by
Sir Martin Frobisher, the queen wishing to retain him in England. Sir
Martin was directed to proceed only to the coast of Spain, where he
captured a large Portuguese carrack, which, to escape the English, ran
on shore, and was burned by her people after the goods had been landed;
but the English following made themselves masters of a large part of the
booty and of the town of Santa Cruz. After waiting patiently for some
weeks, another still larger carrack, called the _Madre de Dios_ hove in
sight. Though the Portuguese fought bravely to defend her, she was
captured in the space of an hour and a-half. On going on board, the
English, after hunting about for plunder, each man with a lighted candle
in his hand, a cabin was entered in which there was a quantity of
powder. The carrack was set on fire, and had it not been for the
courage of Captain Norton, both the plundered and the plunderers would
have been blown together into the air. The carrack, which was brought
home in safety, was larger than any man-of-war or merchantman belonging
to England. She was of 1600 tons burden, and measuring from the
beak-head to the stern, on which was erected a large lantern, she was
165 feet in length. Her greatest beam was 46 feet 10 inches. On
leaving Cochin China she had drawn 31 feet of water, but on her arrival
at Dartmouth she drew only 26. She had seven decks--one main or
sleeping, three close decks, one forecastle, and a spar deck of two
floors. The length of her keel was 100 feet, and of the main-mast 121
feet; the main-yard was 106 feet long. She carried between 600 and 700
persons, and considering the length of the voyage, the large amount of
provisions can be calculated. She carried fully 900 tons of cargo,
consisting of jewels, spices, drugs, silks, calicoes, quilts, carpets,
and colours, as also elephants' teeth, porcelain vessels and china,
coc