xperience had made seamen of many of
them. D'Estrees went to sea for the first time in 1667, being then a
man of mature years; but in 1672 we find him in the chief command of
an important squadron, having under him Duquesne, who was a seaman,
and had been so for nearly forty years. In 1677, D'Estrees obtained
from the king a body of eight ships which he undertook to maintain at
his own expense, upon the condition of receiving half the prizes made.
With this squadron he made an attack upon the then Dutch island of
Tobago, with a recklessness which showed that no lack of courage
prompted his equivocal conduct at the Texel. The next year he went out
again and contrived to run the whole squadron ashore on the Aves
Islands. The account given by the flag-captain of this transaction is
amusing as well as instructive. In his report he says:--

"The day that the squadron was lost, the sun having been taken
by the pilots, the vice-admiral as usual had them put down the
position in his cabin. As I was entering to learn what was going
on, I met the third pilot, Bourdaloue, who was going out crying.
I asked him what the matter was, and he answered: 'Because I
find more drift than the other pilots, the admiral is
threatening me and abusing me, as usual; yet I am only a poor
lad who does the best he can.' When I had entered the cabin, the
admiral, who was very angry, said to me, 'That scoundrel of a
Bourdaloue is always coming to me with some nonsense or other; I
will drive him out of the ship. He makes us to be running a
course, the devil knows where, I don't.' As I did not know which
was right," says the captain of the ship, rather naively, "I did
not dare to say anything for fear of bringing down a like storm
on my own head."[64]

Some hours after this scene, which, as the French officer from whom
the extract is taken says, "appears now almost grotesque, but which is
only an exact portrayal of the sea manners of the day, the whole
squadron was lost on a group of rocks known as the Aves Islands. Such
were the officers." The flag-captain, in another part of his report,
says: "The shipwreck resulted from the general line of conduct held by
Vice-Admiral d'Estrees. It was always the opinion of his servants, or
others than the proper officers of the ship, which prevailed. This
manner of acting may be understood in the Comte d'Estrees, who,
without the necessary knowledge of a