ether with their vice-admiral.

In lat. 38 deg. N. and about the end of August, another great storm arose,
in which all their remaining ships, except 48, were lost. These 48 ships
kept together till they came in sight of the islands of Corvo and
Flores, about the 5th or 6th of September, at which time they were
separated by a great storm; and of that number, 15 or 16 sail were
afterwards seen by three Spanish prisoners, riding at anchor under
Tercera, while 12 or 14 more were observed to bear away for San Miguel.
What became of them after these Spaniards were taken, cannot yet be
certified; but their opinion is, that very few of this fleet escaped
being either taken or cast away. It has been ascertained of late by
other means of intelligence, that of this whole fleet of 123 sail, which
should have come to Spain this year, there have only 25 yet arrived.
This note was extracted from the examinations of certain Spanish
prisoners, brought to England by six of the London ships, which took
seven of these men from the before-mentioned fleet of the Indies near
the islands of the Acores.

SECTION XII.

_Report of a Cruizing Voyage to the Azores in 1591, by a feet of London
ships sent with supplies to the Lord Thomas Howard. Written by Captain
Robert Flicke_[377].

PRELIMINARY REMARKS[378].

The following voyage is extracted from a letter, dated at Plymouth the
24th of October 1591, and sent thence by Captain Flicke to Messrs Thomas
Bromley, Richard Staper, and ---- Cordall, three of the contractors, as
we apprehend, for the ships, and is titled, "Concerning the success of a
part of the London supplies sent to the isles of the Azores to my Lord
Thomas Howard." In this letter no mention is made of the number of ships
employed, nor of the names of more than two captains besides Flicke,
namely, _Brothus_ and _Furtho_, the latter of whom was bearer of the
letter. We also find the name of four of the ships; the Costly,
Centurion, Cherubim, and the Margaret and John, but not the names of
their commanders, neither the name of the ship in which Flicke sailed,
and which, for distinctions sake, we call the admiral. These omissions
may be excuseable in a private letter, written only to acquaint the
merchants of particulars they had not before learnt, and not designed as
a formal narrative of the voyage to be laid before the public. As these,
however, are essential to narratives of this kind, it might have been
expected of Mr Hakl