t his own
charges, one of which was the Victory[359] belonging to the queens royal
navy. The others were the Meg and Margaret, two small ships, one of
which was soon obliged to be sent home as unable to endure the sea,
besides a small caravel. Having assembled about 400 men, sailors and
soldiers, with several gentlemen volunteers, the earl and they embarked
and set sail from Plymouth Sound on the 28th June 1589, accompanied by
the following captains and gentlemen. Captain Christopher Lister, an
officer of great resolution, Captain Edward Careless, _alias Wright_,
who had been captain of the Hope in Sir Francis Drakes expedition to
the West Indies against St Domingo and Carthagena; Captain Boswel, Mr
Mervin, Mr Henry Long, Mr Partridge, Mr Norton; Mr William Monson,
afterwards Sir William[360], who was captain of the Meg and
vice-admiral, and Mr Pigeon, who was captain of the caravel.

[Footnote 358: Sir William Monson, in Churchills collection, says there
were _five_ ships; and indeed we find a fifth, called the Saucy Jack,
mentioned in the narrative.--E.]

[Footnote 359: The Victory was of 800 tons, carrying 32 guns and 400
men; of whom, according to Sir William Monson, 268 were mariners, and
100 sailors, the remaining 32 being probably soldiers, or as we now call
them marines. The distinction between mariners and sailors is not
obvious; perhaps what are now called ordinary and able seamen,--E.]

[Footnote 360: Sir William Monson was author of some curious Naval
Tracts, giving an account of the Royal Navy of England in the reigns of
Queen Elizabeth and James I. which are preserved in Churchills
Collection, Vol. III. pp. 147--508.--E.]

About three days after our departure from Plymouth, we met with three
French ships, one of which belonged to Newhaven[361], and another to St
Maloes; and finding them to be leaguers[362], and therefore lawful
prizes, we took them, and sent two of them home to England with all
their loading, being mostly fish from Newfoundland, having first
distributed among our ships as much of the fish as they could find
stowage room for; and in the third ship we sent all the prisoners home
to France. On that day and the next we met some other ships, but finding
them belonging to Rotterdam and Embden, bound for Rochelle, we dismissed
them. On the 28th and 29th, we met several of our English ships
returning from an expedition to Portugal, which we relieved with
victuals. The 13th July, being in sight