, the English and Dutch fleets sailed down the
channel. On the sixth, sir George Rooke was detached to the Straits
with a squadron of three-and-twenty ships as convoy to the Mediterranean
trade. The grand fleet returned to Torbay, while he pursued his voyage,
having taken under his protection about four hundred merchant ships
belonging to England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburgh, and Flanders.
On the sixteenth his scouts discovered part of the French fleet under
Cape St. Vincent; next day their whole navy appeared, to the amount of
eighty sail. Sixteen of these plied up to the English squadron, while
the vice-admiral of the white stood off to sea to intercept the ships
under convoy. Sir George Rooke, by the advice of the Dutch vice-admiral
Vandergoes, resolved if possible to avoid an engagement, which could
only tend to their absolute ruin. He forthwith sent orders to the small
ships that were near the land to put into the neighbouring ports of
Faro, St. Lucar, and Cadiz, while he himself stood off with an easy sail
for the protection of the rest. About six in the evening, ten sail of
the enemy came up with two Dutch ships of war commanded by the captains
Schrijver and Vander-Poel, who seeing no possibility of escaping, tacked
in shore, and, thus drawing the French after them, helped to save the
rest of the fleet. When attacked they made a most desperate defence, but
at last were overpowered by numbers and taken. An English ship of war
and a rich pinnace were burned; nine-and-twenty merchant vessels
were taken, and about fifty destroyed by the counts de Tourville and
D'Etrees. Seven of the largest Smyrna ships fell into the hands of M.
de Cotlegon, and four he sunk in the bay of Gibraltar. The value of
the loss sustained on this occasion amounted to one million sterling.
Meanwhile Rooke stood off with a fresh gale, and on the nineteenth sent
home the Lark ship of war with the news of his misfortune; then he bore
away for the Madeiras, where having taken in wood and water, he set sail
for Ireland, and on the third day of August arrived at Cork with fifty
sail, including ships of war and trading vessels. He detached captain
Fairborne to Kinsale with all his squadron except six ships of the
line, with which, in pursuance of orders, he joined the great fleet then
cruising in the chops of the channel. On the twenty-fifth day of August
they returned to St. Helen's, and the four regiments were landed. On
the nineteenth day of