at
many men, they would, and did, come and cut up several of our fireships,
and would certainly have taken most of them, for they do come with a
great provision of these boats on purpose, and to save their men, which
is bravely done of them, though they did, on this very occasion, shew
great fear, as they say, by some men leaping overboard out of a great
ship, as these were all of them of sixty and seventy guns a-piece, which
one of our fireships laid on board, though the fire did not take. But
yet it is brave to see what care they do take to encourage their men to
provide great stores of boats to save them, while we have not credit
to find one boat for a ship. And, further, he told us that this new
way used by Deane, and this Sir W. Coventry observed several times, of
preparing of fire-ships, do not do the work; for the fire, not being
strong and quick enough to flame up, so as to take the rigging and
sails, lies smothering a great while, half an hour before it flames, in
which time they can get her off safely, though, which is uncertain, and
did fail in one or two this bout, it do serve to burn our own ships.
But what a shame it is to consider how two of our ships' companies did
desert their ships for fear of being taken by their boats, our little
frigates being forced to leave them, being chased by their greater!
And one more company did set their ship on fire, and leave her; which
afterwards a Feversham fisherman come up to, and put out the fire, and
carried safe into Feversham, where she now is, which was observed by
the Duke of York, and all the company with him, that it was only want of
courage, and a general dismay and abjectness of spirit upon all our men;
and others did observe our ill management, and God Almighty's curse
upon all that we have in hand, for never such an opportunity was of
destroying so many good ships of theirs as we now had. But to see how
negligent we were in this business, that our fleete of Jordan's should
not have any notice where Spragg was, nor Spragg of Jordan's, so as
to be able to meet and join in the business, and help one another; but
Jordan, when he saw Spragg's fleete above, did think them to be another
part of the enemy's fleete! While, on the other side, notwithstanding
our people at Court made such a secret of Jordan's design that nobody
must know it, and even this Office itself must not know it; nor for my
part I did not, though Sir W. Batten says by others' discourse to him
h