near Bayonne. The three others reached Spain.

All next day the gale blew heavily. The Armada, scattered over a wide
extent of sea, beat slowly to windward, working away from the dangerous
French coast. Many ships temporarily parted company. It looked as if there
would be another failure. But on Thursday the 28th (to quote the Spanish
admiral's diary) "the day dawned clear and bright, the wind and sea more
quiet than the day before. Forty ships were counted to be missing." The
admiral sent out three pinnaces to look for them, and next day, Friday, 29
July (19 July, O.S.), had news that all but one of them were with Pedro de
Valdes off the Lizard. This was the crowd of ships reported that same day
to Howard at Plymouth.

The missing ship, the "Santa Ana," the flagship of Biscay, rejoined later.
In the evening Medina-Sidonia saw the coast of England, and notes that it
was "said to be the Lizard." On the Saturday the admiral writes that "at
dawn the Armada was near with the land, so as we were seen therefrom,
whereupon they made fire and smokes."[9] The crew of a captured
fishing-boat later in the day told him they had seen the English fleet
coming out of Plymouth, and in the evening Medina-Sidonia's diary tells
that "many ships were seen, but because of the mist and rain we were unable
to count them."

[9] Macaulay, writing his ballad of the Armada before the full
English and Spanish records of the time were available,
represents the news as being brought to Plymouth by a
merchantman that had seen "Castille's black fleet lie heaving
many a mile" out by the Channel Islands, where the Armada was
never sighted. The "tall 'Pinta'" chased her for hours. There
was no such ship in the Armada. Macaulay took the name of one of
Columbus's caravels to adorn his ballad. Instead of the enemy
seeing "fire and smokes" at dawn, he describes with more
picturesque effect, how, in the night--

"From the deep the Spaniards saw
Along each southern shire,
Cape after cape in endless range,
Those twinkling points of fire."

A council of war had been held on board his flagship, the "San Martin." The
wind was south-west, the very wind to carry the Armada into Plymouth, and
dead against the English fleet coming out. De Leyva proposed that the
opportunity should be taken to attack the English in Plymouth Sound. Once
in the narrow waters the Spaniards could run them aboard and have th