. They may have twenty or thirty Dutch
ships, laden with fish, butter, and hides, which will make no resistance
at all; and it would be a rich prize, and might be had without danger or
difficulty.

_Wh._ Is the castle of Elsinore so strong a piece that it cannot be taken
without much expense and danger?

_Dane._ This will not be the best design for England: it is a small,
strong castle, and doth not signify much; though it be esteemed a piece
of importance, it is not so.

_Wh._ It commands the passage of the Sound.

_Dane._ Most men believe so, but it is mistaken. I have seen an
experiment to the contrary, that a boat, being placed in the middle of
that narrow passage of the Sound, they shot at it from the castle of
Elsinore, and likewise from the castle of Helsingborg on the other side,
with the greatest guns they had, and yet they could not reach the boat
from either side by two thousand paces; nor is it so narrow in the
passage but that a ship may, when she pleaseth, sail by those castles in
despite of them.

_Wh._ What harbour is there at Elsinore?

_Dane._ There is no harbour for ships to ride in, and in foul weather
they will be in danger to be all lost, because they must ride in the
open sea, which there is extreme perilous; and therefore Elsinore is not
worth the keeping, if England had it. But their best design would be to
go directly to the town of Copenhagen with fifty or sixty good ships,
with landsmen in them; and it is easy enough to take that town, for the
works of it are not strong, nor is it well guarded, and it would be
easier to take that town than Elsinore; and if England were masters of
it, the castle would quickly come in to them; and at the town they should
have a good haven for their ships, and a small matter would build a
better fort near the town than Elsinore is, and would command the passage
more than the castles do, and make you masters of the Sound and of all
the trade of the Baltic Sea.

_Wh._ What revenue would be gained thereby?

_Dane._ More than will maintain your ships and forces there, and will
command all the island of Zealand.

_Wh._ I should be glad to meet you there.

_Dane._ If you summon me by your letters, I will give you a meeting at
Copenhagen, or those whom the Protector will send thither; and if you
will meet me there, I doubt not but to show you a way to get that town
without much difficulty; and then you will have all the isle of Zealand,
which is the best p