ngs at Faro, with a Spanish
force stationed there to guard them. Force or no force, water was to be
had. The boats were sent on shore. The boats' crews stormed the forts
and filled the casks. The vice-admiral again lifted up his voice. The
Queen had ordered that there was to be no landing on Spanish soil. At
Cadiz the order had been observed. There had been no need to land. Here
at Faro there had been direct defiance of her Majesty's command. He
became so loud in his clamours that Drake found it necessary to lock him
up in his own cabin, and at length to send him home with his ship to
complain. For himself, as the expected fleet from the Straits did not
appear, and as he had shaken off his troublesome second in command, he
proceeded leisurely up the coast, intending to look in at Lisbon and see
for himself how things were going on there. All along as he went he fell
in with traders loaded with supplies for the use of the Armada. All
these he destroyed as he advanced, and at length found himself under the
purple hills of Cintra and looking up into the Tagus. There lay gathered
together the strength of the fighting naval force of Spain--fifty great
galleons, already arrived, the largest war-ships which then floated on
the ocean. Santa Cruz, the best officer in the Spanish navy, was himself
in the town and in command. To venture a repetition of the Cadiz
exploit in the face of such odds seemed too desperate even for Drake,
but it was one of those occasions when the genius of a great commander
sees more than ordinary eyes. He calculated, and, as was proved
afterwards, calculated rightly, that the galleons would be half manned,
or not manned at all, and crowded with landsmen bringing on board the
stores. Their sides as they lay would be choked with hulks and lighters.
They would be unable to get their anchors up, set their canvas, or stir
from their moorings. Daring as Drake was known to be, no one would
expect him to go with so small a force into the enemy's stronghold, and
there would be no preparations to meet him. He could count upon the
tides. The winds at that season of the year were fresh and steady, and
could be counted on also to take him in or out; there was sea room in
the river for such vessels as the adventurers' to manoeuvre and to
retreat if overmatched. Rash as such an enterprise might seem to an
unprofessional eye, Drake certainly thought of it, perhaps had meant to
try it in some form or other and so make an