mouth of the river sixty ships
laden with naval stores, they seized them as lawful prize; though they
belonged to the Hanse Towns, a neutral power. They sailed thence to
Vigo, which they took and burned; and having ravaged the country around,
they set sail and arrived in England. Above half of these gallant
adventurers perished by sickness, famine, fatigue, and the sword;[*]
and England reaped more honor than profit from this extraordinary
enterprise. It is computed, that eleven hundred gentlemen embarked on
board the fleet, and that only three hundred and fifty survived those
multiplied disasters.[**]

* Birch's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 61.

** Birch's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 61.

When these ships were on their voyage homewards, they met with the earl
of Cumberland, who was outward bound, with a fleet of seven sail, all
equipped at his own charge, except one ship of war which the queen had
lent him. That nobleman supplied Sir Francis Drake with some provisions;
a generosity which saved the lives of many of Drake's men, but for which
the others afterwards suffered severely. Cumberland sailed towards
the Terceras, and took several prizes from the enemy; but the richest,
valued at a hundred thousand pounds, perished in her return, with
all her cargo, near St. Michael's Mount, in Cornwall. Many of these
adventurers were killed in a rash attempt at the Terceras: a great
mortality seized the rest; and it was with difficulty that the few hands
which remained were able to steer the ships back into harbor.[*]

Though the signal advantages gained over the Spaniards, and the spirit
thence infused into the English, gave Elizabeth great security during
the rest of her reign, she could not forbear keeping an anxious eye on
Scotland, whose situation rendered its revolutions always of importance
to her. It might have been expected that this high-spirited princess,
who knew so well to brave danger, would not have retained that malignant
jealousy towards her heir, with which, during the lifetime of Mary, she
had been so much agitated. James had indeed succeeded to all the claims
of his mother; but he had not succeeded to the favor of the Catholics,
which could alone render these claims dangerous:[**] and as the queen
was now well advanced in years, and enjoyed an uncontrolled authority
over her subjects, it was not likely that the king of Scots, who was of
an indolent, unambitious temper, would ever give her any disturbance
in her