very first day of their being in presence of the English
fleet--then but sixty-seven in number, and vastly their inferior in size
and weight of metal--they had lost the flag ships of the Guipuzcoan and
of the Andalusian squadrons, with a general-admiral, 450 officers and,
men, and some 100,000 ducats of treasure. They had been out-manoeuvred,
out-sailed, and thoroughly maltreated by their antagonists, and they had
been unable to inflict a single blow in return. Thus the "small fight"
had been a cheerful one for the opponents of the Inquisition, and the
English were proportionably encouraged.

On Monday, 1st of August, Medina Sidonia placed the rear-guard-consisting
of the galeasses, the galleons St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. James, and the
Florence and other ships, forty-three in all--under command of Don
Antonio de Leyva. He was instructed to entertain the enemy--so constantly
hanging on the rear--to accept every chance of battle, and to come to
close quarters whenever it should be possible. The Spaniards felt
confident of sinking every ship in the English navy, if they could but
once come to grappling; but it was growing more obvious every hour that
the giving or withholding battle was entirely in the hands of their foes.
Meantime--while the rear was thus protected by Leyva's division--the
vanguard and main body of the Armada, led by the captain-general, would
steadily pursue its way, according to the royal instructions, until it
arrived at its appointed meeting-place with the Duke of Parma. Moreover,
the Duke of Medina--dissatisfied with the want of discipline and of good
seamanship hitherto displayed in his fleet--now took occasion to send a
serjeant-major, with written sailing directions, on board each ship in
the Armada, with express orders to hang every captain, without appeal or
consultation, who should leave the position assigned him; and the hangmen
were sent with the sergeant-majors to ensure immediate attention to these
arrangements. Juan Gil was at the name time sent off in a sloop to the
Duke of Parma, to carry the news of the movements of the Armada, to
request information as to the exact spot and moment of the junction, and
to beg for pilots acquainted with the French and Flemish coasts. "In case
of the slightest gale in the world," said Medina, "I don't know how or
where to shelter such large ships as ours."

Disposed in this manner; the Spaniards sailed leisurely along the English
coast with light westerl