being
Sunday; and the officers of the Yard most of them abroad, or at the Hill
house, at the pay of the Chest, which they did make use of to day to do
part in. Several complaints, I hear, of the Monmouth's coming away too
soon from the chaine, where she was placed with the two guard-ships to
secure it; and Captain Robert Clerke, my friend, is blamed for so
doing there, but I hear nothing of him at London about it; but Captain
Brookes's running aground with the "Sancta Maria," which was one of the
three ships that were ordered to be sunk to have dammed up the River
at the chaine, is mightily cried against, and with reason, he being the
chief man to approve of the abilities of other men, and the other two
slips did get safe thither and he run aground; but yet I do hear that
though he be blameable, yet if she had been there, she nor two more to
them three would have been able to have commanded the river all over. I
find that here, as it hath been in our river, fire-ships, when fitted,
have been sunk afterwards, and particularly those here at the Mussle,
where they did no good at all. Our great ships that were run aground
and sunk are all well raised but the "Vanguard," which they go about to
raise to-morrow. "The Henery," being let loose to drive up the river of
herself, did run up as high as the bridge, and broke down some of the
rails of the bridge, and so back again with the tide, and up again, and
then berthed himself so well as no pilot could ever have done better;
and Punnet says he would not, for his life, have undertaken to have done
it, with all his skill. I find it is true that the Dutch did heele "The
Charles" to get her down, and yet run aground twice or thrice, and yet
got her safe away, and have her, with a great many good guns in
her, which none of our pilots would ever have undertaken. It is very
considerable the quantity of goods, which the making of these platforms
and batterys do take out of the King's stores: so that we shall have
little left there, and, God knows! no credit to buy any; besides, the
taking away and spending of (it is possible) several goods that would
have been either rejected or abatement made for them before used. It
is a strange thing to see that, while my Lords Douglas and Middleton do
ride up and down upon single horses, my Lord Bruncker do go up and down
with his hackney-coach and six horses at the King's charge, which will
do, for all this time, and the time that he is likely to s