The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-02
BRAKES BOLD DASH.

Boast That He Had Singed the Beard OF
the King of Spain.
Burghley and Walsingham, you can see
from their letters, believed now that Eliz-
abeth had ruined herself at last. Happily
her moods were variable as the weather
She was forced to SEQ the condition to
which she had reduced her affairs in the
Low Countries by the appearance of num-
Der OF starving wretches who had deserted
from the garrisons there and had come
across to clamor for their pay at her own
palace gates. If she had no troops in the
field but mutinous and starving rabble,
she might get no terms at all. 1t might
be well to show Philip that on one ele-
ment at least she could still be dangerous
She had lost nothing by the bold actions
of Drake and the priyateers. With half a
heart she alloyed Drake to fit them out
again, take the Buonavcntura, ship of
her own, to carry his flag and go down to
the coast of Spain and see what was going
on. He was not to do too much. She sent
q vice admiral with him in the Lion to be
check on overaudacity. Drake knew
how to deal with embarrassing vice ad-
mirals. His own adventures would SAIL
if he ordered, to the mountains of the
moon and be quite certain that it was the
right place to go to. Once under way and
on the blue water he would go lis own
course and run his own risks
Cadiz harbor was thronged with trans
ports, provision ships, powder vessels-a
hundred sail of them-many of thousand
tons and over, loading with stores for the
armada. There were 80 sail of adventur-
ers, the smartest afoat on the ocean and
sailed by the smartest seaman that ever
handled rope or tiller. Something might
be done at Cadiz if he did not say too
much about it. The leave had been given
him to go, but he knew by experience,
and Burgh1ey again warned him, that 1T
might and probably would be revoked if
he waited too long. The moment was his
own, and he used it. He was but just in
time Before his sails were under the
horizon courier galloped into Plymouth
with orders that under no condition was
he to enter port OF haven OF the king OF
Spain or injure Spanish subjects. What
else was he going out for? He had guessed
how it would be. Comedy or earnest he
could not tell. If earnest, some such or
der would be sent after him, and he had
not an instant to lose
He sailed on the morning OF April IL.
OFF Ushant he fell in with northwest
gale, and he flew on, spreading every
stitch of canvas which his spars would
bear. In five days he was at Cape St Vim
cent. On the 18th he had the white
houses of Cadiz right in front of him and
could see for himself the forests of masts
from the ships and transports with which
the harbor was choked. Here was chance
e., -, - VIZ
for the venture He signaled for his Off
GERS to come on board the Buonaventura.
There before their eyes was, if not the
armada itself, the materials which were to
fit the armada for the seas. Did they dare
to go in with him and destroy them2
There were batteries at the harbor mouth,
but brakes marines had faced Spanish
batteries at St. Domingo and Cartagena
and had not found them very formidable.
Go in? OF course they would. Where
Drake would lead the corsairs of Plymouth
were never afraid to follow.
The vice admiral pleaded danger to her
majesty's ships. lit was not the business
of an English fleet to be particular about
danger. Straight in they went with
fair wind and flood tide, ran past the
batteries and under a storm of shot, to
which they did not trouble themselves to
wait to reply. The poor vice admiral fol-
lowed reluctantly in the Lion. A single
shot hit the Lion, and he edged away out
of range, anchored and drifted to sea
again with thu ebb. But Drake and all
the rest dashed on, sank the guardship-a
large galleon-and sent flying fleet of
galleys which ventured too near them
and were never seen again.
Further resistance there was nOne-abSo-
lutely none The crews of the ships
escaped in their boats to land The gov
ernor of Cadiz, the same Duke of Medina
Sidonia who the next year was to gain a
disastrous Immortality, fed "like a tall
gentleman to raise troops and prevent
Drake from landing. Drake had no in
tention of landing. At his extreme leisure
he took possession Of the Spanish shipping,
searched every vessel and carried off ev-
erything that he could USE He detained
as prisoners tho few men that he found
on board, and then, after doing his work
deliberately and completely, he set the
hulls on fire, cut the cables and left them
to drive ON the rising tide under the walls
of the town--a confused mass of blazing
ruin On April 10 he had sailed from
Plymouth. On the Goth he entered Cadiz
harbor. On May he passed out again
without the loss of boat or man. He
said in jest that he had singed the beard
of the king of Spain for him. In sober
prose he had done the king Of Spain an
amount of damage which million ducats
and years labor would imperfectly re-
place.
The daring rapidity of the enterprise
astonished Spain and astonished Europe
more than the storm of the West Indian
I