hours' firing, the enemy sheered off, haviug lost one vessel hy fire, and having had several badly mauled; and the English, proceeding, reached Englaml without further adventure in May, 15.qt3. The year 1595 tnessed two other expeditions of some im- portance. One was the voyage of a little squadron under Amyas Preston and George Somers to the West Indies. It was a privateering venture, and, in the course of it, the ishmd of Porto Santo, near Madeira, was taken and pillaged, aud considerahle damage was done to the Spaniards on the coast of what is now Venezuela." The other was the eighth of the Earl of Cumberland's voyages. For the occasion the earl had built the Scourqe qf Mtlice, 900 tons, at Dcptford. His intention was to personally lead the expedition, and, indeed, he actually started with it, but was recalled 1,y the queen. The other ships were the .41ccdo, Captain William 3Ionson; the _lnthony, I)avid Jarret, master; and an old "frigate." Cmnberland's appointment of Captain Langton to take his place as "admiral" disgmsted lXlonson, who left the other ships, and cruised, but to no effect, on his own account. The remaining vessels made several prizes, but narrowly escaped falling into the hands of a large Spanish fleet. a It is interesting to note here that the Scourge qf Mtlice, a hmous ship iu her day, was sohl, after Cmnberland had done with her, to the East India Company, and, re-named the Dragon, distinguished hersell' against the Portuguese in the Eastern seas in the time of James I. lirahours of a renewed intention on the part of Spain to invade England still persisted. hnleed, Spain had apparently forgotten the catastrophe of the Armada, and, there is little douht, hathosted some fresh designs against Elizabeth, and particularly against her dominions in Ireland. Yet it is more than possible that the great English expedition of 1591; would not have sailed when, and shmck as, it did, but for the fact that, owing to French mismanagement and folly in decliuing profitred English help, the Spaniards suc- ceeded in making themselves masters of Calais. This stirred Eugland, just iu the same way as the probahility of a Spanish occupation of Brest had stirred it in 15.}4. Preparations for an

The year of Keymis's Voyage to Guiana, of Shirley's expedition to the West 

Indies, and of Parker's t'ruise to the West Indies, .,cr Chap. X�1. a Hakluyt, iii. 578. a IXlonson; Purchas, iv. 1148: H:trris, ' �,wages,' i. GS,q.

• Cal. of Hatriehl MSS. (Hist. MSS. {.)1 pt. vt.