This Sir Richard Grenville Was A
Great And Rich Gentleman Of England, Having Large Yearly Revenues, But
Of A Daring And Intrepid Disposition, And Much Affected To Warlike
Enterprize; Insomuch That He Voluntarily Offered His Services To The
Queen.
He had performed many valiant deeds, and was greatly feared among
the islands, his intrepidity being well known to all.
He was, however,
of a severe and rigid character, so that his own people feared and hated
him for his fierceness, and spoke very hardly of him. For, when they in
the Revenge first fell in among the Spanish fleet, they had their
mainsail in readiness, and might possibly have got away, as it was one
of the best sailing ships of the English; and, as the master perceived
that the rest of the squadron had left them, and did not follow up to
their support, he gave orders to _cut the mainsail_, that they likewise
should make off: But sir Richard threatened him and all the rest of the
crew, that if any man laid hold of the mainsail with that intent, he
would cause him to be hung up immediately; so that in fact they were
compelled to fight, and in the end were taken. He was of so hardy a
complexion, that, while among the Spanish officers, while at dinner or
supper with them, he would swallow three or four bumpers of wine, and
then by way of bravado, crush the glasses between his teeth and swallow
them, so that the blood ran out of his mouth, yet without any apparent
harm to him. This was told me by several credible persons, who had often
stood by and beheld him.
The Englishmen who remained alive in the Revenge, as the captain of the
soldiers, the master, and others, were distributed among the different
ships by which she was taken. On taking possession of her, a fight had
almost taken place between the Biscaineers and Portuguese who boarded
her, both claiming the honour of having boarded first, so that there
grew a great noise and quarrel among them, one seizing the chief ensign,
and the other the flag, the captains and every one holding their own.
The ships which had laid her on board were altogether out of order, and
sore shattered, having many of their men hurt, so that they had to come
to Tercera to be repaired. On their arrival, I and my chamber companion,
desirous to hear the news, went on board one of the twelve apostles, or
great ships of Biscay, whose captain was _Bartandono_[387], who had been
general of the Biscaineers in the great armada that went against
England. On seeing us, he called us into his gallery, where he received
us courteously, being then at dinner along with the English captain, who
was dressed in a suit of black velvet, but could not tell us any thing,
as he could speak no other language but English and Latin, which last
Bartandono could speak a little. The English captain was permitted by
the governor of Tercera to land with his sword by his side, and was in
our lodging visiting the Englishman who belonged to the ship of which
the sailors escaped, as I related before. This captain wrote a letter,
in which he related all the particulars of the fight, and left it with
that English merchant who resided in the lodging with us, to forward it
to the lord admiral of England. The captain went afterwards to Lisbon,
where he was honourably received, and sent, to Setubal, whence he sailed
for England with the other prisoners. The master likewise of the Revenge
came on shore, with licence from Bartandono, and lived in the same
lodgings with us. He had at the least 10 or 12 wounds, in his head and
body, of which he afterwards died on his voyage from the islands to
Lisbon.
[Footnote 387: Named Britandona in the foregoing section. - E.]
The Spanish navy remained at the Azores till the end of September, to
assemble all the fleet together, which in the end amounted to the number
of 140 sail in all, including the ships of war and those of the Indies.
When all ready to sail, there arose suddenly so violent a storm, that
the islanders declared nothing like it had been seen in the memory of
man. The sea raged with such fury as if it would have swallowed up the
islands, the waves rising higher than the cliffs, so that it was amazing
to behold them, and living fish were thrown upon the land. The storm
lasted for seven or eight successive days, veering about to every point
of the compass at least twice or three times during its continuance,
with a continual tempestuous force most terrible to behold, even by us
who were on shore, much more to those who were on the sea, and exposed
to its fury. During this dreadful storm, above 12 ships were dashed to
pieces on the coasts and rocks of the island of Tercera all round about,
so that nothing was to be heard but weeping, lamenting, and wailing, now
a ship being broken in pieces in one place, then another at a different
place, and all the men drowned. For 20 days after the storm, nothing
else was done but fishing for dead men that were continually driving on
shore. Among the rest, the Revenge was cast away on a ledge of rocks
near the isle of Tercera, where she split to pieces and sunk, having in
her 70 men, Gallegos and Biscaineers and others, with some of the
captive English, one only of whom got upon the rock alive, having his
head and body all wounded. Being brought on shore, he told us the sad
tidings, and desired to be shriven, after which he presently died. The
Revenge had in her several fine brass pieces of artillery, which were
all sunk in the sea; but the islanders had great hopes of weighing them
up next summer.
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