ships were lost, and one, sorely damaged and very short of provisions, was driven into Dartmouth. The English vessels, on the other hand, all reached port in safety.
Essex and Ralegh were each blamed for the failure by the friends and partisans of the other, and in consequence the quarrel between the two leaders became very bitter. They, however, agreed upon, and both signed, a common account of the fortunes of the expedition. This account ended characteristically as follows: —
Alluding to the dispersion of the Spanish fleet, Monson says: "We must ascribe this victory only to God, for certainly the enemy's designs were perilous, and not diverted by our force." The Spanish design was to seize Falmouth, and to use it as an advanced base for operations against Ireland. England seems to have little realised at the moment the seriousness of the blow which had missed her so narrowly.
A small expedition, which left England in the course of the same year, is of interest, and deserves mention here, on account of its connection with disputes which, in succeeding ages, greatly influenced the relations between Great Britain and France. It was in no sense a naval expedition, but essentially a fishing venture. Nevertheless, like most of the maritime expeditions of the period, it led to some fighting.
Charles Leigh and Abraham van Herwick, merchants of London, fitted out the Hopewell, 120 tons, William Crafton, master, and the Chancewell, 70 tons, Stephen Bennet, master, to fish in the waters of Cape Breton and Newfoundland, where the French already fished for cod. Charles Leigh himself and Stephen van Herwick, a brother of his partner, went as managers of the voyage; and the two vessels, with a pinnace of seven or eight tons, quitted Gravesend on April 8th, 1597. On May 18th, they were upon the banks of Newfoundland. On May 20th, the Hopewell, without Leigh's
