"
55. "The Armada," Mr. Fronde says, "made sail and attempted to close.
To Medina Sidonia's extreme astonishment, it seemed at the pleasure of
the English to leave him or allow him to approach them as they chose.
The high-towered, broad-bowed galleons moved like Thames barges piled
with hay, while the sharp, low English ships sailed at near two feet
to the Spaniards' one and shot away, as if by magic, in the eye of the
wind. It was as if a modern steam fleet was engaged with a squadron of
the old-fashioned sailing vessels, choosing their own distance, and
fighting or not fighting, as suited their convenience.
56. "Astonished and confounded, as well by the manoeuvring as by the
rapidity of the English fire, the Spanish officers could not refuse
their admiration. They knew they were inferior at sea, but had not
fully realized their inferiority, notwithstanding the lessons Drake,
Hawkins, Cavendish, and others had already taught them. But here were
the English firing four shots to their one, while their ships were so
nimble that, with a fresh breeze, even the swiftest of the Spanish
ships could not touch there. Such splendid gunners and skillful seamen
the Spaniards had never seen before, and were hardly able to believe
in their existence."
57. The wind was from the west, so that the English fleet were able to
keep to the windward, giving them an increased advantage over their
antagonists.
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