Six vessels were loaded with wild-fire,
rosin, pitch, brimstone, and other combustibles, and made ready to
sail. The night was dark, with indications in sky and sea of a coming
gale. "When the Spanish bells," says Froude, "were about striking
twelve, and, save the watch on deck, soldiers and seamen lay stretched
in sleep, certain dark objects, which had been seen dimly drifting in
the tide near where the galleons lay thickest, shot suddenly into
pyramids of light, flames leaping from ruddy sail to sail, flickering
on the ropes and forecastles, masts and bow-sprits, a lurid blaze of
conflagration.
74. "A cool commander might have ordered out his boats and towed the
fire-ships clear; but Medina Sidonia, with a strain already upon him
beyond the strength of his capacity, saw coming some terrible engine
of destruction, like the floating mine which had shattered Parma's
bridge at Antwerp. Panic spread through the entire Armada. Hasty and
impetuous cries arose on board each menaced vessel. 'Up anchors,
comrades! Out every stitch of canvas! Away, away! for in the track of
those blazing ships follow death and ruin!'
75. "There are times when immense bodies of men suddenly give way to
the influence of a needless but over-mastering panic, and this was one
of them. Every cable was cut; galleon, galliasse, and patache drove
hurriedly through the press of shipping, each heedless of its
comrade's danger, and seeking frantically some channel of escape.
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