Domingo and Carthagena and had not found
them very formidable. Go in? Of course they would. Where Drake would
lead the corsairs of Plymouth were never afraid to follow. The
vice-admiral pleaded danger to her Majesty's ships. It was not the
business of an English fleet to be particular about danger. Straight in
they went with a fair wind and a flood tide, ran past the batteries and
under a storm of shot, to which they did not trouble themselves to wait
to reply. The poor vice-admiral followed reluctantly in the _Lion_. A
single shot hit the _Lion_, and he edged away out of range, anchored,
and drifted to sea again with the ebb. But Drake and all the rest dashed
on, sank the guardship--a large galleon--and sent flying a fleet of
galleys which ventured too near them and were never seen again.
Further resistance there was none--absolutely none. The crews of the
store ships escaped in their boats to land. The governor of Cadiz, the
same Duke of Medina Sidonia who the next year was to gain a disastrous
immortality, fled 'like a tall gentleman' to raise troops and prevent
Drake from landing. Drake had no intention of landing. At his extreme
leisure he took possession of the Spanish shipping, searched every
vessel, and carried off everything that he could use.
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