The
galley slaves disobeyed orders, or else Don Hugo was as incompetent as
his commander-in-chief. The galleass had gone on the sands, and as the
tide ebbed had fallen over on her side. Howard, seeing her condition,
had followed her in the _Ark_ with four or five other of the Queen's
ships, and was furiously attacking her with his boats, careless of
neutrality laws. Howard's theory was, as he said, to pluck the feathers
one by one from the Spaniard's wing, and here was a feather worth
picking up. The galleass was the most splendid vessel of her kind
afloat, Don Hugo one of the greatest of Spanish grandees.
Howard was making a double mistake. He took the galleass at last, after
three hours' fighting. Don Hugo was killed by a musket ball. The vessel
was plundered, and Howard's men took possession, meaning to carry her
away when the tide rose. The French authorities ordered him off,
threatening to fire upon him; and after wasting the forenoon, he was
obliged at last to leave her where she lay. Worse than this, he had lost
three precious hours, and had lost along with them, in the opinion of
the Prince of Parma, the honours of the great day.
Drake and Hawkins knew better than to waste time plucking single
feathers.
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