Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/156

136 little except remarkable evidence of incapacity in the French commanders. In the morning a council of war was held. The English fleet, to avoid exposing themselves a second time to the attacks of the galleys, had withdrawn into the harbour or under the shore; and D'Annebault, confident in numbers and French daring, proposed, since they would not venture out, to go in and attack them where they lay, and, if possible, carry Portsmouth. The crews, brave as lions, desired nothing better. The pilots, when consulted, declared the enterprise impracticable. In order to reach the enemy, they would have to advance up a channel which only four ships could pass abreast. They must take the flow of the tide; and the current was so violent that, if any misadventure befell the first which entered, the whole line would nevertheless be obliged to follow, and they would all be crushed together in confusion. The admiral disbelieved in difficulties. He thought they might anchor and bombard the town. But their cables, the pilots declared, would not be strong enough to bring them up, at the rate at which they would be going; or they might be cut; or the eddies, perpetually shifting the position of the ships, would lay them open to be swept by the English batteries. Imagining that the reluctance might arise from cowardice, D'Annebault, as soon as night fell, sent in boats with muffled oars, to try the soundings and measure the passage into the harbour. They returned with more than a confirmation of the unfavourable reports. A single ship, they stated, could