Page:Royalnavyhistory01clow.djvu/539

 burnt about a hundred more ships, besides again harrying the coasts.

Huge quantities of military stores were thus destroyed or taken. But there was small gain of rich stuffs, of spices, and of treasure, and the numerous merchant adventurers who had associated themselves with the fortunes of the expedition naturally looked for some other reward than the spectacle of exploding powder-magazines and burnt accumulations of provisions. It was to satisfy them that, after quitting Cascais, Drake, although his ships were falling short of food and water, headed westward for the Azores. On a day in June, off the island of St. Michael, the English squadron fell in with the great carrack, San Felipe, homeward bound with a rich cargo from the East Indies. Her foes were too many for her, and she was speedily taken. The booty found in her more than delighted the merchants, yet it was perhaps the least valuable part of her lading; for in her cabin were discovered papers which so convincingly drew attention to the enormous profits of the East India trade, and so clearly described the methods by which that trade had been prosecuted by the Spaniards, that the English adventurers, upon returning home, were able to establish a similar trade upon their own account, and, a very few years later, founded the East India Company — probably, upon the whole, the most successful as well as the most gigantic commercial association of which history provides any record.

It has been said that Drake's descent upon Cadiz had the effect of postponing the sailing of the Spanish Armada from 1587 to 1588. This scarcely appears to be true. But, undoubtedly, Drake's operations greatly confused and complicated the difficulties in Philip's way, and rendered the attempt of 1588 not only much more costly, but also far less formidable than it would otherwise have been. The whole expedition was well planned and well carried out; and at that juncture England could hardly have been better served, the enemy more seriously injured, or the adventuring merchants more signally benefited.

The history of the Armada of 1588 is of so much importance, and has to be told in such detail and at so much length, that it has been made the subject of a separate chapter.