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 the occasion comprised no fewer than twenty sail of ships, none of which belonged to the navy, and it formed a force more formidable than had ever been assembled by a subject. It sailed from Plymouth on March 6th, 1598. The first intention of the commander-in-chief appears to have been to proceed to the West Indies; but, learning soon after he had put to sea that certain rich Spanish carracks were about to cross the Atlantic in company with twenty merchantmen bound for Brazil, he lay in wait for a time for the convoy. The Spaniards, however, apprised of his presence off their coasts, kept their ships in port; and the Earl's only captures at the beginning of his voyage were a Hamburger, with a miscellaneous cargo of contraband goods, a Frenchman laden with salt, and two Flamands full of corn.

Convinced that the carracks would not venture out while he was in the neighbourhood, Cumberland steered for the Canaries,