keep a cold Christmas with the bishop and his clerks, as I said before.  After this, meeting with an English ship, we received the joyful news that ninety-one Spanish prizes were come to England; and along with that, the sorrowful intelligence that our last and best prize was cast away on the coast of Cornwal, at a place the Cornish men call Als-efferne, that is Hell-cliff, where Captain Lister and all the people were drowned, except five or six, half English and half Spaniards, who saved their lives by swimming.  Yet much of the goods were saved and preserved for us, by Sir Francis Godolphin and other worshipful gentlemen of the country.  My lord was very sorry for the death of Captain Lister, saying that he would willingly have lost all the fruits of the voyage to have saved his life.

The 29th December we met another ship, from which we learned that Sir Martin Frobisher and Captain Reymond had taken the admiral and vice-admiral of the fleet we had seen going into the haven of Tercera; but that the admiral had sunk, in consequence of much leaking, near the Eddystone, a rock over against Plymouth sound, all the people however being saved.  We were likewise informed by this ship, that Captain Preston had captured a ship laden with silver.  My lord took his passage in this last ship to land at Falmouth, while we held on our course for Plymouth.

Towards night we came near the Ram-head, the next cape westwards from Plymouth sound, but we feared to double it in the night, by reason of the scantness of the wind:  so we stood out to seawards for half the night, and towards morning had the wind more large.  But we made too little to spare thereof; partly for which reasons and partly mistaking the land, we fell so much to leeward that we could not double the cape.  For this reason we turned back again and got into Falmouth haven, where we grounded in 17 feet water; but as it was low ebb, the sea ready again to flow, and the ground soft, we received no harm.  Here we gladly set our feet again on the long desired English ground, and refreshed ourselves by keeping part of Christmas on our native soil.

SECTION VIII.

Valiant Sea Fight, by Ten Merchant Ships of London against Twelve Spanish Gallies in the Straits of Gibraltar, on the 24th April 1590[369].

In 1590, sundry ships belonging to the merchants of London, some freighted for Venice, some for Constantinople, and some to divers other parts, met on their homeward course within the Straits of Gibraltar, having escaped all danger hitherto.  The first of these was the Salomon, belonging to Mr Alexander Barnam of London, and Messrs Bond and Tweed of Harwich, which had sailed on the first of February last.  The second was the Margaret and John, belonging to Mr Wats of London.  The third was the Minion; the fourth the Ascension; the fifth the Centurion, belonging to Mr Cordal; the sixth the Violet; the seventh the Samuel; the eighth