Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

A bold and somewhat novel expedient,
suggested by her Majesty, as both Camden and
Meteren affirm,[1] was resolved upon for
accomplishing this object. Eight ships were
selected from the crowd of volunteer vessels that
followed the fleet; their masts were smeared with
pitch, their hulls were filled with powder and all
kinds of explosive and combustible materials; and
so prepared they were set adrift in the direction of
the Armada, leaving to the Spaniards no alternative
but to cut their cables or to be burned at their
anchors. The night favored the execution of this
design. Heavy masses of clouds hid the stars; the
muttering of distant thunder reverberated in the
sky; that deep, heavy swell of ocean that precedes
the tempest was rocking the galleons, and
rendering their position every moment more
unpleasant--so close to the shallows of Calais on
the one side, with the quicksand of Flanders on
their lee. While in this feverish state of
apprehension, new objects of terror presented
themselves to the Spaniards. It was about an hour
past midnight when the watch discerned certain
dark objects emerging out of the blackness and
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