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

known how little cause there was to fear an
Armada which was fleeing when no man was
pursuing. There came a day's calm; hunger and
thirst were raging on board the ships; their store of
water was entirely spent; the Spaniards sent some
boats on shore to beg a supply. They prayed
piteously, they offered any amount of money, but
not a drop could they have. The natives knew that
the Spaniards had lost the day, and that should they
succor the enemies of Elizabeth, the Government
would hold them answerable. Nor was this the
worst; new horrors awaited them on this fated
coast. The storm had returned in all its former
violence; to windward were the mighty crested
billows of the Atlantic, against which both
themselves and their vessels were without power to
contend; to the leeward were the bristling cliffs of
the Irish coast, amid which they sought, but found
not, haven or place of rest. The gale raged for
eleven days, still during that time galleon after
galleon came on shore, scattering their drowned
crews by hundreds upon the beach. An eye-witness
thus describes the dreadful scene: "When I was at
Sligo," wrote Sir Geoffrey Fenton, "I numbered on
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