cover stealths, and in fight are dangerous to tear men with their splinters.

Of harbouring and placing the navy.

of

There are also many and great reasons why all his majesty's navy should not in such sort be penned up as they are in Rochester water, but only in respect of the ease and commodity of the officers, which is encountered with sundry inconveniences for the sea-service, the difficulty being very great to bring them in or out at times of need through so many flats and sands, if wind and weather be not very favourable. Besides, they must have sundry winds to bring them to the Land's End, and to put them to the seas, which oftentimes fails, and causeth delay when haste is most needful. For if any service be to be done upon the south parts of England, as the Wight, Portsmouth, the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, or westward towards Devonshire or Cornwall, or towards Wales or Ireland, it is so long ere his majesty's shipping can be brought about to recover any these places, as much mischief may be done the while: for the same winds that bring in the enemy binds in our shipping in such sort, as that oftentimes in a month's space they are not able to recover the nearest of any of these abovenamed coasts. But how perilous a course it is, is easily discerned, and as easily remedied; seeing there are besides so many safe and good harbours to disperse and bestow some of the navy in, where they may ever lie fit for all services; as Portsmouth, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Milford, and divers others, all of them being harbours very capable and convenient for shipping. But perhaps it will be alleged, that they cannot ride in any of these so safe from enemies as in Rochester water, because it reacheth far within the land, and is under the protection of some blockhouses. To which I answer thus, that with very easy care and provision, they may in most of these places ride sufficiently secure from any foreign practices. And I do not mean that all the whole navy should be subdivided into all these ports,

but that some half dozen or eight of the middling ships, and some pinnaces, should lie in the west; and yet not in any port so near the sea, as that in a dark night they may be endangered by enemies, with fire, or otherwise, but in some such places as Ashwater is by Plymouth, where an enemy must run up a fresh river a dozen miles after he hath passed the forts of the island, and the alarm given before he can come where they lie at anchor in which river the greatest carack of Portugal may ride afloat ten miles within the forts. But if regard be only had of their safe keeping, and not also of their readiness and fitness for service, then let them never be sent abroad to be hazarded against the enemy's forces; for therein they shall be more subject to casualty and danger, than by lying in any of those harbours above specified. But certain it is, that these ships are purposely to serve his majesty, and to defend the kingdom from danger, and not to be so penned up from casualty, as that they should be the less able or serviceable in times of need; and therefore that objection savours not of good reason, but rather of self-respect in the officers, who are all, for the most part, well seated near about Rochester. But the service of his majesty and the safety of the realm (in my poor opinion) ought to prevail beyond all other respects whatsoever; and to him that casts those needless doubts it may well be said, pereat qui timet umbras.

Of the needful expense in manning the navy, and other inconveniences, by placing all the fleet in Rochester water.

In the service of the shipping lying for any of these places above-named, or for Spain, or for the islands, they are enforced of very necessity to press the best and greatest part of their men out of the west countries, which is no small charge in bringing them so far as between that and Rochester; and then when they are embarked at Rochester, their charge is again redoubled in their pay and expense of victuals before the ships can recover so far as Plymouth, which many times is long a doing; for they do ever usually touch at Plymouth in all southern voyages, for the furnish

ing many sea necessaries which that country doth afford: and, therefore, for so many ships as should be there resident, the charges of conduct-money for mariners, of wages and of victuals, would be well saved for all that time which is spent betwixt Rochester and Plymouth. Besides, it were to be presumed, that enemies would not be so troublesome to the western coasts, nor that country itself would be so often dismayed with alarms as they have of late years been, if some of his majesty's good ships were resident in those parts. If therefore (in his majesty's wisdom) it should appear fit to bestow some of his shipping in any of these harbours afore-named, it shall be very needful likewise that there be a magazine of all manner of necessary provisions and munitions in the same places, according to the proportion of the shipping that there shall be resident, whereby such defects as by accident may fall out, shall, upon any occasion, be readily supplied, without delays or hinderance of service. And that withal, in the same places, some officers belonging to the admiralty be there always attendant, otherwise it would be found very inconvenient to be enforced ever to attend such helps and supplies as must come so far off as London, when it may more easily, and with less charge, be effected in places where they ride.

of great ordnance.

It were also very behoveful that his majesty's ships were not so over-pestered and clogged with great ordnance as they are, whereof there is such superfluity, as that much of it serves to no better use but only to labour and overcharge the ships' sides in any grown seas and foul weather. sides, many of the ships that are allowed but twenty gunners have forty piece of brass pieces, whereas every piece at least requires four gunners to attend it, and so that proportion of ordnance to so few gunners is very preposterous; for when a ship reels or rolls in foul weather, the breaking loose of ordnance is a thing very dangerous, which the gunners can hardly prevent or well look into, they being so few, the guns so many; withal we do see, that twenty or

thirty good brass pieces, as cannon, demi-cannon, culverin, and demi-culverin, is a royal battery for a prince to bring before any town or strong fortress. And why should not we as well think the same to be a very large proportion for one ship to batter another withal? which if it be, then may his majesty rateably save a great part of the ordnance throughout every ship, and make the navy the more sufficient and serviceable, and thereby also save a great deal of needless expense in superfluous powder and shot, that is now pretended to be delivered out according to this huge and excessive proportion of artillery; whereof if many had not been stricken down into holt in many voyages, (and especially in this last journey to the islands,) divers of the ships, weight, heaft, and charge thereof, would have foundered in the sea; wherein I report me to such as have served in them, and saw the proof thereof. For this journey to the islands did, most of all others, discover unto us these experiences and trials in the royal navy; for that it was the longest navigation that ever was made out of our realm with so many of the prince's ships, and tarrying out so late in the year, whereby both the winds and seas had power and time throughly to search and examine them. Besides, many times there is no proportion of shot and powder allowed rateably, by that quantity of the great ordnance, as was seen in the sea battle with the Spaniards in the year 88, when it so nearly concerned the defence and preservation of the kingdom. So as then many of those great guns wanting powder and shot, stood but as ciphers and scarecrows, not unlike to the easterling hulks, who were wont to plant great red port-holes in their broadsides, where they carried no ordnance at all.

Of caulking and sheathing his majesty's ships.

There is a great error committed in the manner of caulking his majesty's ships, which being done with rotten oakum is the cause they are leaky; and the reason is this, for that they make their oakum, wherewith they caulk the seams of the ships, of old seer and weather-beaten ropes, when they

are overspent and grown so rotten as they serve for no other use but to make rotten oakum, which moulders and washes away with every sea, as the ships labour and are tossed; whereas, indeed, of all other things, the most special and best choice should be made of that stuff, to have it both new and good; for that sparing, to employ old rotten ropes, is a great defect, either in building of new ships or repairing of old, and is the cause why after every journey they must be new caulked. And therefore it were much to be wished, (as a thing fit for his majesty's service, profitable for the navy, and happy for those that shall serve in them,) that the whole navy throughout were all sheathed, as some of them are. The benefit and good whereof for sea-service is manifold, and no less frugal for his majesty, in making his ships as strong and lasting thereby, as they are otherwise good of sail: and then shall they never need (scarcely once in ten years) this new caulking and repairing, which now almost every year they have. And hereof let the censure be taken of the best seamen of England, and they will not vary from this opinion.

of victualling.

As his majesty's due allowance for victualling of ships is very large and honourable, and would be greatly to the encouragement and strengthening of the mariners and soldiers that serve in them, if it were faithfully distributed, the seaservice indeed being very miserable and painful; so again, as it is abused and purloined, it is very scant and dishonourable, to the great slander of the navy, to the discouragement of all them that are pressed thereunto, and to the hinderance of his majesty's service. For that many times they go with a great grudging to serve in his majesty's ships, as if it were to be slaves in the galleys, so much do they stand in fear of penury and hunger, the case being clean contrary in all merchants' ships; and therefore the purveyors and victuallers are much to be condemned, as not a little faulty in that behalf, who make no little profit of those peelings, which is cause very lamentable, that such as sit in