No scientific gunnery, no military
or naval tactics were displayed or required in such a conflict. It
was a life-and-death combat, such as always occurred when Spaniard
and Netherlander met, whether on land or water. Bossu and his men,
armed in bullet-proof coats of mail, stood with shield and sword
on the deck of the 'Inquisition,' ready to repel all attempts to
board. The Hollander, as usual, attacked with pitch hoops, boiling
oil, and molten lead. Repeatedly they effected their entrance to the
Admiral's ship, and as often they were repulsed and slain in heaps,
or hurled into the sea.
"The battle began at three in the afternoon, and continued without
intermission through the whole night. The vessels, drifting together,
struck on the shoal called the Nek, near Wydeness. In the heat of the
action the occurrence was hardly heeded. In the morning twilight,
John Haring, of Hoorn, the hero who had kept one thousand soldiers
at bay upon the Diemer dyke, clambered on board the 'Inquisition,'
and hauled her colors down. The gallant but premature achievement cost
him his life. He was shot through the body and died on the deck of the
ship, which was not quite ready to strike her flag. In the course of
the forenoon, however, it became obvious to Bossu that further
resistance was idle.
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