"It was a strange sight, when, on the Prince's arrival, his ships and
those of the Duke's, battered as they were, bore down on the Dutch
line; the drums beating, the trumpets sounding, and the crews
cheering loudly. We saw them disappear into the Dutch line; then the
smoke shut all out from view, and for hours there was but a thick
cloud of smoke and a continuous roar of the guns. Sometimes a vessel
would come out from the curtain of smoke torn and disabled. Sometimes
it was a Dutchman, sometimes one of our own ships. If the latter, we
rowed up to them and did our best with planks and nails to stop the
yawning holes close to the water-line, while the crew knotted ropes
and got up the spars and yards, and then sailed back into the fight.
"The first day's fighting was comparatively slight, for the Dutch
seemed to be afraid to close with the Duke's ships, and hung behind
at a distance. It was not till the White Squadron came up, and the
Duke turned, with Prince Rupert, and fell upon his pursuers like a
wounded boar upon the dogs, that the battle commenced in earnest; but
the last day it went on for nigh twelve hours without intermission;
and when at last the roar of the guns ceased, and the smoke slowly
cleared off, it was truly a pitiful sight, so torn and disabled were
the ships.
"As the two fleets separated, drifting apart as it would almost seem,
so few were the sails now set, we rowed up among them, and for hours
were occupied in picking up men clinging to broken spars and
wreckage, for but few of the ships had so much as a single boat left.
Pages:
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444