HISTORICAL SKETCH 147 



fashion of that age. Meeting with storms, which 

 probably diminished the number of his crew, 

 Montluc put into Madeira, with the intention, it 

 is said, of recruiting his force ; but being eyed with 

 suspicion, as belonging to the navy of a foreign 

 country, he professed to have been insulted, and 

 attacked the town. The city appears to have 

 been feebly defended, although Montluc must have 

 met with some resistance, as over 200 of the 

 inhabitants lost their lives. Very little is known 

 as to the strength of the invading force, but it is 

 certain that great damage was done to the town by 

 the Huguenot invaders, as they were, of course, 

 described by the Catholics. The churches seem to 

 have suffered severely, as the plunderers no doubt 

 expected to find treasure in their vaults. Having 

 thoroughly ransacked the town and terrified the 

 inhabitants, who mostly fled to the country, the 

 expedition departed before assistance came from 

 Lisbon, but not before the leader Montluc had 

 been mortally wounded. In 1580 the island, being 

 a Portuguese possession, fell with its mother- 

 country under the rule of Spain a state of affairs 

 which lasted some eighty years. Madeira seems 

 to have been little affected by the Spanish yoke, 

 the most important alteration in its government 



192 



