THE OCEAN AS A BATTLE-FIELD 283 



they were going to take, and then sent them forth 

 under the command of a landsman to face the seasoned 

 sea-fighters of England. 



Indeed, it was well for us that the naval genius of 

 Spain was of so poor a character, for, in spite of all we 

 can say in praise of Elizabeth and her statesmen, the 

 fact remains that, as far as the Government of the 

 country was concerned, and the numberless warnings 

 that had been given, disaster was actually courted by 

 lack of preparation. Sheer patriotism on the part of 

 our seamen, and an extraordinary combination of 

 favourable circumstances, allied to the ineptitude 

 of the Spaniards, prevented the invasion of England. 

 Had the Spaniards been better seamen, or had they 

 been ably led, another tale would surely have been 

 told, the world's history would have taken a totally 

 different form. Consummate seamanship was shown 

 by the English seamen in their harassing of the un- 

 wieldy Spaniards and in keeping from close quarters 

 with them, which meant being overwhelmed by sheer 

 weight of numbers. But oh ! the pitiful tale of want 

 of ammunition, of food even, for the fighting warriors ; 

 it is, indeed, galling to remember. And it does not 

 soothe us to remember the glorious ending of that 

 great sea-fight, because we feel that we have skirted 

 the precipice of disaster far too closely, and quite 

 unnecessarily. 



The defeat of the invincible Armada ushered in 

 the new era of naval warfare, wherein the ship was 

 used not merely as a means whereby masses of men 

 were brought into contact with one another to fight 

 in the same manner as they did on land, but as an 

 engine of destruction herself, wherewith an opposing 



