300 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



Mervin, whose squadron was found here, had given licenses 

 on the previous day, and Northumberland now distributee 

 about a hundred more amongst them, and left the Convertive 

 the Bonaventure, and the Fifth Whelp to act as a guard tc 

 them on behalf of the King of England, with spare licenses 

 for any other busses that might require them. Next day 

 Northumberland disposed of a few more licenses and came 

 to anchor, lest the ships should damage the long drifting-nets 

 of the fishermen. But a heavy gale coming on and threat- 

 ening to increase, the Admiral fired a warning gun and 

 weighed at break of day on the 13th : so furious was the 

 wind and sea that two of the vessels broke loose, and others 

 had the greatest difficulty in getting up their anchors, and 

 the English fleet was dispersed. The Triumph made for 

 Scarborough, where it was joined during the next few days 

 by the rest of the fleet, and then they all left for the 

 Downs. On the morning of the 20th they descried twenty 

 sail of good ships, and on filling sails and standing to them 

 they found they were Dutch men-of-war, under Van Dorp, 

 who, as we shall see, had been sent by the States -General 

 to protect the busses and prevent the acceptance of the 

 English licenses. The Dutch ships, as the Earl carefully 

 recorded in his Journal, "tooke in all their flaggs, strucke 

 their topsails, and every ship one after another saluted us 

 with their guns, which we answered." Van Dorp went on 

 board the Triwmph to explain to the English Admiral the 

 reason of the presence there of the Hollander squadron, anc 

 when they departed they again saluted. On 22nd Augusl 

 the English fleet cast anchor in the Downs, and Van Dorp 

 having arrived too late to carry out the instructions of his 

 Government, returned to the Flemish coast. 1 



From the foregoing narrative it is clear that the Dutcl 

 fishermen evaded as much as they could the acceptance of 

 the king's licenses. They endeavoured to escape when escape 

 was possible, and only yielded when they were threatened 

 with the loss of their nets and the interruption of their 

 fishing; and it would have shown little wisdom for the 



1 The account of the movements of Northumberland's fleet is extracted from his 

 "Journall of oure Summer's Voyage in the yeare 1636." State Papers, Dom., 

 cccxliii. 72. 



