CHARLES I. : THE NAVY 



307 



what it might have been if they only had got among the 

 busses in time. It was therefore resolved to send the fleet 

 among the Dutch fishermen who came to the Yarmouth fishing 

 in September and October, and to continue the process of 

 forcing licenses upon them. The Earl of Northumberland left 

 the Downs for Yarmouth on 16th September, taking with him 

 eight ships and a pinnace; another ship was to follow later. 

 He felt that his task at Yarmouth would be more difficult than 

 his first had been. Then, the only advantage the busses had 

 was their good sailing ; now they would have others owing to 

 the season and the place shoal waters; and if they avoided 

 the king's ships, he said, as they did in the north, it would be 

 impossible to bring any numbers of them into "conformity." 

 He also requested fresh licenses, because some words in those 

 he had would require to be blotted out, which " would not be 

 so handsome to be seen abroad." 1 



The weather being stormy, they had to anchor one night off 

 the North Foreland and the next off Lowestoft, reaching Yar- 

 mouth Roads on the 18th, where they lay for a few days 

 getting pilots and gathering information about the Dutch 

 fishermen. Hearing that some Holland men-of-war were 

 cruising outside, the Earl guessed that the herring -boats 

 would not be far off, and the wind being fair, the fleet weighed 

 anchor on the morning of the 22nd and stood out to sea. When 

 clear of the sands they again anchored, and the ketch was sent 

 out during the night to discover the whereabouts of the busses, 

 but without success. Next day the fleet stood off farther to 

 sea, but failed to see or to hear anything of the Hollanders, 

 and being joined by a ninth ship, .the Swallow, the fleet lay at 

 anchor in " blowing weather " about ten leagues from the coast 

 until Monday, September 26. Two of the ships, the James 

 and the Nonsuch, had been driven out of sight by the gale ; 

 two, the pinnace and the Fortune pinck, had to run nearer 

 shore for fear of foundering; and the Admiral sent the two 

 London ships, the Jonas and the Neptune, into port, because 

 they were insufficiently victualled. On this day news was 

 brought from Yarmouth, received from a Scottish ship which 

 had arrived from Zealand, that the Dutch had forbidden any 

 more busses to go to the fishing that year, and the Earl advised 



1 Northumberland to the Admiralty and to Secretary Coke, Sept. 16. State 

 Papers, Dom., cccxxxi. 55, 56. 



