To his horror came back a letter from the
admiral still dated from Plymouth, instead of from Finisterre, as he had
hoped, and he sent down a warning to urge the immediate departure of the
fleet. August wore away, and the equipment was still incomplete, when
Drake, who was now in constant dread of a countermand, was alarmed by
Sir Philip Sydney's suddenly appearing at Plymouth and announcing his
intention of accompanying the expedition. Determined to have no more to
do with courtiers and amateur soldiers, he secretly sent off a courier
to betray the truant's escapade to the Court. He must even be suspected,
in his desperation, of having set men in wait to intercept and destroy
any orders that were not to his liking. The precaution was unnecessary.
Sydney was peremptorily stopped, and ere any letter came to stay Drake,
too, the wind had shifted northerly, and, all unready as he was, he
cleared for Finisterre.
There he arrived on September 26th. He was clear away, but that was all.
He was short both of water and victuals. There had not even been time to
distribute the stores he had, or to issue his general orders to the
fleet. He smelt foul weather, too; and, determined to complete somewhere
what he had left undone at Plymouth, he boldly ran in under the lee of
the Bayona Islands in Vigo Bay.
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