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Updated: July 16, 2025
That night he sent away his stores and baggage in more than two hundred bateaux, under convoy of five armed gallies, to Skenesborough, a town about eight miles distant, at the head of a small inlet, South Bay, which branches off from the Lake at Ticonderoga. The troops marched to the same place, leaving more than a hundred guns behind. Daylight showed the flight of the enemy.
After which the Spanish commander changed his plan of operations, and keeping his men under cover of his cannon, proceeded with some gallies up the river with the tide of flood, to reconnoitre the fort, and draw the General's attention to another quarter. To this place Oglethorpe sent a party of Indians, with orders to lie in ambuscade in the woods, and endeavour to prevent their landing.
In this year the king of Acheen made an attempt to gain possession of Malacca, against which he sent a fleet of 250 sail, with 20,000 soldiers and a great train of artillery. In this great fleet there were 47 gallies of extraordinary strength, beauty, and size, all near 100 feet long and of proportional breadth.
When, shortly after it was happily manifested in very deed to all nations, how their navy, which they termed invincible, consisting of 140 sail of ships, not only of their own kingdom, but strengthened with the greatest argosies, Portugal caraks, Florentines, and huge hulks of other countries, were by 80 of her majestys own ships of war, and a few belonging to our own merchants, by the wise, valiant, and advantageous conduct of the lord Charles Howard, high admiral of England, beaten and shuffled together, even from the Lizard in Cornwall, first to Portland where they shamefully left Don Pedro de Valdes with his mighty ship: from Portland to Calais, where they lost Hugo de Moncado with the gallies of which he was captain: and from Calais driven by squibs from their anchors, were chased out of sight of England, round about Scotland and Ireland.
One would imagine, it was with this view they instituted their naumachia, or naval engagements, performed by half a dozen small gallies of a side in an artificial basin of fresh water. These gallies I suppose were not so large as common fishing-smacks, for they were moved by two, three, and four oars of a side according to their different rates, biremes, triremes, and quadriremes.
We no sooner presented our selues, but presently a goodly sort of tall Spanish ships came out of the mouth of the Bay of Cadiz, the Gallies accompanying them in such good order, and so placed as all of them might well succour each other, and therewithall kept themselues very close to their towne, the castle, and the forts, for their better guard and defence, abiding there still, and expecting our farther determination.
The fleet consisted of 800 ships of war and transports, and about 1200 gallies. On board of these, one-third of the army, which consisted of 120,000 men, embarked; the remainder, marching in two divisions, one on the left, the other on the right of the river. "The voyage down the river is described rather as a triumphal procession, than a military progress.
The road from Nice to Ville Franche is scarce passable on horseback: a circumstance the more extraordinary, as those slaves, in the space of two or three months, might even make it fit for a carriage, and the king would not be one farthing out of pocket, for they are quite idle the greatest part of the year. The gallies go to sea only in the summer.
Among the slaves at Ville Franche is a Piedmontese count, condemned to the gallies for life, in consequence of having been convicted of forgery. He is permitted to live on shore; and gets money by employing the other slaves to knit stockings for sale. He appears always in the Turkish habit, and is in a fair way of raising a better fortune than that which he has forfeited.
Neither is it the leaste incomoditie that our shippes are contynually assaulted by the corsaries and pirates and gallies of Algiers, by which they had a rich shippe, called the Mary Martin, soncke this yere; and the last yere another was taken at Trypoly in Barbary, and the master with another hanged, and the reste made slaves.
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