years, might be fallen in with at any moment, in the latitude of 36-38
deg. The admiral, having received orders, therefore, to cruise carefully
in those regions, sailed for the shores of Portugal with a squadron of
twenty-four war-ships. His expedition was not very successful. He
picked up a prize or two here and there, and his presence on the coast
prevented the merchant-fleet from sailing out of Lisbon for the East
Indies, the merchandise already on board being disembarked and the voyage
postponed to a more favourable opportunity.

He saw nothing, however, of the long-expected ships from the golden West
Indies--as Mexico, Peru, and Brazil were then indiscriminately called--
and after parting company with six of his own ships, which were dispersed
and damaged in a gale, and himself suffering from a dearth of provisions,
he was forced to return without much gain or glory.

In the month of September he was once more despatched on the same
service. He had nineteen war-galleots of the first class, and two
yachts, well equipped and manned. Vice-admiral of the fleet was Regnier
Klaaszoon (or Nicholson), of Amsterdam, a name which should always be
held fresh in remembrance, not only by mariners and Netherlanders, but
by all men whose pulses can beat in sympathy with practical heroism.

The admiral coasted deliberately along the shores of Spain and Portugal.
It seemed impossible that the golden fleets, which, as it was
ascertained, had not yet arrived, could now escape the vigilance of the
Dutch cruisers. An occasional merchant-ship or small war-galley was met
from time to time and chased into the harbours. A landing was here and
there effected and a few villages burned. But these were not the prizes
nor the trophies sought. On the 19th September a storm off the
Portuguese coast scattered the fleet; six of the best and largest ships