THE SPANISH ARMADA
The struggle that was at hand between Spain and England had long
been foreseen as inevitable. The one power was the champion of
Roman Catholicism, the other of Protestantism; and yet, although so
much hung upon the result of the encounter, and all Europe looked
on with the most intense interest, both parties entered upon the
struggle without allies, and this entirely from the personal fault
of the sovereigns of the two nations.
Queen Elizabeth, by her constant intrigues, her underhand dealings
with France and Spain, her grasping policy in the Netherlands,
her meanness and parsimony, and the fact that she was ready at any
moment to sacrifice the Netherlands to her own policy, had wholly
alienated the people of the Low Country; for while their own
efforts for defence were paralysed by the constant interference
of Elizabeth, no benefit was obtained from the English army, whose
orders were to stand always on the defensive--the queen's only
anxiety appearing to be to keep her grasp upon the towns that had
been handed over to her as the price of her alliance.
Her own counsellors were driven to their wits' end by her constant
changes of purpose. Her troops were starving and in rags from her
parsimony, the fleet lay dismantled and useless from want of funds,
and except such arming and drilling as took place at the expense of
the nobles, counties, and cities, no preparation whatever was made
to meet the coming storm. Upon the other hand, Philip of Spain,
who might have been at the head of a great Catholic league against
England, had isolated himself by his personal ambitions. Had he
declared himself ready, in the event of his conquest of England, to
place James of Scotland upon the throne, he would have had Scotland
with him, together with the Catholics of England, still a powerful
and important body.
France, too, would have joined him, and the combination against
Elizabeth and the Protestants of England would have been well nigh
irresistible. But this he could not bring himself to do. His dream
was the annexation of England to Spain; and smarting as the English
Catholics were under the execution of Mary of Scotland, their
English spirit revolted against the idea of the rule of Spain,
and the great Catholic nobles hastened, when the moment of danger
arrived, to join in the defence of their country, while Scotland,
seeing no advantage to be gained in the struggle, stood sullenly
aloof, and France gave no aid to a project which was to result,
if successful, in the aggrandizement of her already dangerously
formidable neighbour.
Thus England and Spain stood alone--Philip slowly but steadily
preparing for the great expedition for the conquest of England,
Elizabeth hesitating, doubtful; at one moment gathering seamen and
arming her fleet, a month or two later discharging the sailors and
laying up the ships.
In the spring of 1587 Drake, with six vessels belonging to the crown
and twenty-four equipped by merchants of London and other places,
had seized a moment when Elizabeth's fickle mind had inclined to
warlike measures, and knowing that the mood might last but a day,
had slipped out of Plymouth and sailed for Spain a few hours before
a messenger arrived with a peremptory order from Elizabeth against
entering any Spanish port or offering violence to any Spanish town
or ships. Although caught in a gale in the Channel, Drake held on,
and, reaching Gibraltar on the 16th April, ascertained that Cadiz
was crowded with transports and store ships.
Vice Admiral Burroughs, controller of the navy, who had been specially
appointed to thwart Drake's plans, opposed any action being taken;
but Drake insisted upon attack, and on the 19th the fleet stood in
to Cadiz harbour. Passing through the fire of the batteries, they
sank the only great ship of war in the roads, drove off the Spanish
galleys, and seized the vast fleet of store ships loaded with
wine, corn, and provisions of all sorts for the use of the Armada.
Everything of value that could be conveniently moved was transferred
to the English ships, then the Spanish vessels were set on fire,
their cables cut, and were left to drift in an entangled mass of
flame. Drake took a number of prisoners, and sent a messenger on
shore proposing to exchange them for such English seamen as were
prisoners in Spain. The reply was there were no English prisoners
in Spain; and as this notoriously untrue, it was agreed in the
fleet that all the Spaniards they might take in the future should
be sold to the Moors, and the money reserved for the redeeming of
such Englishmen as might be in captivity there or elsewhere.
The English fleet then sailed for Cape St. Vincent, picking up on
their way large convoys of store ships all bound for the Tagus,
where the Armada was collecting. These were all burned, and Drake
brought up at Cape St. Vincent, hoping to meet there a portion
of the Armada expected from the Mediterranean. As a harbour was
necessary, he landed, stormed the fort at Faro, and took possession
of the harbour there. The expected enemy did not appear, and Drake
sailed up to the mouth of the Tagus, intending to go into Lisbon
and attack the great Spanish fleet lying there under its admiral,
Santa Cruz. That the force gathered there was enormous Drake well
knew, but relying as much on the goodness of his cause as on the
valour of his sailors, and upon the fact that the enemy would be
too crowded together to fight with advantage, he would have carried
out his plan had not a ship arrived from England with orders
forbidding him to enter the Tagus. However, he lay for some time
at the mouth of the river, destroying every ship that entered
its mouth, and sending in a challenge to Santa Cruz to come out
and fight. The Spanish admiral did not accept it, and Drake then
sailed to Corunna, and there, as at Cadiz, destroyed all the ships
collected in the harbour and then returned to England, having in
the course of a few months inflicted an enormous amount of damage
upon Spain, and having taken the first step to prove that England
was the mistress of the sea.
But while the little band of English had been defending Sluys
against the army of the Duke of Parma, Philip had been continuing
his preparations, filling up the void made by the destruction
wrought by Drake, and preparing an Armada which he might well have
considered to be invincible. Elizabeth was still continuing her
negotiations. She was quite ready to abandon the Netherlands to
Spain if she could but keep the towns she held there, but she could
not bring herself to hand these over either to the Netherlands or
to Spain. She urged the States to make peace, to which they replied
that they did not wish for peace on such terms as Spain would alone
grant; they could defend themselves for ten years longer if left
alone, they did not ask for further help, and only wanted their
towns restored to them.
Had the Armada started as Philip intended in September, it would have
found England entirely unprepared, for Elizabeth still obstinately
refused to believe in danger, and the few ships that had been
held in commission after Drake's return had been so long neglected
that they could hardly keep the sea without repair; the rest lay
unrigged in the Medway. But the delay gave England fresh time for
preparation. Parma's army was lying in readiness for the invasion
under canvas at Dunkirk, and their commander had received no
information from Spain that the sailing of the Armada was delayed.
The cold, wet, and exposure told terribly upon them, and of the
30,000 who were ready to embark in September not 18,000 were fit
for service at the commencement of the year. The expenses of this
army and of the Armada were so great that Philip was at last driven
to give orders to the Armada to start. But fortune again favoured
England. Had the fleet sailed as ordered on the 30th of January
they would again have found the Channel undefended, for Elizabeth,
in one of her fits of economy, had again dismantled half the fleet
that had been got ready for sea, and sent the sailors to their
homes.
But the execution of Philip's orders was prevented by the sudden
death of Santa Cruz. The Duke of Medina Sidonia was appointed his
successor, but as he knew nothing of the state of the Armada fresh
delays became necessary, and the time was occupied by Elizabeth,
not in preparing for the defence of the country, but in fresh
negotiations for peace. She was ready to make any concessions to
Spain, but Philip was now only amusing himself by deceiving her.
Everything was now prepared for the expedition, and just as the fleet
was ready to start, the negotiations were broken off. But though
Elizabeth's government had made no preparations for the defence
of the country, England herself had not been idle. Throughout the
whole country men had been mustered, officered, and armed, and
100,000 were ready to move as soon as the danger became imminent.
The musters of the Midland counties, 80,000 strong, were to form a
separate army, and were to march at once to a spot between Windsor
and Harrow. The rest were to gather at the point of danger. The
coast companies were to fall back wherever the enemy landed, burning
the corn and driving off the cattle, and avoiding a battle until
the force of the neighbouring counties joined them. Should the
landing take place as was expected in Suffolk, Kent, or Sussex,
it was calculated that between 30,000 and 40,000 men would bar the
way to the invaders before they reached London, while 20,000 men of
the western counties would remain to encounter the Duke of Guise,
who had engaged to bring across an army of Frenchmen to aid the
Spaniards.
Spain, although well aware of the strength of England on the sea,
believed that she would have no difficulty with the raw English
levies; but Parma, who had met the English at Sluys, had learnt to
respect their fighting qualities, and in a letter to Philip gave
the opinion that even if the Armada brought him a reinforcement of
6000 men he would still have an insufficient force for the conquest
of England. He said, "When I shall have landed I must fight battle
after battle. I shall lose men by wounds and disease, I must leave
detachments behind me to keep open my communications, and in a
short time the body of my army will become so weak that not only I
may be unable to advance in the face of the enemy, and time may be
given to the heretics and your majesty's other enemies to interfere,
but there may fall out some notable inconvenience, with the loss
of everything, and I be unable to remedy it."
Unfortunately, the English fleet was far less prepared than the
land forces. The militia had been easily and cheaply extemporized,
but a fleet can only be prepared by long and painful sacrifices.
The entire English navy contained but thirteen ships of over four
hundred tons, and including small cutters and pinnaces there were
but thirty-eight vessels of all sorts and sizes carrying the
queen's flag. Fortunately, Sir John Hawkins was at the head of the
naval administration, and in spite of the parsimony of Elizabeth
had kept the fleet in a good state of repair and equipment. The
merchant navy, although numerous, was equally deficient in vessels
of any size.
Philip had encouraged ship building in Spain by grants from the
crown, allowing four ducats a ton for every ship built of above
three hundred tons burden, and six ducats a ton for every one above
five hundred tons. Thus he had a large supply of great ships to
draw upon in addition to those of the royal navy, while in England
the largest vessels belonging to private owners did not exceed four
hundred tons, and there were not more than two or three vessels of
that size sailing from any port of the country. The total allowance
by the queen for the repair of the whole of the royal navy, wages
of shipwrights, clerks, carpenters, watchmen, cost of timber, and,
all other necessary dockyard expenses, was but 4000 pounds a year.
In December the fleet was ready for sea, together with the contingent
furnished by the liberality and patriotism of the merchants and
citizens of the great ports. But as soon as it was got together
half the crews collected and engaged at so great an expense were
dismissed, the merchant ships released, and England open to invasion,
and had Parma started in the vessels he had prepared, Lord Howard,
who commanded the English navy, could not have fired a shot to have
prevented his crossing.
Well might Sir John Hawkins in his despair at Elizabeth's caprices
exclaim: "We are wasting money, wasting strength, dishonouring
and discrediting ourselves by our uncertain dallying." But though
daily reports came from Spain of the readiness of the Armada to
set sail, Elizabeth, even when she again permitted the navy to be
manned, fettered it by allowing it to be provided with rations for
only a month at a time, and permitting no reserves to be provided
in the victualling stores; while the largest vessels were supplied
with ammunition for only a day and a half's service, and the rest
of the fleet with but enough for one day's service. The council
could do nothing, and Lord Howard's letters prove that the queen,
and she only, was responsible for the miserable state of things
that prevailed.
At last, in May, Lord Howard sailed with the fleet down Channel,
leaving Lord Henry Seymour with three men of war and a squadron of
privateers to watch Dunkirk. At Plymouth the admiral found Drake with
forty ships, all except one raised and sent to sea at the expense
of himself and the gentry and merchants of the west counties. The
weather was wild, as it had been all the winter. Howard with the
great ships lay at anchor in the Sound, rolling heavily, while the
smaller craft went for shelter into the mouth of the river. There
were but eighteen days' provisions on board; fresh supplies promised
did not arrive, and the crews were put on half rations, and eked
these out by catching fish. At last, when the supplies were just
exhausted, the victualling ships arrived, with one month's fresh
rations, and a message that no more would be sent. So villainous
was the quality of the stores that fever broke out in the fleet.
It was not until the end of the month that Elizabeth would even
permit any further preparations to be made, and the supplies took
some time collecting. The crews would have been starved had not
the officers so divided the rations as to make them last six weeks.
The men died in scores from dysentery brought on by the sour and
poisonous beer issued to them, and Howard and Drake ordered wine
and arrow root from the town for the use of the sick, and had to
pay for it from their own pockets.
But at last the Armada was ready for starting. Contingents of
Spanish, Italians, and Portuguese were gathered together with the
faithful from all countries--Jesuits from France; exiled priests,
Irish and English; and many Catholic Scotch, English, and Irish
noblemen and gentlemen. The six squadrons into which the fleet
was divided contained sixty-five large war ships, the smallest of
which was seven hundred tons. Seven were over one thousand, and
the largest, an Italian ship, La Regazona, was thirteen hundred.
All were built high like castles, their upper works musket proof,
their main timbers four or five feet thick, and of a strength it
was supposed no English cannon could pierce.
Next to the big ships, or galleons as they were called, were four
galleasses, each carrying fifty guns and 450 soldiers and sailors,
and rowed by 300 slaves. Besides these were four galleys, fifty-six
great armed merchant ships, the finest Spain possessed, and twenty
caravels or small vessels. Thus the fighting fleet amounted to
129 vessels, carrying in all 2430 cannon. On board was stored an
enormous quantity of provisions for the use of the army after it
landed in England, there being sufficient to feed 40,000 men for
six months.
There were on board 8000 sailors, 19,000 soldiers, 1000 gentlemen
volunteers, 600 priests, servants, and miscellaneous officers, and
2000 galley slaves. This was indeed a tremendous array to meet the
fleet lying off Plymouth, consisting of 29 queen's ships of all
sizes, 10 small vessels belonging to Lord Howard and members of
his family, and 43 privateers between 40 and 400 tons under Drake,
the united crews amounting to something over 9000 men.
The winter had passed pleasantly to Geoffrey and Lionel Vickars;
the earl had taken a great fancy to them, and they had stayed for
some time in London as members of his suite. When the spring came
they had spoken about rejoining Francis Vere in Holland, but the
earl had said that there was little doing there. The enmity excited
by the conduct of Elizabeth prevented any cooperation between the
Dutch and English; and indeed the English force was reduced to
such straits by the refusal of the queen to furnish money for their
pay, or to provide funds for even absolute necessaries, that it
was wholly incapable of taking the field, and large numbers of the
men returned to England.
Had this treatment of her soldiers and sailors at the time when such
peril threatened their country been occasioned by want of funds,
some excuse would have been possible for the conduct of Elizabeth;
but at the time there were large sums lying in the treasury, and
it was parsimony and not incapacity to pay that actuated Elizabeth
in the course she pursued.
As the boys were still uneasy as to the opinion Francis Vere might
form of their continued stay in England, they wrote to him, their
letter being inclosed in one from the earl; but the reply set their
minds at rest--"By all means stay in England," Captain Vere wrote,
"since there is nothing doing here of any note or consequence, not
likely to be. We are simply idling our time in Bergen op Zoom, and
not one of us but is longing to be at home to bear his part in the
events pending there. It is hard, indeed, to be confined in this
miserable Dutch town while England is in danger. Unfortunately
we are soldiers and must obey orders; but as you are as yet only
volunteers, free to act as you choose, it would be foolish in the
extreme for you to come over to this dull place while there is so
much going on in England. I have written to my cousin, asking him
to introduce you to some of the country gentlemen who have fitted
out a ship for service against the Spaniards, so that you may have
a hand in what is going on."
This the earl had done, and early in May they had journeyed down
to Plymouth on horseback with a party of other gentlemen who were
going on board the Active, a vessel of two hundred and fifty tons
belonging to a gentleman of Devonshire, one Master Audrey Drake,
a relation of Sir Francis Drake. The earl himself was with the
party. He did not intend to go on board, for he was a bad sailor;
and though ready, as he said, to do his share of fighting upon
land, would be only an encumbrance on board a ship.
He went down principally at the request of Cecil and other members
of the council, who, knowing that he was a favourite of the queen,
thought that his representations as to the state of the fleet might
do more than they could do to influence her to send supplies to the
distressed sailors. The earl visited the ships lying in the mouth
of the Tamar, and three times started in a boat to go out to those
in the Sound; but the sea was so rough, and he was so completely
prostrated by sickness, that he had each time to put back. What he
saw, however, on board the ships he visited, and heard from Lord
Howard as to the state of those at sea, was quite sufficient. He
at once expended a considerable amount of money in buying wine and
fresh meat for the sick, and then hurried away to London to lay
before the queen the result of his personal observations, and to
implore her to order provisions to be immediately despatched to
the fleet.
But even the description given by one of her favourites of the
sufferings of the seamen was insufficient to induce the queen to
open her purse strings, and the earl left her in great dudgeon;
and although his private finances had been much straitened by his
extravagance and love of display, he at once chartered a ship,
filled her with provisions, and despatched her to Plymouth.
Mr. Drake and the gentlemen with him took up their abode in the
town until there should be need for them to go on board the Active,
where the accommodation was much cramped, and life by no means
agreeable; and the Vickars therefore escaped sharing the sufferings
of those on board ship.
At the end of May came the news that the Armada had sailed on the
19th, and high hopes were entertained that the period of waiting
had terminated. A storm, however, scattered the great fleet, and
it was not until the 12th of July that they sailed from the Bay of
Ferrol, where they had collected after the storm.
Never was there known a season so boisterous as the summer of
1588, and when off Ushant, in a southwest gale, four galleys were
wrecked on the French coast, and the Santa Anna, a galleon of 800
tons, went down, carrying with her ninety seamen, three hundred
soldiers, and 50,000 ducats in gold.
After two days the storm abated, and the fleet again proceeded.
At daybreak on the 20th the Lizard was in sight, and an English
fishing boat was seen running along their line. Chase was given, but
she soon out sailed her pursuers, and carried the news to Plymouth.
The Armada had already been made out from the coast the night before,
and beacon lights had flashed the news all over England. In every
village and town men were arming and saddling and marching away to
the rendezvous of the various corps.
In Plymouth the news was received with the greatest rejoicing.
Thanks to the care with which the provisions had been husbanded,
and to the manner in which the officers and volunteers had from
their private means supplemented the scanty stores, there was
still a week's provisions on board, and this, it was hoped, would
suffice for their needs. The scanty supply of ammunition was a
greater source of anxiety; but they hoped that fresh supplies would
be forthcoming, now that even the queen could no longer close her
eyes to the urgent necessity of the case.
As soon as the news arrived all the gentlemen in the town flocked
on board the ships, and on the night of the 19th the queen's
ships and some of the privateers went to moorings behind Ram Head,
so that they could make clear to sea; and on the morning when the
Spaniards sighted the Lizard, forty sail were lying ready for action
under the headland.
At three o'clock in the afternoon the lookout men on the hill
reported a line of sails on the western horizon. Two wings were at
first visible, which were gradually united as the topsails of those
in the centre rose above the line of sea. As they arose it could
be seen that the great fleet was sailing, in the form of a huge
crescent, before a gentle wind. A hundred and fifty ships, large
and small, were counted, as a few store ships bound for Flanders
had joined the Armada for protection.
The Active was one of the privateers that had late the evening before
gone out to Ram Head, and just as it was growing dusk the anchors
were got up, and the little fleet sailed out from the shelter of
the land as the Armada swept along.
The Spanish admiral at once ordered the fleet to lie to for the
night, and to prepare for a general action at daybreak, as he knew
from a fisherman he had captured that the English fleet were at
Plymouth. The wind was on shore, but all through the night Howard's
and Drake's ships beat out from the Sound until they took their
places behind the Spanish fleet, whose position they could perfectly
make out by the light of the half moon that rose at two in the
morning.
On board the English fleet all was confidence and hilarity. The
sufferings of the last three months were forgotten. The numbers and
magnitude of the Spanish ships counted as nothing. The sailors of
the west country had met the Spaniards on the Indian seas and proved
their masters, and doubted not for a moment that they should do so
again.
There was scarce a breath of air when day broke, but at eight
o'clock a breeze sprang up from the west, and the Armada made sail
and attempted to close with the English; but the low, sharp English
ships sailed two feet to the one of the floating castles of Spain,
and could sail close to the wind, while the Spanish ships, if they
attempted to close haul their sails, drifted bodily to leeward.
Howard's flagship, the Ark Raleigh, with three other English ships,
opened the engagement by running down along their rear line, firing
into each galleon as they passed, then wearing round and repeating
the manoeuvre. The great San Mateo luffed out from the rest of the
fleet and challenged them to board, but they simply poured their
second broadside into her and passed on.
The excellence of the manoeuvring of the English ships, and the
rapidity and accuracy of their fire, astonished the Spaniards.
Throughout the whole forenoon the action continued; the Spaniards
making efforts to close, but in vain, the English ships keeping
the weather gage and sailing continually backwards and forwards,
pouring in their broadsides. The height and size of the Spanish ships
were against them; and being to leeward they heeled over directly
they came up to the wind to fire a broadside, and their shots for
the most part went far over their assailants, while they themselves
suffered severely from the English fire. Miquel de Oquendo, who
commanded one of the six Spanish squadrons, distinguished himself
by his attempts to close with the English, and by maintaining his
position in the rear of the fleet engaged in constant conflict with
them.
He was a young nobleman of great promise, distinguished alike for
his bravery and chivalrous disposition; but he could do little
while the wind remained in the west and the English held the weather
gage. So far only the ships that had been anchored out under Ram
Head had taken part in the fight, those lying higher up in the
Sound being unable to make their way out. At noon the exertions of
their crews, who had from the preceding evening worked incessantly,
prevailed, and they were now seen coming out from behind the headland
to take part in the struggle. Medina Sidonia signalled to his fleet
to make sail up Channel, Martinez de Ricaldo covering the rear
with the squadron of Biscay. He was vice admiral of the fleet, and
considered to be the best seaman Spain possessed now that Santa
Cruz was dead.
The wind was now rising. Lord Howard sent off a fast boat with
letters to Lord Henry Seymour, telling him how things had gone so
far, and bidding him be prepared for the arrival of the Spanish
fleet in the Downs. As the afternoon went on the wind rose, and a
rolling sea came in from the west. Howard still hung upon the Spanish
rear, firing but seldom in order to save his powder. As evening
fell, the Spanish vessels, huddled closely together, frequently came
into collision with one another, and in one of these the Capitana,
the flagship of the Andalusian division, commanded by Admiral
Pedro de Valdez, had her bowsprit carried away, the foremast fell
overboard, and the ship dropped out of her place.
Two of the galleasses came to her assistance and tried to take her
in tow, but the waves were running so high that the cable broke.
Pedro de Valdez had been commander of the Spanish fleet on the coast
of Holland, and knew the English Channel and the northern shores
of France and Holland well.
The duke therefore despatched boats to bring him off with his
crew, but he refused to leave his charge. Howard, as with his ships
he passed her, believed her to be deserted and went on after the
fleet; but a London vessel kept close to her and exchanged shots
with her all night, until Drake, who had turned aside to chase what
he believed to be a portion of the Spanish fleet that had separated
itself from the rest, but which turned out to be the merchant ships
that had joined it for protection, came up, and the Capitana struck
her flag. Drake took her into Torbay, and there left her in the
care of the Brixham fishermen, and taking with him Valdez and the
other officers sailed away to join Lord Howard. The fishermen, on
searching the ship, found some tons of gunpowder on board her.
Knowing the scarcity of ammunition in the fleet they placed this
on board the Roebuck, the fastest trawler in the harbour, and she
started at once in pursuit of the fleet.
The misfortune to the Capitana was not the only one that befell
the Spaniards. While Oquendo was absent from his galleon a quarrel
arose among the officers, who were furious at the ill result of the
day's fighting. The captain struck the master gunner with a stick;
the latter, a German, rushed below in a rage, thrust a burning fuse
into a powder barrel, and sprang through a porthole into the sea.
The whole of the deck was blown up, with two hundred sailors and
soldiers; but the ship was so strongly built that she survived the
shock, and her mast still stood.
The duke sent boats to learn what had happened. These carried
off the few who remained unhurt, but there was no means of taking
off the wounded. These, however, were treated kindly and sent on
shore when the ship was picked up at daylight by the English, who,
on rifling her, found to their delight that there were still many
powder barrels on board that had escaped the explosion.
The morning broke calm, and the wind, when it came, was from the
east, which gave the Spaniards the advantage of position. The two
fleets lay idle all day three or four miles apart, and the next
morning, as the wind was still from the east, the Spaniards bore
down upon Howard to offer battle.
The English, however, headed out to sea. Encouraged by seeing
their assailants avoid a pitched battle the Spaniards gave chase.
The San Marcos, the fastest sailer in the fleet, left the rest
behind, and when the breeze headed round at noon she was several
miles to windward of her consorts, and the English at once set upon
her. She fought with extreme courage, and defended herself single
handed for an hour and a half, when Oquendo came up to the rescue,
and as the action off Plymouth had almost exhausted his stock
of powder, and the Brixham sloop had not yet come up, Howard was
obliged to draw off.
The action of this day was fought off Portland. During the three
days the British fleet had been to sea they had received almost
hourly reinforcements. From every harbour and fishing port along
the coast from Plymouth to the Isle of Wight vessels of all sizes,
smacks, and boats put off, crowded with noblemen and gentlemen
anxious to take part in the action, and their enthusiasm added to
that of the weary and ill fed sailors. At the end of the third day
the English fleet had increased to a hundred sail, many of which,
however, were of very small burden.