This decided the fate of the great battle,
which continued till sunset. When it ended, the French fleet had
ceased to exist, with the exception of a few ships which escaped
when it was dark. The Flemings captured Behuchet, and hung him
then and there. Nearly 30,000 of his men perished, many of whom
were drowned while attempting to swim ashore, or were clubbed to
death by the Flemings who lined the beach, waiting to take vengeance
on the invaders for having burned their homesteads and carried
off their flocks. The English lost two ships and 4,000 men; but
the victory was so complete that no courtier was bold enough to
carry the news to King Philip, who did not know what had befallen
his great fleet till the Court jester went to him, and said, 'Oh!
the English cowards! the English cowards! They had not the courage
to jump into the sea as our noble Frenchmen did at Sluis.'
[Footnote *: Vereecke, _Histoire Militaire de la Ville d'Ypres_,
p. 36.]
It is strange to think that Flemish peasants work, and cattle feed,
and holiday visitors from Knocke, or Sluis, or Kadzand ramble about
dry-shod where the waves were rolling in on that midsummer's morning,
and that far beneath the grass the timbers of so many stout ships
and the bones of so many valiant seamen have long since mouldered
away.
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