The happy termination of the siege of Alkmaar was followed, three days afterwards, by another signal success on the part of the patriots.  Count Bossu, who had constructed or collected a considerable fleet at Amsterdam, had, early in October, sailed into the Zuyder Zee, notwithstanding the sunken wrecks and other obstructions by which the patriots had endeavored to render the passage of the Y impracticable.  The patriots of North Holland had, however, not been idle, and a fleet of five-and-twenty vessels, under Admiral Dirkzoon, was soon cruising in the same waters.  A few skirmishes took place, but Bossu’s ships, which were larger, and provided with heavier cannon, were apparently not inclined for the close quarters which the patriots sought.  The Spanish Admiral, Hollander as he was, knew the mettle of his countrymen in a close encounter at sea, and preferred to trust to the calibre of his cannon.  On the 11th October, however, the whole patriot fleet, favored by a strong easterly, breeze, bore down upon the Spanish armada, which, numbering now thirty sail of all denominations, was lying off and on in the neighbourhood of Horn and Enkhuyzen.  After a short and general engagement, nearly all the Spanish fleet retired with precipitation, closely pursued by most of the patriot Dutch vessels.  Five of the King’s ships were eventually taken, the rest effected their escape.  Only the Admiral remained, who scorned to yield, although his forces had thus basely deserted him.  His ship, the “Inquisition,”—­for such was her insolent appellation, was far the largest and best manned of both the fleets.  Most of the enemy had gone in pursuit of the fugitives, but four vessels of inferior size had attacked the “Inquisition” at the commencement of the action.  Of these, one had soon been silenced, while the other three had grappled themselves inextricably to her sides and prow.  The four drifted together, before wind and tide, a severe and savage action going on incessantly, during which the navigation of the ships was entirely abandoned.  No scientific gunnery, no military or naval tactics were displayed or required in such a conflict.  It was a life-and-death combat, such as always occurred when Spaniard and Netherlander met, whether on land or water.  Bossu and his men, armed in bullet-proof coats of mail, stood with shield and sword on the deck of the “Inquisition,” ready to repel all attempts to board.  The Hollander, as usual, attacked with pitch hoops, boiling oil, and molten lead.  Repeatedly they effected their entrance to the Admiral’s ship, and as often they were repulsed and slain in heaps, or hurled into the sea.  The battle began at three in the afternoon, and continued without intermission through the whole night.  The vessels, drifting together, struck on the shoal called the Nek, near Wydeness.  In the heat of the action the occurrence was hardly heeded.  In the morning twilight, John Haring, of Horn, the hero who had kept one thousand soldiers at bay upon