army so diminished and fatigued, that he was ashamed they should be seen; for he had lost before Nuz 4000 of his standing forces, the very flower of his army; by which one may see how God disposed him to act in this affair contrary to his reason and interest, which he understood better than any one else ten years before. The King of England being at Dover, ready to embark, the Duke of Burgundy sent him 500 Dutch boats, which were flat and low, and very proper for the transportation of horses (which boats, in Holland and Zealand, are called scuts); yet, notwithstanding that vast number, and all that the king could provide of his own, the embarking and landing his forces at Calais occupied three weeks, though the distance between Dover and that place is but seven leagues. From whence one may observe with what prodigious difficulty the Kings of England transport their armies into France; and if the King of France had understood the sea as well as he did land affairs, King Edward could never have landed in France, at least that year; but his majesty had no skill in naval matters, and those to whom he gave authority in war knew less of them than himself; yet one of our men-of-war, belonging to Eu, took two or three of their transports. Before the King of England embarked from Dover, he sent one of his heralds, named Garter, a native of Normandy, to the King of France, with a letter of defiance, written in such an elegant style, and in such polite language, that I can scarcely believe any Englishman[433] wrote it.