Spinola, being, of course, interested in the treasure, went at once to de Spes, and asked him to request officially of the Queen’s Council that the money should be protected effectively in the English ports, and, if necessary, landed and conveyed overland to Dover for transmission to Antwerp under English convoy. De Spes lost no time, and on the 29th November saw the Queen, who readily promised him a passport to carry the money overland, or, if the Genoese preferred it, she would have the ships convoyed to their destination. Satisfied with this, de Spes wrote to Alba for instructions as to which course to follow. In the meanwhile Admiral Wynter was leaving the Thames with an English squadron to relieve the Huguenots besieged by the King of France in Rochelle, and on the way he looked into the Channel ports to ensure the safety of the treasure ships. Before Wynter sailed finally from England Spinola, who was interested, as great financiers are to-day, in many enterprises, wrote to him that he had just received word that rumours were current in Spain of a great disaster having happened on the coast of Mexico to Captain John Hawkins, the bold English sailor who had on more than one occasion braved the Spanish prohibition and had conducted successful trading expeditions to the Spanish colonies. De Spes had been bitterly complaining of this, and it was feared, said Spinola, that the Hawkins expedition, in which he had an interest, had been attacked and annihilated by the Spanish authorities.