lord de Combor and the vifeouat de la BeHîcne, and had fo far fkccccdcd that there was not as yet ally apparent damage. . In the adjacent country, as I have before faid, wai the flowed of France* as well great lords as #thers § .they amounted to fixteen thoufand men at arms, knights. and iquitos,. with* upwards of one hundred thoufand horfes. They were as willing far the combat -as the Engtifli could be j but each of them fought to have an advantage : what, how-ever, prevented this from happening feveral times was the large river, when the tide was in, between •the two armies, which hindered them from attack-ing each other. The mine was advancing, of which the inha-bitants of St. Malo had fome fufpicions. • In fuch large armies as ^ thefe, it was not poflible but that the foragers of each Ihould frequently have ren-counters, in which fortune favoured fometimes one party, and fometimes the other ; for there were very expert and youthful knights of each army who fought for fuch exploits. The miners of the duke of Lancafter laboured hard at their work day and night, to carry it under the town and throw down part fef the walls, fo that the men at arms and,archers might eafily gain an entrance. ,tt Morfonace and the knights in the town guefled what they were about, and knew well that if they Ihould fucceed they were ruined. They did not fear their other alTaults, for the town was well pro-vided with all forts of ftores and artillery for two - v - " years* • 22