“THE TROUBLESOME VOYAGE”
The four centuries before the sixteenth, in which Drake lived, have
been called the Age of Discovery. The world widened before men’s eyes
as new lands and seas, new peoples, and even new stars, became known
to them. The little country of Portugal was the first to begin those
discoveries. Her ships explored the coasts of Africa and traded there.
One of her mariners discovered the passage round the Cape of Good Hope
to India, the Spice Islands, and China, and for long she had no rival
in her trade.
About fifty years before Drake was born, America was discovered by
Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor in the service of Spain. The
ships in use in those days were very different to any we see now. There
have been three kinds of ships made, ships with oars, ships with
sails, and ships with steam. They are divided into two kinds, fighting
ships and merchant ships.
The old-fashioned galley was long and low-decked, and could be rowed
or sailed. In the middle of the ship, between two platforms or upper
decks, the rowers were chained to their seats. Three or four men
worked each of the long oars, or _sweeps_ as they were called. There
were twenty-five oars or more on each side of the ship. The rowers or
galley-slaves were generally prisoners taken in war, and to “be sent to
the galleys” was a terrible fate. They lived on the benches, ill-fed
and ill-clothed, with only an awning to cover them when in port, though
the low sides of the ships protected them a little from the weather and
from the fire of the enemy. Drake seems always to have released the
slaves he took on Spanish galleys. Once, we are told, they included
“Turks, Greeks, Negroes, Frenchmen, and Spaniards.”
The sailors who worked the ships were free. The ships were always
armed, at first with shields and spears and arrows, later with guns and
powder. With such ships the Italians fought many great battles on the
Mediterranean, and in such ships the Norsemen had invaded England and
raided the Northern Seas; and, with his _caravels_, or light Spanish
ships, Columbus reached the islands which he called the West Indies.
In later voyages he reached the mainland of America, but to the day
of his death he always believed that he had found the coast of Asia.
Another Italian sailor, named Amerigo, also in the service of Spain,
gave his name to the New World. The Italians had long been good sailors
and ship-builders, and great fighters at sea, and they had the glory of
discovering America, though they gained no possessions there.
Spain, at that time the most powerful state in Europe, seized upon a
great part of the new land, and found there gold and silver mines. The
natives they first subdued and afterwards forced to become Christians,
as the custom was in warfare with a Pagan race.
The American Indians, however, have never been easy to subdue, and
have always had an undying affection for their own way of life.
The Spaniards found them unfitted for hard work in the mines. The
Portuguese had already captured negroes in their West African
settlements, and numbers of those were sent to America as slaves.
From the time of Henry the Eighth the English were building and buying
fine ships, and learnt to sail them so well that they began less and
less to use the old galley ship with its many oars. They traded mostly
with Spain and the Low Countries; but as they got better ships, and
became expert sailors, they wanted to go farther away, to discover new
countries and get more trade. They began to sail to the Canary Islands,
to Africa, and America.
The Hawkins family had taken a large part in this new activity. The
elder William Hawkins had sailed to Brazil; and his son, John Hawkins,
with whom Drake took service, made several voyages to the “Isles of
the Canaries.” Having learnt something about the West Indies, he made
several voyages there, carrying with him numbers of negroes to sell,
whom he took, partly by the sword, and partly by other means, on the
coast of Africa.
Hawkins and the other adventurers who joined him brought home great
riches. In the account of those early voyages we see the beginning of a
quarrel with Spain, which was to last through the reign of Elizabeth,
till Philip sent his great Armada to invade England.
The third and most famous voyage of John Hawkins to the West Indies was
called “the troublesome voyage,” for it ended in disaster. It was the
biggest venture that had yet been made by the English, and Drake took
part in it. Hawkins sailed with six ships. There were two “great ships”
of the Royal Navy--the _Jesus_, commanded by Hawkins himself, and the
_Minion_; the _William and John_, named after and owned by the Hawkins
brothers; and three smaller ones, the _Swallow_, the _Angel_, and the
_Judith_, the last being under the command of Francis Drake.
They got slaves in Africa and sold them in the West Indies, though
not without difficulty, because the Spaniards had been forbidden by
their king to trade with the English. As they were about to start on
their way home, the ships met with fearful storms, and as the _Jesus_
was much shattered, Hawkins made up his mind to seek for haven. They
were driven at last into Vera Cruz, the port of the city of Mexico.
Here they sheltered, hoping to buy food and repair their fleet. Now
in this very port lay treasure which was said to be worth thousands of
pounds. It was waiting for the fleet of armed ships which was to take
it safely back to Spain. The Spaniards were much dismayed to see the
English ships, with their Portuguese ships and prisoners captured on
the voyage, come, as they thought, to seize their treasure. It was this
very danger they had feared when Hawkins first began his slave trade
and disturbed the peace of the Spanish colonies.
Next morning thirteen great ships appeared, and proved to be a Mexican
fleet returning with a new Viceroy or Governor from King Philip. A
solemn and peaceful agreement was made, and the Spanish ships were
moored alongside the English ones, which were already in possession of
the harbour. However, the Spaniards afterwards broke faith and fell
upon the English, and a great and fierce fight took place, which lasted
from ten in the morning until night. The _Angel_ and the _Swallow_ were
sunk, and the _Jesus_ so damaged that it could not be brought away.
As the remaining ships were sailing away, the Spaniards sent two
“fire ships” after them. This was not an unusual way of fighting in
those days. The empty, burning ships were sent to try and fire the
enemies’ ships, and were borne along, flaming, by the wind, an awful
and terrifying sight. The men on the _Minion_ became panic-stricken,
and set sail without orders. Some of the men from the _Judith_ followed
in a small boat. The rest were forced “to abide the mercy of the
Spaniards,” which, Hawkins says, he doubts was very little.
“The same night,” he goes on, “the _Judith_ forsook us in our great
misery. In the end, when the wind came larger, we weighed anchor and
set sail, seeking for water, of which we had very little. And wandering
thus certain days in these unknown seas, hunger forced us to eat hides,
cats and dogs, mice, rats, parrots, and monkeys.”
Some of the men asked to be put on land, rather than risk shipwreck and
starvation in the overcrowded boat. Hawkins did, in the end, get safely
home, with his weather-beaten ship, and the survivors of his feeble,
starving crew. But he says that, if all the miseries and troubles of
this sorrowful voyage were to be written, the tale would be as long
as the “Book of Martyrs.” Some of the men that were left also reached
England, after weary wanderings and years of terrible sufferings. Some
were put to death as heretics, and others were sent to the galleys as
slaves. Others, more fortunate, were sent to serve in monasteries,
where the monks made kind and gentle masters.
Five days before Hawkins reached England, the little _Judith_ struggled
into Plymouth Harbour with Drake and his load of men. William Hawkins
sent him at once to London on horseback, “post, post haste,” as the old
letters say. He carried letters to the Lords of Council, and to Sir
William Cecil, the Chief Secretary of the Queen. So he rode swiftly
along the country roads, only stopping to fling himself off one weary,
smoking horse on to the back of a fresh one. The people would gather
round him as he made the change, and wonder what great news was going
to town.
William Hawkins said in his letter: “There is come to Plymouth, at this
present hour, one of the small barks of my brother’s fleet, and as I
have neither writing nor anything else from him, I thought it good,
and my most bounden duty, to send you the captain of the same bark. He
is our kinsman, and is called Francis Drake.”
He was to tell the whole story, and the Queen was to hear it. He was
to tell of the losses of John Hawkins, and of his absence, which his
brother says “is unto me more grief than any other thing in the world.”
Drake was much blamed at the time for deserting his general. It is
difficult for us to see what he could have done. His little ship was
crowded, and he had small store of food and water, and he no doubt
thought it best to get home as soon as possible. His story of Spanish
treachery and English loss must have roused the countryside. The
excitement was at its height when the _Minion_ appeared off Cornwall.
A man “for goodwill” came riding to William Hawkins, at Plymouth, to
get help. He sent a bark, with thirty-four mariners and a store of
fresh food and other necessaries. And again letters were sent to London
with the news. Haste! haste! post haste!
[Illustration: Drake carrying to Court the news of his voyage]