HOME AGAIN
Drake well knew that delay and idleness would soon spoil the spirits
of his men, so he at once divided them into two companies, under
himself and John Oxenham, to go roving in the two pinnaces in different
directions and seek for food and plunder. Some of the Maroons were
dismissed with gifts, and the rest remained with a few men on board
ship. The Governor of Panama had warned the towns so well that it was
useless to attempt them at present. Drake, in the _Minion_, took a
frigate of gold and dismissed it, somewhat lighter, to go on its way.
John Oxenham, in the _Bear_, took a frigate well laden with food of all
kinds. Drake was so pleased with this ship, which was strong and new
and shapely, that he kept her as a man-of-war in place of the sunken
ship. And the company were heartened with a feast and much good cheer
that Easter Day.
Next day the pinnaces met with a French captain out of Newhaven, whose
ship was greatly distressed for want of food and water. Drake relieved
him, and the captains exchanged gifts and compliments. The French
captain sent Drake “a gilt fair scimitar” which had belonged to Henry
the Third of France, and had in return a chain of gold and a tablet.
This captain brought them the news of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s
Day, and said he thought “those Frenchmen the happiest who were
furthest from France, now no longer France but Frenzy.” He had heard
famous reports of their riches, and wanted to know how he also could
“make his voyage.” They resolved, after consultation, to take him and
twenty of his men to serve for halves. They now sent for the Maroons.
A party was made up of twenty Frenchmen, fifteen Englishmen, and some
Maroons. They sailed with a frigate and two pinnaces towards a river
called Rio Francisco, to the west of Nombre de Dios. There was not
enough water to sail the frigate, so she was left in charge of a
mariner to await the return of the pinnaces. They went on, and landed
both captains with their force. Those in charge of the pinnaces were
ordered to be there the fourth day without fail. The land party went on
through the woods towards the high road from Panama to Nombre de Dios,
where the mules now went daily. They marched, as before, in silence.
They stayed all night a mile from the road, in great stillness, and
refreshed themselves. They could hear the carpenters working on their
ships, which they did at nights because of the fierce heat of the day.
Next morning, the 1st of April, they heard such a number of bells that
the Maroons rejoiced exceedingly, and assured them they should now have
more gold and silver than they could carry away. And so it came to pass.
For three trains appeared, one of fifty mules and two of seventy each,
and every mule carried 300 lbs. weight of silver, amounting to nearly
30 tons. The leaders of the mules were taken by the heads, and all the
rest lay down, as they always do. The fifteen soldiers who guarded each
train were routed, but not before they had wounded the French captain
sorely, and slain one of the Maroons. They took what silver and gold
they could carry, and buried the rest in the burrows made in the earth
by the great land crabs under old fallen trees, and in the sand and
gravel of a shallow river.
After two hours they marched back through the woods, but had to leave
the French captain to rest and recover from his wound. Two of his men
willingly stayed with him. Later on a third Frenchman was found to be
missing. He had got drunk, and overloaded himself with plunder, and
lost himself in the woods. They afterwards found he was taken by the
Spaniards in the evening, and, upon torture, revealed to them where the
treasure was hidden.
When they reached the river’s mouth, they saw seven Spanish pinnaces at
sea, which had come out to search the coasts. This made them fear their
own pinnaces were taken. But a storm in the night forced the Spaniards
to go home, and also delayed the English pinnaces, for the wind was so
contrary and so strong that they could only get half way. For this
reason they had fortunately been unseen by the Spaniards.
“But our Captain, seeing their ships, feared lest they had taken our
pinnaces, and compelled our men by torture to confess where his ships
and frigate were. In this great doubt and perplexity the company
feared that all means of returning to their country were cut off, and
that their treasure would then serve them to small purpose. But our
Captain comforted and encouraged us all, saying: ‘We should venture no
further than he did. It was no time now to fear, but rather to haste to
prevent that which was feared. If the enemy have prevailed against our
pinnaces (which God forbid!), yet they must have time to search them,
time to examine the mariners, time to execute their resolution after
it is determined. Before all those times be taken, we may get to our
ships, if ye will, though not possibly by land, because of the hills,
thickets, and rivers, yet by water. Let us, therefore, make a raft with
the trees that are here in readiness, as offering themselves, being
brought down to the river happily by this last storm, and let us put
ourselves to sea! I will be one, who will be the other?’
“John Smith offered himself, and two Frenchmen that could swim very
well desired they might accompany our Captain, as did the Maroons
likewise. They had prayed our Captain very earnestly to march by land,
though it was a sixteen-days’ journey, in case the ship had been
surprised, that he might abide with them always. Pedro was most eager
in this, who was fain to be left behind because he could not row.
“The raft was fitted and fast bound; a sail of a biscuit-sack was
prepared; an oar was shaped out of a young tree to serve instead of a
rudder, to direct their course before the wind.
“At his departure, our Captain comforted the company by promising
‘that, if it pleased God he should put his foot in safety on board his
frigate, he would, by one means or other, get them all on board, in
spite of all the Spaniards in the Indies!’
“In this manner pulling off to sea, he sailed some three leagues,
sitting up to the waist continually in water, and up to the armpits at
every surge of the waves, for the space of six hours upon this raft.
And what with the parching of the sun and what with the beating of salt
water, they had all of them their skins much fretted away.
“At length God gave them the sight of two pinnaces turning towards
them with much wind, but with far greater joy to him than can easily
be guessed. So he did cheerfully declare to those three with him, that
‘they were our pinnaces! and that all was safe, so there was no cause
of fear!’
“But look, the pinnaces not seeing the raft, nor suspecting any such
matter, by reason of the wind, and night growing on, were forced to
run into a cove behind the point, to take shelter for the night. Our
Captain seeing this, and gathering that they would anchor there, put
his raft ashore, and ran round the point by land, where he found them.
They, upon sight of him, made as much haste as they could to take him
and his company on board. For our Captain, on purpose to see what haste
they could and would make in extremity, himself ran in great haste, and
so made the other three with him, as if they had been chased by the
enemy. And so those on board suspected, because they saw so few with
him.
“And after his coming on board, when they demanded ‘how his company
did?’ he answered coldly, ‘Well!’ They all feared that all went scarce
well. But he, willing to rid all doubts, and fill them with joy, took
out of his bosom a quoit of gold, thanking God that ‘our voyage was
made!’”
They then rowed up the river and rescued the others, and brought back
such of the treasure as they had been able to carry with them, and
all returned to the ships by dawn. There Drake divided the treasure
equally by weight between the French and the English. During the next
fortnight everything was set in order, and the _Pascha_ given to the
Spanish prisoners to go home in. Meanwhile a party was sent out to try
and rescue the French captain and to seek for the buried treasure. One
only of the Frenchmen managed to escape and was saved. Much of the
treasure had been discovered by the Spaniards, but not all, and the
party returned very cheerful, with thirteen bars of silver and a few
quoits of gold. The Frenchmen now left them, having got their shares of
the treasure. The ships parted when passing close by Cartagena, which
they did in the sight of all the fleet, “with a flag of St. George on
the main top of the frigate, with silk streamers and ancients (national
flags) down to the water.”
Later on they anchored to trim and rig the frigates and stow away the
provisions, and they tore up and burnt the pinnaces so that the Maroons
might have the ironwork. One of the last days Drake desired Pedro and
three of the chief Maroons to go through both his frigates and see what
they liked. He promised to give them whatever they asked, unless he
could not get back to England without it. But Pedro set his heart on
the scimitar which the French captain had given to Drake; and knowing
Drake liked it no less, he dared not ask for it or praise it. But at
last he bribed one of the company to ask for him, with a fine quoit of
gold, and promised to give four others to Drake. Drake was sorry, but
he wished to please Pedro, who deserved so well, so he gave it to him
with many good words. Pedro received it with no little joy, and asked
Drake to accept the four pieces of gold, as a token of his thankfulness
and a pledge of his faithfulness through life. He received it
graciously, but did not keep it for himself but caused it to be cast
into the whole adventure, saying that “if he had not been helped to
that place he would never have got such a thing, and it was only just
that those who shared his burden in setting him to sea should enjoy a
share of the benefits.”
“Thus with good love and liking, we took our leave of that people. We
took many ships during our abode in those parts, yet never burnt nor
sunk any, unless they acted as men-of-war against us, or tried to trap
us. And of all the men taken in those vessels, we never offered any
kind of violence to any, after they were once come into our power. For
we either dismissed them in safety, or kept them with us some longer
time. If so, we provided for them as for ourselves, and secured them
from the rage of the Maroons against them, till at last, the danger of
their discovering where our ships lay being past, for which cause only
we kept them prisoners, we set them also free.
“We now intended to sail home the directest and speediest way, and this
we happily performed, even beyond our own expectations, and so arrived
at Plymouth, on Sunday about sermon-time, August the 9th, 1573.
“And the news of our Captain’s return being brought unto his people,
did so speedily pass over all the church, and fill their minds with
delight and desire to see him, that very few or none remained with the
preacher. All hastened to see the evidence of God’s love and blessing
towards our gracious Queen and country by the fruit of our Captain’s
labour and success.
“TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY.”