DRAKE AND OXENHAM'S EXPEDITIONS.
1572-1596.
DRAKE'S ATTACK ON NOMBRE DE DIOS—PANIC AMONG THE
INHABITANTS—STORES OF TREASURE—RETREAT OF THE ENGLISH—THEY
SAIL FOR CARTAGENA—AND THENCE FOR THE GULF OF URABÁ—VISIT
TO THE ISLE OF PINOS—THE SHIPS MOVED TO THE CABEZAS
ISLANDS—SECOND EXPEDITION TO CARTAGENA—MARCH TO THE
ISTHMUS—DRAKE'S FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE SOUTH SEA—AMBUSCADE
POSTED NEAR CRUCES—THE BELLS OF APPROACHING TREASURE
TRAINS—THE PRIZE MISSED THROUGH THE FOLLY OF A DRUNKEN
SOLDIER—CAPTURE OF CRUCES—THIRTY TONS OF GOLD AND SILVER
TAKEN NEAR NOMBRE DE DIOS—VOYAGE ON A RAFT—THE EXPEDITION
RETURNS TO ENGLAND—OXENHAM'S RAID—DRAKE'S CIRCUMNAVIGATION
OF THE GLOBE—HIS SECOND VOYAGE TO THE WEST INDIES—HIS FINAL
EXPEDITION—HIS DEATH AND BURIAL OFF PORTOBELLO.
[Sidenote: AT NOMBRE DE DIOS.]
In the town of Offenburg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, is a statue of
a man standing on the deck of a vessel and leaning on an anchor, his
right hand grasping a map of America, his left a cluster of bulbous
roots, the meaning of which might puzzle the observer until he reads
on the pedestal the inscription: "Sir Francis Drake, the introducer of
potatoes into Europe, in the year of our Lord 1586." Thus, in Offenburg,
is known to fame the great Armada captain and circumnavigator of
the globe. The eldest of the twelve sons of a Protestant minister in
straitened circumstances, he shipped as an apprentice on board a small
merchant craft, and on the decease of the captain succeeded to the
command of the ship. Tiring of his trading ventures he sold his vessel,
and soon afterward served under Sir John Hawkins, in an expedition to
Mexico, where he lost all his property and some of his dearest friends.
Vowing vengeance on the Spaniards, he returned to England, and in 1570
received letters of marque from Queen Elizabeth authorizing him to
cruise in the Spanish West Indies. After two short voyages, made rather
for exploration than profit, he fitted up two privateers and several
pinnaces for an expedition to Nombre de Dios, and on Whitsunday eve, the
24th of May 1572, set sail from Plymouth with a force of seventy-three
men.
Drake first shaped his course for the Isla de Pinos, where he left his
ships in charge of one Captain Rawse, and placing most of his men in
the pinnaces, arrived off the Isthmus at the season of year when the
treasures of the mines were stored there in readiness for shipment
to Spain. Entering the port of Nombre de Dios by night he roused
the slumbering townsfolk by marching through the main street to the
sound of drum and trumpet. A party was despatched to seize the king's
treasure-house, and each man was ordered to fasten to his pike a lighted
brand. The affrighted inhabitants imagined that the town was invaded by
a force at least twice its real strength. Nevertheless they were soon
under arms, and mustering near the governor's house, poured in a sharp
volley on the English, pointing their weapons so low that the bullets
often grazed the ground. The privateersmen discharged their pieces but
once, and then came to close quarters, attacking the Spaniards with pike
and sword and but-end of musket, and driving them with heavy loss to the
market-place. Two or three prisoners were captured, who gave information
that the silver awaiting convoy to Spain was stored at the governor's
residence, and that in the treasure-house nearer the water was a large
quantity of gold, jewels, and pearls.[XXIII‑1]
Drake ordered his men to stand to their arms, for companies of Spaniards
were observed mustering for an attack. A report then spread through
the ranks that the pinnaces were in danger of being captured. A violent
storm of rain came on, and before the British could gain shelter their
powder was wet and their bowstrings rendered unserviceable. The men
lost heart and began to think of saving themselves before their retreat
was cut off, many of them being wounded, and Drake himself shot in the
leg. Their captain rebuked them, exclaiming: "I have brought you to
the very mouth of the treasure of the world, and if you go away without
it you can blame nobody but yourselves." He then directed a portion of
his command to break open the treasure-house, while the remainder stood
ready to repel attack; but, as he stepped forward, he dropped down in
a swoon from loss of blood and was carried back to his pinnace.[XXIII‑2]
At daybreak the entire company embarked, and after making prize of a
vessel of sixty tons laden principally with wines, landed at the port of
Bastimentos.[XXIII‑3] After resting there for two days Drake rejoined
his ships at the Isla de Pinos, whence he despatched his brother to
explore the river Chagre as far as the town of Cruces, where it will
be remembered the treasure trains passed on their way from Panamá to
the North Sea. He then proceeded to Cartagena where he captured several
Spanish vessels, but finding the town too strongly defended to venture
an attack, set sail for the gulf of Urabá. The adventurers landed at
a spot remote from the line of travel, and hiding their vessels in a
neighboring creek, remained there fifteen days, hoping thus to create
among the Spaniards the impression that they had departed from the
coast. An expedition was then undertaken to the river Atrato for the
purpose of intercepting the canoes, which, after the arrival of the
fleet at Cartagena, were sent up the stream, laden with the merchandise
of Spain, to return with the gold, silver, and other valuable
commodities collected during the year.
[Sidenote: THE CIMARRONES HELP THEM.]
On the second day of the voyage it was ascertained that the fleet had
not yet reached Cartagena; whereupon the English again visited the Isla
de Pinos, capturing there vast quantities of provisions, including
cassava bread, meal, wine, dried beef, fish, and a plentiful supply
of live stock, all intended for the use of the Spanish settlements and
for revictualling the fleet.[XXIII‑4] These were secured for future use
in storehouses, built many leagues apart. Then under the guidance of
cimarrones, who regarded the English as allies against a mutual foe,
Drake moved his vessels to a secluded bay amid the Cabezas, a group of
thickly wooded islands, near the gulf of San Blas, where the channel
was so narrow and difficult that none could enter by night.[XXIII‑5]
Here he was free from all danger of surprise. The rainy season had
now begun, and during that time the Spaniards did not convey treasure
by land. A delay became necessary before any extensive raid could be
undertaken, and the men were therefore ordered to erect a fort and
buildings suitable for their accommodation and to land their ordnance
and provisions.
The restless spirit of the leader carried him on, and within fourteen
days of his arrival at the islands he started on a new expedition to
Cartagena, casting anchor in that harbor on the 18th of October 1572.
A party of horsemen came down to the shore displaying a flag of truce,
and met him with fair promises of friendship and assistance. Suspecting
treachery, the English put off to sea next morning, but remained for
some days in the neighborhood to the great annoyance of the Spaniards,
who constantly endeavored, though without success, to induce them to
land and thus draw them into an ambuscade. At length falling short of
provisions, and seeing no prospect of capturing any valuable prize, they
set sail for the gulf of San Blas. On the return voyage, which occupied
twenty-five days, they suffered severely. Baffled by contrary gales,
their small, leaky craft, in imminent peril from the heavy chopping
sea, their provisions exhausted, many almost perishing from want and
exposure, they had never lived to rejoin their comrades, but that,
in the last extremity they were fortunate enough to capture a Spanish
vessel, "which," as the chronicler tells us, "being laden with victuals
well powdered and dried, they received as sent them by the mercy of
heaven."
[Sidenote: THEY CROSS THE ISTHMUS.]
Drake remained for several weeks in his lurking place among the islands.
At length the welcome news arrived that the Spanish fleet had reached
Nombre de Dios, and the adventurers at once began their march overland
toward Panamá. Sickness and the bullets of the Spaniards had sorely
thinned their ranks. No treasure had been captured, and twenty-eight
of their number had already found a grave in this land of promise,
among them two brothers of Drake; one through disease, the other while
leading a rash attack on a Spanish vessel. Several of the party also
lay ill of the 'calenture' fever,[XXIII‑6] caused by the unhealthy
climate and unwholesome water. After a slender guard had been left over
the ships, but eighteen men could be mustered fit for active service.
Thirty cimarrones who accompanied the expedition carried the provisions,
leaving the English unencumbered except by their arms.[XXIII‑7]
Many days the party journeyed, forcing their way through dense
underbrush and cane-brake, crossing swollen streams and toiling up
mountain steeps. Yet they suffered little hardship. High overhead a
canopy of leaves screened them from the rays of an almost vertical
sun. The country abounded in wild fruits, and as night approached the
cimarrones erected rain-proof sheds thatched with palmetto and wild
plantain leaves, under which they cooked their meal of wild boar's flesh
or other forest game, slain during the day's march.[XXIII‑8]
On the third day of their march they arrived at a negro town, distant
forty-live leagues from Panamá and thirty-five from Nombre de Dios,
containing about sixty families, and well supplied with maize, fruit,
and live stock. The town was surrounded with a mud wall and a ditch
for defence against the Spaniards, with whom the cimarrones were still
constantly at war. Only one year before the place had been attacked
by a force of one hundred and fifty men, whose commander had promised
to exterminate the entire population. The assault was made just before
daybreak, whereupon the males fled to the forest, leaving their wives
and children to be massacred, but afterward mustering courage fell on
their invaders and drove them in turn to the woods, where, their guide
being slain, all but thirty perished of want. Here the English were
urged to remain and rest for a few days. Not far distant, they were
told, dwelt the king of the cimarrones, who could bring into the field
seventeen hundred warriors, and would aid them with reënforcements on
learning their errand. The commander thanked them, but declared that "he
would use no further strength if he might have twenty times as much,"
and after a brief halt continued his journey.
Four days later the expedition arrived at the summit of a mountain, from
which they had been promised a view of the "North Sea whence they came
and of the South Sea whither they were going."[XXIII‑9] Aided by one
of the cimarrones Drake climbed a tall tree, in whose trunk steps had
been cut almost to the top, and where, supported by the upper limbs,
a bower had been built large enough to contain a dozen men. From this
eyrie he gazed for the first time on the great southern ocean over whose
waters the English flag had never yet been unfurled. It is said that
he here conceived the project which a few years later was carried to
completion—the circumnavigation of the globe; and as dreams of fame and
vast achievement were mingled with visions of gold-bearing lands, and
of Spanish galleons deep laden with weight of treasure, he besought God
"to give him life and leave to sail an English ship in those seas." The
aid of the Almighty was never invoked or given for the furtherance of
more iniquitious measures.
For forty-eight hours more the route lay through forest land, and beyond
this the country was covered with a species of grass, so tall that at
its full growth the cattle could not reach the upper blade. Thrice a
year it was burnt, and so rich was the soil that a few days afterward it
sprouted like green corn. The English were now nearing the end of their
march, and as they journeyed frequently came in sight of Panamá and of
the Spanish vessels riding at anchor in the roadstead.
[Sidenote: THE TREASURE TRAINS.]
Extreme caution became necessary,[XXIII‑10] and on approaching Panamá,
Drake, withdrawing his men from the road, led them to a grove within a
league of the city, and near the highway to Nombre de Dios. His arrival
was well timed. A cimarron, sent forward to Panamá disguised as a
slave to ascertain the exact night and time of night[XXIII‑11] when the
precious train was to pass by, returned with news that sent a thrill
through every breast. That very evening the treasurer of Lima was to
start from Panamá en route to Spain, and with him eight mules laden
with gold, five with silver, and one with pearls and jewels. Two other
trains each of fifty mules, freighted mainly with provisions, were to
form part of the expedition.
Drake at once put his men in motion toward the Chagre River, and when
within two leagues of the town of Cruces[XXIII‑12] posted them in two
parties, one on either side of the road, and in such a position that
they might fall simultaneously on the van and rear of the train. The
men were ordered to wear white shirts outside their uniforms in order
to distinguish one another. After the arrival of the fleet at Nombre de
Dios, trains passed frequently along the road from Cruces to Panamá,
and the strictest injunctions were given that none should stir except
at the appointed signal.
An hour they lay in ambush; the treasurer was within half a league of
the ambuscade, and the bells of the approaching train were distinctly
heard in the silence of the night. The great prize was close at hand,
and each man as he clutched his firelock and felt the keen edge of his
broadsword held his breath while he crouched in the grass and listened
to the sounds borne ever clearer on the still air. A train laden with
merchandise was now passing directly in front of them, but such spoil
offered no temptation when gold and silver by the ton was within reach.
At this moment an untoward incident occurred. "One Robert Pike," as
Burton tells us, "having drunk too much _Aqua-Vitæ_ without Uater,
forgetting himself, perswaded a _Symeron_ to go into the road, and seize
on the foremost Mules, and a _Spanish_ Horse-man riding by with his
_Page_ running on his side, _Pike_ unadvisedly started up to see who he
was, though the _Symeron_ discreetly endeavored to pull him down, and
lay upon him to prevent further discovery, yet by this Gentleman taking
notice of one all in white, they having put their Shirts over their
Cloths to prevent mistakes in the night, he put Spurs to his Horse both
to secure himself, and give notice to others of the danger."
[Sidenote: RARE RICHES.]
Drake still remained in ambush, not knowing what had happened. The
cavalier meanwhile made all haste to report the circumstance to the
treasurer, and it was thought best that the mules conveying the treasure
be led aside while the remainder be allowed to pass on, so that in case
of attack the enemy's attention might be engaged until troops could be
summoned from Panamá. The provision trains were quickly captured and a
few hundred pounds of base bullion[XXIII‑13] were discovered among the
packs.
No time was to be lost, for one of the muleteers, being friendly-minded
toward his captors, warned them that by daybreak they would have the
captain general upon them, at the head of the entire posse of Panamá.
The leader of the cimarrones promised that if they would at once
march boldly on Cruces, he would conduct them to their ships by a
much shorter route than that by which they had come. To some this plan
seemed hazardous, but the commander, with his clear judgment, saw that
to encounter the Spaniards at once, while his men were yet in good
condition, was less perilous than to be attacked later when jaded with
travel and dispirited by failure.
After giving them time to make a hearty meal Drake gave the order
to advance. The road was but twelve feet wide, being cut through
the forest and inclosed by a dense wall of undergrowth. A company of
soldiers, stationed in the town as a defence against marauding bands of
cimarrones,[XXIII‑14] together with a party of friars, came forth to
oppose his passage. The Spanish captain hailed them, and on learning
that they were English summoned them to surrender, promising kind
treatment. Drake answered: "For the honor of the queen of England, my
mistress, I must have passage this way." He then discharged his pistol,
and was answered by a volley which killed one and wounded several of
his band. The English then attacked briskly, and aided by the cimarrones
drove the Spaniards into the woods and took possession of Cruces.
Much consternation was at first caused among the townsfolk, especially
among some Spanish women of Nombre de Dios still suffering from
child-birth;[XXIII‑15] but Drake manifested little of that fiendish
cruelty displayed by the buccaneers of later years. Giving orders that
none should lay hands on women or do violence to unarmed men,[XXIII‑16]
he called on the sick women and assured them that they had nothing to
fear. Little booty of value was found at Cruces, and at daybreak on the
morning after making their entry into the town the party began their
march toward the coast, reaching their ships in safety, though hungry,
shoeless, and empty-handed.
After an unsuccessful cruise on the coast of Veragua, Drake returned
once more to the Cabezas, and there fell in with a French vessel, the
captain of which proposed to join him in another attempt, now being
planned, to capture some of the treasure trains still passing across the
Isthmus. After consultation it was agreed that twenty of the French crew
should go in company with fifteen of the English, and that the former
should receive half the proceeds of the raid. The expedition sailed
for the Rio Francisco, and after ascending the river a short distance
in pinnaces marched overland, without mishap, to a spot near Nombre de
Dios, within a short distance of the high road. The fleet from Cartagena
still lay off that town awaiting the last shipments of treasure, and
Drake had reason to believe that several richly laden trains were then
on the way from Panamá. Nor was he disappointed. On the morning after
his arrival the bells of the approaching train were distinctly heard,
and soon there appeared in sight three companies, two with seventy and
one with fifty mules, laden with nearly thirty tons of gold and silver.
The escort of Spanish soldiers, numbering forty-five men, was beaten
off after the exchange of a few shots, one of which wounded the French
captain severely, and the adventurers were left in possession of the
prize. In two hours they had secured all the gold they could carry
away, and buried the remainder, with about fifteen tons of silver, under
fallen trees. Meanwhile the alarm had been given at Nombre de Dios, and
a strong party of horse and foot approached them from that direction.
All except the wounded officer and two of his command retired to the
woods and made their way back to the river.
[Sidenote: PERILOUS SITUATION.]
But what had become of the pinnaces? They had been ordered to return
within four days and were not even in sight. Looking seaward, Drake
descried seven Spanish vessels cruising off the coast. Surely the boats
had been captured and their crews forced to disclose the hiding-place of
the ships that were to have carried them back home, weighed down with
plunder. Of little use was now their gold, with such dismal prospects
before them. The cimarrones advised them to march overland to the spot
where their vessels lay, a difficult journey of sixteen days at least,
through forest and across streams swollen by winter rains and with many
a tall mountain lying between them and the seashore. Drake was satisfied
that long before they reached the coast their ships would be taken or
burnt by the Spaniards. Nevertheless he told his men to banish fear,
and bid them construct a raft from the trees brought down by the stream
during a recent storm. A large biscuit-sack served for a sail, and for
rudder an oar rudely shaped with axe and knife.
With three companions, all expert swimmers, the commander put to sea,
assuring his followers "that if by Gods help he once more put aboard his
Foot in his Frigot, he would certainly get them all into her in spite
of all the Spaniards in the Indies." The raft was so low in the water
that each wave broke over them,[XXIII‑17] fretting and chafing their
lower limbs, while their bodies from the waist upward were scorched
by the stinging heat of a tropical sun. Six hours passed by slowly and
wearily, and night was now approaching, while under a freshening gale
the waves dashed higher and higher, threatening each moment forever to
engulf the four cowering figures. Little hope or life was left in them,
for none could endure such hardship through all the long days that must
elapse before they could expect to reach their ships. At length when
all seemed lost a sail appeared, and then another. Did they belong to
their own missing boats or to the war vessels of the enemy? Better to
brave any danger than fall alive into the hands of the Spaniards. Drake
at once affirmed them to be the pinnaces expected at the rio Francisco,
and so it proved. Within an hour he was on board; before daybreak next
morning he had rejoined his command, and by sunrise all had embarked
for the Cabezas, where they found their vessels lying safely at
anchor.[XXIII‑18]
[Sidenote: PRIZES SECURED.]
The gold and silver were now divided by weight in equal shares between
the French and English, and a final expedition despatched to Nombre
de Dios for the buried silver, and to rescue or bring back word of
the wounded officer and his two companions. Hardly had they set foot
on the shore of the rio Francisco when one of the missing Frenchmen
came forth to meet them. He declared that within half an hour after
Drake had begun his retreat, the captain and his remaining comrade, the
latter half stupefied with wine, had been taken by the Spaniards; that
he himself had escaped only by throwing down his plunder, and that the
hidden treasure had probably been recovered, for the ground had been
thoroughly searched. Nevertheless the men were ordered to push forward,
and succeeded in unearthing some thirteen bars of silver and a few
wedges of gold, wherewith they returned without adventure to the coast.
The Spanish fleet was now ready to sail, having taken on board the last
load of its rich freight, and nothing was to be gained by remaining
longer on the coast. Drake parted on good terms with his French allies,
and after capturing a vessel[XXIII‑19] laden with provisions, fitted
out his ships for their homeward voyage. The cimarrones were dismissed
with suitable presents for themselves, and a profusion of silk and linen
for their wives. Sail was then set; and on a Sabbath forenoon, the 9th
of August 1573, the squadron cast anchor in Plymouth Sound. It was the
hour of divine service, as the chroniclers tell us, when news of the
arrival spread through the town; and in all the churches men and women
abandoned their devotions and flocked to the shore to welcome their
brave countrymen, who thus returned to their native land with so much
gold and glory.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: COSTLY TREASURE.]
Among those who accompanied Drake in his expedition to Tierra Firme in
1572 was one John Oxenham, who, three years later, planned a daring but,
as the event proved, a disastrous raid on the Spanish mainland and went
in search of the treasure-ships which frequented its southern coast.
Landing on the Isthmus with only seventy men, he beached his vessel,
covered her with boughs, buried his cannon in the ground, and guided
by friendly cimarrones marched twelve leagues inland to the banks of a
river flowing toward the south. Here a pinnace was built, large enough
to contain the entire party, and dropping down unnoticed to the mouth of
the stream Oxenham sailed for the Pearl Islands, which lay in the track
of vessels conveying treasure from Lima to Panamá. Prizes were made of
two vessels containing gold and silver to the value of nearly three
hundred thousand pesos, and the adventurers now began their homeward
journey. But on the very night of their departure information of the
capture was sent to Panamá, and within two days a strong force started
in pursuit. The treasure was recovered, the English were defeated, and
their ship being taken, the survivors, some fifty in number, fled to the
mountains, where they lived for a time among the cimarrones. Finally
they were betrayed to the Spaniards and all put to death, with the
exception of five boys who were sold into slavery. Thus ended the first
piratical cruise attempted by Englishmen in the South Sea.[XXIII‑20]
* * * * *
The prayer which Drake uttered when first he gazed on the Pacific did
not remain long unanswered; for the great captain was one of those
self-helpful men which the Almighty seldom fails to assist. On the 15th
of November 1577 he set out upon the famous expedition which was to
place him in the foremost rank of navigators. On September 6th, in the
following year, he cleared the strait of Magellan, and was the first to
carry the English flag into the ocean beyond. After capturing a large
amount of treasure between the coast of Peru and the bay of Panamá, he
sailed as far north as the forty-third parallel, expecting to find a
passage eastward to the Atlantic.[XXIII‑21] Thence returning he arrived
at Plymouth by way of the Cape of Good Hope, after a voyage of nearly
three years, on the 26th of September 1580.[XXIII‑22] His flag-ship the
_Pelican_ was taken to Deptford, and on board the bark in which he had
compassed the world[XXIII‑23] this stout-hearted mariner, who had begun
life as a prentice boy on a small trading vessel, feasted his royal
mistress, and bowed the knee while one of the greatest of England's
sovereigns bestowed on him the title of Sir Francis Drake.
* * * * *
On the breaking-out of hostilities between England and Spain in 1585
Elizabeth determined to strike a blow at the Spanish possessions in the
New World, while yet Philip was but contemplating the great enterprise
which three years later terminated in a disaster that has no parallel
in the annals of naval warfare. On September 12, 1585, a fleet of
twenty-five ships with a number of pinnaces set sail from Plymouth,
having on board two thousand three hundred men, among them Frobisher
and other captains of armada fame, and as commander Sir Francis Drake.
The expedition first shaped its course toward Spain, and after hovering
for a while on that coast, capturing many prizes, but none of value,
landed on the first of January 1586 in Española, within a few miles
of Santo Domingo. The city was taken after a feeble resistance, but
little treasure was found there, for the mines were now abandoned,
the native population well nigh exterminated, and copper money was
in common use among the Spaniards. A ransom of twenty-five thousand
ducats was at length paid, and loading their fleet with a good store
of wheat, oil, wine, cloth, and silk, the English sailed for Cartagena,
captured that city almost without loss, and retired on payment of a sum
equivalent to about one hundred and forty-five thousand pesos. By this
time sickness had so far reduced their ranks that they were compelled
to abandon the main object of their enterprise, namely, the occupation
of Nombre de Dios and Panamá, and the seizure of the treasure stored
on either side of the Isthmus. It was resolved, therefore, to return
to England.[XXIII‑24] After touching at Saint Augustine, and securing
in that neighborhood treasure to the amount of ten thousand pesos,
and coasting thence northward to the Roanoke, where the members of the
colony recently established[XXIII‑25] by Raleigh were taken on board the
fleet, Drake landed at Portsmouth on the 28th of July 1586. The spoil
amounted to three hundred thousand pesos, purchased at the cost of seven
hundred and fifty lives. One third of this amount only was divided among
the survivors, giving as the lowest share of an individual the sum of
thirty dollars.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: THE GRAND RESULT.]
The motto "Non sufficit orbis," ascribed by some chroniclers to the
crown of Spain, was one worthy of the pretensions of Philip. What
mattered the conquest of a hemisphere while the ocean was ruled by
another; while the royal banner of Castile could be degraded by licensed
bands of freebooters, and the commercial marts of the New World be held
for ransom? Such was the sentiment which lured the Spanish monarchs
to attempt ambitious schemes of conquest like that which ended in the
destruction of the great armada, in which the pirate Drake played his
allotted part.
After sharing with Sir John Morris the command of an expedition directed
against Spain in 1589, Drake was ordered by his sovereign five years
later to prepare another armament against the Spanish West Indies. In
this enterprise he associated with himself Sir John Hawkins,[XXIII‑26]
an old friend and once his patron, and among other officers Sir Thomas
Baskerville,[XXIII‑27] as commander of the land forces. On the 28th of
August 1595 a squadron of six men-of-war equipped at the expense of the
queen[XXIII‑28] sailed from Plymouth, accompanied by twenty-one vessels
fitted out by private subscription. The entire force of the expedition
mustered twenty-five hundred men.
Although every precaution was used to mask the purpose of the armament,
it was known to Philip, long before the departure of the fleet, that
Drake intended to capture Nombre de Dios and to march thence to Panamá,
touching first at Puerto Rico to plunder a dismasted treasure-ship which
lay in that harbor. The English soon found to their cost that every
preparation had been made for a resolute defence. Anchoring near the
town of San Juan de Puerto Rico, their vessels were exposed to a well
directed fire from a battery of thirty guns. Drake's chair was struck
from under him by a round-shot as he sat at supper in his cabin, and
after a loss of at least fifty killed[XXIII‑29] and as many wounded
the expedition sailed for the mainland. The towns of Ranchería, Rio de
la Hacha, and Santa Márta were burnt in default of ransom. Nombre de
Dios was captured almost without resistance and levelled to the ground;
but Baskerville, despatched with seven hundred and fifty men to attack
Panamá, was defeated by the Spaniards when half way across the Isthmus,
and his command returned hungry, sore-footed,[XXIII‑30] and in sorry
plight.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF DRAKE.]
"It matters not, man," said Drake to one of his favorite officers.
"God hath many things in store for us; and I knowe many means to do
Her Majestie good service and to make us riche, for we must have gould
before wee see Englande." The words were hardly uttered when the speaker
grew sick, and on the 28th of January 1596, less than a week afterward,
the great captain breathed his last as the English fleet entered the
harbor of Portobello. A league from land he found a sailor's sepulchre;
and as the leaden casket that contained his remains was lowered into the
waves near the spot where first he had won repute, salvos of artillery
proclaimed to the exulting Spaniards on shore that one more name was
added to the list of those whose memory Spain has never ceased to hate
and England to honor.[XXIII‑31]