Y.

Mr. Joseph Young

Mr. William Yeraway

Mr. John Yeats

Mr. George York

Directions _to the_ Bookbinder _for placing the_ Plates:

In VOL. I.

Map of Mexico and South America to be placed at the beginning.

Horn Island ──── (_Introduction_) _to face page_ xxxviii

Head of Sir Francis Drake 1

Drake going off to sea on a raft 41

Beheading of Capt. Doughty 88

Drake engaging the Cacafuego, a rich Spanish ship 113

Drake conveying away the Spanish Judges and criminal savages 118

Drake receiving the Crown from the Hioh of New Albion 123

Cavendish plundering and burning Paita 191

The King of Java’s Wives destroying themselves 226

Cavendish’s crew in great distress, &c. 250

Capt. Davis’s men taken off a rock 304

Dampier’s men seizing oxen, mules, &c. at a farm-house 340

Capt. Swan entertained by Rajah Laut 370

Dampier and his companions overtaken by a storm 412

Cowley and his men taking in provisions at Juan Fernandez 440

In VOL. II.

Alexander Selkirk making his cats and kids dance 24

Miscellaneous Plate of fish, trees, &c. 48

Mr. Hatley and crew whipped 89

Distressed situation of the Success 120

Sea-lion, sea-lioness, and seals 181

Californian Woman habited in a deer’s skin 229

Californian Man returned from fishing, and another in his bark-log 230

Lawn where Commodore Anson pitched his tent at Juan Fernandez 289

In VOL. III.

The three Charts of the tracks of the Dolphin, Tamar, Swallow,

Endeavour, and M. Bougainville, to be accurately joined, and

placed at the beginning

Comm. Byron conversing with a Patagonian woman _to face page_ 11

The wolf-fox of Falkland’s Islands 18

Straits of Magellan 22

The Queen of Otaheite taking leave of Capt. Wallis 99

View of a town in the island of Terra del Fuego 196

Musical youth in the new-discovered islands 218

Mr. Banks receiving a visit from the King of the D. of York’s

Island 238

A Morai, or burial-place 257

A woman and a boy of the new-discovered islands 270

A Priest of the new-discovered islands in the habit of his order 287

Representation of a dance in the island of Ulietea 299

View of a perforated rock in Tolaga-bay 326

Head of a New Zealand Chief curiously tattooed 327

View of an arched rock on the coast of New Zealand 371

War-canoe, and a branch of the bread fruit tree 396

New Zealand warrior in the dress of his country 398

Warriors of Otaheite and New Zealand defying their enemies 399

In VOL. IV.

The hooded serpent, and an ape of Java 85

M. Bougainville crossing St. Lucia river in a canoe drawn by

horses 126

Bougainville hoisting the French colours in the straits of

Magellan 194

Prospective view of the great cascade in Cascade-bay 201

In the VOYAGE to the NORTH POLE.

Map of the Icy Sea ──── (_Introduction_) i.

Chart of Spitzbergen, or New Greenland 33

View of the Whale Fishery 40

[Illustration: _S^R. FRANCIS DRAKE._ _J. June Sculp._]

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE’S

VOYAGES,

PARTICULARLY THAT

ROUND THE WORLD,

In 1577, 1578, 1579, and 1580.

Before we proceed to the relation of the particular Voyages that

characterize the navigators who first surrounded the globe, and who

immortalized their names by their skill and their courage, it may be

expected that we should give some account of their families and first

setting out, the distinguishing marks of genius that led them to prefer

the fatigues and dangers of a sea-faring life to learned ease, or the

calm pursuit of less hazardous employments; and that we should trace the

steps by which they rose to eminence by their bravery and their conduct.

The bare narration of the incidents recorded in a single voyage, however

memorable, would convey but a very imperfect knowledge of the general

character of those renowned heroes, who carried the glory of their

country to the remotest regions of the earth. We shall, therefore,

endeavour to follow them as they advance to fame, and accompany them

from their highest elevation to that period when all distinctions are

levelled.

The celebrated mariner, of whom we are now to give an account, was son

to Edmund Drake, a gentleman of Tavistoke, in Devonshire, who, being

inclined to the doctrine of the Protestants, at that time much opposed

by Q. Mary, was obliged to quit his place of residence, and retire to

Medway, in Kent; where, after that Queen’s death, he was first appointed

Chaplain in the royal navy, and afterwards Vicar of Upnor. In these

employments, his appointments being small, and his family large, he owed

the education of several of his children to the kindness of his

relations, and that, in particular, of Francis, the eldest of twelve, to

Sir John Hawkins; under whom, as it appears, he very early distinguished

himself, and laid the foundation both of his fame and his fortune.

The learned Camden, indeed, informs us, that he was put apprentice to

the master of a small trading vessel, in whose service he behaved so

well, that his master, dying a batchelor, left him his vessel as a

reward for his diligence: but Stowe, who seems better informed,

represents him in a superior light; tells us, that Francis Russel,

afterwards Duke of Bedford, was his godfather; and that Sir John Hawkins

was his near relation. What Camden relates of Francis may, however, be

true of his brother; for there were no less than four who were bred to

the sea.

Be this as it may, the first enterprize of consequence, in which we find

him engaged, was in a voyage to the West-Indies, as Captain of the

Judith, under his relation already mentioned. Those islands, having but

lately been discovered, and very little frequented by the English, were

thought so much to abound in wealth, that no voyager thither could fail

of being recompensed with great advantages. Nothing was talked of among

the mercantile or adventurous part of mankind but the beauty and riches

of the new world. Fresh discoveries were frequently made; new countries

and nations, never heard of before, were daily described; and it may

easily be concluded, that the relators did not lessen the merit of their

discoveries, by suppressing or diminishing any circumstance that might

produce wonder, or excite curiosity.

This was the age of enterprize and discovery; and her Majesty encouraged

the ardour of her subjects by furnishing ships and commissions to such

officers of distinction in her royal navy as were willing to engage in

hazardous pursuits.

The projects, however, that were formed, were not always successfully

carried into execution; they were frequently defeated by the ignorance

of the adventurers, but more often by the malice of the Spaniards, who,

from the first discovery of America, considered every other nation that

attempted to follow them, as invaders of their rights, and incroachers

on _their_ territories. At that time, however, as now, it was no

uncommon thing for those who went in search of new discoveries, to carry

on a kind of contraband trade with the new settlers; which, though

prohibited by the Crown of Spain, was yet countenanced by the Viceroys

and Governors: but even these would sometimes take advantage of the

power lodged in their hands, and make prize of the profits of the

voyage, under pretence of an illicit trade.

Among those who suffered most by the injustice of the Viceroys, was Sir

John Hawkins; who, having struck out a new trade, highly advantageous to

the parties concerned, though disgraceful to humanity, supplied the

Mexican Spaniards with slaves from Africa, and received from them, in

return, large remittances in gold and silver. This was connived at,

though we do not find that it was absolutely tolerated, by the Spanish

court.

It was, however, after one of those successful voyages, in which we find

two of the Queen’s ships engaged (namely, the Jesus, commanded by

Hawkins, as Admiral; and the Minion, of which Captain John Hampton was

Commander; with four other armed trading ships, among which was the

Judith, Captain Drake), that, being driven by stress of weather into the

port of St. John d’Ulloa, in the bay of Mexico, they were there waiting

for a supply of provisions, when the Spanish fleet from Europe arrived,

consisting of 12 sail, richly laden with European merchandize, and on

board of which was a new Viceroy.

As the port was then absolutely in the power of the English, it was

debated, among the principal officers, whether the Spanish fleet should

be suffered to enter; as their Admiral suspected, that, if they were

admitted, they would contrive some means of distressing him; and if they

were not, they must perish at sea; an event that would certainly bring

on a war,--a consequence he could by no means justify.

Upon mature deliberation, it was, therefore, judged safest to propose an

agreement with the Viceroy, to which he consented, and by which it was

stipulated, that the English should hold one side of the harbour, and

the Spaniards the other; and that hostages should be given on both

sides, that no injury should be done to either. But it was soon

discovered, that, though on the part of the English, six gentlemen were

sent, yet, on that of the Spaniards, the hostages were only common men,

finely dressed. This gave cause of distrust; yet the English, naturally

honest, were not sufficiently on their guard.

The Spaniards for some weeks behaved with seeming cordiality; mutual

civilities passed between the officers of both nations; and the English,

having supplied their wants, were preparing to depart, when, all of a

sudden, at a signal given, the Spaniards assaulted their ships as the

officers were at dinner, boarded the Minion by a concealed ambuscade,

which, however, was repulsed with loss, and then a general massacre

ensued. The English who were on shore were all put to death; three of

the four trading ships were presently sunk; and the Minion and Jesus

were so embarrassed by their moorings, that it was almost a whole hour

before they could be placed in a posture of defence; which, however, was

at last effected. They then returned the attack with so much fury, that

the Spanish Vice-Admiral was soon blown up, and in her perished 300 men;

and not long after the Spanish Admiral himself was sunk. The Spaniards,

in revenge, set two of their ships on fire to burn the Minion and Jesus,

the first of which set sail and escaped; but the Jesus, after shifting

her crew on board the Judith, fell a victim with the rest to Spanish

treachery.

In the night, the Judith having made her escape, endeavoured, but in

vain, to join the Minion; and being only a bark of 50 tons, alone, on a

hostile coast, crouded with men, and having only provisions on board for

her own slender crew, a mutiny arose among the mariners, and by far the

greatest number insisted on being put on shore, chusing rather to take

their chance among the savages, than to remain on board to starve at

sea, or again to fall into the power of the merciless Spaniards.

Accordingly, Captain Hawkins, gave every man his choice, either to land

on the continent, or sail with him, and share his fate. About 100 of the

stoutest seamen chose the former; of whom five only lived to return to

England. These gave an account, that, on their landing, the natives,

mistaking them for Spaniards, fell upon them suddenly, and killed eight

of their number; that, after they were known to be enemies to the

Spaniards, they were used with kindness; that, however, being tired of

living among savages, they agreed to part, and seek the means of

returning home; some directed their course to the northward, and watched

the opportunity of seizing a small vessel, and, crossing the Gulph,

traversed an immense tract of land, till they arrived at a French

settlement in the North; of those who travelled westward, which was by

far the greatest part, sixty-five fell into the hands of the Spaniards,

and suffered various torments from the Inquisition, three were burnt

alive, and two only survived to reach their own country. Of those who

followed the other course, five found means, after enduring incredible

hardships, to get to Nova Scotia, of whom three were brought safe to

England in French merchants ships.

It was in the above engagement that Capt. Drake first distinguished

himself; and to his judicious conduct, that those who escaped from the

Jesus owed their preservation. The Judith had the good fortune to arrive

safe in England, having purchased some provisions on the Island of Cuba;

but what became of the Minion we have not been able to learn.

In this expedition Sir John Hawkins lost an immense sum. It was in vain

to make complaint to his sovereign of the infraction of the peace. The

Spanish minister vindicated the injustice of the Viceroy and the Queen,

tho’ she secretly resented the loss of her ships, could not openly abett

the illicit trade carried on by her servants.

Drake, who shared in the misfortune of his relation, possessed both his

spirit and his industry. He did not sit down to lament the loss he had

sustained; but, having acquired some degree of credit by his gallant

behaviour, and some knowledge of the weakness and wealth of his enemies,

he determined to profit by his losses, and to make reprisals whenever a

fair opportunity should offer.

It was no difficult matter to engage new adventurers in new projects in

those early days of Mexican commerce, and Drake was not long before he

raised a fund to begin trade on a new footing. In 1570 he made his first

expedition, chiefly on his own account, with two ships, the Dragon and

the Swan; and the next year in the Swan alone; in both which voyages he

enlarged his experience, but it does not appear that he repaired his

loss.

In 1572 he found means, however, to fit out a much greater force, in

order to carry into execution an enterprise which he had meditated, not

only to reinstate his fortune, but to revenge the treachery of his

enemies.

About this time war was agitating between England and Spain, to which it

must be confessed the illicit trade carried on to the Spanish

settlements not a little contributed. He, therefore, set sail from

Plymouth in the Pascha, a letter of marque ship, of 70 tons, accompanied

by the Swan, of 50 tons, the command of which he entrusted to his

brother John; in both which ships he had embarked 73 choice men, with a

year’s provisions and such warlike stores and ammunition as he judged

necessary for the enterprize he had in view. He had, likewise, the

precaution to take with him the frames of two or three small pinnaces,

that, if any accident should befal either of his larger ships, he might

have it in his power to preserve the crew without being driven to the

necessity of leaving any of them behind; a precaution which experience

had taught him in the unfortunate voyage of his kinsman Sir John. But

this was not the only use for which he foresaw these small vessels would

be wanted, as will appear in the sequel.

With this warlike force, inconsiderable as it may now appear, he cleared

the land of England on the 12th of May, 1572; and, the weather

continuing fair, and the wind favourable, on the 29th of June he passed

between Dominica and Guadaloupe, and on the 6th of July came in sight of

the high land of Santa Martha; then continuing his course to the

southward, on the 15th of the same month both ships arrived at Port

Pheasant, which lay at a convenient distance from Nombre de Dios, the

place of their destination.

Here he proposed to build his pinnaces, and was going a-shore with a few

men unarmed; when, discovering a smoke at a distance, he made the signal

for another boat to follow him with an armed force. Being joined by this

reinforcement, he marched towards the fire, where he found a plate of

lead nailed to a tree, with an inscription engraven upon it by one

Garret, an Englishman, who had left that place a day or two before, and

had taken that method of informing him that the Spaniards had been

advertised of his intended visit, and of his rendezvous at that port;

and that, therefore, it would be prudent for him to make but a very

short stay.

Drake, surprized, no doubt, at the news, but at the same time knowing

how convenient this place was for his designs, and considering that the

hazard, and waste of time, which could not be avoided in seeking another

station, was equivalent to any other danger which was to be apprehended

from the Spaniards, determined to follow his first resolution; only, for

his greater security, he ordered a kind of palissade or fortification to

be made, by felling a number of large trees, and laying the trunks and

branches one across another, on an elevated spot that commanded the

river. This done, he set the carpenters to work; and while they were

employed in putting the frames of the pinnaces together, one Captain

Rause happened to touch at the same port, with a bark of 50 men. To

Rause Drake imparted his design; and, when the pinnaces were ready, both

set sail together, shaping their course to Nombre de Dios. They touched

at the Island of Pines, where they were informed, by the negroes they

found there, that the inhabitants of that place were in daily

expectation of some soldiers, which the Governor of Panama had promised

to send, to defend them from the Symerons, or fugitive negroes, who,

having escaped from the tyranny of their masters, had settled themselves

under two kings, or leaders, on each side of the passage between Nombre

de Dios and Panama; and not only asserted their natural right to liberty

and independance, but endeavoured to revenge the cruelties they had

suffered, and had lately put the inhabitants of Nombre de Dios into the

utmost consternation. These negroes the Captain set on shore on the main

land, so that they might, by joining the Symerons, recover their

liberty, or at least might not have it in their power to give the people

of Nombre de Dios any speedy information of his intention to invade

them. Then, selecting 53 men from his own company, and 20 from the crew

of his new associate Captain Rause, he embarked with them in his new

pinnaces, and set sail for Nombre de Dios.

On July the 28th, at night, he approached the town undiscovered, and

dropt his anchors under the shore, intending, after his men were

refreshed, to begin the attack; but, finding that they were terrifying

each other with formidable accounts of the strength of the place, and

the multitude of the inhabitants, he determined to hinder the panic from

spreading farther, by leading them immediately to action; and,

therefore, ordering them to their oars, he landed without any

opposition, there being only one gunner upon the key, though it was

fortified by six brass cannon of the largest size. But the gunner, while

they were employed in throwing the cannon from their carriages, alarmed

the town, as they soon discovered by the bells, the drums, and the noise

of the people.

Drake, leaving twelve men to guard the pinnaces, marched into the town

with little or no opposition. After a short skirmish, the forces that

the alarm had hastily drawn together were soon dispersed, except a few

whom he detained as prisoners, in order to shew him the Governor’s

house, and also the store-house, where the mules that bring the silver

from Panama were unloaded.

Being now in full possession of the town, he posted the main of his

small body, under the command of his brother, in the market-place; and

then followed the guides, with the rest, to the store-house; where,

forcing the door, and entering the room where the silver was deposited,

they found it heaped up in bars, in such quantities as almost exceed

belief, the pile being, as they conjectured, seventy feet in length, ten

in breadth, and twelve in height, each bar weighing between thirty and

forty-five pounds. It is easy to imagine, that, at the sight of this

treasure, nothing was thought of, by the English sailors, but by what

means it might best be conveyed to their boats, and, doubtless, it was

not easy for Drake (who, considering their distance from the shore, and

the number of their enemies, was afraid of being intercepted in their

retreat) to hinder his men from encumbering themselves with so much

silver as might have retarded their march, and obstructed the use of

their weapons: however, by promising to lead them to the King’s

treasury, where there were gold and jewels to a far greater value, and

where the plunder was not only more portable, but nearer the shore, he

persuaded them to follow him (not, however, without every man his bar),

and rejoin the main body in the market-place. Here he found his little

troop much discouraged by the apprehension that, if they stayed any

longer, the enemy might gain possession of their pinnaces, and that they

should then, without any means of safety, be left to stand alone against

the whole force of that country. Drake, not indeed easily terrified, but

sufficiently cautious, sent to the harbour to examine the ground of

their fears, and to learn if the same panic had taken possession of the

men whom he had left to guard his boats; but, finding no foundation for

these dreadful apprehensions, he persisted in his first design, and led

the troop forward to the royal treasury. In their way there fell a

violent shower of rain, which wet some of their bow-strings, and

extinguished many of their matches (spring-locks for muskets not being

then invented); a misfortune which might soon have been repaired, and

which, perhaps, the enemy might suffer in common with them; but which,

however, on this occasion, very much embarrassed them, as the delay

produced by it repressed that ardour which, sometimes, is only to be

kept up by continued action.

It was in vain for Drake to expostulate, or to represent the disgrace of

returning in rags, after having the chief treasure of the world within

their power; he therefore reproached their cowardice, set before their

eyes the imminent danger to which they would inevitably be exposed, if

they failed to behave like men anxious for glory, and zealous for the

honour of their country. Animated by these incentives, they resumed

their former spirit, and, pushing briskly forward, the whole company

followed till they arrived at the treasury, which they instantly forced.

Having thus far succeeded, Drake committed the care of the riches to his

brother, and Oxenham, of Plymouth[1], (a man known afterwards for his

bold adventures in the same parts) while he, with the main body, should

again return and reconnoitre the market-place, and disperse any parties

of the Spaniards that might be forming into a body to oppose their

progress. With this view, as he was advancing, his strength suddenly

failed him, and he fell down speechless.

[1] This man made himself remarkable by one of the boldest

undertakings that ever was devised. As soon as he arrived in England,

with the prize-money acquired in this expedition, he purchased a bark

of 140 tons, and manned it with 70 brave seamen; with these he sailed

to the Isthmus of Darien, and, laying his bark up in a creek, marched

cross the neck of land which separates the North Sea from the great

Pacific Ocean, where he arrived, with his companions, without being

discovered; and, having there seized a ship for their purpose, they

ranged the coast, and made themselves masters of an immense treasure;

but, falling out among themselves, they separated; and, thus weakened,

they became an easy prey to the Spaniards, who recovered their

treasure; and Oxenham being taken, with those that continued with him,

and having no commission to produce, both he and his companions were

executed as pirates. When they parted, they had in their possession

two ships laden with gold, to the amount of half a million sterling.

Then it was that his companions perceived a wound in his leg, that he

received in the first encounter, but hitherto concealed, lest his men,

easily discouraged, should make their concern for his life a pretence

for returning to their boats. Such, however, had been his loss of blood,

as was discovered upon nearer observation, that it had filled the prints

of his foot-steps; and it appeared scarce credible, that, after such an

effusion, life should remain. The bravest were now willing to retire;

neither desire of honour, or of riches, was thought to prevail in any

man over his regard for his leader.

Drake, whom cordials soon restored to his senses, was the only man who

could not be prevailed on to leave the enterprize unfinished. It was to

no purpose that they advised him to submit to go on board to have his

wound dressed, and promised to return with him to compleat their design.

He well knew how impracticable it was to regain the opportunity when it

was once lost, and could easily foresee that a respite of but a few

hours would enable the Spaniards to recover from their consternation, to

assemble their forces, refit their batteries, and remove their treasure.

What he had undergone so much danger to obtain, was now in his hands,

and the thoughts of leaving it untouched was too mortifying to be

patiently borne; however, as there was little time for consultation, and

the same danger attended their stay in that perplexity and confusion, as

their return, they bound up his wound with his scarf, and, partly by

force, partly by intreaty, they carried him back to the boats, in which,

with what treasure they were able to bring off, they all embarked by

break of day. Then taking with them, out of the harbour, a sloop laden

with wines, they went to the Bastimento’s, an island about a league from

the town, where they staid two days, to recover the wounded men who had

been hurt in the first rencounter, and to regale themselves with the

wines they had taken, and with the fruits that grew in great plenty in

the gardens of that island.

During their stay here, there came over to that island a Spanish

gentleman, sent by the Governor with instructions to inquire whether the

Captain was that Drake who had before been on their coast; whether the

arrows with which many of their men were wounded were not poisoned; and

whether they wanted provisions or other necessaries? The messenger,

likewise, extolled their courage with the highest encomiums, and

expressed his admiration of their daring undertaking. Drake, though he

knew the civilities of an enemy are always to be suspected, and that the

messenger, amidst all his professions of regard, was no other than a

spy, yet knowing that he had nothing to apprehend, treated him with the

highest honours that his condition admitted of. In answer to his

inquiries, he assured him, that he was the same Drake with whose

character they were before acquainted; that he was a rigid observer of

the laws of war, and that he never permitted the arrows discharged by

his followers to be poisoned. He dismissed him with considerable

presents and told him, that, though he had in part failed in this

attempt, he would never desist from his design of revenging the

treachery of the Viceroy of Mexico, till he had shared with Spain the

treasures of America.

He then resolved to return to the Isle of Pines, where they had left

their ships, and to consult about the measures they were now to take;

and, having arrived on the 1st of August at their former station, they

dismissed Captain Rause, who, judging it unsafe to stay any longer on

the coast, desired to be no farther engaged in their designs. But Drake,

not to be diverted from his purpose, after being cured of his wound,

inquired of a negroe, whom he took on board at Nombre de Dios, the most

wealthy settlements, and weakest parts of the coast, who advised the

attack of Carthagena. This the Admiral seemed to approve; and, setting

sail without loss of time, came to anchor, Aug. 13, between Charecha and

St. Barnard’s, two islands at a little distance from the harbour of

Carthagena. Then passing with his boats round the island, he entered the

harbour, and in the mouth of it found a frigate with only an old man in

it, who voluntarily informed him, that, about an hour before a pinnace

had passed by, with sails and oars, and all the appearance of expedition

and importance; that, as she passed, the crew on board her bid him take

care of himself; and that, as soon as she touched the shore, he heard

the noise of cannon, fired as a warning, and saw the shipping of the

port drawn up under the guns of the castle. The Captain, who had himself

heard the discharge of the artillery, was soon convinced that he was

discovered; and that, therefore, nothing could be attempted there with

any probability of success. He therefore contented himself with taking a

ship of Seville, of 240 tons (which the relator of this voyage mentions

as a very large ship), and two small frigates, in which he found letters

of advice from Nombre de Dios, intended to alarm that part of the coast.

Drake, now finding his pinnaces of great use, and not having a

sufficient number of sailors for all his vessels, was desirous of

destroying the Swan, the ship commanded by his brother, that the others

might be better manned. This, necessary as it was, could not easily be

done without disgusting his company; who, having made several prosperous

voyages in that vessel, would naturally be averse to her destruction.

Drake knew that nothing but the love of their leaders could animate his

followers to encounter such hardships as he was about to expose them to;

and, therefore, rather chose to bring his designs to pass by artifice

than by authority. He sent for the carpenter of the Swan, took him into

his cabin, and, having first engaged him to secrecy, ordered him in the

middle of the night, to go down into the well, and bore three holes

through the bottom, laying something against them that might hinder the

bubbling of the water from being heard. To this the carpenter, after

some expostulation, consented, and the next night performed his promise.

In the morning, August the 15th, Drake, going out with his pinnace

a-fishing, rowed up to the Swan; and, having invited his brother to

partake of his diversion, inquired, with a negligent air, why the Swan

was so deep in the water? Upon which, his brother, being alarmed, sent

down his steward to learn the cause, who returned immediately, with an

account that the ship was leaky, and in danger of sinking in a very

little time. They had instantly recourse to the pump; but, having

laboured for five hours, and gained very little upon the water, they

willingly, according to Drake’s advice, set the vessel on fire, and went

on board the Pascha.

Finding it now necessary to lie concealed for some time, till the

Spaniards should forget their danger, and remit their vigilance, they

set sail for the Sound of Darien, and, without approaching the coast,

that their course might not be observed, they arrived there in six days.

This being a convenient place for their reception, both on account of

privacy, it being out of the road of all trade, and as it was well

supplied with wood, water, wild-fowl, hogs, deer, and all kind of

provisions, he stayed here fifteen days, to careen his vessels, and

refresh his men, who worked interchangeably, on one day the one half,

and on the next day the other half.

On the 5th of September, Drake left his brother with the ship at Darien,

and set out with two small vessels towards the Rio Grand, which they

reached in three days, and on the 9th of the same month were discovered

by a Spaniard from the land, who, believing them to be his countrymen,

made a signal for them to come on shore, with which they very readily

complied; but he, soon finding his mistake abandoned his plantation,

where they found great plenty of provisions, with which having laden

their vessels, they departed.

In the mean time, his brother, Captain John Drake, went, according to

the directions that had been left him, in search of the Symerons, or

fugitive negroes, from whose assistance they now entertained hopes of

completing the success of their voyage: and, touching upon the main

land, by means of the negroes whom they had taken from Nombre de Dios,

engaged two of the Symerons to come on board his ship, leaving two of

his own men as hostages for their safe return. Those men, having assured

him of the affection of their nation, appointed an interview between

Drake and their leaders. With this appointment Drake being made

acquainted, he immediately quitted Port Plenty, so named by the English

from the great store of provisions they had amassed at that place, and

came, by the direction of the Symerons, into a secret bay, among

beautiful islands covered with trees, which concealed their ships from

observation, and where the channel was so narrow and rocky that it was

impossible to enter it by night; so that there was no danger of a sudden

surprize. Here they met, and entered into engagements, which common

enemies and common dangers preserved from violation. But the first

conversation informed the English that their expectations were not

immediately to be gratified: for, upon their enquiries after the most

probable means of acquiring gold and silver, the Symerons told them,

that, had they known sooner the chief end of their expedition, they

could easily have gratified them; but that during the rainy season,

which was now begun, they could not recover the treasure, which they had

taken from the Spaniards, out of the rivers in which they had concealed

it. Drake, therefore, proposing to wait in this place till the rains

were passed, built with the assistance of the Symerons, a fort of earth

and timber; and, leaving his brother and part of his company with the

Symerons, set out with three pinnaces towards Rio de la Hacha, being of

a spirit too active to lie still patiently, even in a state of plenty

and security, and with the most probable expectations of immense riches.

In their way thither, they anchored within sight of Carthagena without

landing, and on the 17th of October took a Spanish bark, with which they

entered the harbour in disguise; but were soon accosted by a Spanish

gentleman whom they had sometime before taken and set at liberty; who

coming to them in a boat, as he pretended, without the knowledge of the

Governor, made them great promises of friendship, and professions of

esteem. But Drake, having waited till next morning without receiving the

information he had been encouraged to expect, found that all this

pretended kindness was no more than a stratagem to amuse him, while the

Governor was raising forces for his destruction.

This appeared more clearly on the 20th, when two frigates, well armed

and manned, came out in the night with a view to surprize the pinnaces,

and make prisoner of Drake: but these being discovered, and their design

frustrated, Drake, when day-light approached, leapt intrepidly ashore

single, in defiance of their troops, which hovered at a distance in the

woods and on the hills, without ever venturing to advance within reach

of the shot from the pinnaces. To leap, however, upon an enemy’s coast,

in sight of a superior force, only to shew how little they were feared,

was an act that in these times would meet with little applause: but

motives of policy might influence the conduct of Drake, and make that

necessary then which now appears a ridiculous bravado. Finding the whole

country advertised of his attempts, and in arms to oppose him, he might

make a feint only of landing to increase their fears, and encourage

their alarms, that they might keep together till he should assault them

in their deserted posts; a stratagem which there is reason to think he

put in practice, as he continued upon the coast till one of his vessels

had only a gammon of bacon and a small quantity of bread on board for

seventeen men, and till there was on board his own vessel even a greater

scarcity. But resolution and success reciprocally produce each other.

They had not sailed more than three leagues on their return to their

ships before they fell in with and attacked a coasting vessel, which

after some resistance they took, and happily found it laden with

excellent provisions. He now determined to return to the Symerons, with

whom, as has been said, he left his brother, and part of his force; and

to attempt, by their assistance and direction, to make his way over, and

invade the Spaniards in the inland parts, where they would probably

never dream of an enemy.

When they arrived at Port Diego, so named from the negroe who had

procured them their intercourse with the Symerons, they found Captain

John Drake and one of his company dead, being killed in attempting,

almost unarmed, to board a frigate well provided with all things

necessary for its defence. The Captain was unwilling to make the attack,

and represented to his company the madness of their proposal; but, being

over-borne by their clamours and importunities, to avoid the imputation

of cowardice, complied to his destruction.

But this was not the only misfortune that befel this little company; for

soon after many of them fell ill of the calenture, a malignant fever,

very frequent in the hot climates, which carried off, among several

others, Joseph Drake, another brother of the Commander.

While Drake was employed in the recovery of the sick, the Symerons, who

ranged the country for intelligence, brought him an account that the

Spanish fleet was arrived at Nombre de Dios, the truth of which was

confirmed by a pinnace which he sent out to make observations. This,

therefore, was the time for their journey, when the treasures of the

American mines were to be transported from Panama, over land, to Nombre

de Dios. He, therefore, by the direction of the Symerons, furnished

himself with all things necessary; and, on the third of February in the

following year, set out from Port Diego. Having lost already twenty

eight of his company, and being under the necessity of leaving some to

guard his ship, he took with him only 18 English and 30 Symerons, who

not only served as guards to shew the way, but as purveyors to procure

provisions.

They carried with them arrows for war, and arrows for hunting and

fowling, the heads of which are proportioned in size to the game they

are pursuing. For oxen, stags, or wild boars, they have arrows or

javelins with heads weighing a pound and half, which they discharge near

hand, and which scarcely ever fail of being mortal. Their second sort

are about half as heavy as the other, and are generally shot from their

bows; these are intended for smaller beasts. With the third sort, of

which the heads are an ounce in weight, they kill birds. As this nation

is in a state which does not set them above continual cares for the

immediate necessaries of life, he that can temper iron best is among

them most esteemed; and, perhaps, it would be happy for every nation, if

honours and applauses were as justly distributed, and he were most

distinguished whose talents were most useful to society.

Every day by sun-rising they began to march, and having travelled till

ten, rested near some river till twelve; then travelling again till

four, they reposed all night in huts, or wigwams, which the Symerons had

either left standing in their former marches, or very readily erected

for them, by setting up three or four posts in the ground, and laying

poles from one to another, in the form of a roof, which they covered

with palmetto boughs and plantain leaves. In the vallies, where they

were sheltered from the winds, they left three or four feet next the

ground open; but, on the hills, where they were more exposed to the

chill blasts of the night, they thatched them close to the ground,

leaving only a door for entrance, and a vent a-top in the middle for the

smoke of the fire to escape.

In their march, they met not only with plenty of fruits upon the banks

of the rivers, but with wild swine in abundance, of which the Symerons

without difficulty killed, for the most part, as many as were wanted.

One day, however, they found only an otter, and were about to dress it;

at which Drake expressing his wonder, was asked by Pedro, the chief

Symeron, “Are you a man of war, and in want, and yet doubt whether this

be meat that hath blood in it?” For which Drake in private rebuked him,

says the relator; whether justly or not, it is not very important to

determine; only it shews the genius of the times when superstition

prevailed, and when the greatest men were not wholly exempt from its

influences.

On the third day of their march, and the 6th of February, they came to a

town of the Symerons, situated on the side of a hill, and encompassed

with a ditch and a mud wall, to secure it from any sudden surprize. Here

they lived with great neatness, and in plenty; and with some observation

of religion, paying great reverence to the cross; a practice which, the

relator says, Drake prevailed upon them to change for the use of the

Lord’s Prayer; which, however, in so short a stay, is very unlikely.

Indeed, it is added, that here they strongly importuned Drake to prolong

his abode, promising to double his force; but he, either thinking

greater numbers unnecessary, or fearing, that, if any difference should

arise between them and his own men, he should be overborne by numbers,

he prudently declined their invitation, and their offer of additional

assistance, and that in such terms as expressed his eagerness to engage,

and his confidence of success from the bravery of his followers.

The Symerons continued to conduct him on his journey, and led him

through rural shades and lofty woods, which sheltered his people so

effectually from the sun, that their march was less toilsome than if

they had travelled in England during the heat of summer. Four of the

Symerons that were acquainted with the way, went about a mile before the

main body, and cut off branches as marks to direct them, for there was

no beaten track; then followed twelve Symerons, after whom came the

English, with the two leaders; and the other Symerons closed the rear.

In this order, on the 11th of February, they arrived at the top of a

very high hill, on the summit of which grew a tree of a wonderful height

and magnitude, in which they had cut steps for the more easy ascent to

the top, where there was a kind of alcove, to which they invited Drake,

and from thence shewed him not only the North Sea, from whence they

came, but the great Pacific Ocean, on which no English vessel had ever

yet sailed. This prospect exciting his natural curiosity and ardour for

adventures and discoveries, he lifted up his hands to God, and implored

his blessing upon the resolution which he that instant formed of sailing

in an English ship on that immense sea.

From this stupendous mountain they descended, after having feasted their

eyes with the grandest prospect the earth can furnish; and in two days

came into an open level country, where their march was incommoded with

the grass, which is of a peculiar kind, consisting of a stalk like that

of a bull-rush, and a blade on which the oxen and other cattle feed till

it grows too high for them to reach: then it is that the natives set the

whole on fire; and it is no uncommon thing to behold vallies of immense

extent in a blaze at once; from whence the cattle fly in the utmost

terror, and many perish by the sudden conflagration. It might be

supposed, that this burning of the soil, would, in a hot climate, check

the powers of vegetation, and that it would be years before the earth

could recover its fertility; but it is just the contrary; the ashes of

the reeds are hardly extinguished before a new verdure begins to appear;

and before a month is elapsed, the whole valley, beheld at a distance,

looks as green as ever; so astonishingly wonderful are the powers of

Nature on this happy soil!

When they had arrived within a convenient distance of the road from

Panama, they posted themselves in a grove or wood, near which the

treasure was to be conveyed from thence to Nombre de Dios. They then

dispatched a trusty Symeron, in the habit of a slave, properly

instructed, to learn on what day the mules, on whose backs the treasure

is carried, were to set out. The man was so well qualified for the

service, and so industrious in the prosecution of it, that he soon

returned with an account, that the treasurer of Lima, intending to

embark for Europe, would pass the night following with eight mules laden

with gold, and one with jewels; that it was their custom to travel by

night, and to rest in the day, to avoid the heat; and that Venta Cruz

was to be their first stage.

On this intelligence, they changed their situation, and immediately

directed their march towards Venta Cruz, sending, for security, two

Symerons, habited as before, to examine the way, who, as they passed

along, perceived, by the scent of a match, that some Spaniard was before

them and creeping silently forward, surprized a soldier asleep upon the

ground. They bound him, without offering any other violence, and brought

him to Drake, who, upon enquiry, found that their spy had not deceived

them in his intelligence. The soldier, having informed himself of the

Captain’s name, conceived such a confidence in his well-known clemency,

that, after having made an ample discovery of the treasure that was now

at hand, cautioned them likewise against being deceived by the recoes,

or carriers, from Nombre de Dios, who met the others by the way, and who

were hourly expected, with merchandize and provisions, but without any

gold. He closed his examination with an humble petition to Drake, that,

when the expected treasure should fall into his hands, he would be

graciously pleased to allow him as much of it as would maintain himself

and his children during the remainder of their lives, since there would

abundantly more arrive than he and his company could carry away. Drake

agreed to his request, upon condition that he led him to a place of

secrecy, where he could conceal his men till the time of action, and

where there was no danger of the mules passing by without being

perceived. This the man did; and Drake placed his ambush accordingly.

Before the time expected, the men were properly refreshed and

instructed. Oxenham was appointed to head the Symerons, assisted by

Pedro their leader; and Drake was to command the English. The parties

were then divided; the English took the right of the way in front, and

the Symerons the left at a small distance in the rear. In this manner

they were posted, that one company might be in readiness to seize the

hindmost mule at the same time that the other had seized the foremost;

for the mules, it seems, being tied together, travel in a line, and are

all guided by leading the first.

Every thing being now as well concerted as human prudence could direct,

and the critical moment of action soon expected, they lay down and

covered themselves in the grass, at about eighty or ninety paces

distance from the road, that the noise of their breathing might not be

heard by the guard that conveyed the treasure.

They had not been more than an hour in this situation, when the bells of

the mules on the left, coming from Venta Cruz, began to be heard: but

previous orders having been given to meddle only with those from Panama,

those from Venta Cruz were suffered to pass unmolested. Unfortunately,

however, it happened, that one Robert Pike, being heated with liquor,

prevailed upon the man that was next him to creep forward with him, in

order to be in readiness to signalize themselves, by being the first to

seize the mules from Panama. At that instant, an officer, who

accompanied the recoes from Venta Cruz, perceiving something white

moving in the grass (for Drake had ordered all his company to put their

shirts over their clothes, to distinguish them in the night), took the

alarm, and, from a walk, was observed to push his horse forward on a

smart trot; and, before he had passed the hindmost ambuscade, he was

heard to ride along in a full gallop; but neither Drake, who commanded

the English, nor Oxenham, who headed the Symerons, being apprized of the

reason, had any thought of taking measures to intercept his journey.

It was not, however, long before the recoes from Panama came up, and

were eagerly seized by the English in front, and secured by the

Symerons, as had been agreed upon, in the rear but, to their great

mortification, they found two of them only loaded with silver, and the

rest with provisions, six of those from Panama, which carried the

valuable burdens of gold and jewels, being ordered back, and the like

number that came from Venta Cruz sent forward in their room. The drivers

were brought immediately to the Captain, and examined, who informed him,

that a horseman who met them riding in haste had talked with the

treasurer, and advised him to send back his gold and jewels, and suffer

those only to proceed that were now in his [Drake’s] power, that he

might, by that cheap experiment, discover whether there was any ambush

in the way.

That Drake was not less enraged than his followers at this

disappointment cannot be doubted; but there was now no time to be spent

in complaints. The whole country, he knew, would soon be alarmed, and

all the force of the Spaniards assembled to overwhelm him; he had no

fortress to retire to; every man was his enemy; and every road better

known to the Spaniards than to himself. This was an occasion that

demanded all the qualities of an hero, an intrepidity never to be

shaken, and a judgment never to be perplexed. He immediately considered

all the circumstances of his present situation, and found that it

afforded him only the choice of marching back by the same way through

which he came, or forcing his passage through Venta Cruz. He foresaw

many difficulties in marching back, besides the hazard of having his

ships seized before his return; he, therefore, determined to pass

forwards to Venta Cruz, before the enemy could be prepared to oppose

him. He asked Pedro, the leader of the Symerons, whether he was resolved

to follow him? and, having received from him the strongest assurance

that nothing should separate them, commanded his men to refresh

themselves, and prepare to set forwards. When they came to the gates of

the town, they dismissed the mules they had made use of to carry their

prize, and continued their march with as little noise as possible; yet

they discovered that the alarm had been spread, and the forces of the

town hastily drawn together, to oppose their entrance. Drake, who was

not unacquainted with the behaviour of that kind of military, received

their first onset, and then breaking in upon them, drove them before him

without farther opposition, and was seconded by the Symerons, who could

not be restrained from making plunder of the town: but Drake hastened in

person to the Spanish ladies, and assured them that no injuries should

be offered to them; so inseparable is humanity from true courage.

Having thus broken the spirits, and scattered the forces of the

Spaniards, he continued his march to the ships without any apprehension

of danger, yet with great speed, being very solicitous about the state

of the crew; so that he allowed his men, harrassed as they were, but

little time for sleep or refreshment; but by kind exhortations, gentle

authority, and a chearful participation of all their hardships,

prevailed upon them to bear without murmur, not only the toil of

travelling, but, on some days, the pain of hunger. In this march, he

owed much of his expedition to the assistance of the Symerons, who,

being accustomed to the climate, and naturally robust, when any of the

English fainted by the way, two of them would carry him between them for

miles together. Nor was their valour less than their humanity, after

they had learned from their English companions to dispise the fire-arms

of the Spaniards.

When they were within five leagues of the ships, they found a town built

in their absence by the Symerons, at which Drake consented to halt,

sending a Symeron to the ships with his gold toothpick as a token,

which, though the master knew it, was not sufficient to gain the

messenger credit, till, upon examination, he found that the Captain,

having ordered him to regard no message without his hand-writing, had

engraven his name upon it with the point of his knife; he then sent the

pinnace up the river, which they met, and afterwards sent to the town

for those whose weariness had made them unable to march farther.

On February the 23d, the whole company was re-united and Drake, whose

good or ill success never prevailed over his piety, celebrated their

meeting with thanks to God.

Drake, not yet discouraged, soon turned his thoughts to new projects;

and, without languishing in melancholy reflections upon past

miscarriages, employed himself in forming schemes for repairing them.

Eager of action, and acquainted with man’s nature, he never suffered

idleness to infect his followers with cowardice; but kept them from

sinking under any disappointment, by directing their attention to some

new enterprize.

Upon consultation with his own men, and the Symerons, he found them

divided in their opinions; some declaring, that, before they engaged in

any new attempt, it was necessary to increase their stores of

provisions; and others urging that the ships, in which the Spanish

treasure was embarked, should be immediately attempted. The Symerons

proposed a third plan, and advised them to undertake another journey

over-land, to the house of one Pezoro, near Veragua, whose slaves

brought him every day more than 200 pounds sterling from the mines,

which he heaped together in a strong stone house, that might, by the

help of the English, be easily forced. But Drake, being unwilling to

fatigue his followers with another journey over land, determined to

steer a middle course between these variable opinions; and, manning his

two pinnaces, the Bear and the Minion, he sent John Oxenham in the Bear

towards Tolu, to seek provisions; and went himself in the Minion to the

Cabezes, to endeavour to intercept the treasure that was to be

transported from Veragua and that coast, to the fleet at Nombre de Dios;

first dismissing with presents those Symerons who desired to return to

their wives, and ordering those that chose to remain with him to be

kindly entertained. Drake took at the Cabezes a frigate of Veragua, the

pilot of which informed him, that there was in the harbour of Veragua a

ship freighted with more than a million of gold; to which he offered to

conduct him, being well acquainted with the soundings, if he might be

allowed his share of the prize; so much was his avarice superior to his

honesty.

Drake, after some deliberation, complying with the pilot’s conditions,

sailed towards the harbour; but had no sooner entered the mouth of it

than he heard the report of artillery, which was answered by others at a

greater distance; upon which the pilot told them that they were

discovered, this being the signal appointed by the Governor to alarm the

coast.

Drake now thought it convenient to return to the ships, that he might

enquire the success of the other pinnace, which he found with a frigate

that she had taken with twenty-eight fat hogs, 200 hens, and a great

store of maize or Indian corn. The vessel itself was so strong and

well-built, that he fitted it for war, determining to make a second

attempt on Nombre de Dios.

On March the 21st, he set sail with the new frigate and the Bear towards

the Cabezes, at which he arrived in little more than two days, and found

there one Totu, a Frenchman, with a ship of war. Having supplied his

ship with water, and other articles of which he was in want, the Captain

desired to join the Admiral in his new attempt, to which Drake

consented, and admitted him to accompany him with 20 of his men,

stipulating to allow them a proportionable share of whatever booty they

should acquire: yet they were not without some suspicions of danger from

this new ally, he having eighty men, and they being now reduced to

thirty-one. Manning, however, the pinnaces, they set sail for Rio

Francisco, at which place they arrived on the 29th of March. Here they

landed; and, having dismissed their pinnaces for fear of discovery, and

ordered them to repair to the same place on the 4th day following, they

began their march through the woods towards Nombre de Dios, and

continued it with such silence and regularity as surprized the French,

who did not imagine the Symerons so discreet and obedient to command as

they appeared to be, and were therefore in perpetual anxiety about the

fidelity of their guides: nor did the Symerons treat the Frenchmen with

that submission and regard which they paid to the English, whose bravery

and conduct they had already tried. At length, after a laborious march

of more than seven leagues, they began to hear the hammers of the

carpenters in the bay, it being the custom in that hot season to work in

the night, and to rest in the day; and, in a short time, they perceived

the approach of the recoes, or droves of mules, from Panama. They now no

longer doubted that their labour would be rewarded, and every man

imagined himself secure from poverty for the remaining part of his life;

they, therefore, when the mules came up, rushed out, and seized them

with an alacrity proportioned to their expectations. The three droves

consisted of one hundred and nine mules, each of which carried 300

pounds weight of silver. It was to little purpose that the soldiers,

ordered to convoy the treasure, attempted resistance. After a short

combat, in which the French Captain and one of the Symerons were

wounded, it appeared with how much greater ardour men are animated by

interest than fidelity.

As it was possible for them to carry away but a small part of this

treasure, after having wearied themselves with hiding it in the

thickets, they determined to return by the same way they came; and,

without being pursued, they traversed the woods, where the French

Captain, being disabled by his wound, was obliged to stay, two of his

company continuing with him. When they had gone forward about two

leagues, the Frenchmen missed another of their company, who, upon

enquiry, was known to be intoxicated with wine, and supposed to have

lost himself in the woods by neglecting to observe the guides; but

common prudence not allowing them to hazard the whole company by too

much solicitude for a single life, they travelled on towards Rio

Francisco, at which they arrived on the 3d of April; and, looking out

for their pinnaces, were surprized with the sight of seven Spanish

sloops, and immediately concluded that some intelligence of their

motions had been carried to Nombre de Dios, and that these vessels had

been fitted out to pursue them, which might undoubtedly have overpowered

the pinnaces and their feeble crews. Nor did their suspicions stop here;

but immediately it occurred to them, that their men might be compelled

by torture to discover where their frigate and ship were stationed,

which being weakly manned, and without the presence of the chief

Commander, would fall into their hands almost without resistance, and

all possibility of escaping be entirely cut off. These reflections sunk

the whole company into despair; and every one, instead of endeavouring

to break through the difficulties that surrounded him, resigned himself

up to his ill fortune; when Drake, whose intrepidity was never to be

shaken, and whole reason was never to be surprized or embarrassed,

represented to them, that, though the Spaniards should have made

themselves masters of the pinnaces, they might yet be hindered from

discovering the ships. He put them in mind, that the pinnaces could not

be taken, the men examined, their examinations compared, their

resolutions formed, their vessels sent out, and the ships taken, in an

instant. Some time must necessarily be spent before the last blow could

be struck; and, if that time were not neglectfully lost, it might be

possible for some of them to reach the ships before the enemy, and

direct them to change their station.

They were animated with this discourse, by which they observed that

their leader was not without hope; but, when they came to look more

narrowly into their situation, they were unable to conceive upon what it

was founded. To pass by land was impossible, as the way lay over high

mountains, thick woods, and deep rivers; they had not a single boat in

their power, so that passage by water seemed equally impracticable. But

Drake determined upon the only means of success which their condition

afforded them; and, ordering his men to make a raft out of the trees

that were then floating in the river, offered himself to put out to sea

upon it, and chearfully asked who would accompany him. John Owen, John

Smith, and two Frenchmen, who were willing to share his fortune,

embarked with him on the raft, which was fitted out with a sail made of

the biscuit sacks in which they had carried their provisions, and formed

a kind of oar to direct its course instead of a rudder. Then, having

comforted the rest with assurances of his regard for them, and

resolution to leave nothing unattempted for their deliverance, he put

off; and, after having with much difficulty sailed three leagues,

descried two pinnaces hasting towards him, which, upon a nearer

approach, he discovered to be his own; and, hailing them, proposed that

they should anchor behind a point that jutted out into the sea, while he

put to shore; and, crossing the land on foot, was received by his

company with that satisfaction which is only known to those who have

been acquainted with dangers and distresses.

[Illustration: _Cap^t. Drake, going off to Sea on a Raft in Quest of

his two Pinnaces._ _J. June. Sc._]

The same night they rowed silently to Rio Francisco, where they embarked

the whole company, with what treasure they had been able to bring with

them through the woods; then sailing back with the utmost expedition,

they returned to their frigate, and soon after to their ship, where

Drake divided the gold and silver equitably between the French and

English.

Here they spent fourteen days in fitting out their frigate more

completely; during which time, the Frenchmen, with their ship, lay among

the Cabezes, while twelve English and sixteen Symerons travelled once

more into the country, as well to recover the French Captain, whom they

had left wounded, as to bring away the treasure which they had hid in

the woods. Drake, whom his company would not suffer to hazard his person

in another land expedition, went with them to Rio Francisco, where he

found one of the Frenchmen who had staid to attend their Captain, and

was informed by him, upon his enquiries after his fortune, that, half an

hour after their separation, the Spaniards came upon them, and easily

seized upon the wounded Captain; but that his companion might have

escaped with him, had he not preferred money to life; for seeing him

throw down a box of jewels that retarded him, he could not forbear

taking it up, and, with that and the gold which he had already, was so

loaded that he could not escape. With regard to the bars of gold and

silver which they had concealed in the ground, he informed them that 200

men had been employed in searching for them. The people, however, either

mistrusting the informer’s veracity, or confident that what they had

hidden could not be found, pursued their journey; but, upon their

arrival at the place, found the ground turned up for two miles round,

and were able to recover no more than 13 bars of silver, and a small

quantity of gold. They discovered afterwards, that the Frenchman who was

left drunk in the woods, falling into the hands of the Spaniards, was

tortured by them till he confessed where Drake and his company had

concealed their plunder; so fatal to Drake’s expedition was the

drunkenness of his followers.

Then, dismissing the French, they passed by Carthagena with their

colours flying, and soon after took a frigate laden with provisions and

honey, which they valued as a great restorative, and then sailed away to

the Cabezes. Here they staid about a week to careen their vessels, and

fit them for a long voyage, determining to set sail for England; and

that the faithful Symerons might not go away unrewarded, broke up their

pinnaces, and gave them the iron, the most valuable present in the world

to a nation whose only employments were war and hunting, and amongst

whom show and luxury had no place. Pedro, their Captain, being desired

by Drake to go through the ships, and to chuse what he most desired,

fixed his eye upon a scymetar set with jewels, which the French Captain

had presented to Drake for the provisions with which he had supplied

him, and, being unwilling to ask for so valuable a present, offered for

it four large quoits, or thick plates of gold, which he had formerly

concealed in the waters; but Drake, desirous to shew him, that fidelity

seldom is without a recompence, gave it him with the highest professions

of satisfaction and esteem. Pedro, receiving it with the utmost

gratitude, informed him, that by bestowing it he had conferred greatness

and honour upon him; for, by presenting it to his King, he doubted not

of obtaining the highest rank among the Symerons. He then persisted in

his resolution of giving him the gold, which was generously thrown by

Drake into the common stock; for he said, that those at whose expences

he had been sent out, ought to share in all the gain of the expedition,

whatever pretence cavil and chicanery might supply for the appropriation

of any part of it. Thus was Drake’s character consistent with itself; he

was equally superior to avarice and fear; and, through whatever danger

he might go in quest of gold, he thought it not valuable enough to be

obtained by artifice or dishonesty.

They now forsook the coast of America, which for many months they had

kept in perpetual alarms, having taken more than 100 vessels of all

sizes between Carthagena and Nombre de Dios, of which they never

destroyed any, unless they were fitted out against them, nor ever

detained the prisoners longer than was necessary for their own security

or concealment, providing for them in the same manner as for themselves,

and protecting them from the malice of the Symerons; a behaviour which

humanity dictates, and which, perhaps, even policy cannot disapprove. He

must, certainly, meet with obstinate opposition who makes it equally

dangerous to yield as to resist, and who leaves his enemies no hopes but

from victory.

What riches they acquired is not particularly related; but, it is not to

be doubted, that the plunder of so many vessels, together with the

silver seized at Nombre de Dios, must amount to a very great sum, though

the share that was allotted to Drake was not sufficient to lull him into

effeminacy, or to repress his natural inclination to adventures. They

arrived at Plymouth on the 9th of August, 1573, on Sunday in the

afternoon; and so much were the people delighted with the news of their

arrival, that they left the preacher, and ran in crouds to the key with

shouts and congratulations.

Drake having, in the voyage just mentioned, had a view of the South Sea,

as has already been related, and formed a resolution to sail upon it,

did not suffer himself to be diverted from his design by the prospect of

any difficulties that might obstruct the attempt, nor any danger that

might attend the execution. His reputation was sufficiently established

to remove all obstacles (for obstacles he met with), and to obviate the

motives that produced them; but it was not till the year 1577, that he

was able to assemble a force proportioned to his design, and to obtain a

commission from the Queen, by which he was constituted Captain-General

of a squadron, consisting of five vessels, of which the Pelican, of 100

tons, was commanded by himself as Admiral; the Elizabeth, of 80 tons,

Vice-Admiral, commanded by John Winter; the Marygold, of 30 tons, by

John Thomas; the Swan, of 50 tons, by John Chester and the Christopher,

of 15 tons, by Thomas Moon, the honest carpenter, who, on the former

voyage, destroyed the Swan by Drake’s direction.

These ships, equipped partly by himself, and partly by other private

adventurers, he manned with 164 stout sailors, and furnished with such

provisions as he thought necessary for so long and hazardous a voyage:

nor did he confine his concern to the ordinary equipment of his ships

with naval stores and military preparations, but carried with him

whatever he thought might contribute to raise, in those nations with

which he should have intercourse, the highest ideas of the arts and

grandeur of his native country. He, therefore, not only procured a

complete service of silver-plate for his own table, and furnished the

cook-room with many vessels of the same metal, but engaged several

musicians to accompany him; rightly judging, that nothing would more

excite the admiration of savages, or uncivilized people, than the powers

of music. On this occasion, however, it must not be concealed, that he

engaged his men on the false pretence of sailing to Alexandria; and that

it was not till after he arrived on the coast of Brazil, that he

acquainted them with his design of passing the Straits, and entering the

South Seas.

On the 15th of Nov. 1577, about three in the afternoon, he sailed from

Plymouth; but a heavy storm (such as no man on board had ever seen the

like), taking him almost as soon as out of port, forced him into

Falmouth, where he staid till the 13th of December to refit. He then

took his departure, and on the 25th of the same month fell in with the

coast of Barbary, and on the 27th cast anchor at the island of Mogadore,

about one mile distant from the main, between which and the isle they

found a very convenient harbour. Here he began to build the pinnaces,

the frames of which he brought ready from Plymouth to be put together,

as in his former voyage. While the carpenters were employed in this

service, they were discovered by the Moors that inhabit those coasts,

who sent two of their Chiefs on board Drake’s ship, receiving at the

same time two of his company as hostages. These men he not only treated

in the most hospitable manner, but presented them with such things as

they appeared most to admire; it being with him an established maxim to

endeavour to secure in every country a kind reception to such Englishmen

as should come after him, by treating the inhabitants with kindness and

generosity.

But this friendly intercourse was in appearance soon broken; for, on the

next day, observing the Moors making signals from the land, they sent

out their boat, as before, to fetch them to the ship; and one John Frye

leapt ashore, intending to become an hostage, as on the former day, when

immediately he was seized by the Moors; and the crew, observing great

numbers start from behind a rock with weapons in their hands, thought it

next to madness to attempt his rescue, and, therefore, provided for

their own security by returning to the ship. Frye was mounted on

horseback, and immediately carried up into the country to their King,

who being then in continual expectation of an invasion from Portugal,

suspected that these ships were sent only to reconnoitre the coast, and

discover a proper harbour for a more formidable fleet; but, being

informed who they were, and whither they were bound, not only dismissed

his captive, but made large offers of friendship and assistance; which

Drake, however, did not stay to receive; but being disgusted at this

breach of the laws of commerce, and apprehending further treachery, he

quitted the coast on December 31, and on the 17th of January arrived at

Cape Blanco, having in their passage taken several Spanish vessels, and

found one in the harbour with no men.

Here, while Drake was employing his men in catching fish, and training

them for land as well as sea service, the natives came down to the

sea-side with ambergrease and other gums, to traffic for such

commodities as they then stood most in need of, and with which Drake

very generously supplied them.

Having rifled and discharged the Spanish ships which they had taken,

they sailed on the 22d of January towards the isles of Cape Verd, and on

the 27th came to anchor before Mayo, hoping to furnish themselves with

fresh water; but, having landed, they found the chief town deserted;

and, marching farther up the country, saw the vallies extremely

fruitful, and abounding with ripe figs, cocoes, and plantains, but could

by no means prevail upon the inhabitants to converse or traffic with

them. However, they were suffered by them to range the country without

molestation, but found no water, except at such a distance from the sea,

that the labour of carrying it to their ships was greater than it was at

that time necessary for them to undergo. Salt, had they wanted it, might

have been obtained with less trouble, being left by the sea upon the

sands, and hardened by the sun, during the ebb, in such quantities, that

the chief traffic of this island is carried on by means of it. Thus,

though the island abounded with goats, poultry, and delicious fruits of

various kinds, they could procure none of any consequence, because the

Portuguese, who were then in possession of it, were prohibited all

commerce with strangers on very severe penalties.

On the 31st of January they made St. Iago, an island at that time

divided between the natives and the Portuguese, who, first entering

these islands under the shew of traffic, by degrees established

themselves, claimed a superiority over the natives, and harrassed them

with such cruelty, that they obliged them either to fly to the woods and

mountains, where many of them perished with hunger, or to take arms

against their oppressors, and, under the insuperable disadvantages with

which they contended, to die almost without a battle. Such treatment had

the natives of St. Iago received, which had driven them into the rocky

parts of the island, from whence they made incursions into the

plantations of the Portuguese, sometimes with loss, but generally with

that success which desperation produces; so that the Portuguese were in

continual alarms, and lived with the natural consequences of guilt,

terror, and anxiety. They were wealthy but not happy, and possessed the

island, but did not enjoy it.

In passing this island, the garrison of the fort discharged three pieces

of cannon at them, but without effect. For this insult they took a

Portuguese ship laden with wines, the pilot of which they retained, but

set the rest of the crew on shore. This man, Nuno da Silva by name, was

very useful to them in traversing the coast of Brazil, being acquainted

with the bays and harbours where fresh water and provisions were to be

obtained. Him they continued to detain captive, though they broke up his

ship before they entered the Straits, till they were about to leave the

coasts of Peru, when finding him no longer serviceable, they set him on

shore in the Spanish settlements, from whence he afterwards returned

home, and wrote an account of the voyage as far as he went, which is

thought by many to be very authentic.

It was soon after the capture of this ship that a difference arose

between Drake and his friend, Mr. Thomas Doughty, which, gradually

increasing, grew into inveteracy, and terminated at last in the death of

the latter. Doughty was a gentleman and a scholar, whom Drake had

persuaded to embark in this expedition to better his fortune and to

whom, till the incident happened which we are about to relate, he had

shewn particular marks of favour and friendship; but trivial beginnings

are often productive of the most important events.

The ground of the malevolence with which Drake pursued Doughty, under

the colour of justice, has hitherto lain concealed from the public eye;

but we shall now trace it, step by step, till the fatal period when the

unhappy victim was brought to the block, and when Drake, by suffering

revenge to triumph over virtue, left an indelible blot upon his

character, which no panegyric can wipe away.

Among the Harleian manuscripts there is a written account of this

voyage, in which the author has particularly had his eye on this

transaction. As he was an eye-witness of all that passed, his relation

will best appear in his own words: “Captain Drake, says he, having

boarded the ship of Nuno da Sylva, and feasted his eyes with the view of

the commodities, he committed the custody and well-ordering of this

prize unto Master Thomas Doughty, as his good and esteemed friend,

praying him in any case to see good order kept, and whoso should be the

breaker thereof, to give him to understand of any such without exception

of any.

“It thus chanced that General Drake had a brother (not the wisest man in

christendom), whom he put into this said prize, as also divers others.

This Thomas Drake, as one more greedy of prey than covetous of honesty

or credit, offered himself the first and only man to break the General

his brother’s commandment; for he, contrary to his strict prohibition,

did not only break open a chest, but did dive suddenly into the same,

that Master Doughty knew not how to discharge himself against the

General but by revealing it unto him; yet first Master Doughty called

Thomas Drake unto him, and shewed him his great folly in this behalf,

who, yielding unto his fault, prayed Master Doughty to be good unto him,

and keep it from the General; but he briefly told him he could not keep

it, but he would deliver it with what favour he might. So at the

General’s next coming on board the prize, Master Doughty opened the same

unto him, who presently falling into a rage, not without some great

oaths, seemed to wonder what Thomas Doughty should mean to touch his

brother; and did, as it were, assure himself that he had some farther

meaning in this, and that he meant to strike at his credit, and he would

not, or could not, by God’s life (as he phrased it), suffer it. From

this time forth grudges did seem to grow between them from day to day,

to the no small admiration of the rest of the company, although some

envying his former favour and friendship with the General, and some, I

think, doubting that his capacity would reach too far to the

aggrandizing his credit in the country, talked variously of the matter;

however, Master Doughty was put again into the Pelican. Thus grudges,

although they had not long rested, yet were they grown to great

extremities, such and so great as a man of any judgment would verily

think that his love towards him in England was more in brave words than

hearty good will or friendly love.” So writes our author.

In proceeding on their voyage, they came within sight of Fogo, an island

so called from a mountain about the middle of it continually burning,

and like the rest inhabited by the Portuguese. Two leagues to the south

of Fogo lies Brava, which has received its name from its fertility,

abounding with all kinds of fruits, and watered with great numbers of

springs and brooks, but, having neither harbour nor anchorage, was at

that time uninhabited.

Drake, having sent out his boats with plummets to sound, was not able to

find any ground about it; and it is reported, that many experiments of

the like kind have been made without success. However, he took in water

sufficient; and on the 2d of Feb. set sail for the coast of Brazil.

On February the 17th, he passed the equator, after being becalmed near

three weeks, during which time they had dreadful storms of thunder with

lightning, but without any memorable accident, till, continuing their

voyage, on March 28, one of their vessels with 28 men, and the greatest

part of the fresh water on board, was, to their great discouragement,

separated from them; but their perplexity lasted not long, for on the

next day they discovered her, and she again joined her associates. In

their long course, which gave them opportunities of observing several

animals, both in the air and water, at that time very little known,

nothing entertained or surprized them more than the flying-fish, which

is nearly of the same size with a herring, and has fins of the length of

his whole body, by the help of which, when he is pursued by the benito

(a large kind of mackarel), as soon as he finds himself upon the point

of being taken, he springs up into the air, and flies forward as long as

his wings continue wet, moisture being, as it seems, necessary to make

them pliant and moveable; and, when they become dry and stiff, he falls

down into the water, unless some vessel intercepts him, and dips them

again for a second flight. This unhappy animal is not only pursued by

fishes in his natural element, but attacked in the air, where he hopes

for security, by the don or spar kite, a great bird that preys upon

fish; and their species must certainly be destroyed, were not their

increase so great, that the young fry, in one part of the year, covers

that part of the sea.

There is another fish, named the cuttle, of which whole shoals will

sometimes rise at once out of the water, and of which a great multitude

fell into their ship.

At length, having sailed without sight of land for 54 days, they arrived

April the 5th on the coast of Brazil. “In the mean while, you shall

hear, says our author, what befel: Master Drake, never leaving to seek

and force upon Master Doughty, found, in the end, this opportunity to

degrade him. Whether of purpose, or his own voluntary, it chanced John

Brown the trumpet to go aboard the Pelican, where, for that he had been

long absent, the company offered him a hobbey, among the which, Master

Doughty putting in his hand, said, Fellow John, you shall have in my

hand, although it be but light amongst the rest; and so laying his hand

on his buttock, which perceived of John Trumpet, he began to swear

wounds and blood to the company to let him loose, for they are not all

(said he) the General’s friends that be here; and with that turned him

to Master Doughty, and said unto him, (as himself presently after told

me in the prize) God’s wounds, Doughty, what dost thou mean to use this

familiarity with me, considering thou art not the General’s friend; who

answered him, What, fellow John! what moves you to this, and to use

these words to me, that am as good and as sure a friend to my good

General as any in this place, and I defy him that shall say the

contrary. But is the matter thus? why yet, fellow John, I pray thee let

me live until I come into England. Thus, John Brown coming again

presently aboard the prize, had not talked any long time with the

General, but the boat went aboard and rested not, but presently brought

Master Doughty to the prize’s side, General Drake sitting in the midst

of his men, who hearing the boat at the ship’s side stood up, and Master

Doughty offering to take hold of the ship to have entered, said the

General, Stay there, Thomas Doughty, for I must send you to another

place, and with that commanded the mariners to row him on board the

fly-boat, saying unto him, it was a place more fit for him than that

from whence he came: but Master Doughty, although he craved to speak

with the General, could not be permitted, neither would he hear him.”

Soon after this, the fly-boat here mentioned, (called the Swan,) was

separated from them by a violent storm, “in all whose absence, says our

author, the General never ceased to inveigh against Master Doughty,

terming him a conjurer and a witch; and, at any time when we had foul

weather, he would say that Tom. Doughty was the occasion thereof, and

that it came out of Tom. Doughty’s capcase, and would avouch the same

with oaths.”

After the storm above-mentioned, they steered near the land to the

southward; and on the 14th anchored under a cape, which they afterwards

called Cape Joy, because in two days the vessel that was missing

returned to them. Here they refreshed their weary crews, and took in

fresh water; but, finding the country, though pleasant, without

inhabitants, they weighed anchor, and, by running a little farther to

the southward, found a small harbour between a rock and the main, where

the rock breaking the force of the sea, the ships rode at anchor with

the greatest security. On this rock they killed several seals, keeping

them for food, and found them wholesome, though not palatable.

Their next course was directed to the great river of Plate, in 36 deg.

of south latitude; but, not finding anchorage in that river, they sailed

in quest of a more convenient harbour, when they were surprized by a

sudden storm, in which they again lost sight of the fly-boat. This

accident determined Drake to contract the number of his ships, that he

might not only avoid the inconvenience of such frequent separations, but

ease the labour of his men, by having more hands in each vessel. For

this purpose he sailed along the coast and on May the 13th discovered a

bay, which, though it promised fair, he durst not enter before it was

examined: he, therefore, ordered his boat to be hoisted out, and, taking

the line into his own hand, went on sounding the passage till he was

three leagues from his ship, when on a sudden the weather changed, the

skies blackened, the wind rose, and all the usual forerunners of a storm

began to threaten them. Nothing was now thought of but the means of

returning to the ship; but the thickness of the fog intercepting it from

their sight, made the attempt almost impracticable. In this perplexity,

which Drake was not more sensible of than those whom he had left in the

ships, nothing was to be omitted, however dangerous, that might tend to

extricate them from it. Captain Thomas, therefore, having the lightest

vessel, steered boldly into the bay, and, taking the Admiral on board,

dropt anchor, and lay out of danger; while the rest that were in the

open sea suffered much from the tempest, and the Mary (the Portugueze

prize) was driven before the wind. The others, as soon as the tempest

was over, discovering by the fires that were made on shore where Drake

was, repaired to him.

Here they met with no inhabitants, though there were several wigwams or

huts standing, in which they found some dried fowls, and among them

ostriches, of which the thighs were as large as those of a sheep. These

birds are too unwieldy to rise from the ground; but with the help of

their wings, or rather stumps, they run so swiftly, that the English

could never come near enough to shoot any of them.

Not finding this harbour convenient, or well stored with wood and water,

they left it on the 15th of May, and on the 18th entered another much

safer and more commodious, which they no sooner arrived at, than Drake

sent Winter to the southward in search of those ships that were absent,

and immediately after sailed himself to the northward, and happily

meeting with the Swan, conducted her to the rest of the fleet; after

which, in pursuance of his former resolution, he ordered her to be

broken up, preserving the iron work for a future supply. The other

vessel which was separated in the late storm, could not be discovered.

While they were thus employed upon an island about a mile from the main

land, to which, at low water, there was a passage on foot, they were

discovered by the natives, who appeared upon a hill at a distance,

dancing, and holding up their hands, as beckoning to the English to come

to them, which Drake observing, sent out a boat with knives, bells, and

bugles, and such things as by their usefulness or novelty he imagined

would be agreeable. As soon as the English landed, they observed two men

running towards them as deputed by the company, who came within a little

distance, and then standing still, could not be prevailed upon to come

nearer. The English, therefore, tied their presents to a pole, which

they fixed in the ground, and then retiring, saw the Indians advance,

who taking what they found upon the pole, left in return such feathers

as they wore upon their heads, with a small bone about six inches in

length, carved round the top and burnished. Drake observing their

inclination to friendship and traffic, advanced with some of his company

towards the hill, upon sight of whom the Indians ranged themselves in a

line from east to west, and one of them running from one end of the rank

to the other, backwards and forwards, bowed himself towards the rising

and setting of the sun, holding his hands over his head, and, frequently

stopping in the middle of the rank, leaped up towards the moon, which

then shone directly over their heads thus calling the sun and moon, the

deities they worship, to witness to the sincerity of their professions

of peace and friendship. While this ceremony was performing, Drake and

his company ascended the hill, to the apparent terror of the Indians,

whose apprehensions when the English perceived, they peaceably retired,

which gave the natives so much encouragement, that they came forward

immediately, and exchanged their arrows, feathers, and bones, for such

trifles as were offered them. Thus they traded for some time but by

frequent intercourse, finding that no violence was intended, they became

familiar, and mingled with the English without the least distrust. They

go quite naked, except the skin of some animals, which they throw over

their shoulders when they walk or lie in the open air. They roll up

their hair, which is very long, with a plume of ostrich’s feathers, and

usually stick their arrows in it, that they may not encumber them, they

being made with reeds headed with flint, and therefore not heavy. Their

bows are about an ell long. Their chief ornament is paint, which they

use of several kinds, delineating generally upon their bodies the

figures of the sun and moon in honour of their deities.

It is observable, that the inhabitants of most nations amongst whom the

use of cloaths is unknown, paint their bodies. Such was the practice of

the inhabitants of our own country. To this custom did our earliest

enemies, the Picts, owe their denomination. As it is not probable that

caprice or fancy should be uniform, there must be doubtless some reason

for a practice so general, and prevailing in distant parts of the world

which have no communication with each other. The original end of

painting their bodies was probably to exclude the cold; an end, which,

if we believe some relations, is so effectually produced by it, that the

men thus painted never shiver at the most piercing blasts: but,

doubtless, any people so hardened by continual severities, would, even

without paint, be less sensible of the cold than the civilized

inhabitants of the same climate. However, this practice may contribute

in some degree to defend them from the injuries of winter, and, in those

climates where little evaporates by the pores, may be used with no great

inconvenience: but in hot countries, where perspiration in a greater

degree is necessary, the natives only use unction to preserve them from

the other extreme of weather, or, more probably, from the inconvenience

of the flies, which, were it not for that or some such defence, would be

intolerable.

These savages had no canoes, like the other Indians, nor any method of

crossing the water; which was probably the reason why the birds in the

adjacent islands were so tame that they might be taken with the hand,

having never been before frighted or molested. The birds here spoken of

are, without doubt, the penguins of which so ample a description is

given in the Voyages of Byron and Wallis. The great plenty of these

fowls, and of the seals that were found every-where on the shores of

this coast, contributed much to the refreshment of the English, who

named the bay where they then lay, Seal-bay, from the number they there

killed of those animals.

These seals seem to be the chief food of the natives; for the English

often found raw pieces of their flesh half eaten, and left, as they

supposed, after a full meal, by the savages, whom they never knew to

make use of fire, or any art in dressing or preparing their victuals.

Nor were their other customs less wild or uncouth than their way of

feeding. One of them, having received a cap off the General’s head, and

being extremely pleased as well with the honour as the gift, to express

his gratitude, retired to a little distance, and thrusting an arrow into

his leg, let the blood run upon the ground, testifying, as it is

probable, that he was ready to shed his blood in his defence.

When the Swan fly-boat was separated from the fleet in the storm off the

coast of Brazil, the crew, despairing of ever being able to rejoin it,

began to be in fear for provisions. They were on a desart coast, had no

place of rendezvous, and were ignorant even of their place of

destination. In this untoward situation a dispute arose among the

officers, of which the author of the manuscript before cited, gives the

following relation:--He had already taken notice that Master Thomas

Doughty had been sent on board this vessel as a kind of punishment, and

in truth so it proved; for the master of the vessel, who seems also to

have been the purser, knowing upon what terms he stood with Drake, took

every occasion to insult, or, as our author’s phrase is, to discredit

him; for those were always ranked among Drake’s friends who were enemies

to Master Doughty. “This man, foreseeing that provisions might run

short, put himself from the mess of Master Doughty, Captain Chester, and

the rest of the gentlemen, and did set himself amongst the sailors,

nothing at all sparing, but rather augmenting his own diet; but how

scantily those gentlemen did fare, there be some come home, that, except

they will deny their own words, can make relation thereof.

“Master Doughty, with Master Chester, whom the General had made Captain

of the fly-boat, found themselves so ill used, that Master Doughty

accosted his friend one day in these words: I marvel, Master Chester,

that you will take it at his hands to be thus used, considering that you

were here authorized by the General to be our Commander. And, at the

same time, he spoke to the Master, and told him, that he used so much

partiality in the distribution of his provisions, that the same could

not be borne, considering the extremity they were like to fall into for

want of victuals; and that it was against reason that he and his

messmates should be so plentifully fed, while others were at the point

to starve. The Master hereat putting himself in a rage, swore that such

rascals as he was should be glad to eat the shoals (husks) when he would

have them. Master Doughty answered him again, that reason would will

that he should be used as well as other men, considering his advantages.

Thou any advantage here! replied the Master, I would not give a point

for thee nor thy advantages; and if ever thou comest home to enjoy any

advantages, I will be trussed up. Then in multiplying words, and as I

heard a blow or two passing between them, the Master, in the spleen of

his heart, looking at him with an evil eye, Thou! will thou have

victuals! thou shalt be glad, if we do not meet with the General, the

rather to eat that falls from my tail on the anchor-fluke ere thou

gettest home again. Then Master Doughty, turning to Master Chester, said

unto him, Master Chester, let us not be thus used at this knave’s hands.

Lose nothing of that authority that the General committed unto you. If

you will, we will put the sword into your hands again, and you shall

have the government. This case I will aver to be true, for there were

two or three witnesses sworn to these articles, as some of the special

matter that he had to lose his head for.”

It was not many days after this quarrel before the Swan fell in again

with the fleet; when Drake, as has been said, caused her to be hauled on

shore, set on fire, and burnt; or, as others say, broke up and converted

into fire-wood for the use of the fleet.

Mr. Doughty, being here delivered from the fly-boat, was again restored

to the Pelican, where the master with whom he had the dispute appears to

have preferred a complaint against him, and with such aggravations as he

thought proper to add; all which were favourably heard, and credit given

to the whole relation by the General, who wanted only a pretence to

persevere in his severity to the man who, being once his favourite, was

now become the object of his most inveterate hatred. Doughty, provoked,

no doubt, by the misrepresentations of the master, and the partiality

with which they were heard, gave the General some opprobrious, language,

adding, “that the lightest word that came out of his (Doughty’s) mouth

was to be believed as soon as the General’s oath. Whereupon the General

did not only strike him, but commanded him to be bound to the mast; for

the accomplishment of which, the master of the fly-boat took no little

pains. This happened as the two ships (the Pelican and the Canter) lay

together; and as soon as Doughty was released, he was put into the

Canter, although greatly against his will, for that he said he knew them

to be there that sought his life, as namely the master of the fly-boat,

and some other desperate and unhonest people; but would he or no,

thither he must, or else the General swore he would lift him out with

the tackle, and for that purpose commanded the tackle to be loosed. Thus

aboard the Canter he went, and his brother John Doughty with him.” The

Canter was a vessel taken from the Spaniards on the coast of Africa.

While they lay in this harbour, there is one remarkable incident related

by this author that deserves particular notice, as it tends to

illustrate the previous steps that were pursued to accomplish the ruin

of this unfortunate gentleman.

“On board the fly-boat, says he, was one, Thomas Cuttle, who some time

had been Captain of the Pelican under Drake, with whom the General had

been tampering. This man came out from him in great wrath, and offering

to go over to the main, between the which, and the island where they

then lay, was (as has been said) but a shallow water. He, standing well

nigh up to the middle in the water with his piece, uttered these words,

Well, my Masters, quoth he, I find I am heavily borne with here, because

I will not accuse this gentleman (meaning Doughty) of that, as I take

God to witness, I know not by him; and, therefore, I declare before you

all, that, whatsoever becomes of me, I never knew any thing by him but

to be the General’s friend; and, rather than I will bide this hard

countenance at the General’s hands, I will yield myself into cannibal’s

hands; and so I pray you all to pray for me.”

After this public declaration the man departed; and, having reached the

opposite shore, he went up into the country, where firing his piece to

bring the natives to him, Drake taking it for a signal that he wanted to

return, sent a boat over to the main, and brought him back.

Just before their departure from this harbour, which lay in a bay a

little to the southward of Cape Hope, “Captain Drake himself came on

board the Elizabeth, and calling all the company together, told them,

that he was to send thither a couple of men, the which he did not know

how to carry along with him this voyage, and go through therewithal, as

namely, quoth he, Thomas Doughty, who is a commotioner and a seditious

fellow, and a very bad and lewd fellow, and one that I have made that

reckoning of as of my left hand; and his brother the young Doughty, a

witch, a poisoner, and such a one as the world cannot judge of, having

his knowledge from the devil; and so warning the company that none

should speak to them, nor use any conference with them; if they did, he

would hold them as his enemies, and enemies to the voyage. And he willed

that great care should be taken that they should neither write nor read;

and then he declared what wealth the worst boy in the fleet should get

by this voyage, and how the worst boy should never need to go again to

sea, but should be able to live in England with a right good gentleman;

for, quoth he, you shall see that we will have gold come as plentiful as

wood into the ships. Having finished his speech, he departed, and

shortly after sent the said Thomas Doughty and his brother aboard the

Elizabeth, commanding them, as they would answer it with their lives,

not to set pen to paper, nor yet to read but what every man might

understand and see. And sure, adds our author, their entertainment there

was accordingly; for men durst not speak to them, although willingly

perhaps they would; and as their fare was with the simplest in the ship,

so was their lodging. But he, Thomas Doughty, having agreed with the

boatswain of the ship for a cabin which stood, God knows, in an

uncomfortable room, yet must he pay 3 l. for the same in England. But

what came of this to the poor fellow! he was fain for his friendly using

him to lose his office, and continue in heavy displeasure.”

Having staid fifteen days in the harbour, during which time they

continued their friendly intercourse with the savages, on June the 3d

they set sail towards the South Sea, and six days afterwards stopt at a

little bay to break up the Christopher, which from the smallness of its

size was found incapable of living in those boisterous seas, of which,

before they entered them, they had conceived no adequate idea. Then

passing on, they found it necessary to call anchor in another bay, with

a view to recover the Portuguese prize, which was separated from them in

the storm of the 27th of April, and had not yet rejoined them. To return

in search of it was sufficiently mortifying; to proceed without it, was

not only to deprive themselves of a considerable part of their force,

but to expose their friends and companions, who had voluntarily embarked

on board her, to certain death or certain captivity. This consideration

prevailed; and, therefore, on the 18th, after prayers to God, with which

Drake (for example’s sake) never forgot to begin an enterprize, he put

to sea, and the next day near Port Julian discovered their associates,

whose ship was now grown leaky, having suffered much in the first storm

by which they were separated, and afterwards in the fruitless attempts

to regain the fleet. Drake, therefore, being desirous to relieve their

fatigues, entered Port Julian. They no sooner landed than they were

accosted by two of the natives, of whom Magellan left a very terrible

account, having described them as a nation of giants and monsters: nor

did they find his narrative entirely without foundation; for the least

of those they saw was larger and taller than the largest of their

company. The two who accosted the English appeared much pleased with

their new guests, received willingly whatever was given them, and very

exactly observed every thing that passed, seeming more particularly

delighted with seeing Oliver, the master-gunner, shoot an English arrow.

They shot themselves likewise in emulation, but their arrows always fell

to the ground far short of his.

Soon after this friendly contest came another, who, observing the

familiarity of his countrymen with the strangers, appeared much

displeased; and, as the Englishmen perceived, endeavoured to persuade

them from such an intercourse. What effect his arguments had was soon

after apparent; for another of Drake’s companions, being desirous to

shew the third Indian a specimen of the English valour and dexterity,

attempted likewise to shoot an arrow; but, drawing it with his full

force, burst the bow-string: upon which, the Indians, who were

unacquainted with their other weapons, imagining them disarmed, followed

the company as they were walking negligently down towards their boat,

and let fly their arrows, aiming particularly at Winter, who had the bow

in his hand. He, finding himself wounded in the shoulder, endeavoured to

refit his bow; and, turning about, was pierced with a second arrow in

the breast. Oliver, the gunner, immediately presented his piece at the

insidious assailants, which failing to take fire, gave them time to

level another flight of arrows, by which he was killed; nor, perhaps,

had any of them escaped, surprized and perplexed as they were, had not

Drake animated their courage, and directed their motions, ordering them,

by perpetually changing their places, to elude as much as might be the

aim of their enemies, and to defend their bodies with their targets; and

instructing them by his own example to pick up and break the arrows as

they fell, which they did with so much diligence that the Indians were

soon in danger of being disarmed. Then Drake himself taking the gun,

which Oliver had so unsuccessfully attempted to make use of, discharged

it at the Indian that first began the fray and had killed the gunner,

aiming it so happily that the hail-shot, with which it was loaded, tore

open his belly, and forced him to such terrible outcries, that the

Indians, though their numbers increased, and many of them shewed

themselves from different parts of an adjoining wood, were too much

terrified to renew the assault; and suffered Drake without molestation

to withdraw his wounded friend, who, being hurt in his lungs, languished

two days, and then dying, was interred with his companion with the usual

ceremony of a military funeral.

They staid here two months after this quarrel, without receiving any

other injuries from the natives, in which time they discovered the

gibbet on which Magellan had formerly executed some of his mutinous

company, and where “Drake, according to the writers of the Biographia

Britannica, did the least commendable action of his life, in executing

Mr. _John_ Doughty, a man next in authority to himself; in which,

however, he preserved a great appearance of justice.”

To clear this matter fully, it will be necessary to bring together the

substance of what these authors have said on the subject, and then to

add the plain relation from the manuscript already quoted.

‘Here it was (at Port St. Julian), say these writers, that on a sudden,

having carried the principal persons engaged in the service to a desart

island lying in the bay, he called a kind of council of war, or rather

court martial, where he exposed his commission, by which the Queen

granted him the power of life and death, which was delivered him with

this remarkable expression from her own mouth; _We do account, that he,

Drake, who strikes at thee, does strike at us._ He then laid open, with

great eloquence, (for, though his education was but indifferent, he had

a wonderful power of speech) the cause of this assembly. He proceeded

next to charge Mr. John Doughty, _who had been second in command, during

the whole voyage_, when Drake was present, and first in his absence,

with plotting the destruction of the undertaking, and the murder of his

person. He said he had the first notice of this gentleman’s bad

intentions before he left England; but that he was in hopes his

behaviour towards him would have extinguished such disposition, if there

had been any truth in the information. He then appealed for his

behaviour to the whole assembly, and to the gentleman accused. He next

exposed his practices from the time that he left England, while he lived

towards him with all the kindness and cordiality of a brother; which

charge he supported by producing papers under his own hand, to which Mr.

Doughty added a full and free confession. After this, the Captain, or,

as in the language of those times he is called, the General, quitted the

place, telling the assembly he expected that they should pass a verdict

upon him, for he would be no judge in his own cause. Camden, as the

reader will see, says, that he tried him by a jury; but, other accounts

affirm, that the whole forty persons of which the court was composed,

had judged him to death, and gave this in writing under their hands and

seals, leaving the time and manner of it to the General. Mr. Doughty

himself said, that he desired rather to die by the hands of justice than

to be his own executioner. Upon this, Captain Drake having maturely

weighed the whole matter, presented three points to Mr. Doughty’s

choice: first, to be executed upon the island where they were; next, to

be set on shore on the main land; or, lastly, to be sent home to abide

the justice of his country. He desired he might have till the next day

to consider of these, which was allowed him, and then, giving his

reasons for rejecting the two last, he declared that he made the first

his choice; and, having received the sacrament with the General, from

the hands of Mr. Francis Fletcher, Chaplain to the fleet, and made a

full confession, his head was cut off with an axe by the

Provost-Marshal, July the 2d, 1578.

‘As to the imputation which this matter brought upon Drake, we will

first cite what Camden says of this transaction: “On the 26th of April,

entering into the mouth of the river of Plate, he saw an infinite number

of sea-calves; from thence sailing into the haven of St. Julian he found

a gibbet, set up, as it was thought, by Magellan for the punishment of

certain mutineers. In this very place John Doughty, an industrious and

stout man, and the next unto Drake, was called to his trial for raising

a mutiny in the fleet, found guilty by twelve men after the English

manner, and condemned to death, which he suffered undauntedly, being

beheaded, having first received the holy communion with Drake. And,

indeed, the most impartial persons in the fleet were of opinion, that he

had acted seditiously, and that Drake cut him off as an emulator of his

glory, and one that regarded not so much who he himself excelled in

commendation for sea matters, as who he thought might equal him; yet

wanted there not some who, pretending to understand things better than

others, gave out that Drake had in charge from Leicester to take off

Doughty upon any pretence whatever, because he had reported that the

Earl of Essex was made away by the cunning practices of that Earl.”

‘We find this matter, add the writers just cited, touched in several

other books, and particularly in two, which were written on purpose to

expose the Earl of Leicester, and, perhaps, deserving the less credit

for that reason.

‘It may be offered in defence of Sir Francis Drake, that this man was

openly put to death, after as fair a trial as the circumstances of time

and place would permit; that he submitted patiently to his sentence, and

received the sacrament with Drake, whom he embraced immediately before

his execution. Besides these, there are two points that deserve

particular consideration: first, that, in such expeditions, strict

discipline, and legal severity, are often absolutely necessary;

secondly, that, as to the Earl of Essex, for whose death Doughty had

expressed concern, he was Drake’s first patron, and it is, therefore,

very improbable he should destroy a man for endeavouring to detect his

murderer. We may add to all this, if liberty may be indulged to

conjectures, that this man, presuming upon the Earl of Leicester’s

favour (who very probably imposed him upon Drake to be rid of him), was

from thence encouraged to form designs against Drake; and this might

also be the reason which hindered him from inclining to an absolute

pardon, as doubting whether it was possible to trust one who had so far

abused his confidence already, and whose known interest with so great a

man might always enable him to find instruments, in case he was wicked

enough to enter upon fresh intrigues.’

We shall just remark upon, what is above quoted, that the authors do not

seem to have been well informed for they have all along imputed to John

Doughty what related to his brother Thomas; and, if credit may be given

to the author of the manuscript (John Cook by name), this unfortunate

Thomas fell a sacrifice to Drake’s resentment. “On this island in Port

St. Julian, says he, passed many matters, which, I think, God would not

have to be concealed, especially for that they tended to murder; for he

(Drake) spewed out against Thomas Doughty his venom. Here he ended all

his conceived hatred, not by courtesy and friendly reconcilement, but by

most tyrannical blood-spilling; for he was never quiet while he lived,

who in wisdom and honest government as far surpassed him, as he in

tyranny surpassed all men. The world never committed a fact like unto

this; for here he murdered him that, if he had well looked unto himself,

had been a more sure and stedfast friend unto him than ever was Pythias

to his friend Damon, as I think the sequel of this case will shew.