“The last day of June, the General himself, being set in place of

judgment, and having the whole company brought on shore, and having

Captain John Thomas set close by him, who opened a bundle of papers that

were rolled up together, wherein was written divers and sundry articles,

the which, before they were read, the General spoke unto the purport of

them, and turning himself to Thomas Doughty, who was there present,

being before brought thither more like a thief than a gentleman of

honest conversation, he began his charge thus: Thomas Doughty, you have

here sought by divers means, in as much as you may, to discredit me, to

the great hinderance and overthrow of this voyage; besides other great

matters with which I have to charge you, the which, if you can clear

yourself of, you and I shall be very good friends; whereof if you

cannot, you have deserved death. Master Doughty answered, It should

never be approved that he had merited ill by undertaking any villainy

towards him. By whom, quoth the General, will you be tried? Why, good

General, said he, let me live to come unto my country, and I will there

be tried by her Majesty’s laws. Nay, Thomas Doughty, said he, I will

here impannel a jury on you to enquire into those matters that I have to

charge you withal. Why, General, replied Doughty, I hope you will see

your Commission be good. I’ll warrant you, answered the General, my

Commission is good enough. I pray you then let us see it, said Master

Doughty; it is necessary that it should be here shewn. Well, quoth he,

you shall _not_ see it. Then, addressing himself to the company, You

see, my Masters, how this fellow is full of prating, bind me his arms,

for I will be safe of my life. My Masters, you that be my good friends,

Thomas Good, Gregory ----, you there, my friends, bind him; so they took

and bound his arms behind him. Then he uttered divers furious words unto

Thomas Doughty, as charging him to be the man that poisoned my Lord of

Essex; whereas Master Doughty avouched it to his face, that he was the

man that brought the General first to the presence of my Lord in

England. Thou bring ME, quoth the General, to my Lord! See, my Masters,

see here how he goeth about to discredit me. This fellow with my Lord

was never of any estimation. I think he never came about him as a

gentleman; for I that was daily with my Lord never saw him there above

once, and that was long after my entertainment with my Lord.

“Then, in fine, was there a jury called, whereof Master John Winter was

foreman. Then by John Thomas were the articles read unto them, _even

once over for a last farewel_, for fear that men should have carried

them away by memory; all which appeared to consist of words of

unkindness, and to proceed of some choler when the prisoner was

provoked, all which Doughty did not greatly deny; until at length came

in one Edward Bright, whose honesty of life I have nothing to do with,

who said, Nay, Thomas Doughty, we have other matter for you yet, that

will a little nearer touch you. It will i’ faith bite you to the

girskin. I pray thee, Ned Bright, said the prisoner, charge me with

nothing but truth, and spare me not. Then John Thomas read further for

his last article to conclude the whole withal, That Thomas Doughty

should say to Edward Bright, in Master Drake’s garden, that the Queen’s

Majesty and Council would be corrupted. So Bright holding up his finger,

said, How like ye this gare, sirrah? Why, Ned Bright, said Master

Doughty, what should induce thee thus to belye me? thou knowest that

such familiarity was never between thee and me: but it may be, that I

have said, if we brought home gold, we should be the better welcome; but

yet this is more than I do remember. Then it came out, on farther

evidence, that Master Doughty should say, that my Lord Treasurer had a

plot of the present voyage. No, that he hath not, quoth General Drake.

The other replied, that he had, and had it of him. See, my Masters, said

Drake, what this fellow hath done. God will have his treachery all

known; for her Majesty gave me special commandment, that of all men my

Lord Treasurer should not know it; but you see his own mouth hath

bewrayed him: so this was a special article against him to hurt his

throat, and greatly he seemed to rejoice at this advantage.

“Then Master Doughty offered him, if he would permit him to live, and to

answer these objections in England, he would set his hand to whatso was

there written, or to any thing else that he would set down. Well, once

let these men, quoth the General, first find whether you are guilty in

this or no, and then we will talk further of the matter. And then he

delivered (after they had all taken their oaths given by John Thomas)

the bills of indictment, as I may term them, unto Mr. John Winter, who

was foreman of this inquest. Then Master Leonard Vicary, a very assured

friend of Master Thomas Doughty’s, said unto him, General, this is not

law, nor agreeable to justice, that you offer. I have not to do with you

crafty lawyers, neither do I care for the law; but I know what I will

do. Why, quoth Master Vicary, who was one of his jury, I know not how we

may answer his life. Well, Master Vicary, quoth he, you shall not have

to do with his life; let me alone with that; you are but to find whether

he be guilty in these articles that here are objected against him, or

no. Why, very well, said Master Vicary, then there is, I trust, no

matter of death. No, no, Master Vicary, quoth he; so with this the jury

went together, finding all to be true, without any doubt or stop made,

but only to that article that Edward Bright had objected against him;

for it was doubted of some whether Bright were sufficient with his only

word to cast away the life of a man. And truly it did argue small

honesty in a man to conceal such a matter if it had been spoken in

England, and to utter it in this place where will was law, and reason

put in exile; for, an honest subject would not have concealed such

matter, which made some doubt of an honest dealing. But, to be brief,

answer was made, that Bright was a very honest man; and so the verdict

being given in, it was told to the General, that there was doubt made of

Bright’s honesty. Why, quoth Master Drake, I dare to swear that what Ned

Bright has said is very true (yet within a fortnight after, the same

Bright was in such disliking with him, as he seemed to doubt his life;

and having displaced him of the Pelican, and put him into the Marygold,

he gave for reason, that himself would be safe, and he would put him far

enough from him). Thus having received in the verdict, he rose off the

place, and departed towards the water-side, where, calling all the

company with him, except Master Thomas Doughty and his brother, he there

opened a certain bundle of letters and bills, and, looking on them,

said, God’s will! I have left in my cabin that I should especially have

had (as if he had there forgotten his Commission): but, whether he

forgot his Commission or no, he much forgot himself, to sit as Judge

without shewing that he had any; but, truly, I think he shewed to the

uttermost what he had: for here he shewed forth, first, letters that

were written, as he said, by Master Hankins to my Lord of Essex for his

entertainment; secondly, he shewed letters of thanks from my Lord of

Essex unto Master Hankins, for preferring so good a servitor unto him,

and how much he had pleasured him; then read he letters that past from

my Lord of Essex unto Secretary Walsingham in his great commendation

then shewed he letters of Master Hatton’s unto himself, tending for the

acceptance of his men John Thomas and John Brewer, for their well usage

in this voyage; and, lastly, he read a bill of her Majesty’s adventure

of a thousand crowns (but I most marvelled that so many noblemen and

gentlemen did leave their letters in his hands, except it were to shew

in this place for his credit). So when he had all done, he said, Now, my

Masters, you may see whether this fellow hath sought my discredit or no,

and what should hereby be meant but the very overthrow of the voyage;

as, first, by taking away of my good name, and altogether discrediting

me, and then my life, which I being bereaved of, what then will you do?

You will fain one to drink another’s blood, and so to return again unto

your own country; you will never be able to find the way thither. And

now, my Masters, consider what a great voyage we are like to make, the

like was never made out of England; for by the same the worst in this

fleet shall become a gentleman; and, if this voyage go not forward,

which I cannot see how possibly it should, if this man live, what a

reproach it will be, not only unto our country, but especially unto us,

the very simplest here may consider of. Therefore, my Masters, they that

think this man worthy to die, let them with me hold up their hands; and,

they that think him not worthy to die, hold down their hands; at the

which, divers that envied his former felicity, held up their hands; some

others, again, for fear of his favouritry, sticked not to lift their

hands, although against their hearts; but some, again, lifted up their

hands and very hearts unto the Lord, to deliver us of this tyrannous and

cruel tyrant; who upon the same, coming to his former judgment-seat,

pronounced him the child of death, and persuaded him withal, that he

would by this means make him the servant of God: and said farther, if

any man could, between this and next meeting, devise any way that might

save his life, he would hear it; and wished himself to devise some way

for his own safeguard. Well, General, quoth he, seeing it is come to

this pass, _that I see you would have me made away_, I pray you carry me

with you to Peru, and there set me ashore. No, truly, Master Doughty, I

cannot answer it to her Majesty, if I should so do; but, how say you,

Thomas Doughty, if any man will warrant me to be safe from your hands,

and will undertake to keep you sure, you shall see what I will say unto

you. Master Doughty then calling on Master Winter, said unto him, Master

Winter, will you be so good as to undertake this for me? Then Master

Winter said unto Master Drake, that he should be safe of his person, and

he would warrant him, if he did commit him to his custody. Then Drake, a

little pausing, said, See then, my Masters, we must thus do; we must

nail him close under the hatches, and return home again without making

any voyage, and if you will do so, then speak your minds. Then a company

of desperate bankrupts that could not live in their own country without

the spoil of that as others had got by the sweat of their brows, cried,

God forbid, good General! which voice was no less attentively heard, for

there needed no spur to a willing horse. Thus, telling Master Doughty to

prepare for his death, and having given him one whole day’s respite to

set all things in order, he rose and departed, promising that his

continual prayers to God should not cease, that it would please God to

put it into his head how he might do him good: but he had so often

before sworn that he would hang him, that I think at this present he

meant to do him little good. Thus Master Doughty continuing all this

night, the next day, and the second night in his prayers, except some

small time that he used in setting his worldly business in some way, and

distributing to such as he thought good, such things as he then had with

him, was the 2d day of July commanded to prepare himself, and to make

ready to die. Then Master Doughty, with a more chearful countenance than

ever he had in all his life, to the show, as one that did altogether

contemn life, prayed him, that, ere he died, he might receive the

sacrament; which was not only granted, but Drake himself offered to

accompany him to the Lord’s Table, for the which Master Doughty gave him

hearty thanks, never worse terming him than my good Captain. Master

Drake offered him withal to make choice of his own death, and for that

he said he was a gentleman he should but lose his head, the which kind

of death was most agreeable to his mind, in as much as he must needs

die. And, truly, I heard say, that Master Drake offered him, if he

would, that he should be shotten to death with a piece, and that he

himself would do that exploit, and so he should die by the hands of a

gentleman. But, in fine, they together received the Lord’s Supper; the

which, I do ever assure myself, that he did take with as uncorrupted a

mind as ever did any innocent of the world; for he, sure, shewed himself

to have all his affiance and only trust in God; he shewed himself so

valiant in this extremity as the world might wonder it; he seemed to

have conquered death itself, and it was not seen, that of all this day

before his death, that ever he altered one jot of his countenance, but

kept it as staid and firm as if he had some message to deliver to some

nobleman. They having thus received the sacrament, there was a banquet

made, such as the place might yield, and there they dined together, in

which time, the place of execution being made ready, after dinner, as

one not willing any longer to delay the time, he told the General, that

he was ready as soon as pleased him; but prayed him, that he might speak

alone with him a few words, with the which they talked a-part the space

of half a quarter of an hour, and then with bills and staves he was

brought to the place of execution, where he shewed himself no less

valiant than all the time before; for, first, here kneeling on his

knees, he first prayed for the Queen’s Majesty of England his Sovereign

lady and mistress; he then prayed to God for the happy success of this

voyage, and prayed to God to turn it to the profit of his country: he

remembered also therein divers his good friends, and especially Sir

William Winter, praying Master John Winter to commend him to that good

Knight; all which he did with so chearful a countenance, as if he had

gone to some great prepared banquet, the which, I sure think, that he

was fully resolved that God had provided for him; so, at the last,

turning to the General, he prayed him that he might make water ere he

died, for, quoth he, the flesh is frail, and withal turned him about and

did so; and coming again, said, Now, truly, I may say as said Sir Thomas

More, that he that cuts off my head shall have little honesty, my neck

is so short: So turning him, and looking about on the whole company, he

desired them all to forgive him, and especially some that he did

perceive to have displeasure borne them for his sake, whereof Thomas

Cuttle was one, Hugh Smith was another, and divers others: whereupon,

Smith prayed him to say before the General then, whether ever they had

any conference together that might redound to his (the General’s)

prejudice or detriment. He declared it at his death, that neither he,

nor any man else, ever practised any treachery towards the General with

him; neither did he himself ever think any villainous thought against

him. Then he prayed the General to be good unto the same Hugh Smith, and

to forgive him for his sake. So the General said, Well, Smith, for

Master Doughty’s sake, and at his request, I forgive thee; but become an

honest man hereafter. So then, Master Doughty embracing the General,

naming him his good Captain, bid him farewel; and so bidding the whole

company farewel, he laid his head to the block, the which being stricken

off, Drake most despitefully made the head to be taken up and shewed to

the whole company, himself saying, See, this is the end of traitors! So

he being buried, and those things finished, the whole company being

together, Master Drake protested before God, that whosoever he was who

should offend but the eighth part that Thomas Doughty had done, should

die for it. He also protested, and swore by the life of God, and the

blessed sacrament which he that day had received, that whosoever he were

within the fleet that did give another a blow, should lose his hand,

without exception of any; and yet, the next day, it fortuned that Master

Doughty’s younger brother, walking both silently and mournfully, as well

for remembrance of his brother’s late death, as also weighing the

imminent peril over his own head, (as what has been already said and the

present consequence may purport), there comes unto him this Edward

Bright, the chief instrument of his brother’s death, saying unto him,

God’s wounds! thou villain, what knowest thou by my wife? and withal

struck at him with his ruler, as of purpose to pick a quarrel, to hasten

his end also. Why, Ned Bright, quoth he, thou seest in what case I am, I

pray thee let me alone; and withal bore off the blow with his arm,

wherewith the ruler broke: but Bright, seeming very furious, thrust him

in the face with the piece that remained in his hand, the splinters

whereof entered an inch into his face; presently upon the which, he went

unto the General to complain of Bright. Why, John Doughty, quoth he,

without having any regard of his oath the day before made, Ned Bright

will be open to your revenge in England; for, I dare say, thy brother

did belye her, when he said that she had an ill name in Cambridge. Then

might every man perceive the little-meant honesty.”

[Illustration: _The beheading of Capt^n. Doughty by Drake._ _J. June

Sc._]

From this plain narrative of the trial and execution of Doughty, of the

genuineness of which there cannot be the least doubt, as the concomitant

little circumstances all concur to confirm the author both an eye and

ear witness of what he has related, there is reason to believe, that the

success of the voyage covered the iniquity of the undertaker; and that

the immense booty which Drake brought to England, enabled him to stifle

the complaints of individuals; and, by a proper address, to convert the

acts of oppression, murder, and pyracy, of which he was guilty, into so

many deeds of necessary duty, in order to the accomplishment of the main

object, the acquisition of wealth at the expence of honesty.

That Drake never had a Commission from the Queen, as his friends would

suggest, appears not only from his not producing it at the trial of

Doughty (which can hardly be justified, in contempt to the prisoner),

but from his not producing it upon another occasion, when, as shall be

shewn immediately, he vauntingly produced other credentials of far less

moment, in order to justify his conduct, and give him credit with his

company. The story, then, of the remarkable words foisted into the mouth

of his Sovereign, and recited by his biographer, is as false as

inconsistent with the character of that wise Princess, who, though there

is reason from her after-conduct to conclude that she was privy to the

voyage, yet never openly countenanced it, till after it was completed,

and the issue of it determined; as appears from the account of the

conversation which Drake himself gave to his followers, a few days

before he left Port St. Julian to seek a passage into the South Seas.

“On the 6th of August, says our author, he commanded his whole company

to be ashore, and, placing himself in a tent, one side of which was

open, and calling Master Winter on one side of him, and John Thomas on

the other side, his man laid before him a great paper book, and withal

Master Fletcher offered himself to make a sermon. Nay soft, Master

Fletcher, said he, I must preach this day myself, although I have small

skill in preaching. Well, all ye the company, here are ye, or not?

Answer was made, that they were all here. Then commanded he every ship’s

company severally to stand together; which was also done. Then, said he,

My Masters, I am a very bad orator, for my bringing up hath not been in

learning; but whatso I shall here speak, let every man take good notice

of, and let him write it down, for I will speak nothing but what I will

answer it in England, yea, and before her Majesty, as I have it here

already set down [but whether it were in his book or not, that I know

not, but this was the effect of it, and very near the words]: Thus it

is, my Masters, that we’re very far from our country and friends; we are

compassed in on every side with our enemies; wherefore we are not to

make small reckoning of a man, for we cannot have a man if we would give

for him ten thousand pounds; wherefore we must have these mutinies and

discontents that are grown amongst us redressed; for, by the life of

God, it doth even take my wits from me to think on it. Here is such

controversy between the sailors and the gentlemen, and such stomaching

between the gentlemen and sailors, that it doth even make me mad to hear

it. But, my Masters, I must have it cease; for I must have the gentlemen

to haul and draw with the mariners, and the mariners with the gentlemen:

and let us shew ourselves to be all of a company; and let us not give

occasion to the enemy to rejoice at our decay and overthrow. I would

know him that would refuse to set his hand to a rope; but I trust there

is not any such here; and, as gentlemen are very necessary for

government sake on the voyage, so have I shipt them for that purpose,

and to some further intent; and yet, though I know sailors to be the

most envious people of the world, and so unruly without government, yet

may not I be without them. Also, if there be any here willing to return

home, let me understand of them; and here is the Marygold, a ship that I

can very well spare, I will furnish her to such as will return with the

most credit that I can give them, either by my letters or any way else;

but let them take care that they go homeward; for, if I find them in my

way, I will surely sink them; therefore, you shall have time to consider

hereof until to-morrow, for, by my troth, I must needs be plain with

you; _I have taken that in hand that I know not in the world how to go

through withal_; it passeth my capacity; it hath even bereaved me of my

wits to think on it. [Well, yet the voice was, that none would return;

they would all take such part as he did.] Well then, my Masters, quoth

he, came ye all forth with your own good wills, or no? They answered,

All, willingly. At whose hands, my Masters, take ye to receive your

wages? At yours, answered the company. Then, said he, how say you, will

you take wages, or stand to my courtesy? To your courtesy, good Captain,

was the reply. Then he commanded the steward to the Elizabeth to bring

him the key of the stores, the which he did; then, turning him unto

Master Winter, he said, Master Winter, I do here discharge you of your

Captainship; and so in brief he said to all the Officers. Then Master

Winter and John Thomas asked him what should move him to displace them?

He asked in return, whether they could make any reason why he should not

do so? So willing them to content themselves, he willed silence in those

matters, saying, Ye see here the great disorders we are entangled into;

and, although some have already received condign punishment, as by

death, who, I take God to witness, as you all know, was to me as my

other hand, yet you see, over and besides the rest, his own mouth did

bewray his treacherous dealings: and see, how, trusting to the

singularity of his own wit, he over-reacht himself at unawares. But see

what God would have to be done; for her Majesty commanded, that of all

men my Lord Treasurer should have no knowledge of this voyage, and to

see that his own mouth hath declared that he had given him a plot

thereof. But, truly, my Masters, and as I am a gentleman, there shall no

more die; I will lay my hand on no more, although there be here who have

deserved as much as he; and so charging one Worrall that was present,

that his case was worse than Doughty’s, who, in Master Doughty’s

extremities, was one of Drake’s chief confellows, who, humbling himself

to Drake, even upon his knees, prayed him to be good unto him, Well,

well, Worrall, said he, you and I shall talk well enough of this matter

hereafter. Then he charged one John Audley with some ill dealings

towards him, but opened no matter, but said, he would talk with him

alone after dinner. Here is some again, my Masters, not knowing how else

to discredit me, say and affirm, that I was set forth on this voyage by

Master Hatton; some by Sir William Winter; and some by Master Hankins;

but these are a company of idle heads that have nothing else to talk of.

And, my Masters, I must tell you, I do know them as my very good

friends; but, to say that they were the fitters forth of this voyage, or

that it was by their means, I tell you it was nothing so. But, indeed,

thus it was, My Lord of Essex wrote in my commendation unto Secretary

Walsingham more than I was worthy; but by like I had deserved somewhat

at his hands, and he thought me in his letters a fit man to serve

against the Spaniards for my practice and experience that I had in that

trade; whereupon, indeed, Secretary Walsingham did come to consult with

his Lordship, and declared unto him, that for that her Majesty had

received divers injuries of the King of Spain, for the which, she

desired to have some revenge; and withal, he shewed me a plot, willing

me to set my hand, and to write down where I thought he might most be

annoyed; but I told him some part of my mind, but refused to set my hand

to any thing, affirming, that her Majesty was mortal, and that, if it

should please God to take her Majesty away, it might so be that some

person might reign that might be in league with the King of Spain, and

then will mine own hand be a witness against myself. Then was I very

shortly after, and on an evening, sent for unto her Majesty by Secretary

Walsingham; and, the next day, coming to her Majesty, these, or the like

words, she said, Drake, so it is that I would gladly be revenged on the

King of Spain for divers injuries that I have received: and said

further, that he was the only man that might do this exploit, and withal

craved his advice therein, who told her Majesty of the small good that

was to be done in Spain, but the only way was to annoy him by his

Indies. Then, with many more words, he shewed forth a bill of her

Majesty’s adventure of 1000 crowns, which, however, he said at some time

before, that her Majesty did give him towards his charges. He shewed

also a bill of Master Hatton’s adventure, and divers letters of credit

that had passed in his behalf; but he never let them come out of his own

hands. He said also, that her Majesty did swear by her crown, _That, if

any within her realm did give the King of Spain hereof to understand (as

she suspected but two), they should lose their heads therefore_. And

now, Masters, said he, let us consider what we have done: _We have now

set together by the ears three mighty Princes, namely, her Majesty, the

Kings of Spain and Portugal; and, if this voyage should not have good

success, we should not only be a scorning, or a reproachful

scoffing-stock unto our enemies, but also a great_ BLOT _to our whole

country for ever; and, what triumph would it be to Spain and Portugal;

and, again, the like would never be attempted_. And now, restoring every

man again to his former office, he ended: thus shewing the company that

he would satisfy every man, or else he would sell all that he ever had

even unto his plate; for, quoth he, I have good reason to promise, and

am best able to perform it; for, I have somewhat of mine own in England;

and, besides that, I have as much adventure in this voyage as three of

the best whatsoever; and, if it so be, that I never come home, yet will

her Majesty pay every man his wages, whom indeed you and I all came to

serve; and, for to say you came to serve me, I will not give you thanks;

for it is only her Majesty that you serve; and this voyage is only her

fitting forth: so willing all men to be friends, he willed them to

depart about their business. The 8th of August, they weighed anchor and

departed; but, the day before, he came on board the Elizabeth, and swore

very vehemently, I know not upon what occasion, that he would hang to

the number of 30 in the fleet that had deserved it: and then again

charged Worrall that his case was worse than Doughty’s, and that by

God’s wounds he had deserved to be hanged. And, Master Winter, said he,

where is your man Ulysses? By God’s life, if he were my man, I would cut

off his ears: nay, by God’s wounds, I would hang him; but wherefore

truly I do not know.”

Nothing can be a clearer proof that Drake had no Government Commission

than the above account. In his speech, which the writer says is nearly

in his own words, he does not so much as pretend to have received any

Commission, only a private intimation from the Queen and Walsingham,

that her Majesty wanted to be revenged of divers injuries received from

the King of Spain. But was countenancing four or five piratical

plunderers to rob innocent people, a princely way for one Sovereign to

take revenge of another, in times of profound peace? It was, indeed, a

pitiful connivance in Queen Elizabeth to engage 1000 crowns in a

piratical adventure of this kind, and what could never have been

credited of that magnanimous Princess, had she not afterwards approved

of his piracy, by going aboard his ship, and openly approving what, it

was even then said, least became a trading nation to encourage, the

breach of treaties, and piratical practices. But, it is remarkable, that

five months elapsed after his return to England before her Majesty’s

pleasure was publicly known; during which time men talked variously of

the expedition, and the fate of Drake seemed to hang in suspence; so

true proved Doughty’s prediction, that “the Queen’s Majesty and Council

might be corrupted.”

That Drake bore no naval Commission appears still more clearly, from his

displacing the Captains and Officers of all his ships without demanding

from them their Commissions; from his lifting his men, not for any

hostile expedition, but for a trading voyage to Alexandria; and from his

asking them, before his setting sail from the Port of St. Julian to

enter the South Seas, from whom they expected their wages. From these

circumstances it follows incontestibly, that, if he had a naval

Commission, he was the only Officer in the fleet possessed of

one;--Doughty, whom he beheaded, and who, before their falling out, was

second in command, bore no naval Commission; and, it is more than

probable, that this gentleman’s questioning the Commission of Drake was

the real cause of his death, as Drake more than once charges him with

the overthrow of the voyage, which he could no otherwise effect than by

discrediting a Commission, on the authority of which both Officers and

men were to be persuaded to plunder a people at peace with their nation,

and without which every man was liable to be executed for piracy,

whenever he should be overpowered.

It were needless for us to enlarge our remarks; every reader has now the

subject before him, and every reader will form a judgment for himself.

What we have said, in consequence of having traced this transaction from

beginning to end, may seem to clash with the opinion we previously

entertained of Drake’s humanity, courage, and kindness to his followers,

but will not seem strange to those who are acquainted with the nature of

periodical writings, where one part of the work is necessarily printed

off before the other is written. In pursuing the course of this voyage,

new authors have been consulted, and new lights collected, which have

enabled us to detect not only the errors of other writers, but also to

correct our own; and, from the sequel of this voyage, we may venture to

foretel, that the reader will concur in sentiment with us, that, though

Drake was bold, he was not honest; that, though he did not kill those he

plundered and had no motive to destroy, he spared none who opposed his

designs, or who did not pay implicit obedience to his arbitrary will;

that, though he was an able seaman, he was a jealous rival; and that,

though he was a gallant leader, he was a most tyrannical Commander. We

shall now accompany him to the South Seas, where the Spaniards, not

suspecting an enemy, were in no condition to defend themselves against

his attacks.

Drake having reduced the number of his ships to three, they left the

port, and on August the 20th entered the Straits of Magellan, in which

they struggled with contrary winds, and the various dangers which the

intricacy of that winding passage exposed them to, till night, when they

had passed the first narrow, and had entered a wider sea, where they

discovered an island, to which they gave the name of Elizabeth, in

honour of their Sovereign. On the 24th they came to an island, in which

they found such an infinite number of birds, since called penguins, that

they killed 3000 of them in one day. This bird, of which they then knew

not the name, they describe as somewhat less than a wild goose, without

feathers, and covered with a kind of down, unable to fly or rise from

the ground, but capable of running and swimming with amazing celerity.

They feed on fishes in the sea, and come to land only to rest in the

day, and lay their eggs, which, according to later voyagers, they

deposit in holes, as regularly dispersed and as numerous as the cells in

a beehive.

From these islands to the South Sea the strait becomes very crooked and

narrow; so that sometimes by the interposition of head-lands the passage

seems entirely shut up. To double these capes they found it very

difficult, on account of the frequent variations to be made in the

course. Here are, indeed, as Magellan observes, many harbours; but in

most of them no bottom is to be found, which, however, does not seem

verified by experience; the harbours being in general good, though the

tides and blasts continually rushing in from various directions create

the danger. The land on both sides rises into innumerable mountains; the

tops of them were encircled with clouds and vapours, which, being

congealed, fall down in snow, and increase their height by hardening

into ice; an observation which might naturally occur to Drake, who

passed the strait in their winter before the snows were dissolved.

However, even at that season, which answers to our February, they found

the vallies, in some places, green, fruitful, and pleasant. Anchoring in

a bay near Cape Forward, Drake, imagining the strait quite shut up, went

in his boat to endeavour to find some other passage out; and, having

found an inlet towards the North, was returning to his ships; but

curiosity soon prevailed upon him to stop for the sake of observing a

canoe or boat with several natives of the country in it. He could not at

a distance help admiring the form of this little vessel, which seemed

inclining to a semi-circle, the stern and prow standing up, and the body

sinking inward; but much greater was his wonder, when, upon a nearer

inspection, he found it made only with the barks of trees, sewed

together with thongs of seal-skin, so artificially, that scarcely any

water entered the seams.

The people were well shaped, and painted like those who have been

already described. On the land they had a hut built with poles, and

covered with skins, in which they had water-vessels and other utensils,

made likewise with the barks of trees. Among these people they had an

opportunity of remarking, what is frequently observable in savage

countries, how natural sagacity and unwearied industry may supply the

want of such manufactures or natural productions as appear to us

absolutely necessary for the support of life. Though the inhabitants

were wholly strangers to iron and to the use we make of it, yet, instead

of it, they substituted the shell of a muscle, of prodigious size, found

upon their coasts. This they ground upon a stone to an edge, which was

so firm and solid, that neither wood nor stone were able to resist it.

With instruments made of shells, these simple people were able to

perform all their mechanic operations; nor do they seem so deformed and

ugly as our late voyagers represent them, who being, perhaps, more

refined than those who sailed with Captain Drake, might fancy a greater

difference between themselves and these savages than in nature there

really is.

On this occasion we cannot forbear remarking, that, though Drake entered

the strait in what is accounted the most unfavourable season, yet he

passed it in sixteen days, though, at that time, wholly unknown; a

passage the more extraordinary, as none of our later voyagers made it in

less than thirty six days in the middle of summer, and Captain Wallis

was at least four months in making it.

Drake, as has been said, having taken a survey of the country from Cape

Forward, continued his course to the North-west-ward, and, on the sixth

of September, entered the great South Sea, on which no English vessel

had ever been navigated before; and proposed to have directed his course

towards the Line, that his men, who had suffered by the severity of the

climate, might recover their strength in a warmer latitude. But his

design was scarce formed, before it was frustrated; for on September the

seventh, after an eclipse of the moon, a storm arose so violent that it

left them little hopes of surviving it: nor was its fury so dreadful as

its continuance; for it lasted, with little intermission, thirty-two

days, in which time they were driven more than 200 leagues out of their

course, without being able either to avail themselves of their sails, or

make use of their anchors.

In this storm, on the 30th of September, the Marigold, Captain Thomas,

was separated from them; and on the 7th of October, having entered a

harbour, where they hoped for some intermission of their fatigues, they

were in a few hours forced out to sea again by a violent gust, at which

time they lost sight of the Elizabeth, Captain Winter, whose crew, as

was afterwards discovered, wearied with labour, and discouraged with the

prospect of future dangers, recovered the straits the day following,

and, returning by the same passage through which they came, sailed along

the coast of Brazil, and, in the year following, arrived in England.

They were now driven Southward 55 degrees, where they discovered a

cluster of islands, in one of which they anchored and staid two days, to

the great refreshment of the crew, having met with excellent water, and

plenty of greens. Not far distant from this bay they entered another,

where they beheld some naked inhabitants ranging along the coast in

their canoes in search of provisions. With these they exchanged some

toys for such refreshments as they had to supply.

And now, being furnished with wood and water, they again set sail, and

were, by a new storm, driven to the latitude of 57 degrees, when they

beheld the extremities of the American coast, and the confluence of the

Atlantic and Southern oceans. Here they arrived on the 28th of October,

and at last were blest with the sight of a calm sea, having, for almost

two months, endured such a storm, as no voyager has given an account of,

and such as in that part of the world, though accustomed to hurricanes,

the inhabitants were unacquainted with.

On the 30th of October, they steered towards the place appointed for the

rendezvous of the fleet, in case of separation, which was in 30 degrees

South; and, on the next day, discovered two islands, so well stocked

with fowls, that they victualled their ships with them. After this

supply, they sailed northward, along the coast of Peru, till they came

to 30 degrees, where, finding neither ships, nor any convenient port,

they came to anchor Nov. the 29th, at Mucho, an island inhabited by such

Indians as the cruelty of their Spanish conquerors had driven from the

continent, to whom they applied for water and provisions, offering them

in return such things as they imagined most likely to please them. The

Indians seemed willing to traffic; and, having presented them with

fruits and two fat sheep, shewed them a place where they might come for

water.

Next morning, according to agreement, the English landed with their

water-vessels, and sent two men forward towards the place appointed,

who, about the middle of the way, were suddenly attacked by the Indians

and immediately slain. Nor were the rest of the company out of danger;

for behind the rocks was lodged an ambush of 500 men, who, starting up

from their retreat, discharged their arrows into the boat with such

dexterity, that every one of the crew was wounded by them. The sea being

then high, and hindering them from either retiring or making use of

their weapons, Drake himself received an arrow under his eye, which

pierced him almost to the brain; and another in his breast. The danger

of these wounds was much increased by the absence of their surgeon, who

was in the Elizabeth, so that they had none to assist them but a boy,

whose age did not admit of much experience or skill; yet so much were

they favoured by Providence, that they all recovered. No reason could be

assigned for which the Indians should attack them with so furious a

spirit of malignity, but that they mistook them for Spaniards, whose

cruelties might very reasonably incite those to revenge, whom they had

driven, by incessant persecution, from their country, wasting immense

tracts of land by massacre and devastation. Nuno da Sylva adds, that

none of the Indians were hurt by the English, though they came so near

the boat, as to seize and carry off four of the oars.

On the afternoon of the same day they set sail, and on the 30th of

November dropt anchor in Phillip’s bay, where their boat, having been

sent out to discover the country, returned with an Indian in his canoe

whom they had intercepted. He was of a graceful stature, drest in a

white coat or gown, reaching almost to his knees; very mild, humble, and

docile; such as perhaps were all the Indians, till the Spaniards taught

them revenge, treachery, and cruelty. This Indian, having been kindly

treated, was dismissed with presents; and informed, as far as the

English could make him understand, what they chiefly wanted, and what

they were willing to give in return; Drake ordered his boat to attend

him, and set him safe on shore.

When he was landed, he made signs for the boat to wait till his return,

and meeting some of his countrymen, gave them such an account of his

reception, that, within a few hours, several of them repaired with him

to the boat, with fowls, eggs, and a hog; and with them one of their

captains, who willingly came into the boat, and desired to be conveyed

by the English to their ship.

By this man Drake was informed that no supplies were to be expected

here; but that Southward, in a place to which he offered to be his

pilate, there was great plenty. This proposal was accepted, and on the

5th of December, under the direction of the good-natured Indian, they

came to anchor in the harbour called by the Spaniards Val Parizo, in 33

deg. 40 min. S. latitude, near the little town of St. Jago, where they

met not only with sufficient stores of provisions, and with storehouses

full of the wines of Chili, but with a ship called the Captain of

Morial, richly laden, having, together with large quantities of the same

wine, some of the fine gold of Baldivia to the amount of threescore

thousand pezoes, each pezo of the value of eight shillings, and a great

cross of gold set with emeralds. The Spaniards at first, mistaking the

English for friends, invited them to feast with them; but soon being

undeceived, one of the crew jumped overboard, and alarmed the town; but

the inhabitants, instead of making opposition, fled hastily, and left

whatever was in the town a prize to the enemy. In the chapel Drake and

his men found the most valuable booty.

Having spent three days here in storing their ships, and loading the

money and effects, they departed, and landed their Indian pilot where

they first received him, after having rewarded him much above his

expectations or desires. They had now little other anxiety than for

their friends, who had been separated from them, and whom they now

determined to seek. But considering that, by entering every creek and

harbour with their ships, they exposed themselves to unnecessary

dangers, and that their boat could not contain such a number as might

defend themselves against the Spaniards, they determined to station

their ship at some place where they might commodiously build a pinnace,

which, being of light burden, might safely sail where the ship would be

in danger of being stranded; and, at the same time, carry a sufficient

force to resist the enemy, and afford better accommodation than it was

possible to obtain in the boat. To this end, on the 19th of December,

they entered a bay near Coquimbo, a town inhabited by the Spaniards,

who, discovering them immediately, issued out to the number of 100

horsemen, with about 200 naked Indians running by their sides. The

English, observing their approach, retired to their boat without any

loss, except of one man, whom no persuasions or intreaties could move to

retire with the rest, and who was therefore overtaken by the Spaniards,

who thought to have taken him prisoner, but, having an halbert in his

hand, he manfully defended himself, till, being overpowered by numbers,

he was run through the body with a lance. The Spaniards, exulting at the

victory, ordered the Indians to draw the dead carcase from the rock on

which he fell, and in the sight of the English beheaded it, and then cut

off the right hand, and tore out the heart, which they carried away in

triumph.

Leaving this place, they soon found a harbour more secure and

convenient, where they built their pinnace, in which Drake went to seek

his companions; but, finding the wind contrary, he was obliged to return

in two days.

From hence they came to a port called Sarcipaxa, where, being landed,

they found a Spaniard asleep with silver bars lying by him to the value

of 4000 Spanish ducats: notwithstanding the insults which they had

received from his countrymen, they did not think fit to disturb this

harmless man’s repose, but, taking the silver, left him quietly to sleep

out his nap.

Coasting along the shore, they observed a Spaniard driving eight

Peruvian sheep, which on landing they found to be laden with silver,

each sheep having 100lb. weight in two leather bags across his back.

They delivered the poor animals of their heavy burdens, and lodged the

bags in their own ships.

Farther on lay some Indian towns, from which the inhabitants repaired to

the ship on floats made of seal-skin blown full of wind, two of which

they fasten together, and, sitting between them, row with great

swiftness, and carry considerable burdens. They very readily traded for

glass and such trifles, with which the old and the young seemed equally

delighted.

Arriving at Marmarena on the 26th of January, Drake invited the

Spaniards to traffic with him, which they accepted; and supplied him

with necessaries, selling to him, among other provisions, some of those

sheep which have been mentioned, whose bulk is equal to that of a cow,

and whose strength is such, that one of them can carry three tall men

upon his back; their necks are like a camel’s, and their heads like

those of our sheep. They are the most useful animals of this country,

not only affording excellent fleeces and wholesome flesh, but serving as

carriers over rocks and mountains, where no other beast can travel for

their foot is of a particular form, which enables them to tread firm on

the steepest and most slippery places.

On all this coast, it is said, the mountains are so impregnated with

silver, that from one hundred weight of common earth five ounces of fine

silver may be separated.

They continued their course towards the North, and on the 7th of

February arrived at Arica, in 8 deg. 30 min. S. latitude, and in this

port found three small barks, in which they found 57 slabs of silver,

each of the size and shape of an ordinary brick, and weighing about

20lb. They took no prisoners; for the crews, fearing no interlopers,

were all on shore carousing with one another. At this port the Spaniards

were wont to land their merchandize, and to embark the silver, which was

transported from thence to Panama; but, since Drake’s incursion, they

carry their silver over land to Lima, and load no more treasure here,

except what they pay for the purchase of such merchandize as is brought

from Europe to supply their market. Wanting numbers to assault the town,

they proceeded in their course, and falling in with a small

coasting-vessel, laden with linen and other cloaths, Drake supplied his

crew with what quantity of those articles they stood in need of, and

dismissed the Spaniards with the remainder.

From hence they sailed to Chuli; in which port there was a ship that had

300,000 pezoes of silver in bars; but the Spaniards had sent an express

from Arica, to acquaint the Governor that Drake was upon the coast. This

express arrived at Chuli, just two hours before Drake entered the port;

in which time the master of the ship had thrown his treasure overboard,

and had secured himself and crew on shore, leaving only one Indian on

board to make the report. Drake, fearing the alarm would spread faster

than he could sail, lost no time in hazardous searches, but instantly

departed, and steered for Lima, where they arrived on the 15th of

February, and entered the harbour without resistance, in which,

according to some writers, there were thirty sail of ships; others say,

twelve; but all agree, that several of them were of considerable force:

so that Drake’s security consisted not in his strength, but in his

reputation, which had so intimidated the Spaniards, that the sight of

their own superiority could not rouse them to opposition. Instances of

such panic terrors are to be met with in other relations; but as they

are, for the most part, quickly dissipated by reason and resolution, a

wise Commander will rarely ground his hopes of success on them; and,

perhaps, on this occasion, the Spaniards scarcely deserve a severer

censure for their cowardice, than Drake for his temerity. A writer of

good authority, to reconcile the matter, tells us, that Drake took them

at unawares, and that the crews, as is usual in times of perfect

security, were with their families on shore; and many of those who were

ready to sail, were taking leave of their friends. Be this as it may,

all seem to agree, that Drake made here a considerable booty, having

taken from one ship a chest full of rials of plate, which he found

concealed under the steerage, and, from other ships, silks and linen

cloth to a considerable value. He did not, however, remain long in this

harbour, but hastened in pursuit of the Cacafuego, which ship had sailed

but three days before, and which, they were here informed, was bound to

Paita. In the pursuit, they fell in with another ship, out of which they

took a large quantity of gold, together with a crucifix of the same

metal, richly adorned with emeralds. They continued the pursuit; but,

having gained intelligence, that, instead of Paita, she was gone to

Panama, Drake crouded all the sail he could, and, to encourage the

pursuers, promised, that whoever first descried the prize should have

his gold chain as a reward; which fell to the lot of his brother John.

On the 1st of March they came up with her, and, after exchanging a few

shot, they boarded her, and found not only a quantity of jewels, and

thirteen chests of money, but eighty pounds weight of gold, and

twenty-six tons of uncoined silver, with services of wrought plate to a

great value. In unlading this prize they spent six days; and then

dismissing the Spaniards, stood off again to sea.

[Illustration: _Sir Francis Drake engaging the Cacafuego, a rich

Spanish ship._ _J. June Sculp._]

Lopez Vaz, a Spanish writer, tells us, that, in less than 24 hours after

their departure from Lima in pursuit of the Cacafuego, news was brought

that Drake was upon the coast, but that the Governor had already

assembled the force of the country to oppose his landing; and that,

finding he had left the harbour, he ordered three ships with six pieces

of cannon (being all he could collect), and 250 men, to pursue him: but,

the equipment of these vessels necessarily requiring time, Drake had

gained the advantage of them: and, coming within sight of the prize off

Cape Francisco, the Captain of which, Juan de Anton, a Biscayan, seeing

at a distance a ship crouded with sails, and imagining the Viceroy of

Peru had dispatched her on some message to him, struck his sails, and

lay to till Drake approaching nearer, he discovered his mistake. He

would then have made his escape, but Drake nearing him fast with his

great ordnance, against which the Captain could make no defence, he was

constrained to yield. “There was in this ship, adds the Spaniard, eight

hundred and fifty thousand pezoes of silver, and forty thousand pezoes

of gold, all which silver and gold was customed: but what treasure they

had uncustomed, I know not; for many times they carry almost as much

more as they pay custom for; otherwise the King would take it from them,

if they should be known to have any great sum; wherefore every ship

carries a bill of custom, that the King may see it. All the treasure

which Drake took was merchants and other mens goods, saving 180,000

pezoes of the King’s. He had also out of this ship good store of

victuals, with other necessaries, which were to be carried from Panama,

and was five days in taking out such things as he needed.

“This done, he sailed to the coast of New Spain, without going to

Panama. The ships that were sent by the Viceroy of Peru from Lima,

arrived off Cape St. Francisco 20 days after Drake had taken the

Cacafuego, and had intelligence by a ship coming from Panama, which they

met at the said Cape, that Francis Drake had taken the ship with silver,

and was not gone for Panama; whereupon the Commander of the three ships,

thinking that Captain Drake had been gone for the Straits of Magellan,

directed his course that way to seek him.”

Thus Drake, changing his course to the west, escaped his enemies, and

fell in with a ship from the East Indies laden with silks, China ware,

and cotton. The owner, a Spaniard, was on board, who presented Drake

with a falcon wrought in massy gold, with an emerald set in the breast

of it, the largest he had ever beheld. With this present, and a golden

cup from the pilot, Drake was contented, and dismissed the ship, taking

only four chests of China ware, which at that time was of great value in

Europe.

On the 13th of March they came in sight of land, which happened to be a

small island about two leagues from the main continent. There they found

a harbour, and anchored in five fathom water, where they staid till the

20th, on which day, a little coasting frigate passing by, was pursued by

the pinnace, boarded, and taken. Being laden with sasaparilla, honey,

butter, and other country goods, Drake unloaded the sasaparilla, and in

the room of it put the gold and silver from his own ship, in order to

heave her up, to new caulk her sides, and stop her leaks; in which

service the crew were employed till the 26th of the same month, when

having reloaded the cargo, and taken in a sufficient quantity of wood

and water, they continued their course westward along the coast, taking

the Spanish frigate with them to bear them company.

On April 6, a little before sun-set, they discovered a ship, that held

on her course about two leagues to seaward from the main land. To this

ship they gave chace, and before morning they neared her, and suddenly

boarded her while the men slept. Being masters of this prize without

resistance, they ordered the prisoners on board their own ship, among

whom was one Don Francisco Xarate, who meant to sail to Panama, and from

thence to China, with the letters and patents that were found in his

possession (among which were the letters of the King of Spain to the

Governor of the Philippines); as also the sea charts wherewith they were

to be directed in their voyage, which were of admirable use to Drake in

his return home. From this ship they took great quantities of

bale-goods, and other valuable merchandize, and then dismissed her. They

also took a young negroe girl, whom Drake or some of his companions

having got with child, they afterwards inhumanly set her on shore on an

island in their way home, just as she was ready to lie in; of which

notice will be taken in its proper place. Having retained a Spanish

pilot from this ship, they obliged him to direct them to a safe harbour,

where they might supply themselves with provisions for their intended

voyage. This man brought them to the harbour of Anguatulco, or, as

others write, Guatalco, where arriving on the 13th of April, they staid

till the 26th of the same month, and then set sail, having first

dismissed all their Spanish prisoners, together with Nuno da Sylva, the

Portugueze pilot, whom they brought from the Canaries, and who had

served them faithfully in all their trials and dangers; in reward for

which he was now abandoned by Drake to the mercy of the enemy. This man,

when he landed on the continent, was first carried to Mexico, and there

put to the torture to make discoveries. He was afterwards sent prisoner

into Old Spain, and there examined; and, having given a faithful

relation of all he knew, was released, and returned home to his own

country, where he published, as has already been said, an account of the

voyage as far as he went, which was afterwards translated into all the

European languages, and universally read.

On their arrival at Anguatulco, they had no sooner landed than Drake

with part of his men marched up to the town, where they found the chief

magistrate sitting in judgment upon a parcel of poor savages, and ready

to pass sentence of death upon almost all of them, they being charged

with a conspiracy to kill their masters, and set fire to the town. Drake

changed the scene, and made judges and criminals without distinction,

his prisoners, conducting them all in procession to his ship. Here he

made the Judge write an order to the Commanding Officer to deliver up

the town, in which they found a great pot, says my author, as big as a

bushel, full of rials of plate, a gold chain, and a few jewels. The gold

chain was taken from a gentleman who was making his escape from the

town, but was intercepted by an English sailor, who rifled him of all

the valuables he had about him, of which the gold chain was thought to

be of the least value.

[Illustration: _Drake Conveying the Spanish Judges and Criminal Savages

of Anguatulco; in Procession on Board his own Ship._]

Being now sufficiently enriched, and having given over all hopes of

finding their associates, and, perhaps, beginning to be infected with

that desire of ease and pleasure which is the natural consequence of

wealth obtained by successful villainy, or, what is still more probable,

being in fear of a surprize before they had secured their booty, they

began to consult about their return home; and, in pursuance of Drake’s

advice, resolved first to find out some convenient harbour where they

might more safely lie and equip themselves for the voyage, and then

endeavour to discover a nearer passage from the South Seas into the

Atlantic Ocean; a passage that would not only enable them to return home

with full security, and in a shorter time, but would much facilitate the

navigation into those parts, and of course immortalize their names.

For this purpose they had recourse to a port in the island of Canes,

where they met with fish, wood, and fresh water; and, being sufficiently

stored with other provisions, with which they had supplied themselves

from their prizes and at Anguatulco, they set sail first with a

resolution of seeking a passage by the north-west, and, if that failed,

by the Moluccas, and thence, following the course of the Portugueze, to

return by the Cape of Good Hope.

In pursuance of the first resolution, they sailed about 600 leagues,

till coming into the latitude of 43 deg. north, they found the air so

excessive cold, that the men could no longer bear to handle the ropes to

navigate the ship: they, therefore, changed their course till they came

into the latitude of 38 deg. and 30 min. under which height they

discovered a very good harbour, and, fortunately, had a favourable wind

to enable them to enter it.

Here, on the 17th of June, they cast anchor, and, in a short time, had

opportunities of observing that the natives of that country were not

less sensible than themselves; for, the next day, there came a man

rowing in his canoe towards the ship, and, at a distance from it, made a

long oration with very extraordinary gesticulations, and great

appearance of vehemence; and, a little time afterwards, made a second

visit in the same manner; and then returning a third time, he presented

them, after his harangue was finished, with a kind of crown of black

feathers, such as their kings wear upon their heads, and a basket of

rushes filled with a particular herb, both which he fastened to a short

stick, and threw into the boat: nor could he be prevailed upon to

receive any thing in return, though pushed towards him upon a board,

only he took up a hat that was flung in the water.

Three days afterwards, the ship, having received some damage at sea, was

brought nearer to land, that her lading might be taken out; in order to

which, the English, who had now learned not to commit their lives too

negligently to the mercy of savage nations, raised a kind of

fortification with earth and palissades, and erected their tents within

it. All this was not beheld by the inhabitants without the utmost

astonishment, which incited them to come down in crouds to the coast,

with no other view, as it afterwards appeared, but to compliment the

beautiful strangers that had condescended to touch upon their country.

Drake, neither confiding too much in appearances, nor wholly distrusting

the friendly disposition of the inhabitants, directed them to lay aside

their bows and arrows, and, on their approach, presented them with linen

and other necessaries, of which he shewed them the use. They then

returned to their habitations, about three quarters of a mile from the

English camp, where they made such loud and violent noises, that they

were heard by the English, who had vanity enough to believe that they

were paying them a kind of melancholy adoration.

Two days afterwards, they perceived the approach of a far more numerous

company, who stopt at the top of a hill which over-looked the English

settlement, while one of them made a long oration, at the end of which

all the assembly bowed their bodies, and pronounced the syllable _Ob_

with a solemn tone, as by way of confirmation of what had been said by

the orator. Then the men laying down their bows, and leaving their women

and children on the top of the hill, came down towards the tents, and

seemed transported in the highest degree at the kindness of Drake, who

received their gifts, and admitted them to his presence. The women at a

distance appeared seized with a kind of phrenzy, such as that of old

among the Pagans in some of their religious ceremonies, and, in honour

as it seemed of their guests, tore their cheeks and bosoms with their

nails, and threw themselves upon the stones with their naked bodies.

Three days after this, on June 25, 1579, Drake received two Ambassadors

from the Hioh, or King, of the country, who, intending to visit the

camp, required that some token might be sent him of friendship and

peace. This request was readily complied with; and soon after came the

King, attended by a guard of about an hundred tall men, and preceded by

an Officer of State, who carried a sceptre made of black wood, adorned

with chains made of a kind of bone or horn, which are marks of the

highest honour among them. Behind him was the King himself, dressed in a

coat of beasts skins, with a crown woven with feathers upon his head.

His attendants followed, dressed nearly in the same manner all but the

crown; and after them came the common-people, with baskets platted so

artificially that they held water, in which, by way of present, they

brought roots and fish.

[Illustration: _Drake receiving the Crown from the Hioh, or King of New

Albion._]

Drake, not lulled into security, ranged his men in order of battle, and

waited their approach, who coming nearer, stood still, while the

scepter-bearer made an oration; at the conclusion of which, they came

again forward at the foot of the hill, and then the scepter-bearer began

a song, which he accompanied with a dance, in both which the men joined,

but the women danced without singing. Drake now distrusting them no

longer, admitted them into his fortification, where they continued their

song and dance a short time; and then both the King and some others of

the company made a long harangue, in which it appeared, by the rest of

their behaviour, that they entreated them to accept of the government of

their country; and the King, with the concurrence of the rest, placed

the crown upon Drake’s head, graced him with the chains and other signs

of authority, and saluted him with the title of _Hioh_. The kingdom thus

offered, though of no farther value to him than that it furnished him

with present necessaries, Drake thought it not prudent for him to

refuse; and, therefore, took possession of it in the name of Queen

Elizabeth, not without ardent wishes that this acquisition might be of

use to his native country. The kingdom being thus consigned, and the

grand affair at an end, the common people left their King and his Nobles

with Drake, and dispersed themselves over the camp; and when they saw

any one that pleased them more than the rest, they tore their flesh and

vented their outcries, as before, in token of reverence and respect.

They then proceeded to shew them their wounds and diseases, in hopes,

perhaps, of a miraculous cure; to which the English, to benefit and

undeceive them at the same time, applied such remedies as they used on

like occasions.

They were now grown confident and familiar, and came down to the camp

every day, repeating their ceremonies, till they were more fully

informed how disagreeable they were to those whose favour they were so

studious of obtaining. They then visited them without ceremony, indeed,

but with a curiosity so ardent, that it left them no leisure to provide

the necessaries of life, with which the English were, therefore, obliged

to supply them. They had, then, sufficient opportunity to remark the

custom and disposition of these new allies, whom they found tractable

and benevolent, strong of body far beyond the English, yet unfurnished

with weapons either for assault or defence, their bows being too weak

for any thing but sport. Their dexterity in taking fish was such, that,

if they saw them so near the shore that they could come to them without

swimming, they never missed them.

The same curiosity that had brought them in such crouds to the shore,

now induced Drake and some of his companions to travel up into their

country, which they found at some distance from the coast very fruitful,

filled with large deer, and abounding with a peculiar kind of cunnies

smaller than ours, with tails like rats, paws such as those of a mole,

and bags under their chins, in which they carry provisions to their

young.

The houses of the inhabitants were round holes dug in the ground, from

the brink of which they raise rafters, or poles, shelving towards the

middle, where they all meet in a ridge, and are crampt together; the

people lie upon rushes, and make the fire in the middle of the house,

letting the smoke fly out at the door. The men are generally naked; but

the women make a kind of petticoat of bulrushes, which they comb like

hemp, and throw the skin of a deer over their shoulders. They are very

modest, tractable, and obedient to their husbands. The soil is but badly

cultivated; but contentment seems to prevail in a very eminent degree

among all ranks of this happy people.

The land was named by Drake New Albion, from its white cliffs, in which

it bore some resemblance to his native country, and the whole history of

the resignation of it to the English was engraven on a piece of brass,

then nailed on a post, and fixed up before their departure, which being

now discovered by the people to be near at hand, they could not forbear

perpetual lamentations.

When the English on the 23d of July weighed anchor, they saw them

climbing to the tops of hills, that they might keep them in sight, and

observed fires lighted up in many parts of the country, on which, as

they supposed, sacrifices were offered.

Near to this harbour, they touched at some islands where they found

abundance of seals; and, despairing now to find any passage through the

northern regions, they, after a general consultation, determined to

steer away to the Moluccas; and, setting sail July 25, they held a

western course for 68 days without sight of land; and, on September 30,

arrived within view of some islands, about 20 deg. northward from the

Line, from whence the inhabitants resorted to them in canoes hollowed in

the middle, and raised at both ends so high above the water, that they

seemed almost a semi-circle; they were burnished in such a manner that

they shone like ebony, and were kept steady by a piece of timber fixed

on each side of them. The first company that came brought fruits,

bananas, and other things of no great value, with an appearance of

traffic, and exchanged their lading for other commodities with great

show of honesty and friendship. But having, as they imagined, laid all

suspicion asleep, they sent another fleet of canoes, of which the crews

behaved with all the insolence of savages, and all the rapacity of

thieves; for, whatever was suffered to come into their hands, they

seemed to consider as their own, and would neither pay for it nor

restore it: and, at length, finding the English resolved to admit them

no longer, they discharged a shower of stones from their boats, which

insult Drake prudently and generously returned, by firing his great guns

without hurting them; at which they were so terrified, that they leaped

into the water, and hid themselves under their canoes.

Here we cannot help remarking how nearly this description agrees with

the accounts given by the late navigators, of the temper and disposition

of the inhabitants of the islands lately discovered between the Tropics.

Drake, indeed, found the firing of his guns without hurting them,

sufficient to intimidate these ignorant people; but our later voyagers

have thought their vengeance not complete for any slight insult, without

murdering them by wholesale to strike them with terror. The writer of

the late voyages says, “Our men shewed as much impatience to destroy

them as a sportsman to kill his game.”

Having for some time but little wind, they did not arrive at the

Moluccas till the 3d of November; and then, designing to touch at

Tidore, as they coasted along the island Mutua, belonging to the King of

Ternate, they were visited by his Viceroy, who informed them that it

would be more advantageous for them to have recourse to his master for

supplies, than to the Portuguese, with whom he was at enmity. Drake was,

by the arguments of the Viceroy, prevailed upon to alter his resolution;

and, on November the 5th, cast anchor before Ternate. Scarce was he

arrived, before the Viceroy, with others of the chief nobility, came out

in three large barges rowed by forty men on each side, to conduct the

ship into a safe harbour; and, soon after, the King himself, having

received a velvet cloak by a messenger from Drake, as a token of peace,

came with such a retinue and dignity of appearance, as was not expected

in those remote parts of the world. He was received with discharges of

cannon, and every kind of music, with which he was so much delighted,

that he invited the performers on board his barge.

The King was of a graceful stature and royal carriage, of a mild aspect

and low voice. His attendants were dressed in white cotton or callico,

of whom some, whose age gave them a venerable appearance, seemed as

councilors, and the rest officers or nobles. His guards were not

ignorant of fire-arms, but had not many among them, being equipped for

the most part with bows and darts. The King, having spent some time in

admiring the new objects that presented themselves, retired as soon as

the ship was brought to anchor, and promised to return on the day

following and in the mean time the inhabitants, having leave to traffic,

brought down provisions in great abundance. The King came not aboard,

according to his promise, but sent his brother to excuse him, and withal

to invite Drake ashore, proposing to stay himself as an hostage for his

return. Drake declined going himself, but sent some gentlemen of his

retinue in company with the King’s brother, and kept the Viceroy till

their return.

These gentlemen were received by another of the king’s brothers, and

conduced in great state to the castle, where there was a court of, at

least, 1000 persons, among whom were threescore ancient men, privy

counsellors to the king; and on each side of the gate without, stood

four old men of foreign countries, who served as interpreters in

commerce. In a short time appeared the King himself, drest in cloth of

gold, with his hair woven into gold ringlets, a chain of gold upon his

neck, and on his fingers rings very artificially set with diamonds and

jewels of great value. Over his head was borne a rich canopy and by his

chair of state stood a page with a fan set with sapphires, to moderate

the excess of the heat. Here he received the compliments of the English,

and then honourably dismissed them. The castle, which they had some

opportunity of observing, seemed of no great force. It was built by the

Portuguese, who, attempting to reduce this kingdom into absolute

subjection, murdered the King, and intended to pursue their plot by the

destruction of all his sons. But the general abhorrence which cruelty

and perfidy naturally excite, armed the whole nation against them, and

procured their total expulsion from all the dominions of Ternate, which,

from that time, increasing in power, continued to make new conquests,

and to deprive them of other acquisitions.

Here they shipt between four and five tons of cloves, intending to bring

them to Europe. While they lay before Ternate, a gentleman came on board

attended by his Portuguese interpreter. He was dressed somewhat in the

European manner, and soon distinguished himself from the natives of

Ternate, or any country they had ever yet seen, by his civility and

quick comprehension. Such a visitant may easily be imagined to excite

their curiosity, which he gratified by informing them that he was a

native of China, of the family of the King then upon the throne; and

that being accused of a capital crime, of which, though he was innocent,

he had not sufficient evidence to clear himself, he had petitioned the

Emperor that he might not be exposed to a trial; but that his cause

might be referred to Divine Providence; and that he might be allowed to

leave his country, with a prohibition against returning, unless heaven,

in attestation of his innocence, should enable him to bring back to the

King some intelligence that might be to the honour and advantage of the

Empire of China. In search of such information he had now spent three

years, and left Tidore for the sake of conversing with the English

General, from whom he hoped to receive such accounts as would enable him

to return with honour and safety. Drake, whether he credited or

disbelieved his story, caused a recital to be made by one of the

company, who talked the language of the interpreter, of such adventures

and observations as he judged would be most pleasing to his visitor, to

all which the Chinese Exile gave the utmost attention; and, having

caused them to be repeated a second time, to impress them in his mind,

thanked the Creator of the World for the knowledge he had gained, he

then proposed to the General to sail to his country, to which he

willingly undertook to be his pilot; but Drake could not be induced to

prolong his voyage.

He therefore set sail, on Nov. the 9th, in quest of a more convenient

harbour, where he might clean and refit his ship, which, by the length

of the voyage, and the heat of the climate, was now become foul and

leaky. Directing his course southward, he soon fell in with an

uninhabited island, which, by its appearance, promised fair to answer

his purpose. At a distance it looked like a beautiful grove; the trees

were large, straight, and lofty; but, what was more extraordinary, they

were interspersed with such an astonishing number of shining flies, that

the whole island in the night seemed to glow with fire. Here they found

a convenient haven, and here they landed and continued 26 days. They

found upon this island tortoise, but of a monstrous size, and various

sorts of fruits of a delicious flavour.

Leaving this place on the 12th of December, they cruelly deserted the

unhappy mulatto girl whom they had taken for their pleasure from a ship

that fell into their hands on the coast of New Spain. They had, at the

same time, taken on board a negroe youth, who they thought might be

serviceable to them in conversing with his nation in their way home;

but, finding him of little or no use on board, and provisions beginning

to fail, they pretended to send this simple couple far into the country

to gather fruits, and, in the mean time, unmoored the ship, and hoisted

sail; and, before the return of the victims, were out of sight of their

tears, and out of hearing of their cries: a melancholy instance this of

the depravity of man’s heart, and of the relentless cruelty of minds

addicted to rapine and lust. The poor girl, not yet fifteen, was ready

to be delivered of an innocent babe; and the youth, not twenty, was the

only resource in the midst of her distress. What befel them cannot be

known; but Providence seemed to punish the perfidy of the crew by a

severe trial of their fortitude soon after.

Having a wind not very favourable, they happened to be intangled among a

multitude of islands, interspersed with dangerous shallows, till January

the 9th, 1580. When they thought themselves clear, and were sailing

along with a brisk gale, they were, at the beginning of the night,

suddenly surprized in their course by a sudden shock, the cause of which

was instantly discovered, for they were thrown upon a concealed rock,

and, by the speed of their course, fixed too fast for any hope of

escaping.

Here the intrepidity of Drake was shaken, and his dexterity baffled:

here all the horrors of mind, attendant on conscious guilt, concurred to

aggravate the distress of those who were instrumental in abandoning the

harmless slaves. Those who were innocent reproached the guilty with

being the authors of their present distress; and, among the rest, Mr.

Fletcher, the chaplain, exclaimed against the Captain, as one whose

crimes of murder and lust had brought down divine vengeance on all the

company. Drake, who knew well how to dissemble his resentment, judging

this an improper time to encourage disputes, endeavoured, by every means

in his power, to appease the increasing animosity. To preserve,

therefore, the minds of the company at rest, he found it necessary to

keep their hands employed, and, for that purpose, ordered the pumps to

be constantly plied. Convinced by this experiment that the water did not

gain upon them in the hold, he conceived hopes, that, by lightening the

ship, they might possibly be able to heave her off. He knew it would be

in vain to persuade them to part with their treasure, and, therefore, he

first caused the guns to be thrown overboard, and then the spices; and,

afterwards, the water-casks to be bulged, being in hopes, that, if they

could be released, water might again be supplied from the neighbouring

islands, some of which were at no great distance. His next attempt was

to discover about the shallows some place where they might fix an

anchor, in order to bring their ship to, and, by that means, clear her

from the rock: but, upon examination, it was found that the rock on

which they had struck, rose, as many others in those seas do, almost

perpendicular, and that there was no anchorage, nor any bottom to be

fathomed a boat’s length from the ship. But this discovery was by Drake

wisely concealed from the common sailors, lest they should abandon

themselves to despair, for which there was, indeed, much cause, there

being no prospect left, but that they must there sink along with the

ship.

In this deplorable situation they had remained for four and twenty

hours, when Drake, finding all human efforts vain, addressed himself to

his companions in distress, and exhorted them to lay aside all

animosities, and prepare themselves, by forgiving each other, for

obtaining that mercy through Christ, which they could not hope to

receive on any other terms. “On this occasion,” says my author, “every

thief reconciled himself to his fellow-thief, and Fletcher administered

the sacrament to them all.” At length, when their hopes had forsaken

them, and no new struggles could be made, they were, on a sudden,

relieved by the wind’s shifting, and a fresh breeze springing up, which

taking the ship on the leeward quarter, she reeled off the rock, without

receiving any very dangerous hurt, to the unspeakable joy of every soul

on board.

This was the greatest and most inextricable distress which they had

suffered, and made such an impression upon their minds, that for some

time afterwards they durst not adventure to spread their sails, but went

slowly forward with the utmost circumspection, till, arriving at the

fruitful island of Baretene, they entered the port to repair what damage

the ship had received upon the rock. They found the people of this

island of an amiable and obliging disposition, courteous in their

manners, and honest in their dealings. They are finely proportioned,

tall of stature, and of comely features. The men, in general, go naked;

but the women cover themselves from the waist downwards, are modest, yet

not insensible of love and pleasure. They found the island abounding

with every necessary, and not as few of the comforts of life.

Having repaired the ship and refreshed the men, they continued their

course without any material occurrence till the 11th of March, when they

came to anchor before the island of Java, and sending to the King a

present of cloth and silks, received from him in return a present supply

of refreshments; and on the day following Drake went himself on shore,

and entertained the King with music, and obtained leave to store his

ship with provisions. This island was governed by a great number of

petty Kings or Rayas, subordinate to one Chief. Of these princes three

came on board together a few days after their arrival, and having, upon

their return, recounted the wonders they had seen, and the civilities

with which they had been treated, incited others to satisfy their

curiosity in the same manner; and Raya Denan, the chief King, came

himself to view the ship, with the warlike armaments and instruments of

navigation. This intercourse of civilities somewhat retarded the

business for which they came; but, at length, they not only victualled

their ship, but payed the bottom, which was the more necessary

frequently to be repeated, as, at that time, sheathing of ships was not

in practice.

The Javans were at this time a warlike people, well armed, with swords,

targets, and daggers, forged by themselves, and exquisitely wrought.

They were sociable, full of vivacity, and beyond description happy. They

were likewise hospitable to strangers, and not at all addicted to

thievery, the general characteristic of the islanders in the Pacific

Sea.

From Java Drake intended to have visited the Malaccas, but his company

became troublesome, being desirous of returning home. On this occasion

he called to mind the speech of Master Fletcher, while they remained

hopeless upon the rock, and, under pretence of his spiriting up the

people to oppose him, he caused him, says my author, “to be made fast by

one of his legs with a chain, and a staple knocked fast into the

hatches, in the forecastle of the ship. He called all the company

together, and then put a lock about one of his legs; and Drake, sitting

cross-legged on a chest, and a pair of pantofles in his hand, he said,

Francis Fletcher, I do here excommunicate thee out of the Church of God,

and from all the benefits and graces thereof, and I renounce thee to the

devil and all his angels; and then he charged him, upon pain of death,

not once to come before the mast; for, if he did, he swore he should be

hanged, and Drake caused a posey to be written, and bound about

Fletcher’s arm, with charge, that if he took it off he should then be

hanged; the posey was, FRANCIS FLETCHER, THE FALSEST KNAVE THAT LIVETH.”

It does not, however, appear how long he was obliged to wear this posey

as it is called. But Drake was obliged to alter his resolution, and

comply with the company’s desires.

On the 25th of March, 1580, he, therefore, took his departure, and, on

the 15th of June, they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, having then on

board his ship fifty-seven men, and but three casks of water.

On the 12th of July they passed the Line, reached the coast of Guinea on

the 16th, and on July the 22d arrived at Sierra Leona, after a most

delightful passage, in which they discovered how much the Portuguese had

abused the world in their false representations of the horrors and

dangers that attended the navigation round the Cape. At Sierra Leona

they staid two days to refresh the men, and, having furnished themselves

with wood and water for the remainder of the voyage, they set sail for

England in high expectation of enriching their country with the spoils

of the Spaniards.

On the 11th of September they made the island of Ferara, and, on the

third of November, they entered the harbour of Plymouth. In this voyage

Drake surrounded the world, which no Commander in Chief had ever done

before; and what, at that time appeared a thing extraordinary, by

steering a western course they had lost a day in their account.

Their success in this voyage, and the immense wealth[2] they brought

home, raised much discourse throughout the kingdom; some highly

commending, and some as loudly decrying the principles upon which it was

acquired. The former alledged, that this enterprize was not only

honourable to the Commander who conducted, and the crew who assisted in

the performance of it, but to their country; that it would establish our

reputation for maritime skill in foreign nations, and raise a laudable

spirit of emulation at home; and that, as to the money, our merchants

having suffered deeply by the treachery and villainy of the Spaniards in

the new discovered country, there was nothing more just than that the

nation should receive an equivalent by the reprisals which Drake and his

company, at the hazard of their lives, had bravely extorted.

[2] Lopez Vaz, a Spanish writer, says, that Drake carried from the

coast of Peru, 866,000 pezoes of silver, equal to 866 quintals, equal

to 100 pound weight each quintal, amounting to 1,139,200 ducats. He

also carried away 100,000 pezoes of gold, equal to 10 quintals, each

quintal valued at 1500 Spanish ducats; and all this over and above the

treasure in the ship, which was not entered, consisting of gold,

silver, pearls, precious stones, coined money, and other things of

great value. He also rifled the ships from the Philippines, laden with

spices, silks, velvets, and other rich merchandize, the value not

known.--By the above account, the silver only, at 5s. per oz. amounts

to 259,800l. and the gold to 48,000l. sterl. But we have seen a

manuscript that makes the value of the whole cargo brought home by the

Golden Hind (for that was the name that Drake chose his ship, the

Pelican, should be known by) amount to 800,000l. though that which was

divided among the crew was only 80,000l. Is it not reasonable then to

conclude, that the Queen and Council had a considerable share of the

remainder?

The other party argued, that Drake, in fact, was no better than a

pirate; that, of all others, it least became a trading nation to

countenance such depredations; that the expedition was not only a breach

of all our treaties with Spain, but likewise of our old leagues with the

House of Burgundy; and that the consequences would infallibly involve

the Queen in a war, by which the nation would suffer infinitely more

than the riches acquired by a single ship could counterbalance.

These were the sentiments, and these the speculations with which the

different parties amused themselves for some time after the arrival of

Drake in his native country. At length, the approbation of the Queen

determined the dispute; for all acquiesced in the wisdom of their

Sovereign.

On the 4th of April, 1581, her Majesty went to Deptford, and dined on

board the ship in which so many Kings had been entertained before; and,

after dinner, she conferred the honour of knighthood on her Commander;

an honour not to be obtained in those days on trivial occasions, but as

a reward for signal services. This mark of distinction was a full

declaration of her Majesty’s approbation, silenced Drake’s enemies, and

gave joy to his friends. She likewise gave directions for the

preservation of the ship, that it might remain a monument of his own and

his country’s glory.

What contributed the more to render the fame of Drake illustrious, was

the frequent attempts that had been made by navigators, the most

renowned in their time, to atchieve the fame; but without success. In

1527 the Spaniards sent Gracca de Loaisa, a Knight of Malta, with a

squadron of seven ships to follow the rout of Magellan, who, though his

ship returned to Spain, yet he himself lost his life, before he arrived

at the Malaccas, the promised islands. Loaisa passed the straits,

indeed, lost some of his ships in the South Seas, others put into the

ports of New Spain, and only his own vessel and one more reached the

East Indies, where himself and all his people perished.

In 1526, the Genoese sent two ships to pass the straits, of which one

was cast away, and the other returned home without effecting any thing.

Sebastian Cabot, in the service of the crown of Portugal, made the like

trial; but, not being able to find the straits, returned into the river

of Plate.

Americus Vespusius, a Florentine, from whom the new world received its

name, undertook to perform, in the service of the crown of Portugal,

what Cabot had promised without effect; but that vain man was still more

unfortunate; for he could neither find the straits, nor the river of

Plate.

Some years after this, the Spaniards equipped a stout squadron, under

the command of Simon de Alcasara; but, before they reached the height of

the straits, the crews mutinied, and obliged their Commander to return.

Such repeated miscarriages discouraged even the ablest and boldest

seamen; so that from this time both Spaniards and others dropped all

thoughts of emulating Magellan, till Drake conceiving his design, as has

already been said, concealed it in his breast till ripe for execution.

Being now advanced to eminence, in 1585 he was employed in the Queen’s

service, and sent on an expedition to the West Indies as Commander in

Chief; and having under him Captain Martin Forbisher, Captain Knollys,

and other experienced Officers of the royal navy, he took St. Jago, St.

Domingo, Carthagena, and St. Augustin. He returned elated with his

success; but, as my author says, not much enriched by the plunder.

In 1587, he was again employed in an expedition to Lisbon, in which

Captain Forbisher also bore a part. Here they gained intelligence that a

considerable fleet was assembled in the bay of Cadiz, with a view to the

forming an armament for the invasion of England; he immediately repaired

to their place of rendezvous, and fell upon them at unawares; and, as it

is said, burnt 10,000 tons of shipping, with all the stores which they

were amassing for the intended invasion.

In their return they fell in with a carrack from the East Indies, richly

laden, of which they likewise got intelligence in the port of Lisbon.

This was the St. Philip, of which Linschoten gives the following

account, when this Dutchman was at Goa, the chief settlement of the

Portuguese in the East Indies: “There came in, he says, from the island

of Japan, certain Jesuits, and with them three Princes, being the

children of so many Kings of that country, wholly apparelled like

Jesuits, not one of them above the age of 15 years, being minded by the

persuasion of the Jesuits to visit Portingall, and from thence to go to

Rome to see the Pope, thereby to procure great profit, privileges, and

liberties for the missionaries in that island.

“In 1584, they set sail for Portingallo, and from thence travelled into

Spain, where, by the King and all the Spanish nobility, they were with

honour received, and presented with many gifts, which the Jesuits kept

for themselves.

“Out of Spain, they rode to see the Pope; that done, they travelled

throughout Italy, where they were much honoured, and presented with many

rich presents, by means of the great report the Jesuits made of them.

“To conclude, they returned to Madrid, where with great honour they took

their leave of the King, who furnished them with letters of

recommendation to the Viceroy, and all the Portingall Governors of

India; so they went to Lisbon, and there took shipping in 1586, and came

to Goa in the ship called St. Philip, which ship, in her return to

Portingall, was taken by Captain Drake, being the first that was taken

coming from the East Indies; which the Portuguese took for an evil sign,

because the ship bore the King’s own name;” both Spain and Portugal

being at that time governed by the same Sovereign.

“When the Princes and Jesuits of Japan arrived at Goa on their return

from Europe, they were received, adds Linschoten, with great rejoicings;

for it was verily thought they had all been dead. On their landing they

were all three apparelled in cloth of gold and silver after the Italian

manner, being the same the Italian noblemen and gentlemen had given

them. They came to Goa very lively and in high spirits; and the Jesuits

were not a little proud, that through their means the voyage had been

successfully performed. In Goa they staid till the monsoon or time of

the wind’s setting in to sail for China, and thence to Japan, where,

with great triumph and wondering of all the people, they were received

and welcomed home, to the great furtherance of the Jesuits.”

The St. Philip, in her voyage to Goa, had been driven by stress of

weather into Masambique, where she met with the St. Laurence, homeward

bound, that had likewise been driven into the same port disabled, having

lost her masts, and received other considerable damage, by which she was

rendered unserviceable. The St. Philip, therefore, as soon as she had

landed her passengers at Goa, returned to Masambique, and took in the

lading of the St. Laurence, which enabled her to make her voyage to

Europe about the usual time; a circumstance fortunate for Drake, as it

increased both his fame and his fortune.

In 1588, Drake was appointed Vice-Admiral, under Charles Lord Effingham

Howard, High-Admiral of England, to oppose the formidable armada that

had for three years before been secretly preparing in Spain for the

invasion of England. In Drake’s letter to Lord Treasurer Burleigh,

acquainting him with the approach of the Spaniards, he concludes with

this elegant compliment to his superior: “That, though the strength of

the enemy out-went report, yet the chearfulness and courage which the

Lord Admiral expressed gave all who had the honour to serve under him

assurance of victory;” a compliment which was the more admired in Drake,

as in a former letter to the same Minister, in which he tells him of his

gallant atchievement in the port of Cadiz, “Not resting, said he, at

Lisbon, we sailed so close to the Spanish King, _that we singed his

beard_;” a course metaphor, it must be owned, but strongly

characteristic.

Drake’s good fortune still accompanied him; for in the engagement which

afterwards happened on the arrival of the armada, though he committed

the greatest error that ever Commander was guilty of, by pursuing some

hulks belonging to the Hans Towns for plunder, when he was entrusted to

carry lights in the night for the direction of the English fleet, he

misled the Admiral; yet he was the only Commander who profited most by

the destruction of the enemy. Lord Howard, supposing the lights of the

Spanish Admiral to be the lights which Drake was ordered to carry, was

entangled in the very centre of the Spanish fleet, before he found his

mistake; but, fortunately, night favouring his escape, he disengaged

himself before he was discovered. This blunder was afterwards effaced by

the gallant behaviour of Drake, than whom no man was ever bolder, or

more determined. We do not, however, find his name among the Commanders

whom the Lord High Admiral thought proper to thank for their services on

that occasion. On the 2d of July, says Strype, Sir Francis, observing a

large Spanish galleon, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who was the

reputed projector of the invasion, floating at a distance from both

fleets, sent his pinnace to summon the Captain to surrender, who at

first vauntingly set him at defiance; but being told it was Drake that

required him to yield, he immediately struck his colours, and, with 46

of his crew, came on board the conqueror. In this ship he found 50,000

ducats, with other effects to a much greater amount.

The next year he was appointed Admiral of a squadron sent to place Don

Antonio on the throne of Portugal, to which that Prince pretended to

have a right. “But, says Rapin, (whose account of this expedition we

shall follow) as the Queen was extremely frugal, and an undertaking

against Spain could not but be very expensive, she so ordered it, that

Drake and Norris took upon them to be at the charge, in hopes of making

themselves amends by the booty they should meet with. So she only found

them six ships of war, with a present of 60,000 l. with leave to raise

soldiers and sailors for the expedition. Drake had already tried the

Spaniards in America and in the Channel, and was convinced they were

more formidable in common opinion than in reality; wherefore, joining

with Sir John Norris, and some other private persons, they equipped a

fleet, and embarked 11,000 soldiers and 1500 marines. The Hollanders

having also added some ships, the fleet consisted, according to Stow, of

146 sail, transports and victuallers included. Drake commanded at sea,

and Norris was General of the land forces. They took with them Don

Antonio, who hoped, by the assistance of the English, to be put in

possession of his kingdom, where he pretended to have many friends.

“They sailed from Plymouth on the 18th of April, and soon after arrived

at the Groyne, where landing their troops, they assaulted the lower

town, and carried it by storm. Then they besieged the upper town. But

Norris, having advice that the Conde di Andrada was approaching with a

body of troops to relieve the place, suddenly raised the siege to march

against him; and, overtaking him, slew 3000 of his men. This done, he

burnt several villages; and, without returning to the siege, re-embarked

his troops, their principal design being against Portugal.

“Whilst they were sailing towards the coasts of that kingdom, they were

joined by the Earl of Essex, with some ships he had armed at his own

charge, unknown to the Queen. Some days after, they arrived at Panicha,

a little town in Portugal, and, taking it, restored it to Don Antonio;

from thence Norris marched by land to Lisbon, Drake promising to follow

with the fleet up the Tagus. The army marched 40 miles without

opposition; and encamping before Lisbon, took the suburbs of St.

Catharine: but, as Drake performed not his promise, and the army wanted

cannon and ammunition, it was resolved in a council of war to retire.

This resolution was taken, because there was no appearance that the

Portuguese were inclined to revolt, as Don Antonio had expected; and

also, because there was no news of the succours he had boasted of from

the King of Morocco. The army marching towards the mouth of the Tagus,

met Drake, who had taken the town of Cascaes, and excused himself upon

the impossibility of performing his promise. Some days after, the castle

of Cascaes surrendering, it was blown up; and, to make themselves amends

for the charges of the expedition, the English seized sixty vessels

laden with corn, and all manner of naval stores to equip a new fleet

against England, belonging to the Hans Towns. Then they went and took

Vigo, which was abandoned by the inhabitants; and, firing the town,

returned to England. This expedition did some damage to the King of

Spain, but was of no benefit to Elizabeth; and the booty was not

sufficient to pay for equipping the fleet, though Camden says, they

brought home 150 pieces of heavy cannon, and a great booty. Above six

thousand men perished in this expedition by sickness.”

The writers of Drake’s life say, that Norris grievously reproached Drake

with breach of his promise, and charged the miscarriage of the

expedition to his timidity. Indeed, Drake’s good genius seems now to

have forsaken him; and happy, say the same writers, if, having received

this first check at play, he had withdrawn his stake.

As the war with Spain continued, Hawkins and Drake, who, as it should

seem, wanted to continue their old game, where the profits were more,

and the danger less, united their interest to persuade the Queen and

Council to undertake an effectual expedition to the West Indies, by

which the nation might be enriched, and the enemy deprived of those

resources by which they were enabled to carry on the war.

For this purpose they procured, according to Rapin, twenty-six of the

Queen’s ships, the equipment of which, like the former, seems to have

been supplied by private adventure; a practice at that time very common,

where plunder was to be the reward. The preparations for this

expedition, however, as it far exceeded all former enterprizes to the

American Indies, could not be made so privately, or conducted so

secretly, but that the Spaniards found means to discover both its

strength and destination, and prepared themselves accordingly.

As the places that were to be attacked lay at a great distance, it was

necessary to gain time, in order to fortify them. It was, therefore,

found necessary to devise some expedient to prevent the sailing of that

formidable armament, till every thing was in readiness to oppose it.

Accordingly, it was given out, that a second invasion was intended

against England; and when the Spanish fleet was ready to sail for

America, that had been equipping under pretence of an invasion, a sham

attack was made upon Cornwall, in order to spread an alarm, and give it

countenance.

This had the desired effect. It was thought improper to part with so

many stout ships while the nation was threatened; and the expedition was

therefore retarded, till the panic had subsided.

It was therefore the 28th of August, in 1695, before the Commanders

obtained permission to sail; and in the mean time the Queen having

received advice that the plate fleet was safe arrived in Europe, and

that only one ship, which had sprung her mast, remained behind, her

Majesty acquainted them with the intelligence, and advised them to

attack Porto Rico, before they pursued their grand enterprize, by which

they might make themselves masters of the galleon without losing much

time in the conquest.

Sir Francis Drake, who was not formed to act in conjunct expeditions,

had not been long at sea before he differed in opinion from his fellow

Commander, and pursued a project totally different from the first object

of the voyage, in which, however, he was seconded by Sir Thomas

Baskerville, Commander of the land forces. This scheme was to attack the

Canaries in the way to America; in which, however, they failed; and

spending necessarily much time in the island of Dominica in landing and

refreshing the men, who, being unused to long voyages in hot climates,

were many of them unfit to proceed, the Spaniards had so effectually

prepared themselves, that, when the Generals came to action, they found

an opposition very different from what they expected; and were soon

sensible, that what they had formerly effected by surprize with a

handful of sailors, was not now to be accomplished with a whole army of

disciplined troops.

In their course to Porto Rico, one of the sternmost ships of the English

fleet fell into the hands of five Spanish frigates that had been sent

from Spain to convoy home the galleon from that port. From this ship

they gained the intelligence of the intended attack, the consequences of

which being foreseen by Sir John Hawkins, it threw him into a sudden

disorder, of which in a few days he died--some say, of a broken heart.

They were now, Nov. 12, 1595, before Porto Rico, and the same evening

that Sir John Hawkins died, as the principal officers were at supper, a

cannon-shot from the fort pierced the cabin, killed Sir Nicholas

Clifford, wounded Captain Stratford, mortally wounded Sir Brute Browne,

and struck the stool from under Sir Francis Drake, as he was drinking

success to the attack.

The next day, pursuant to a resolution of a council of war, a general

attack was made upon the shipping in the harbour, but without effect.

The Spaniards suffered much, but the English more; who, finding it

impossible to make an impression upon the fortifications of the town,

weighed anchor, and steered to Rio de la Hacha, set fire to the town and

burned it to the ground: they likewise performed some other exploits of

the like kind; but having landed the troops destined to cross the

isthmus to attack Panama, after a fatiguing march in which they were

great sufferers, they returned, without being able to reach the place.

This disappointment materially affected Drake, who having, as he

thought, provided a sufficient force to carry into execution the

enterprize which he had well-nigh effected with a few sailors and

Symerons some years before, could not bear the thought of surviving his

disgrace. “Now, says Fuller, began the discontent of Sir Francis Drake

to feed upon him. He conceived, that expectation, a merciless usurer,

computing each day since his departure, exacted an interest and return

of honour and profit proportionable to his great preparations, and

transcending his former atchievements. He saw that all the good which he

had done in his voyage, consisted in the evil he had done the Spaniards

afar off, whereof he could present but small visible fruits in England.

These apprehensions accompanying, if not causing, the disease of the

flux, wrought his sudden death; and sickness did not so much untie his

cloaths, as sorrow did rend at once the robe of his mortality asunder.

He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.”

This account of the manner of Sir Francis Drake’s death seems to be

authentic, though some have not scrupled to insinuate, that sickness had

no part in that catastrophe. Be that as it may, Fuller’s reflections

upon it deserve to be remembered. “Thus, says he, we see how great

spirits, having mounted to the highest pitch of performance, afterwards

strain and break their credit in striving to go beyond it; Or, it may

be, God oftentimes leaves the brightest men in an eclipse, to shew that

they do but borrow their lustre from his reflection.”

Thus we have endeavoured to trace the actions of this celebrated

navigator from beginning to end. If we have withdrawn the veil, which

has hitherto covered his infirmities, it has been in the pursuit of

truth; not with a design to detract from his real merit, but to shew his

character in the true light. In the current of success, even crimes of

the deepest die are sometimes patronised even by the public. The actions

which gave rise to Drake’s popularity, are such as a courageous leader,

with an hundred armed followers, might in these peaceable times easily

perform, by entering the cities or towns on the coast of Britain, in the

dead of night, cutting the throats of the watch, and all who happen to

be awake in the streets, breaking open and plundering houses, and

churches, seizing every thing valuable that should fall into their

hands, and before the people could recover from their consternation,

making their escape with their booty. Were such a company masters of an

armed vessel, if there were no ship of force to oppose them, what should

hinder their sailing from place to place, and, _provided they could

out-run report_, performing the like exploits in every town they came

to? Would there be anything truly great in this? Or would the man who

should undertake and execute an enterprize of such a horrid nature, be

justly entitled to the name of Hero? If not, what shall we say of

Drake’s nocturnal enterprize on Nombre de Dios; of his way-laying the

treasure in the road from Panama; of his ranging the unarmed coasts of

Chili and Peru; and of his plundering villages, towns, and ships

belonging to a peaceable unsuspecting people, with whom his nation was

at peace, and from whom opposition was not to be dreaded? What, indeed,

did the people at that time say? Those who were the sufferers cried out

loudly against the plunderer; and Bernardine de Mendoza, the Spanish

Ambassador at the court of Queen Elizabeth, insisted that he should be

punished for his robberies, and that all the money and effects he had

seized should be restored; but, if the Queen was a private adventurer,

as, from Drake’s declaration to his followers, and from other instances

of the womanish littlenesses of that Princess, there is reason to

suspect, What hope was there of justice or restitution from

remonstrance? Indeed, it served that avaricious Queen for a pretence to

sequester the treasure which Drake brought home, and to convert, it is

probable, the greatest part of it to her own use; for, as we have

already shewn from good authority in a note, though the whole booty was

valued at 800,000l. yet only 80,000l. was divided among the plunderers;

and Rapin tells us, that some part of the treasure was afterwards repaid

by the Queen to Spain. If she had not retained enough in her hands, no

one will suppose, that the Sovereign, who could cause the goods of her

favourite Leicester to be set to public sale after his death, for the

payment of money she had lent him, would have repaid to Spain from her

own coffers the plunder that had been unjustly taken by one of her

meaner subjects.

To dignify actions, therefore, of the most infamous piracy with the name

of great, is to exalt vice, and to substitute successful villainy in the

place of substantial virtue. If we view Drake in the light of a

courageous plunderer, he may vie with the De la Poles, the Blackbeards,

or any of those daring disturbers of the times in which they lived, who

struck a panic wherever they roved to commit their ravages: but,

consider him as a Commander, employed in the defence of his country, and

we shall see nothing to admire, except his courage. In the first

enterprize in which he was engaged, he was indeed successful. The Queen,

suspecting an intention in Philip of Spain to revenge the injuries his

subjects had received, pitched upon Drake, who had given the offence, as

the fittest man to prevent the consequences. He, therefore, as he had

done before, attacked the enemy by surprize, and set fire to a

defenceless number of transports assembled in the harbour of Cadiz,

without a ship of war to protect them, or a gun fired by way of

opposition. The accident which afterwards threw the rich India ship in

his way, on his return home, did him no honour as a Commander, though it

gave him credit as a fortunate adventurer: nor did his behaviour in the

Channel, when, instead of maintaining his post, he pursued the Hans

merchant ships, add at all to his reputation as a Vice-Admiral. His

American enterprize with Lord Carlisle was attended with no laurels; and

the only two enterprizes in which he was employed in a joint command, he

ruined by his perfidy and self-conceit.

It may, indeed, be urged in Drake’s defence, that it was the policy of

the Queen his Sovereign, to countenance her subjects in distressing

Spain, and in mortifying the haughty monarch who sat upon the throne;

and that almost all the heroes of her active reign, acquired their glory

by practices founded on the same prevailing principle.

This argument in his favour cannot be denied its due wright. The

expeditions of Sir John Hawkins; of Sir Walter Raleigh; of Lord

Carlisle; of Sir John Norris; of the Earl of Essex; of Cavendish; and,

indeed, of most others undertaken against Spain; were professedly with a

view to plunder; and the charges of fitting them out were chiefly borne

by those who were to be sharers in the booty: yet, surely, there is a

material difference between the glory that is purchased by valour in the

field, and fame that is acquired by compacts to surprize the innocent,

and invade the property of the peaceable.

Having now seen Drake in two distinct points of view, as a leader of a

company of plunderers, and as a Commander in the royal navy, let us do

justice to his character by viewing him as a mariner, and in that light

he will hardly have his equal. To project a voyage round the globe, and

to conduct it without the assistance of a single mariner on board who

had ever crossed the Line, Nuno da Silva, the Portuguese pilot,

excepted, was, perhaps, one of the boldest exploits that ever man

performed. His navigating his ships along the coast of Brazil; his

carrying them through the straits of Magellan in a shorter time than any

mariner has ever done since; his keeping the sea in a storm for thirty

days together; his skill in navigating the coasts of Chili, Peru, and

New Spain, where no English ship had ever sailed; his accuracy in

discovering the track of the Spanish ship from the East Indies, and his

consummate sagacity in pursuing a new course home to avoid pursuers;

cannot be enough admired or applauded. His knowledge of the globe is

manifest from the first attempt he made to return home by a northern

passage; a passage which he knew would not only secure him from the

danger of pursuers, but, were it practicable, would open a free

intercourse between his nation and the rich inhabitants of that opulent

country in which he was then situated. Finding himself, however,

disappointed in this design, how great was his sagacity in the discovery

of an unknown country, wherein to repair his ship, refresh his

followers, take in wood and water, and to supply himself with every

necessary for the vast voyage by sea he was to encounter; and yet, such

was his knowledge in making provision against every contingency that

might happen, that he lost but one man by sickness during the long run

from the coast of New Spain to the Ladrones, in which Commodore Anson

lost near half his crew. Nor is his skill less to be admired in his

return from the Ladrones, the most dangerous navigation of any part of

the known world; for, except the accident upon the rock, as has already

been related, he sailed from the Ladrones to Java unembarrassed; from

Java to Sierra Leona, on the coast of Africa, without touching at any

port, or encountering any difficulty, save from a scarcity of water; a

thing hardly to be credited, and which was never performed by any

mariner before his time, or since.

THE

VOYAGES

OF

CAPT. THOMAS CAVENDISH,

THE SECOND ENGLISH NAVIGATOR WHO SAILED ROUND THE WORLD.

This Gentleman was descended from an antient family in Suffolk, whose

ancestors came into England with William the Conqueror. His father,

William Cavendish, of Trimley St. Martin, near Ipswich, dying young,

left his son Thomas a minor, and heir to the manors of Trimley,

Stratton, and Grimston, with other lands of inheritance to a very

considerable amount: but this youth, whose atchievements we are about to

relate, being of a high-spirited disposition, and, as soon as he came of

age, subject to no controul, fell early into the fashionable gallantries

and vices of the times, and dissipated the best part of his ample

fortune before he entertained any thoughts of applying to business, or,

perhaps, was sensible how deeply his affairs were embarrassed.

But he no sooner began to reflect, and to perceive, that, without

application to some kind of employment, he must be undone, than he made

choice of a sea-faring life, not only as most suitable to his unsettled

turn of mind, but also as the most likely means of restoring his

fortune, and establishing his credit.