The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism Volume I Part 22

The spirit of adventure, fostered by the grand discoveries which were constantly being made, the rich returns derived from trading expeditions, and from the pillage of our enemies, was at its zenith in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Nor was it confined to mere soldiers of fortune, for we find distinguished n.o.blemen of ample fortunes taking to the seas as though their daily bread depended thereupon. Among these naval adventurers "there was no one," says Southey, "who took to the seas so much in the spirit of a northern sea king as the Earl of c.u.mberland." He had borne his part in the defeat of the Armada, while still a young man, and the queen was so well satisfied with him, that she gave him a commission to go the same year to the Spanish coast as general, lending him the _Golden Lion_, one of the s.h.i.+ps royal, he victualling and furnis.h.i.+ng it at his own expense.

After some fighting he took a prize, but soon after had to cut away his mainmast in a storm, and return to England. "His spirit remaining, nevertheless, higher than the winds, and more resolutely by storms compact and united in itself," we find him shortly afterwards again on the high seas with the _Victory_, one of the queen's s.h.i.+ps, and three smaller vessels. The earl was not very scrupulous as regards prize-taking, and captured two French s.h.i.+ps, which belonged to the party of the League. A little later he fell in with eleven s.h.i.+ps from Hamburg and the Baltic, and fired on them till the captains came on board and showed their pa.s.sports; these were respected, but not so the property of a Lisbon Jew, which they confessed to have on their s.h.i.+ps, and which was valued at 4,500. Off the Azores, he hoisted Spanish colours, and succeeded in robbing some Spanish vessels. The homeward-bound Portuguese fleet from the East Indies narrowly escaped him; when near Tercera some English prisoners stole out in a small boat, having no other yard for their mainsail than two pipe-staves, and informed him that the Portuguese s.h.i.+ps had left the island a week before.

This induced him to return to Fayal, and the terror inspired by the English name in those days is indicated by the fact that the town of about 500 houses was found to be completely empty; the inhabitants had abandoned it. He set a guard over the churches and monasteries, and then calmly waited till a ransom of 2,000 ducats was brought him. He helped himself to fifty-eight pieces of iron ordnance, and the Governor of Graciosa, to keep on good terms with the earl, sent him sixty b.u.t.ts of wine. While there a Weymouth privateer came in with a Spanish prize worth 16,000. Next we find the earl at St. Mary's, where he captured a Brazilian sugar s.h.i.+p. In bringing out their prize they were detained on the harbour bar, exposed to the enemy. Eighty of c.u.mberland's men were killed, and he himself was wounded; "his head also was broken with stones, so that the blood covered his face," and both his face and legs were burnt with fire-b.a.l.l.s. The prize, however, was secured and forwarded to England.

c.u.mberland himself held on his course to Spain, and soon fell in with a s.h.i.+p of 400 tons, from Mexico, laden with hides, cochineal, sugar, and silver, "and the captain had with him a venture to the amount of 25,000 ducats," which was taken. They now resolved to return home, but "sea fortunes are variable, having two inconstant parents, air and water," and as one of the adventurers(133) concisely put it, "these summer services and s.h.i.+ps of sugar proved not so sweet and pleasant as the winter was afterwards sharp and painful." Lister, the earl's captain, was sent in the Mexican prize for England, and was wrecked off Cornwall, everything being lost in her, and all the crew, save five or six men. On the earl's s.h.i.+p, contrary winds and gales delayed them so greatly that their water failed; they were reduced to three spoonfuls of vinegar apiece at each meal; this state of affairs lasting fourteen days, except what water they could collect from rain and hail-storms. "Yet was that rain so intermingled with the spray of the foaming sea, in that extreme storm, that it could not be healthful: yea, some in their extremity of thirst drank themselves to death with their cans of salt water in their hands." Some ten or twelve perished on each of as many consecutive nights, and the storm was at one time so violent that the s.h.i.+p was almost torn to pieces; "his lords.h.i.+p's cabin, the dining-room, and the half deck became all one," and he was obliged to seek a lodging in the hold. The earl, however, constantly encouraged the men, and the small stock of provisions was distributed with the greatest equality; so at last they reached a haven on the west coast of Ireland, where their sufferings ended. On this voyage they had taken thirteen prizes. The Mexican prize which had been wrecked would have added 100,000 to the profits of the venture, but even with this great deduction, the earl had been doubly repaid for his outlay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE EARL OF c.u.mBERLAND AND THE "MADRE DE DIOS."]

The earl's third expedition was a failure, but the fourth resulted in the capture of the _Madre de Dios_, one of the largest carracks belonging to the Portuguese crown. In this, however, some of Raleigh's and Hawkins'

s.h.i.+ps had a share. Captain Thomson, who came up with her first, "again and again delivered his peals as fast as he could fire and fall astern to load again, thus hindering her way, though somewhat to his own cost, till the others could come up." Several others worried the carrack, until the earl's s.h.i.+ps came up about eleven at night. Captain Norton had no intention of boarding the enemy till daylight, if there had not been a cry from one of the s.h.i.+ps royal, then in danger, "An you be men, save the queen's s.h.i.+p!" Upon this the carrack was boarded on both sides. A desperate struggle ensued, and it took an hour and a half before the attacking parties succeeded in getting possession of the high forecastle, "so brave a booty making the men fight like dragons." The s.h.i.+p won, the boarders turned to pillage, and while searching about with candles, managed to set fire to a cabin containing some hundreds of cartridges, very nearly blowing up the s.h.i.+p. The hotness of the action was evidenced by the number of dead and dying who strewed the carrack's decks, "especially," says the chronicler, "about the helm; for the greatness of the steerage requiring the labour of twelve or fourteen men at once, and some of our s.h.i.+ps beating her in at the stern with their ordnance, oftentimes with one shot slew four or five labouring on either side of the helm; whose room being still furnished with fresh supplies, and our artillery still playing upon them with continual volleys, it could not be but that much blood should be shed in that place." For the times, the prisoners were treated with great humanity, and surgeons were sent on board to dress their wounds. The captain, Don Fernando de Mendoza, was "a gentleman of n.o.ble birth, well stricken in years, well spoken, of comely personage, of good stature, but of hard fortune. Twice he had been taken prisoner by the Moors and ransomed by the king; and he had been wrecked on the coast of Sofala, in a carrack which he commanded, and having escaped the sea danger, fell into the hands of infidels ash.o.r.e, who kept him under long and grievous servitude." The prisoners were allowed to carry off their own valuables, put on board one of c.u.mberland's s.h.i.+ps, and sent to their own country. Unfortunately for them, they again fell in with other English cruisers, who robbed them without mercy, taking from them 900 diamonds and other valuable things. About 800 negroes on board were landed on the island of Corvo. Her cargo consisted of jewels, spices, drugs, silks, calicoes, carpets, canopies, ivory, porcelain, and innumerable curiosities; it was estimated to amount to 150,000 in value, and there was considerable haggling over its division, and no little embezzlement; the queen had a large share of it, and c.u.mberland netted 36,000. The carrack created great astonishment at Dartmouth by her dimensions, which for those days were enormous. She was of about 1,600 tons burden, and 165 feet long; she was of "seven several stories, one main orlop, three close decks, one forecastle (of great height) and a spar deck of two floors apiece." Her mainmast was 125 feet in height, and her main-yard 105 feet long. "Being so huge and unwieldly a s.h.i.+p," says Purchas, "she was never removed from Dartmouth, but there laid up her bones."

In 1594 the earl set forth on his eighth voyage, with three s.h.i.+ps, a caravel, and a pinnace, furnished at his own expense, with the help of some adventurers. Early in the voyage they descried a great Indian s.h.i.+p, whose burden they estimated at 2,000 tons. Her name was the _Cinco Chagas_ (the Five Wounds), and her fate was as tragical as her name. She had on board a number of persons who had been s.h.i.+pwrecked in three vessels, which, like herself, had been returning from the Indies. When she left Mozambique for Europe, she had on board 1,400 persons, an enormous number for those days; on the voyage she had encountered terrible gales, and after putting in at Loanda for water and supplies, and s.h.i.+pping many slaves, a fatal pestilence known by the name of the "mal de Loanda,"

carried off about half the crew. The captain wished to avoid the Azores, but a mutiny had arisen among the soldiers on board, and he was forced to stand by them, and by this means came into contact with the Earl of c.u.mberland's squadron off Fayal. The Portuguese had pledged themselves to the s.h.i.+p at all hazards, and to perish with her in the sea, or in the flames, rather than yield so rich a prize to the heretics. c.u.mberland's s.h.i.+ps, after hara.s.sing the carrack on all sides, ranged up against her; twice was she boarded, and twice were the a.s.sailants driven out. A third time the privateers boarded her, one of them bearing a white flag; he was the first of the party killed, and when a second hoisted another flag at the p.o.o.p it was immediately thrown overboard. The English suffered considerably, more especially among the officers. c.u.mberland's vice-admiral, Antony, was killed; Downton, the rear-admiral, crippled for life; and Cave, who commanded the earl's s.h.i.+p, mortally wounded. The privateers seem, in the heat of action, almost to have forgotten the valuable cargo on board, and to have aimed only at destroying her. "After many bickerings," says the chronicler, "fireworks flew about interchangeably; at last the vice-admiral, with a culverin shot at hand, fired the carrack in her stern, and the rear-admiral her forecastle, * * * * then flying and maintaining their fires so well with their small shot that many which came to quench them were slain." The fire made rapid headway, and P. Frey Antonio, a Franciscan, was seen with a crucifix in his hand, encouraging the poor sailors to commit themselves to the waves and to G.o.d's mercy, rather than perish in the flames. A large number threw themselves overboard, clinging to such things as were cast into the sea.

It is said that the English boats, with one honourable exception, made no efforts to save any of them; it is even stated that they butchered many in the water. According to the English account there were more than 1,100 on board the carrack, when she left Loanda, of whom only fifteen were saved!

Two ladies of high rank, mother and daughter-the latter of whom was going home to Spain to take possession of some entailed property-when they saw there was no help to be expected from the privateers, fastened themselves together with a cord, and committed themselves to the waves; their bodies were afterwards cast ash.o.r.e on Fayal, still united, though in the bonds of death.

The earl afterwards built the _Scourge of Malice_, a s.h.i.+p of 800 tons, and the largest yet constructed by an English subject, and in 1597 obtained letters patent authorising him to levy sea and land forces. Without royal a.s.sistance, he gathered eighteen sail. This expedition, although it worried and impoverished the Spaniards, was not particularly profitable to the earl. He took Puerto Rico, and then abandoned it, and did not, as he expected, intercept either the outward-bound East Indiamen, who, indeed, were too frightened to venture out of the Tagus that year, or the homeward-bound Mexican fleet. This was c.u.mberland's last expedition, and no other subject ever undertook so many at his own cost.

The Elizabethan age was otherwise so glorious that it is painful to have to record the establishment of the slave-trade-a serious blot on the reign-one which no Englishman of to-day would defend, but which was then looked upon as perfectly legitimate. John Hawkins (afterwards Sir John) was born at Plymouth, and his father had long been a well-esteemed sea-captain, the first Englishman, it is believed, who ever traded to the Brazils. The young man had gained much renown by trips to Spain, Portugal, and the Canaries, and having "grown in love and favour" with the Canarians, by good and upright dealing, began to think of more extended enterprises. Learning that "negroes were very good merchandise in Hispaniola, and that store of them might easily be had upon the coast of Guinea," he communicated with several London s.h.i.+p-owners, who liked his schemes, and provided him in large part with the necessary outfit. Three small vessels were provided-the _Solomon_, of 120 tons, the _Swallow_, of 100, and the _Jonas_, of forty. Hawkins left England in October, 1562, and proceeding to Sierra Leone, "got into his possession, partly by the sword and partly by other means, to the number of 300 negroes at the least, besides other merchandise which that country yieldeth." At the port of Isabella, Puerto de Plata, and Monte Christo, he made sale of the slaves to the Spaniards, trusting them "no farther than by his own strength he was able to master them." He received in exchange, pearls, ginger, sugar, and hides enough, not merely to freight his own vessels, but two other hulks, and thus "with prosperous success, and much gain to himself and the aforesaid adventurers, he came home, and arrived in September, 1563."

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIR JOHN HAWKINS.]

The second expedition was on a larger scale, and included a queen's s.h.i.+p of 700 tons. Hawkins arriving off the Rio Grande, could not enter it for want of a pilot, but he proceeded to Sambula, one of the islands near its mouth, where he "went every day on sh.o.r.e to take the inhabitants, with burning and spoiling their towns," and got a number of slaves. Flushed with easy success, Hawkins was persuaded by some Portuguese to attack a negro town called Bymeba, where he was informed there was much gold. Forty of his men were landed, and they dispersing, to secure what booty they could for themselves, became an easy prey to the negroes, who killed seven, including one of the captains, and wounded twenty-seven. After a visit to Sierra Leone, which he left quickly on account of the illness and death of some of his men, he proceeded to the West Indies, where he carried matters with a high hand at the small Spanish settlements, at which very generally the poor inhabitants had been forbidden to trade with him by the viceroy, then stationed at St. Domingo. To this he replied at Borburata, that he was in need of refreshment and money also, "without which he could not depart. Their princes were in amity one with another; the English had free traffic in Spain and Flanders; and he knew no reason why they should not have the like in the King of Spain's dominions. Upon this the Spaniards said they would send to their governor, who was three-score leagues off; ten days must elapse before his determination could arrive; meantime he might bring his s.h.i.+ps into the harbour, and they would supply him with any victuals he might require." The s.h.i.+ps sailed in and were supplied, but Hawkins, "advising himself that to remain there ten days idle, spending victuals and men's wages, and perhaps, in the end, receive no good answer from the governor, it were mere folly," requested licence to sell certain lean and sick negroes, for whom he had little or no food, but who would recover with proper treatment ash.o.r.e. This request, he said, he was forced to make, as he had not otherwise wherewith to pay for necessaries supplied to him. He received a licence to sell thirty slaves, but now few showed a disposition to buy, and where they did, came to haggle and cheapen. Hawkins made a feint to go, when the Spaniards bought some of his poorer negroes, "but when the purchasers paid the duty and required the customary receipt, the officer refused to give it, and instead of carrying the money to the king's account, distributed it to the poor 'for the love of G.o.d.'" The purchasers feared that they might have to pay the duty a second time, and the trade was suspended till the governor arrived, on the fourteenth day. To him Hawkins told a long-winded story, concluding by saying that, "it would be taken well at the governor's hand if he granted a licence in this case, seeing that there was a great amity between their princes, and that the thing pertained to our queen's highness." The pet.i.tion was taken under consideration in council, and at last granted. The licence of thirty ducats demanded for each slave sold did not, however, meet Hawkins' views, and he therefore landed 100 men well armed, and marched toward the town. The poor townspeople sent out messengers to know his demands, and he requested that the duty should be 7 per cent., and mildly threatened that if they would not accede to this "he would displease them." Everything was conceded, and Hawkins obtained the prices he wanted. Fancy a modern merchant standing with an armed guard, pistol in hand, over his customers, insisting that he would sell what he liked and at his own price!

But all this is nothing to what happened at Rio de la Hacha. There he spoke of his quiet traffic (!) at Borburata, and requested permission to trade there in the same manner. He was told that the viceroy had forbidden it, whereupon he threatened them that he must either have the licence or they "stand to their own defence." The licence was granted, but they offered half the prices which he had obtained at Borburata, whereupon he told them, insultingly, that "seeing they had sent him this to his supper, he would in the morning bring them as good a breakfast."(134) Accordingly, early next day he fired off a culverin, and prepared to land with 100 men, "having light ordnance in his great boat, and in the other boats double bases in their noses." The townsmen marched out in battle array, but when the guns were fired fell flat on their faces, and soon dispersed. Still, about thirty hors.e.m.e.n made a show of resistance, their white leather targets in one hand and their javelins in the other, but as soon as Hawkins marched towards them they sent a flag of truce, and the treasurer, "in a cautious interview with this ugly merchant," granted all he asked, and the trade proceeded. They parted with a show of friends.h.i.+p, and saluted each other with their guns, the townspeople "glad to be sped of such traders."

[Ill.u.s.tration: ON THE COAST OF CORNWALL.]

On the return voyage, contrary winds prevailed, "till victuals scanted, so that they were in despair of ever reaching home, had not G.o.d provided for them better than their deserving." They arrived at Padstow, in Cornwall, "with the loss," says the narrative printed in Hakluyt's collection, "of twenty persons in all the voyage, and with great profit to the venturers, as also to the whole realm, in bringing home both gold, silver, pearls, and other jewels in great store. His name, therefore, be praised for evermore. Amen!" They did not consider that they had been engaged in a most iniquitous traffic, nor was it, indeed, the opinion of the times.

"Hawkins," says Southey, "then, is not individually to be condemned, if he looked upon dealing in negroes to be as lawful as any other trade, and thought that force or artifice might be employed for taking them with as little compunction as in hunting, fis.h.i.+ng, or fowling." He had a coat of arms and crest bestowed upon him and his posterity. Among other devices it bore "a demi-Moor, in his proper colour, bound and captive, with annulets on his arms," &c.

On his next expedition for slaving purposes he had six vessels.

Herrera(135) says that two Portuguese had offered to conduct this fleet to a place where they might load their vessels with gold and other riches, and that the queen had been so taken with the idea that she had supplied Hawkins with two s.h.i.+ps, he and his brother fitting out four others and a pinnace. The force on board amounted to 1,500 soldiers and sailors, who were to receive a third of the profits. When the expedition was ready, the Portuguese deserted from Plymouth, and went to France, but as the cost of the outfit had been incurred, it was thought proper to proceed. Hawkins obtained, after a great deal of trouble, less than 150 slaves between the Rio Grande and Sierra Leone. At this juncture a negro king, just going to war with a neighbouring tribe, sent to the commander asking his aid, promising him all the prisoners who should be taken. This was a tempting bait, and 120 men were sent to a.s.sist the coloured warrior. They a.s.saulted a town containing 8,000 inhabitants, strongly paled and well defended, and the English losing six men, and having a fourth of their number wounded, sent for more help; "whereupon," says Hawkins, "considering that the good success of this enterprise might highly further the commodity of our voyage, I went myself; and with the help of the king of our side, a.s.saulted the town both by land and sea, and very hardly, with fire (their houses being covered with dry palm-leaves), obtained the town, and put the inhabitants to flight, where we took 250 persons, men, women, and children. And by our friend, the king of our side, there were taken 600 prisoners, whereof we hoped to have had our choice; but the negro (in which nation is seldom or never found truth) meant nothing less, for that night he removed his camp and prisoners, so that we were fain to content us with those few that we had gotten ourselves." They had obtained between 400 and 500, a part of which were speedily sold as soon as he reached the West Indies. At Rio de la Hacha, "from whence came all the pearls," the treasurer would by no means allow them to trade, or even to water the s.h.i.+ps, and had fortified the town with additional bulwarks, well manned by harquebusiers. Hawkins again enforced trade, by landing 200 men, who stormed their fortifications, at which the Spaniards fled. "Thus having the town," says Hawkins, "with some circ.u.mstance, as partly by the Spaniards' desire of negroes, and partly by friends.h.i.+p of the treasurer, we obtained a secret trade, whereupon the Spaniards resorted to us by night, and bought of us to the number of 200 negroes."

This voyage ended most disastrously. Pa.s.sing by the west end of Cuba, they encountered a terrific storm, which lasted four days, and they had to cut down all the "higher buildings" of the _Jesus_, their largest s.h.i.+p; her rudder, too, was nearly disabled, and she leaked badly. They made for the coast of Florida, but could find no suitable haven. "Thus, being in great despair, and taken with a new storm, which continued other three days,"

Hawkins made for St. Juan de Ulloa, a port of the city of Mexico. They took on their way three s.h.i.+ps, having on board 100 pa.s.sengers, and soon reached the harbour. The Spaniards mistook them for a fleet from Spain, which was expected about that time, and the chief officers came aboard to receive the despatches. "Being deceived of their expectation," they were somewhat alarmed, but finding that Hawkins wanted nothing but provisions, "were recomforted." "I found in the same port," says Hawkins, "twelve s.h.i.+ps, which had in them, by report, 200,000 in gold and silver; _all of which being in my possession_, with the king's island, as also the pa.s.sengers before in my way thitherward stayed, I set at liberty, without the taking from them the weight of a groat." This savours rather of impudent presumption, for he was certainly not in good condition to fight at that period. Next day the Spanish fleet arrived outside, when Hawkins again rode the high horse, by giving notice to the general that he would not suffer them to enter the port until conditions had been made for their safe-being, and for the maintenance of peace. The fleet had on board a new viceroy, who answered amicably, and desired him to propose his conditions.

Hawkins required not merely victuals and trade, and hostages to be given on both sides, but that the island should be in his possession during his stay, with such ordnance as was planted there, and that no Spaniard might land on the island with any kind of weapon. These terms the viceroy "somewhat disliked" at first, nor is it very surprising that he did; but at length he pretended to consent, and the Spanish s.h.i.+ps entered the port.

In a few days it became evident that treachery was intended, as men and weapons in quant.i.ties were being transferred from and to the Spanish s.h.i.+ps, and new ordnance landed on the island. Hawkins sent to inquire what was meant, and was answered with fair words; still unsatisfied, he sent the master of the _Jesus_, who spoke Spanish, to the viceroy, and "required to be satisfied if any such thing were or not." The viceroy, now seeing that the treason must be discovered, retained the master, blew his trumpet, and it became evident that a general attack was intended. A number of the English crews ash.o.r.e were immediately ma.s.sacred. They attempted to board the _Minion_ and _Jesus_, but were kept out, with great loss on both sides. "Now," says Hawkins, "when the _Jesus_ and the _Minion_ were gotten about two s.h.i.+ps' lengths from the Spanish fleet, the fight began so hot on all sides, that, within one hour, the admiral of the Spaniards was supposed to be sunk, their vice-admiral burnt, and one other of their princ.i.p.al s.h.i.+ps supposed to be sunk. The Spaniards used their sh.o.r.e artillery to such effect that it cut all the masts and yards of the _Jesus_, and sunk Hawkins' smaller s.h.i.+ps, the _Judith_ only excepted." It had been determined, as there was little hope to get the _Jesus_ away, that she should be placed as a target or defence for the _Minion_ till night, when they would remove such of the stores and valuables as was possible, and then abandon her. "As we were thus determining," says Hawkins, "and had placed the _Minion_ from the shot of the land, suddenly the Spaniards fired two great s.h.i.+ps which were coming directly with us; and having no means to avoid the fire, it bred among the men a marvellous fear, so that some said, 'Let us depart with the _Minion_;' others said, 'Let us see whether the wind will carry the fire from us.' But, to be short, the _Minion's_ men, which had always their sails in readiness, thought to make sure work, and so, without either consent of the captain or master, cut their sail." Hawkins was "very hardly" received on board, and many of the men of the _Jesus_ were left to their fate and the mercy of the Spaniards, "which," he says, "I doubt was very little." Only the _Minion_ and the _Judith_ escaped, and the latter deserted that same night. Beaten about in unknown seas for the next fourteen days, hunger at last enforced them to seek the land; "for hides were thought very good meat; rats, cats, mice, and dogs, none escaped that might be gotten; parrots and monkeys, that were had in great price, were thought then very profitable if they served the turn of one dinner." So starved and worn out were they, that about a hundred of his people desired to be left on the coast of Tabasco, and Hawkins determined to water there, and then, "with his little remain of victuals," to attempt the voyage home. During this time, while on sh.o.r.e with fifty of his men, a gale arose, which prevented them regaining the s.h.i.+p; indeed, they expected to see it wrecked before their eyes. At last the storm abated, and they sailed for England, the men dying off daily from sheer exhaustion, the pitiful remainder being scarcely able to work the s.h.i.+p. They at last reached the coast of Galicia, where they obtained fresh meat, and putting into Vigo, were a.s.sisted by some English s.h.i.+ps lying there. Hawkins concludes his narrative as follows:-"If all the miseries and troublesome affairs of this sorrowful voyage should be perfectly and thoroughly written, there should need a painful man with his pen, and as great a time as he had that wrote the lives and deaths of the martyrs."

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAWKINS AT ST. JUAN DE ULLOA.]

The _Judith_, which made one of Hawkins's last fleet, was commanded by Francis Drake, a name that was destined to become one of the most famous of the day, and very terrible to the Spaniards. In this last venture he lost all that he had acc.u.mulated by earlier voyages, "but a divine, belonging to the fleet, comforted him with the a.s.surance, that having been so treacherously used by the Spaniards, he might lawfully recover in value of the King of Spain, and repair his losses upon him wherever he could."

This comfortable doctrine consoled him. "The case," says Fuller, "was clear in sea divinity." Two or three minor voyages he made to gain knowledge of the field of operation, and in the West Indies made some little money "by playing the seaman and the pirate." On May 24th, 1572, he sailed from Plymouth, in the _Pascha_, of seventy tons, his brother accompanying him in the _Swan_, of only twenty-five tons; they had three pinnaces on board, taken to pieces and stowed away. The force with which he was to revenge himself on the Spanish monarch, numbered seventy-three men and boys, all told. In the Indies he was joined by Captain Rowse, of an Isle of Wight bark, with thirty-eight men on board. Let us see how they sped.

It was known that there was great treasure at Nombre de Dios, and thither the little squadron shaped its course. The town was unwalled, and they entered without difficulty, but the Spaniards received them in the market-place with a volley of shot. Drake returned the greeting with a flight of arrows, "the best ancient English complement," but in the attack received a wound in his leg, which he dissembled, "knowing that if the general's heart stoop, the men's will fall." He arrived at the treasury-house, which was full of silver bars, and while in the act of ordering his men to break it open, fainted from the loss of blood, and his men, binding up the wound, forcibly took him to his pinnace. It was time, for the Spaniards had discovered their weakness, and could have overcome them. Rather disappointed here, Drake made for Carthagena, and took several vessels on his way. He learned from some escaped negro slaves, settled on the isthmus of Darien, that the treasure was brought from Panama to Nombre de Dios upon mules, a party of which he might intercept.

Drake's leg having healed, he was led to an eminence on that isthmus, where, from a great tree, both the Pacific and Atlantic might be seen.

Steps had been cut in the trunk of this huge tree, and at the top "a convenient arbour had been made, wherein twelve men might sit." Drake saw from its summit that great Southern Ocean (the Pacific Ocean) of which he had heard something already, and "being inflamed with ambition of glory and hopes of wealth, was so vehemently transported with desire to navigate that sea, that falling down there upon his knees, he implored the divine a.s.sistance, that he might at some time or other sail thither, and make a perfect discovery of the same."(136) Drake was the first Englishman to gaze on its waters.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DRAKE'S FIRST VIEW OF THE PACIFIC]

On the isthmus, Drake encountered an armed party of Spaniards, but put them to flight, and destroyed merchandise to the value of 200,000 ducats.

Soon after he heard "the sweet music of the mules coming with a great noise of bells," and when the trains came up, he found they had no one but the muleteers to protect them. It was easy work to take as much silver as they would, but more difficult to transport it to the coast. They, in consequence, buried several _tons_, but one of his men, who fell into the hands of the Spaniards, was compelled by torture to reveal the place, and when Drake's people returned for a second load it was nearly all gone.

When they returned to the coast where the pinnaces should have met them, they were not to be seen, but in place, seven Spanish pinnaces which had been searching the coast. Drake escaped their notice, and constructing a raft of the trees which the river brought down, mounted a biscuit sack for sail, and steered it with an oar made from a sapling, out to sea, where they were constantly up to their waists in water. At last they caught sight of their own pinnaces, ran the raft ash.o.r.e, and travelled by land round to the point off which they were laying. They then embarked their comrades with the treasure, and rejoined the s.h.i.+p. One of their negro allies took a great fancy to Drake's sword, and when it was presented to him, desired the commander to accept four wedges of gold. "Drake accepted them as courteously as they were proffered, but threw them into the common stock, saying, it was just that they who bore part of the charge in setting him to sea, should enjoy their full proportion of the advantage at his return." Drake made the pa.s.sage home to the Scilly Isles in the wonderfully short period of twenty-three days. Arriving at Plymouth on a Sunday, the news was carried into the church during sermon time, and "there remained few or no people with the preacher," for Drake was already a great man and a hero in the eyes of all Devon.

John Oxenham, who had served with Drake in the varied capacities of soldier, sailor, and cook, was very much in the latter's confidence. Drake had particularly spoken of his desire to explore the Pacific, and Oxenham in reply, had protested that "he would follow him by G.o.d's grace." The latter, who "had gotten among the seamen the name of captain for his valour, and had privily sc.r.a.ped together good store of money," becoming impatient, determined to attempt the enterprise his late master had projected. He reached the isthmus to find that the mule trains conveying the silver were now protected by a convoy of soldiers, and he determined on a bold and novel adventure. "He drew his s.h.i.+p aground in a retired and woody creek, covered it up with boughs, buried his provisions and his great guns, and taking with him two small pieces of ordnance, went with all his men and six Maroon guides about twelve leagues into the interior, to a river which discharges itself into the South Sea. There he cut wood and built a pinnace, 'which was five-and-forty feet by the keel;'"

embarked in it, and secured for himself the honour of having been the first Englishman to sail over the waters of the blue Pacific. In this pinnace he went to the Pearl Islands, and lay in wait for vessels. He was successful in capturing a small bark, bringing gold from Quito, and scarcely a week later, another with silver from Lima. He also obtained a few pearls on the islands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OXENHAM EMBARKING ON THE PACIFIC.]

So far, fortune had followed Oxenham, and to his own want of caution is due the fact that this prosperous state of affairs was soon reversed. He had dismissed his prizes when near the mouth of the river, and had allowed them to perceive where he was entering. The alarm was soon given; first, indeed, by some negroes who hastened to Panama. Juan de Ortega was immediately dispatched with 100 men, besides negro rowers, in four barks.

After entering the river, a four days' search rewarded him by the discovery of the pinnace with six Englishmen on board, who leaped ash.o.r.e and ran for dear life; one only was killed at this juncture. Ortega discovered in the woods the hut in which Oxenham had concealed the treasure, and removed it to his barks. Meantime, Oxenham, whose men had been disputing over the division of spoils, had been to a distance for the purpose of inducing some of the Maroon negroes to act as carriers, and returning with them, met the men who had escaped from the pinnace, and those who were fleeing from the hut. "The loss of their booty at once completed their reconcilement; he promised larger shares if they should succeed in re-capturing it; and marched resolutely in quest of the Spaniards, relying upon the Maroons as well as upon his own people." But Ortega and his men were experienced in bush-fighting, and they succeeded in killing eleven Englishmen, and five negroes, and took seven of Oxenham's party prisoners. He, with the remnant of his party, went back to search for his hidden s.h.i.+p; it had been removed by the Spaniards. And now the latter sent 150 men to hunt the Englishmen out, while those whom they failed to take were delivered up by the natives. Oxenham and two of his officers were taken to Lima and executed; the remainder suffered death at Panama.

The greatest semi-commercial and piratical voyage of this epoch is undoubtedly that of Drake, who reached the South Seas(137) _via_ the Straits of Magellan-the third recorded attempt, and the first made by an Englishman-and was the first English subject to circ.u.mnavigate the globe.

Elizabeth gave it her secret sanction, and when Drake was introduced to her court by Sir Christopher Hatton, presented him a sword, with this remarkable speech: "We do account that he which striketh at thee, Drake, striketh at us!" The expedition, fitted at his own cost, and that of various adventurers, comprised five vessels; the largest, his own s.h.i.+p, the _Pelican_, being only 100 tons. His whole force consisted of "164 men, gentlemen, and sailors; and was furnished with such plentiful provision of all things necessary as so long and dangerous a voyage seemed to require."

The frames of four pinnaces were taken, to be put together as occasion might require. "Neither did he omit, it is said, to make provision for ornament and delight; carrying to this purpose with him expert musicians, rich furniture (all the vessels for his table, yea, many belonging to the cook-room, being of pure silver) with divers shows of all sorts of curious workmans.h.i.+p, whereby the civility and magnificence of his native country might, among all nations whither he should come, be the more admired."(138) Few of his companions knew at the outset the destination of his voyage; it was given out that they were bound merely for Alexandria.

The expedition sailed on November 15th, 1577, from Plymouth, and immediately encountered a storm so severe that the vessels came near s.h.i.+pwreck, and were obliged to put back and refit. When they had again started under fairer auspices, Drake gave his people some little information as to his proposed voyage, and appointed an island off the coast of Barbary as a rendezvous in case of separation at sea, and subsequently Cape Blanco, where he mustered his men ash.o.r.e and put them through drills and warlike exercises. Already, early in January, he had taken some minor Spanish prizes, and a little later, off the island of Santiago, chased a Portuguese s.h.i.+p, bound for Brazil, "with many pa.s.sengers, and among other commodities, good store of wine." Drake captured and set the people on one of his smaller pinnaces, giving them their clothes, some provisions, and one b.u.t.t of wine, letting them all go except their pilot. The provisions and wine on board the prize proved invaluable to the expedition. From the Cape de Verde Islands they were nine weeks out of sight of land, and before they reached the coast of Brazil, when near the equator, "Drake, being very careful of his men's health, let every one of them blood with his own hands." On nearing the Brazilian coast, the inhabitants "made great fires for a sacrifice to the devils, about which they use conjurations (making heaps of sand and other ceremonies), that when any s.h.i.+ps shall go about to stay upon their coast, not only sands may be gathered together in shoals in every place, but also that storms and tempests may arise, to the casting away of s.h.i.+ps and men."

Near the Plata they slaughtered large numbers of seals, thinking them "good and acceptable meat both as food for the present, and as a supply of provisions for the future." Further south, they found stages constructed on the rocks by the natives for drying the flesh of ostriches; their thighs were as large as "reasonable legs of mutton." At a spot which Drake named Seal Bay, they remained over a fortnight. Here they "made new provisions of seals, whereof they slew to the number of from 200 to 300 in the s.p.a.ce of an hour." Some little traffic ensued with the natives, all of whom were highly painted, some of them having the whole of one side, from crown to heel, painted black, and the other white. "They fed on seals and other flesh, which they ate nearly raw, casting pieces of four or six pounds' weight into the fire, till it was a little scorched, and then tearing it in pieces with their teeth like lions." At the sound of Drake's band of trumpeters they showed great delight, dancing on the beach with the sailors. They were described as of large stature. "One of these giants," said the chaplain of the expedition, "standing with our men when they were taking their morning draughts, showed himself so familiar that he also would do as they did; and taking a gla.s.s in his hand (being strong canary wine), it came no sooner to his lips, than it took him by the nose, and so suddenly entered his head, that he was so drunk, or at least so overcome, that he fell right down, not able to stand; yet he held the gla.s.s fast in his hand, without spilling any of the wine; and when he came to himself, he tried again, and tasting, by degrees got to the bottom.

From which time he took such a liking to the wine, that having learnt the name, he would every morning come down from the mountains with a mighty cry of 'Wine! wine! wine!' continuing the same until he arrived at the tent."(139)

After some trouble caused by the separation of the vessels, the whole fleet arrived safely at the "good harborough called by Magellan Port Julian," where nearly the first sight they met was a gibbet, on which the Portuguese navigator had executed several mutinous members of his company, some of the bones of whom yet remained. Drake himself was to have trouble here. At the outset the natives appeared friendly, and a trial of skill in shooting arrows resulted in an English gunner exceeding their efforts, at which they appeared pleased by the skill shown. A little while after another Indian came, "but of a sourer sort," and one Winter, prepared for another display of archery, unfortunately broke the bow-string when he drew it to its full length. This disabused the natives, to some extent, of the superior skill of the English, and an attack was made, apparently incited by the Indian just mentioned. Poor Winter received two wounds, and the gunner coming to the rescue with his gun missed fire, and was immediately shot "through the breast and out at back, so that he fell down stark dead." Drake a.s.sembled his men, ordering them to cover themselves with their targets, and march on the a.s.sailants, instructing them to break the arrows shot at them, noting that the savages had but a small store.

"At the same time he took the piece which had so unhappily missed fire, aimed at the Indian who had killed the gunner, and who was the man who had begun the fray, and shot him in the belly. An arrow wound, however severe, the savage would have borne without betraying any indication of pain; but his cries, upon being thus wounded, were so loud and hideous, that his companions were terrified and fled, though many were then hastening to their a.s.sistance. Drake did not pursue them, but hastened to convey Winter to the s.h.i.+p for speedy help; no help, however, availed, and he died on the second day. The gunner's body, which had been left on sh.o.r.e, was sent for the next day; the savages, meantime, had stripped it, as if for the sake of curiously inspecting it; the clothes they had laid under the head, and stuck an English arrow in the right eye for mockery. Both bodies were buried in a little island in the harbour."(140) No farther attempt was made to injure the English, who remained two months in the harbour, but friendly relations were not established. A more serious event was to follow.

One Master Doughtie was suspected and accused of something worse than ordinary mutiny or insubordination. It is affirmed in a history of the voyage published under the name of Drake's nephew, that Doughtie had embarked on the expedition for the distinct purpose of overthrowing it for his own aggrandis.e.m.e.nt, to accomplish which he intended to raise a mutiny, and murder the admiral and his most attached followers. Further, it is stated, that Drake was informed of this before he left Plymouth; but that he would not credit "that a person whom he so dearly loved would conceive such evil purposes against him." Doughtie had been put in possession of the Portuguese prize, but had been removed on a charge of peculation, and it is likely that "resentment, whether for the wrongful charge, or the rightful removal, might be rankling in him;" at all events, his later conduct, and mutinous words, left no alternative to Drake but to examine him before a properly const.i.tuted court, and he seems to have most reluctantly gone even to this length.(141) He was "found guilty by twelve men after the English manner, and suffered accordingly." "The most indifferent persons in the fleet," says Southey, "were of opinion that he had acted seditiously, and that Drake cut him off because of his emulous designs. The question is, how far those designs extended? He could not aspire to the credit of the voyage without devising how to obtain for himself some more conspicuous station in it than that of a gentleman volunteer; if he regarded Drake as a rival, he must have hoped to supplant, or at least to vie with him; and in no other way could he have vied with him but by making off with one of the s.h.i.+ps, and trying his own fortune" (which was afterwards actually accomplished by others). Doughtie was condemned to death. "And he," says a writer, quoted by Hakluyt, "seeing no remedy but patience for himself, desired before his death to receive the communion; which he did at the hands of Master Fletcher, our minister, and our general himself accompanied him in that holy action; which being done, and the place of execution made ready, he, having embraced our general, and taken his leave of all the company, with prayer for the queen's majesty and our realm, in quiet sort laid his head to the block, where he ended his life." One account says that after partaking of the communion, Drake and Doughtie dined at the same table together, "as cheerfully, in sobriety, as ever in their lives they had done; and taking their leave by drinking to each other, as if some short journey only had been in hand." A provost marshal had made all things ready, and after drinking this funereal stirrup-cup, Doughtie went to the block. Drake subsequently addressed the whole company, exhorting them to unity and subordination, asking them to prepare reverently for a special celebration of the holy communion on the following Sunday.

And now, having broken up the Portuguese prize on account of its unseaworthiness, and rechristened his own s.h.i.+p, the _Pelican_, into the _Golden Hinde_, Drake entered the Straits now named after Magellan, though that navigator termed them the Patagonian Straits, because he had found the natives wearing clumsy shoes or sandals: _patagon_ signifying in Portuguese a large, ill-shaped foot. The land surrounding the straits is high and mountainous, and the water generally deep close to the cliffs.

"We found the strait," says the first narrator, "to have many turnings, and as it were, shuttings up, as if there were no pa.s.sage at all." Drake pa.s.sed through the tortuous strait in seventeen days. Clift, one of the historians of the expedition, whose narrative is preserved in Hakluyt's collection of "Voyages," says of the penguins there, three thousand of which were killed in less than a day, "We victualled ourselves with a kind of fowl which is plentiful on that isle (St. George's in the Straits), and whose flesh is not unlike a fat goose here in England. They have no wings, but short pinions, which serve their turn in swimming; their colour is somewhat black, mixed with white spots under their belly, and about their necks. They wall so upright that, afar off, a man would take them to be little children. If a man approach anything near them, they run into holes in the ground (which be not very deep) whereof the island is full, so that to take them we had staves with hooks fast to the end, wherewith some of our men pulled them out, and others being ready with cudgels did knock them on the head, for they bite so cruelly with their crooked bills, that none of us were able to handle them alive."

Drake's vessels, separated by a gale, were driven hither and thither. One of them, the _Marigold_, must have foundered, as she was never again heard of. The two remaining s.h.i.+ps sought shelter in a dangerous rocky bay, from which the _Golden Hinde_ was driven to sea, her cable having parted. The other vessel, under Captain Winter's command, regained the straits, and "anchoring there in an open bay, made great fires on the sh.o.r.e, that if Drake should put into the strait also, he might discover them." Winter proceeded later up the straits, and anch.o.r.ed in a sound, which he named the Port of Health, because his men, who had been "very sick with long watching, wet, cold, and evil diet," soon recovered on the nouris.h.i.+ng sh.e.l.l-fish found there. He, after waiting some time, and despairing of regaining Drake's company, gave over the voyage, and set sail for England, "where he arrived with the reproach of having abandoned his commander."

Drake was now reduced to his own vessel, the _Golden Hinde_, which was obliged to seek shelter on the coast of Terra del Fuego. The winds again forced him from his anchorage, and his shallop, with eight men on board, and provisions for only one day, was separated from him. The fate of these poor fellows was tragical. They regained the straits, where they caught and salted a quant.i.ty of penguins, and then coasted up South America to the Plata. Six of them landed, and while searching for food in the forests, encountered a party of Indians, who wounded all of them with their arrows, and secured four, pursuing the others to the boat. These latter reached the two men in charge, but before they could put off, all were wounded by the natives. They, however, succeeded in reaching an island some distance from the mainland, where two of them died from the injuries received, and the boat was wrecked and beaten to pieces on the rocks. The remaining two stopped on the island eight weeks, living on sh.e.l.l-fish and a fruit resembling an orange, but could find no water. They at length ventured to the mainland on a large plank some ten feet in length, which they propelled with paddles; the pa.s.sage occupied three days. "On coming to land," says Carter, the only survivor, "we found a rivulet of sweet water; when William Pitcher, my only comfort and companion (although I endeavoured to dissuade him) overdrank himself, and to my unspeakable grief, died within half an hour." Carter himself fell into the hands of some Indians, who took pity on him, and conducted him to a Portuguese settlement. Nine years elapsed before he was able to regain his own country.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIR F. DRAKE.]

Meantime Drake was driven so far to the southward, that at length he "fell in with the uttermost part of the land towards the South Pole," or in other words, reached Cape Horn. The storm had lasted with little intermission for over seven weeks. "Drake went ash.o.r.e, and, sailor-like, leaning over a promontory, as far as he safely could, came back and told his people how that he had been farther south than any man living." At last the wind was favourable, and he coasted northward, along the American sh.o.r.e, till he reached the island of Mocha, where the Indians appeared at first to be friendly, and brought off potatoes, roots, and two fat sheep, for which they received recompense. But on landing for the purpose of watering the s.h.i.+p, the natives shot at them, wounding every one of twelve men, and Drake himself under the right eye. In this case no attempt was made at retaliation. The Indians doubtless took them for Spaniards. Drake, continuing his voyage, fell in with an Indian fis.h.i.+ng from a canoe, who was made to understand their want of provisions, and was sent ash.o.r.e with presents. This brought off a number of natives with supplies of poultry, hogs, and fruits, while Felipe, one of them who spoke Spanish, informed Drake that they had pa.s.sed the port of Valparaiso-then an insignificant settlement of less than a dozen Spanish families-where a large s.h.i.+p was lying at anchor. Felipe piloted them thither, and they soon discovered the s.h.i.+p, with a meagre crew of eight Spaniards and four negroes on board. So little was an enemy expected, that as Drake's vessel approached, it was saluted with beat of drum, and a jar of Chili wine made ready for an hospitable reception. But Drake and his men wanted something more than b.u.mpers of wine, and soon boarded the vessel, one of the men striking down the first Spaniard he met, and exclaiming, "_Abaxo perro!_" (Down, dog!) Another of the crew leaped overboard and swam ash.o.r.e to give an alarm to the town; the rest were soon secured under hatches. The inhabitants of the town fled incontinently, but the spoils secured there were small. The chapel was rifled of its altar-cloth, silver chalice, and other articles, which were handed over to Drake's chaplain; quant.i.ties of wine and other provisions were secured. The crew of the prize, with the exception of the Greek pilot, were set ash.o.r.e, and Drake left with his new acquisition, which when examined at sea was found to contain one thousand seven hundred and seventy jars of wine, sixty thousand pieces of gold, some pearls, and other articles of value. The Indian who had guided them to this piece of good fortune, was liberally rewarded.

At a place called Tarapaca, whither they had gone to water the s.h.i.+p, they found a Spaniard lying asleep, and keeping very bad guard over thirteen bars of silver, worth four thousand ducats. Drake determined to take care of it for him. At a short distance off, they encountered another, who, with an Indian, was driving eight llamas, each carrying a hundredweight of silver. It is needless to say that the llamas were conveyed on board, _plus_ the silver. At Arica two s.h.i.+ps were found at anchor, one of which yielded forty bars of silver, and the other a considerable quant.i.ty of wine. But these were as trifles to that which followed.

Drake had pursued a leisurely course, but in spite of this fact, no intelligence of the pirate's approach had reached Lima. The term "pirate"

is used advisedly, for whatever the gain to geographical science afforded by his voyages, their chief aim was spoil, and it mattered nothing whether England was at war with the victims of his prowess or not. A few leagues off Callao harbour (the port of Lima), Drake boarded a Portuguese vessel: the owner agreed to pilot him into Callao, provided his cargo was left him. They arrived at nightfall, "sailing in between all the s.h.i.+ps that lay there, seventeen in number," most of which had their sails ash.o.r.e, for the Spaniards had had, as yet, no enemies in those waters. They rifled the s.h.i.+ps of their valuables, and these included a large quant.i.ty of silk and linen, and one chest of silver reales. But they heard that which made their ears tingle, and inflamed their desires for gain; the _Cacafuego_, a great treasure s.h.i.+p, had sailed only a few days before for a neighbouring port. Drake immediately cut the cables of the s.h.i.+ps at Lima, and let them drive, that they might not pursue him. "While he was thus employed, a vessel from Panama, laden with Spanish goods, entered the harbour, and anch.o.r.ed close by the _Golden Hinde_. A boat came from the sh.o.r.e to search it; but because it was night, they deferred the search till the morning, and only sent a man on board. The boat then came alongside Drake's vessel, and asked what s.h.i.+p it was. A Spanish prisoner answered, as he was ordered, that it was Miguel Angel's, from Chili. Satisfied with this, the officer in the boat sent a man to board it; but he, when on the point of entering, perceived one of the large guns, and retreated in the boat with all celerity, because no vessels that frequented that port, and navigated those seas, carried great shot." The crew of the Panama s.h.i.+p took alarm when they observed the rapid flight of the man, and put to sea. The _Hinde_ followed her, and the Spanish crew abandoned their s.h.i.+p, and escaped ash.o.r.e in their boat. The alarm had now been given in Lima, and the viceroy dispatched two vessels in pursuit, each having two hundred men on board, but no artillery. The Spanish commander, however, showed no desire to tackle Drake, and he escaped, taking shortly afterwards three tolerable prizes, one of which yielded forty bars of silver, eighty pounds' weight of gold, and a golden crucifix, "set with goodly great emeralds." One of the men having secreted two plates of gold from this prize, and denied the theft, was immediately hanged.

But it was the _Cacafuego_ that Drake wanted, and after crossing the line he promised to give his own chain of gold to the first man who should descry her. On St. David's Day, the coveted prize was discovered from the top, by a namesake of the commander, one John Drake. All sail was set, but an easy capture was before them; for the Spanish captain, not dreaming of enemies in those lat.i.tudes, slackened sail, in order to find out what s.h.i.+p she was. When they had approached near enough, Drake hailed them to strike, which being refused, "with a great piece he shot her mast overboard, and having wounded the master with an arrow, the s.h.i.+p yielded."

Having taken possession, the vessels sailed in company far out to sea, when they stopped and lay by. She proved a prize indeed: gold and silver in coin and bars, jewels and precious stones amounting to three hundred and sixty thousand pieces of gold were taken from her. The silver alone amounted to a value in our money of 212,000. It is stated that Drake called for the register of the treasure on board, and wrote a receipt for the amount! The s.h.i.+p was dismissed, and Drake gave the captain a letter of safe conduct, in case she should fall in with his consorts. This, as we know, was impossible.

Drake's plain course now was to make his way home, and he wisely argued that it would be unsafe to attempt the voyage by the route he had come, as the Spaniards would surely attack him in full force, the whole coast of Chili and Peru being aroused to action. He conceived the bold notion of rounding North America: in other words, he proposed to make that pa.s.sage which has been the great dream of Arctic explorers, and which has only, as we shall hereafter see, been once made (and that in a very partial sense) by Franklin and M'Clure. His company agreed to his views: firstly to refit, water, and provision the s.h.i.+p in some convenient bay; "thenceforward," says one of them, "to hasten on our intended journey for the discovery of the said pa.s.sage, through which we might with joy return to our longed homes." They sailed for Nicaragua, near the mainland of which they found a small island with a suitable bay, where they obtained wood, water, and fish. A small prize was taken while there, having on board a cargo of sarsaparilla, which they disdained, and b.u.t.ter and honey, which they appropriated. Drake now sailed northward, and most undoubtedly reached the grand bay of San Francisco. Californian authorities concede this. The "Drake's Bay" of the charts is an open roadstead, and does not answer the descriptions given of the great navigator's visit. He had peaceful interviews with the natives, and took possession, in the fas.h.i.+on of those days, of the country, setting up a monument of the queen's "right and t.i.tle to the same, namely, a plate nailed upon a fair great post, whereupon was engraven her Majesty's name, the day and year of our arrival there, ... together with her highness's picture and arms in a piece of _sixpence_ (!) of current English money under the plate, where under also was written the name of our general." History does not tell us the fate of that sixpence, but the t.i.tle, New Albion, bestowed on the country by Drake, remained on the maps half way into this century, or just before the discovery of gold in California. The natives regarded the English with superst.i.tious awe, and could not be prevented from offering them sacrifices, "with lamentable weeping, scratching, and tearing the flesh from their faces with their nails, whereof issued abundance of blood."

"But we used," says the narrator quoted by Hakluyt, "signs to them of disliking this, and stayed their hands from force, and directed them upwards to the living G.o.d, whom only they ought to wors.h.i.+p." After remaining there five weeks, Drake took his departure, and the natives watched the s.h.i.+ps sadly as they sailed, and kept fires burning on the hill-tops as long as they continued in sight. "Good store of seals and birds" were taken from the Farralone Islands. Many an egg has the writer eaten, laid by the descendants of those very birds: they are supplied in quant.i.ties to the San Francisco markets. Drake's attempt at the northern pa.s.sage was now abandoned.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DRAKE'S ARRIVAL AT TERNATE.]