THE VOYAGERS 



men, all that were available of his original company; 

 but by an accident the mule-trains were alarmed and 

 the attempt failed. Nothing disheartened, he joined 

 hands with a Huguenot privateer and, aided by Maroon 

 scouts, succeeded, near the very gates of Nombre de 

 Dios, in waylaying and rifling the convoy. In order 

 to fit out pinnaces for river-work he had dismantled 

 his ships ; his homeward voyage was made in new 

 Spanish frigates, of the latest design, captured by his 

 pinnaces. During his abode in these parts he had dis- j year's 

 organised the whole coasting trade of the Spanish doings. 

 Main; he had taken the spoils of many vessels, had 

 boldly entered more than one town, had diverted the 

 steady flow of the Peruvian gold, and, as an earnest 

 of what was yet to come, had seen the Pacific Ocean 

 and vowed that with the help of God he would sail 

 on that sea in an English ship. He arrived in 

 Plymouth, after an absence of about fifteen months, 

 in August, 1573. 



It is to be regretted that these early exploits of Hakluyt and 

 Drake are barely recorded in Hakluyt's compilation, 

 and rest on later authority,^ eked out with Spanish 

 State papers. Hakluyt, who was willing enough to 

 memorise deeds of war, shows a certain tenderness of 

 conscience with regard to sheer piracy. He was 

 bound, moreover, to pay heed to the possible 

 international bearings of his publication. In his 

 1589 preface To the Favourable Reader he apologises 

 for his omission of the Voyage of Circumnavigation, 

 and explains it on the ground that a collection of 

 Drake's voyages was being made by another hand. He 



'^ Sir Francis Drake Revived , . . by Philip Nichols, Preacher. (1626). 



53 



