II 



D R A K K. 



Dnkr. another of S3 tons burden, manned with no more than 

 '' 7;j ,,,,-n and boys. With this incon-iderable force lie 

 took first tin- city "f N ombre dc Din-, and next that of 

 VeraCru/.by -t'inn, in neither of w hirli did he findinucli 

 booty, und in the attack of tin- former received a very 

 severe wound ; but as he was retiring to his vessels, lie 

 met unexpectedly with .50 mules laden with silver, of 

 which his people carried off as much a they were able 

 to convey. In these expeditions he was effectually as- 

 sisted by die Simerons, an Indian nation who were en- 

 gaged in perpetual hostilities with the Spaniard-; and, 

 having received from their chief four large wedges of 

 gold, in retuni for a cutlass, with which lie had pre- 

 sented him, he generously tlirew tlieni into the common 

 Stock. Having embarked his men, and the wealth 

 which he had thus obtained to a considerable amount, 

 he arrived safely in England on thejlth of Augu-t l;">73. 

 After his return, he fitted out three frigates at his own 

 expeiice, with which he served .is a volunteer on the 

 coast of Ireland, under Walter Earl of Essex, the father 

 of Queen Elizabeth's favourite; and thus procure. 1, 

 through the influence of Sir Christopher Hatton, the 

 countenance of the court. He had long cherished an 

 ardent wish, though he prudently concealed his plan, 

 to conduct an expedition through the Straits of Magel- 

 lan into the South Sea : and, having obtained the 

 Queen's permission, he set sail on the l.~>th of Novem- 

 ber 1577 with a small fleet of five vessels, of which the 

 largest was only 100 and the smalle-t l.> tons burden, 

 and the whole of which carried only I64> men. In hi- 

 course he touched at Mogadore on the coast of Barbary, 

 and opened a friendly intercourse with the Moors; pass- 

 ed Cape Blanco, sweeping the sea of all the Spanish ves- 

 sels that came in his way, and anchored off the Cape de 

 Verd Inlands in the month of January ; but the Portu- 

 guese having both refused him hen- a supply of provi- 

 sions, and tired upon his ships from St Jago, he seized 

 upon one of their vessels laden with wine, from which 

 he took the pilot Nuno de Sylva, whose knowledge of 

 the American coast proved of the most essential service 

 to him in his future voyage. On the />th of April, he 

 made die coast of Brazil, where he broke up two of his 

 ships, after having taken out the provisions which they 

 carried. On the 20th of May, hr entered the port of St 

 Julian's, where he produced his commission, investing 

 him with the power of life and death ; and proceeded 

 to try by a court marshall his second in command, Mr 

 John Doughty, upon a charge of mutiny and <i 

 against his life. Doughty having been convicted, part- 

 ly upon his own confession, and condemned to suffer a 

 capital punishment, was required by Drake to make his 

 choice of one of the following terms, to be ordered to 

 instant execution, to be left on the adjoining continent, 

 or to be carried to England to stand the course of law. 

 The prisoner having chosen the first, and having recei- 

 ved uie sacrament along with his commander, whom he 

 also embraced previous to his execution, was beheaded 

 on the spot. This has been censured as the most un- 

 worthy act of this celebrated commander, and even as 

 having proceeded in part from private revenge ; but 

 though it no doubt demonstrates his deficiency in the 

 quality of mercy, it may, in some measure, be vindi- 

 cated by the consideration, that, on uch distant expe- 

 ditions the strictest discipline is essentially n<-c< ::r\ . 

 both for the success of the object, and the preservation 

 of all concerned. On the 2<)th of August he passed the 



- of Magellan : and having now only his ow 

 the Pelican, (to which in the South seas lie gave tin- 

 name of the Hind,) he continued his voyage along the 



coasts of Chili and Peru, capiui >ke. 



Spaniards, and frequently attacking their settlements on < ~"~ ~~ 

 Uie shore. He then proceeded along the western coast 

 of North America as far as the -Jsili 

 finding a passage to the Atlantic ; hi:! being disappoint- 

 ed in his plan, he landed upon Uie adjacent continent, 

 which lie named New Albion, ullil of which he took 

 possession in the name ot'( v >;.cc:i Elizabeth Knowing 

 that a return by the .- llan would expose 



him, by the latenos of tiie season, to dangerou -forms, 

 a- well a-; to be attacked at a g , the 



Spaniards, he boldly stretched aero- On .in, 



and, in less than six v. -.he Molue 



Touch ing at Celebes and Java, he doubled tin 1 C.n 

 Good Hope on the l.th of Ju>; teivl the har- 



Iwiir of Plymouth about the end of September I 

 ha\ ing completed the circumnavigation of the globe in 

 two \cars and ten months. The- his enter- 



prise, iuid the riches which he had acquired, excited 

 much discussion in England, and very cip>i..-lte opini- 

 on* were expressed on die merit Some 

 were disposed to rcg.-ird him as little better than a pi- 

 rate, and conceived that the approbation of h 

 ings by the government would be attended with fatal 

 consequences to the interests of commerce ; while othi 

 declared his successful undcrtak ing to be highly honour- 

 able to the maritime skill of his country, and Ms repri- 

 sals upon the Spaniards to be fully justified by their 

 own faithless practices. But in the month of April 

 1581, her majesty gave a public testimony of her appro- 

 bation of his conduct, by going on hoard his ship at 

 Deptford, and conferring upon him the honour of 

 knighthood. She also gave directions that his vessel 

 should be preserved as a monument of his own and his 

 country's naval reputation; and w hen at length it began to 

 dec-ay, a chair made of its planks w. a cu- 



to the university of Oxford. In 15S5, he 

 sent with a fleet of 20 sail to attack the Spanish settle- 

 ments in the West Indies ; and, in this expedition, he 

 took the cities of St J;igo, St Domingo, ( . and 



St Augustin. In 15S7, he was dispatched to Lisbon 

 with a large fleet, with which he proceeded to ( 

 and destroyed in the harlxmr more than 10,000 tons of 

 shipping, which were intended for the invasion of 

 England, and afterwards way-laid and captured a rich 

 Spanish Induman, die charts and papers of which sug- 

 gested die first idea of an India company in tlii^ coun- 

 try. In 1588, having been appointed \ice-admii-al un- 

 der Lord I loward of Efiingham, he acted a distinguish- 

 ed part in the attack and destruction of the- .-ir- 

 mada, and ]iarticularly made prize of a 1 ']>, 

 which yielded without the K to the ir. 

 terror of his name. The year follow IP -.1- 

 ed with the command of die fleet which to 

 re-store Don Antonio to the throne of Portugal; but 

 owing to n disairm-ment between him and Sir John 

 Morris who commanded the land forces, the enterpr 

 completely failed of success. He was still more unsuc- 

 -i'ul in 1594, when, in conjunction with Sir John 

 Hawkins, he proceeded upon a .second expedition 

 against the Spani-h .settlements in the West Inch' : ..'<! 

 by the \c-\ation which this disappointment produced, 

 he v. as thrown into a lingering fe\er, "I which he ili. d 

 near Nombre de Dios in the month of Juliuar; 

 in the .3 1st } ear of his age. In hi- per.-on. 

 Drake was of low stature, but well made, had a broad 

 open chest, a \cr\ round head, large cleni .ur 

 complexion, and n fre.-li, cheerful, engaging counte- 

 nance. He was thoroughly acquainted with nav igation 



