The Voyage of Drake. 15 



nobles and queen, the queen obtaining the largest share. Sir 

 Francis Drake, one of the boldest and most successful of these 

 cruisers, on One trip overhauled and plundered over 200 vessels 

 and pillaged towns and cities. Several times Philip II of Spain 

 demanded his surrender as a pirate, for during all this time the 

 two nations were at peace ; the queen hesitated and delayed, 

 but never yielded to the demand. There and then the founda- 

 tion was laid of the navy and seamen of Great Britain. 



In 1577 Drake was summoned to a private audience with the 

 queen, at which it was agreed that a fleet of five ships should be 

 equipped, nominally for the Mediterranean but really for the 

 South seas, as the Pacific ocean was then called, to capture the 

 great galleons, the treasure ships of Spain ; and that the queen 

 should contribute 1,000 crowns to the cost. On August 20, 1578, 

 Drake, with this fleet, reached the straits of Magellan and sailed 

 through them in two weeks into the Pacific. There they encoun- 

 tered long and terrific storms, which carried them far south 

 of the straits. One of Drake's vessels had been broken up for 

 fire-wood, another swamped in his sight, and the third deserted 

 and returned to England. 



On the fifty-third day of the tempest, Drake found himself 

 south of cape Horn, where no other vessel had ever sailed. 

 Here, according to all the maps, was the great Austral continent, 

 which extended an unbroken land area from the straits of Ma- 

 gellan to the antarctic pole ; but he found only water — before 

 him rolled the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific in one 

 great flood. He walked to the end of the farthest island, lay 

 down, and with his arms embraced the southernmost ground of 

 the new world. Then the weather changed and all went well. 

 He sailed along the coast of South America, captured Valparaiso, 

 took all the treasures he could find, refitted and provisioned his 

 ships, and sailed northward, taking treasure ships and plunder- 

 ing cities until his vessel could carry no more, although it Avas 

 ballasted with silver and gold. 



Instead of returning as he had come, Drake determined to seek 

 and find the fabulous strait so long sought by Columbus, and 

 by that channel to find his way home. He followed the coast 

 from Central America northward to the latitude of Vancouver 

 and took possession of the land for England, calling it New 

 Albion ; then, finding the coast still trending to the northwest- 

 ward and the weather growing more and more severe, he gave 

 up his attempt, landed at the harbor of San Francisco, refitted 



