RETURNING WITH BOOTY. 



281 



all to the tuition of Him that with his blood hath redeemed us, 

 and am in good hope that we shall be in no more trouble, but 

 that he will help us in adversity; desiring you, for the passion 

 of Christ, if you fall into any danger, that you will not despair 

 of God's mercy, for he will defend you and preserve you from 

 all peril, and bring us to our desired haven : to whom be all 

 honor, and praise, and glory, forever and ever. Amen. 



"Your sorrowful captain, 



"Whose heart is heavy for you, 



"Francis D'rake." 

 Drake now considered his object in these seas as accomplished: 

 the indignities offered by the Spaniards to his queen and country 

 were avenged, and their commerce was well-nigh annihilated. 

 He next examined the various plans of returning home with his 

 booty. He thought it impossible to go back by the way he had 

 come: the whole coast of Chili and Peru was in alarm, and ships 

 had undoubtedly been despatched to intercept him. Moreover, the 

 season (for it was now February, 1579) was unfavorable either 

 for passing the Strait or for doubling the Cape. He might have 

 followed the course of Magellan, and thus have circumnavigated 

 the globe ; but this seemed but a paltry imitation to his daring 

 and inventive mind. He conceived the idea of discovering a 

 Northwest Passage and returning to England by the North Polar 

 Sea. He therefore sailed towards the north, making the coast of 

 Nicaragua in the middle of March. Here he captured a small 

 craft laden with sarsaparilla, butter, and honey. A neighboring 

 island supplied him with wood and fish : alligators and monkeys 

 also abounded there. A vessel from Manilla, which he captured 

 while her crew were asleep, contributed to his stores large quan- 

 tities of muslin, Chinese porcelain, and silks. A negro taken 

 from this vessel piloted him into the haven of Guatulco, on the 

 coast of Mexico, inhabited by seventeen Spaniards and a few 

 negroes. Drake ransacked this place, but boasts of no other 

 booty than a bushel of silver coins and a gold chain that Thomas 



