Book I. 
Jbe VOYAGES of 
14 
in like manner. Inch as fail Weft ward round the Globe, 
lofe a Day ; which alters their Account, both with refpeft 
to the Day of the Month, and of the Week. Magellan’s 
Crew could not avoid taking notice of fo ft range a Cir- 
cumftance, though they knew not how to account for it ; 
and yet modern Geographers explain it very naturally, and 
very precifely : From whence it is evident, how much 
Practice is improved by Learning and Study ; for this 
intirely depends upon the diurnal Circumvolution of the 
Sun, which may begin at any meridian Circle, and fo go 
round till it comes back to the fame Meridian. This 
being once conceived, the Whole becomes immediately 
plain •, fince fuch as fail Eaftward, advance to a Meridian 
which the Sun reaches fooner than he did that they left, 
and therefore they begin to count their Day fo much the 
fooner : For Example, if they fail Fifteen Degrees, they 
will begin the Day an Hour fooner, and this Anticipation 
ftill increafes as they go Eaftward ; and, being once come 
to the oppoftte Meridian, their Day begins Twelve Hours 
fooner ; and, having gone round, they begin the Day 
T wenty-four Hours fooner than in the Place they came to, 
where it is Mid-day to both, when the Sun is in the South. 
And fo they that go Weft, will have the Sun later in their 
Meridian by a whole Hour, if they fail Fifteen Degrees to 
the Weft, which poftpones the Day an Hour for every 
Fifteeh Degrees, which comes to Twenty-four Hours in 
failing round. Since we are upon this Subjeft, it may not 
be amifs to obferve, that they may differ a whole Day in 
fome Places very near each other : For Xnftance, let us 
fuppofe a Spanijh Ship to arrive at the Philippine Hands, 
and, at the fame time, a Portuguefe Ship at Macao , a 
Port of China , poffeffed by that Nation, and under the 
fame Meridian as fome of the Philippine Elands : It may fo 
happen, that the Portuguefe may keep E after, while, with 
the Spaniards, it is ftill Lento We may eafily apprehend 
this, if we confider, that the Portuguefe , failing Eafh, 
arrive a Day fooner at Macao, than the Spaniards , who 
came Weft, arrive at the Philippines ; and thus, under the 
fame Meridian, it is very poffible they may differ a Day in 
their Reckoning. 
27. Another Circumftance that ferved to heighten the 
Reputation of Magellan , was the Difficulty that other able 
Seamen met with in following his Courfe. The firft that 
made that Attempt, were Two Genoefe Ships in 1526. but 
without Effeft. Ferdinand Cortes, the Conqueror of New 
Spain, fent Two Ships, and 400 Men, in 1528. to dif- 
cover the Way to the Moluccas through the Streights, but 
without Succefs. Sehaftian Cabot tried it alfo by Commiffion 
from Lon Emanuel King of Portugal, but could not do it. 
Americas Vefpufius was fent by the fame Prince, but could 
neither find the Streights, nor the River of La Plata . 
Simon Alcafara, a Spaniard, attempted it likewife with 
feveral Ships, and 144 Men; but came back without per- 
forming it, his Men having mutinied. All thefe feveral 
Attempts, as well by the Spaniards as other Nations, were 
made before the Expedition of Sir Francis Drake : An Ac- 
count of which is to be our next Subjedt. 
SECTION IV. 
fhe Voyage of Sir Francis Drake round the Globe, 
1. The Family and Character of Sir Francis Drake. 2. His Two firft Expeditions againfl the Spaniards, 
and Refolution to fail through the South Seas. 3. His Strength when he failed, A. D. 1 577. on this Ex- 
pedition. 4. His Adventures in the Cape de Verd Iftands. 5. Defcription of the Ifiands of St. lago, 
and Del Fogo. 6. Their Arrival on the Coaft of Brafil. 7. Trade with the Inhabitants of the Country at 
the Mouth of the River La Plata. 8 . Continue their Voyage to the Streights of Magellan. 9. Misfor- 
tune at the Ifiand of Mocha. 10. Plunder the Town of St. Iago, on the Coafl of Chili. 1 1. Other rich 
Prizes taken on that Coaft. 12. A rich Spanifh V eft el called the Cacafuego taken , and Guatulco plun- 
dered. 13. They fail Northward to the Coaft of California. 14. Defcription of that Country, a?id its 
Inhabitants. 17. Their Courfe to the Moluccas, and Tranfacltons there. 16. Defcription of feveral 
Iftands. 17. Account of Java Major, and their long Run to Sierra Leona. 18. Departure from thence, 
and fafe Arrival in England in Sept. 16. 1780. 19. Clamours raifed againft him on his Return . 
20. Queen Elizabeth dines on board his Ship at Deptford, and confers on him the Honour of Knighthood. 
21. Recapitulation of Things moft obfervable in this Voyage of Sir Francis Drake. 22. Aconcife Ac- 
count of his Actions to his Death. 23. The Conferences of his failing round the Globe to Us, the Spa- 
niards, and other Nations. 
j YT has been obferved of moft of the Heroes of An- prentice to the Mafter of a fmall Bark trading to France 
* I tiquity, that they were of a dubious Defcent ; which and Zeland *, who, having a great Affection for the Lad, 
JL gave an Opportunity of frequently fathering them and being himfelf a Batchelor, when he came to die, left him 
upon their Gods : And in this, and well as in many other his Bark. At the Age of Eighteen Mr. Drake was made 
refpeds. Sir Francis Drake refembled thefe ancient Heroes. Purfer of a Ship, which went to the Bay of Bifcay ; and 
The learned Camden tells us, that he was the Son of a at Twenty he made a Voyage to the Coaft of Gainey. In 
Clergyman, who, in the Time of Queen Elizabeth, be- all thefe Voyages he diftinguilhed himfelf by his extraor- 
came Vicar of Upnore, on the River Medway h But the dinary Courage, and by a Sagacity very unufual in Perfons 
induftrious John Stowe fays, that he was the eldeft of Twelve of his Age. His laudable Defire of Glory induced him 
Brethren, all Children of Edmund Drake , of Taviftock, in to venture all that he had in the World in a Voyage to the 
the County of Devon, Mariner ; and that he was born in Weft Indies in the Year 1565. but in this he had no Sue- 
the Year 1540 ra . The only way to reconcile thefe Ac- cefs. In 1567. he ferved under his Kinfman Sir John 
counts, both of which I believe are true, is to fuppofe that Hawkins, in the Bay of Mexico but was ftill unfortunate, 
Edmund Drake , being a zealous Proteftant, buffering returning from thence rich in point of Fame, but, as to his 
much for his Religion in the Days of Henry VIII. and, Circumftances, in a manner undone. Thefe Difappoint- 
having likewife a competent Share of Learning, was or- ments ferved only to heighten his Refentment ; and there- 
darned Deacon in the Days of Queen Elizabeth, and fet- fore he made Two Voyages more into thofe Parts, the firft 
tied at Upnore . As for our Hero, he received the Chriftian in 1570. with Two Ships, the Dragon and Swan, the fe- 
Name of Francis , from his Godfather Francis Earl of cond in 1571. in the Swan alone, purely for the fake of 
Bedford : But it does not appear, that he obtained any great Information, and that he might qualify himfelf for under- 
Benefit from that Nobleman’s Patronage in his Youth ; for taking fomething of Importance in thofe Parts, which, by 
I find, that, as foon as he was able, he was fent to Sea, Ap- his Courage and Perfeverance, he brought to bear n . 
I j n hi s Annals of Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1595, where he fays, that he had thefe Particulars from Sir Francis Drake's own Mouth. —~ 
jn In his Hiftory of England, p. 587. where he fays nothing of Mr. Edmund Drake's being Vicar of Upnore, and yet fhews abundance of Care in 
collecting the Dates and Fads. .. n This Account has been compared with all hitherto published, particularly Mr. Fletcher's , who was 
Chaplain during the Voyage. ' ^ 
