42 
future action. On his fourth voyage in 1572, Drake sacked 
Nombre di Dios and, crossing the narrow peninsula near the 
site of the present canal, he gained his first view of the Pacific 
which he vowed one day to navigate in an English ship. 
After a short period of service in Ireland, Drake, began in 
the year 1577, his great voyage which resulted in the circum- 
navigation of the globe. In a most interesting manner 
Mr. Lancaster gave a detailed account of the events which 
culminated in the execution of Thomas Doughty for mutiny 
and much new information concerning this striking episode 
had been obtained by the lecturer from the recently discovered 
log-book of the Portugese pilot of the “ Golden Hind.” 
Drake sailed via the Straits of Magellan up the western coast 
of America as far as Vancouver, sacking numerous towns on 
his way and sinking treasure ships after having first appro- 
priated their cargoes. Unpropitious weather drove him 
homewards by the East Indies and round the Cape of Good 
Hope ; after having been absent from England nearly three 
years he sailed into harbour with a rich haul of plunder 
on board, the value of which has been computed to be no 
less than eight hundred thousand pounds. 
The lecturer in conclusion quoted the well-known saying 
of Sir Walter Raleigh : — “ Whosoever commands the sea, 
commands the trade ; and whosoever commands the trade 
of the world, commands the riches of the world and conse- 
quently the world itself ” — and contended that the example 
of the doughty deeds of Drake had shone like a beacon light 
through the ages and had led our sailors to fulfil the destiny 
to which nature seems to have called the British race. Emula- 
tion of such deeds has caused to be enshrined in our island 
story some of the most heroic pages in the history of man. 
-a- 
