Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 1: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
History
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 1: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
Biography
The storm at length ceased, and the lonely Pelican (which Drake,
however, had renamed the Golden Hind) ran along the coast of Lima and
Peru, reaping a golden harvest from the careless security of those who
never thought to see an enemy on that side of the globe. There is
something rather revolting, but very indicative of the temper of the
age, in the constant reference to the guidance and protection of God,
mixed with a quiet jocularity with which "Master Francis Fletcher,
preacher in this employment," from whose notes the "World
Encompassed," which is a narrative of this voyage, was compiled,
speaks of acts very little different from highway robbery, such as
would now be held disgraceful in open war; as for instance, on
meeting a Spaniard driving eight llamas, each laden with one hundred
pounds' weight of silver, "they offered their service without
entreaty, and became drovers, not enduring to see a gentleman Spaniard
turned carrier." Enriched by the most valuable spoil, jewels, gold,
and silver, Drake steered to the northward, hoping to discover a
homeward passage in that quarter. In the forty-eighth degree of north
latitude, in what is now the State of Washington, he was stopped by
the cold; and, determining to traverse the Pacific, he landed,
careened his ship, and, in the queen's name, took possession of the
country, which he named New Albion, September 29, 1579; he sailed
again, and reached the Molucca Islands November 4th. In his passage
thence to the island of Celebes, he incurred the most imminent danger
of the whole voyage. The ship struck, as they were sailing before a
fair wind, on a reef of rocks, so precipitous that it was impossible
to lay out an anchor to heave her off. They stuck fast in this most
hazardous situation for eight hours. At the end of that time the wind
shifted, and the ship, lightened of part of her guns and cargo, reeled
off into deep water, without serious injury. Had the sea risen, she
must have been wrecked. This was Drake's last mishap. He reached
Plymouth in the autumn of 1580, after nearly three years' absence.
Accounts differ as to the exact date of his arrival.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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