The Spanish fleet was now ready to sail, having taken on board the last load of its rich freight, and nothing was to be gained by remaining longer on the coast. Drake parted on good terms with his French allies, and after capturing a vessel[XXIII‑19] laden with provisions, fitted out his ships for their homeward voyage. The cimarrones were dismissed with suitable presents for themselves, and a profusion of silk and linen for their wives. Sail was then set; and on a Sabbath forenoon, the 9th of August 1573, the squadron cast anchor in Plymouth Sound. It was the hour of divine service, as the chroniclers tell us, when news of the arrival spread through the town; and in all the churches men and women abandoned their devotions and flocked to the shore to welcome their brave countrymen, who thus returned to their native land with so much gold and glory. * * * * * [Sidenote: COSTLY TREASURE.] Among those who accompanied Drake in his expedition to Tierra Firme in 1572 was one John Oxenham, who, three years later, planned a daring but, as the event proved, a disastrous raid on the Spanish mainland and went in search of the treasure-ships which frequented its southern coast. Landing on the Isthmus with only seventy men, he beached his vessel, covered her with boughs, buried his cannon in the ground, and guided by friendly cimarrones marched twelve leagues inland to the banks of a river flowing toward the south. Here a pinnace was built, large enough to contain the entire party, and dropping down unnoticed to the mouth of the stream Oxenham sailed for the Pearl Islands, which lay in the track of vessels conveying treasure from Lima to Panamá. Prizes were made of two vessels containing gold and silver to the value of nearly three hundred thousand pesos, and the adventurers now began their homeward journey. But on the very night of their departure information of the capture was sent to Panamá, and within two days a strong force started in pursuit. The treasure was recovered, the English were defeated, and their ship being taken, the survivors, some fifty in number, fled to the mountains, where they lived for a time among the cimarrones. Finally they were betrayed to the Spaniards and all put to death, with the exception of five boys who were sold into slavery. Thus ended the first piratical cruise attempted by Englishmen in the South Sea.[XXIII‑20] * * * * *