Menéndez y Pelayo, referring to the plan of Castellanos’ work, affirmed that “it is not really a poem, not even a chronicle, but a vast collection of rhymed chronicles, in which one may distinguish as many poems as there are personages; but whoever has the time and the courage to enter into this forest, will not count his severe labour a loss when he comes upon episodes such as the shipwreck of Licenciado Zuazo, or the dreadful story of Lope de Aguirre (_Elegía xiv_) or the charming description of the island of Margarita.”[88] The poetic quality of the several parts of the work differs greatly, the first part being superior to the rest. The poetic fire of the author burned lower with his advancing years. [Sidenote: _Discurso del Capitán Francisco Draque_] The last part of Castellanos’ writings to appear in print is the so-called _Discurso del Capitán Francisco Draque_, cut out of the third part of _Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias_, and now, in 1921, published at Madrid by the Instituto Valencia de Don Juan. This third part of the _Elegías_ deals with the history of Cartagena, and the pages extracted from the original manuscript contain a narrative of the events associated with Drake’s capture of the city in 1586. They present as an introduction to the main theme some account of Drake’s earlier adventures, particularly of his voyage around the world, 1577-1580. The motive for extracting these pages and making of them a separate document, and the complete history of its vicissitudes are unknown. Perhaps the censor was solicitous to keep from the public an attractive account of an enemy who had wrought such disaster in the Spanish Colonies. But whatever may have been the cause of its long obscurity, its final public appearance in two hundred and twenty-seven clean pages is a source of great satisfaction to persons interested in the early literature of Spanish America. CHAPTER VIII LA ARGENTINA [Sidenote: Barco Centenera] [Sidenote: Voyage to America]