When Davis returned from his last Arctic voyage, England was threatened by the Spanish Armada and there could be no thought but for her defence. Our Arctic navigator was also an expert pilot of the Channel, and had constructed a chart with soundings, mainly from his own surveys. His ability and zeal were well known, but he could only obtain the command of a small vessel of 20 tons called the _Black Dog_ to act as tender to the Lord Admiral. She served throughout the war. Davis afterwards commanded the _Drake_ to unite with the squadron of the Earl of Cumberland and prey upon Spanish commerce, joining him between Flores and Fayal in the Azores. These war services had the satisfactory result of enriching Davis with prize money and enabling him to undertake an expedition having geographical discovery for its main object. The admirable character of the subsequent services of John Davis was due in great measure to the influence of his Arctic training and experience, but the plan of the present work makes it impossible to recount those services in detail. In joining the second expedition of Cavendish to the South Sea, the object of Davis was to discover the passage thither by the north, entering on the west side. In an evil hour Davis consented to unite forces with Cavendish, and commanded the _Desire_ of 120 tons, contributing a large sum to the expedition. The terrible story of the dangers and sufferings in the Straits of Magellan and how through them all Davis diligently surveyed and prepared sailing directions, and the disastrous voyage home, are all graphically described by his friend Janes. This failure of the venture on which all the hopes of Davis had been set was heart-breaking. All his money was lost. To add to his affliction he returned to Sandridge only to find that his wife had deserted him, and that his three little boys were motherless.