whereof we hoped to have had our choice. But the negro (in which nation is seldom or never found truth) meant nothing less: for that night he removed his camp and prisoners, so that we were fain to content us with those few which we had gotten ourselves.

Now had we obtained between four and five hundred negroes, wherewith we thought it somewhat reasonable to seek the coast of the West Indies; and there, for our negroes, and other our merchandise, we hoped to obtain whereof to countervail our charges with some gains. Whereunto we proceeded with all diligence, furnished our watering, took fuel, and departed the coast of Guinea on the 3d of February, continuing at the sea with a passage more hard than before hath been accustomed till the 27th day of March, which day we had sight of an island, called Dominica, upon the coast of the West Indies, in fourteen degrees. From thence we coasted from place to place, making our traffic with the Spaniards as we might, somewhat hardly, because the king had straitly commanded all his governors in those parts by no means to suffer any trade to be made with us. Notwithstanding, we had reasonable trade, and courteous entertainment, from the Isle of Margarita unto Cartagena, without anything greatly worth the noting, saving at Capo de la Vela, in a town called Rio de la Hacha, from whence come all the pearls. The treasurer, who had the charge there, would by no means agree to any trade, or suffer us to take water. He had fortified his town with divers bulwarks in all places where it might be entered, and furnished himself with an hundred arquebusiers, so that he thought by famine to have inforced us to have put on land our negroes. Of which purpose he had not greatly failed, unless we had by force entered the town; which (after we could by no means obtain his favour) we were enforced to do, and so with two hundred men brake in upon their bulwarks, and entered the town with the loss only of two men of our part, and no hurt done to the Spaniards, because after their volley of shot discharged, they all fled. Thus having the town with some circumstance, as partly by the Spaniards' desire of negroes, and partly by friendship of the treasurer, we obtained a secret trade: whereupon the Spaniards resorted to us by night, and bought of us to the number of 200 negroes. In all other places where we traded the Spanish inhabitants were glad of us and traded willingly.

(Hakluyt, ed. by J. A. Payne in Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen Lond. 1880. p. 52.)

145. Drake's famous Voyage

Hakluyt

Sir Francis Drake (circa 1545-1595) began his naval career as a chaplain and died an admiral. His greatest voyage was that around the world, begun in 1577. This was made in the ship The Golden Hind, which Elizabeth ordered to be forever preserved as a monument of the glory of the navigators and the country. Drake's circumnavigation of the world was but one of many successful voyages. In these days, when piracy and robbery are not the necessary accompaniments of exploration, his exploits appear well-nigh incredible. Yet there is good evidence of the truth of the tales of towns sacked, galleons plundered, and treasures of silver, gold, and jewels secured. Above all seamen of his time, Drake bearded the Spanish power and tore from it the mastery of the seas. The voyage given is from the pen of one who himself sailed with Drake. It well illustrates the progress of the second great incentive to English exploration in the sixteenth century, the plunder of the Spaniard.

NARRATIVE OF FRANCIS PRETTY

The Famous Voyage of Sir FRANCIS DRAKE, into the South Sea, and therehence about the whole globe of the earth, begun in the year of our Lord, 1577.

On the 15th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1577, Mr. Francis Drake, with a fleet of five ships and barques, and to the number of 164 men, gentlemen and sailors, departed from Plymouth. . . .

On the 17th of August we departed the port of St. Julian, and on the 20th we fell in with the Straits of Magellan, going into the South Sea, at the cape or headland whereof we found the body of a dead man, whose flesh was clean consumed. On the 21st day we entered the Straits... We continuing our course, fell the 29th of November with an island called La Mocha...the next day repairing again to the shore, and sending two men to land with barrels to fill water, the people taking them for Spaniards (to whom they use to show no favor if they take them) laid violent hands on them, and, as we think, slew them.

Our General seeing this, stayed here no longer, but weighed anchor, and set sail towards the coast of Chili, and drawing towards it, we met near to the shore an Indian in a Canoe, who thinking us to have been Spaniards, came to us and told us, that at a place called Santiago, there was a great Spanish ship laden from the kingdom of Peru, for which good news our General gave him divers trifles. Whereof he

was glad, and went along with us and brought us to the place, which is called the port of Valparaiso. When we came thither we found, indeed, the ship riding at anchor, having in her eight Spaniards and three negroes, who, thinking us to have been Spaniards, and their friends, welcomed us with a drum, and made ready a Bottija of wine of Chili to drink to us. But as soon as we were entered, one of our company called Thomas Moon began to lay about him, and struck one of the Spaniards, and said unto him, "Abaxo perro!" that is in English, “Go down, dog!" One of these Spaniards, seeing persons of that quality in these seas, all to crossed and blessed himself. But, to be short, we stowed them under hatches, all save one Spaniard, who suddenly and desperately leapt over-board into the sea, and swam ashore to the town of Santiago, to give them warning of our arrival.

They of the town being not above nine households, presently fled away and abandoned the town. Our General manned his boat and the Spanish ship's boat and went to the town, and being come to it, we rifled it, and came to a small chapel, which we entered, and found therein a silver chalice, two cruets, and one altar-cloth, the spoil whereof our General gave to Mr. Fletcher, his minister. We found, also in this town a warehouse stored with wine of Chili and many boards of cedar-wood, all which wine we brought away with us, and certain of the boards to burn for firewood. And so, being come aboard, we departed the haven, having first set all the Spaniards on land, saving one John Griego, a Greek born, whom our General carried with him as pilot to bring him into the haven of Lima.

When we were at sea our General rifled the ship, and found in her good store of the wine of Chili, and 25,000 pesos of very pure and fine gold of Valdivia, amounting in value to 37,000 ducats of Spanish money, and above. So, going on our course, we arrived next at a place called Coquimbo, where our General sent fourteen of his men on land to fetch water. But they were espied by the Spaniards, who came with 300 horsemen and 200 footmen, and slew one of our men with a piece. The rest came aboard in safety, and the Spaniards departed. We went on shore again and buried our man, and the Spaniards came down again with a flag of truce; but we set sail, and would not trust them. From hence we went to a certain port called Tarapaca, where, being landed, we found by the sea a Spaniard lying asleep, who had lying by him thirteen bars of silver, which weighed

4,000 ducats Spanish. We took the silver and left the man. Not far from hence, going on land for fresh water, we met with a Spaniard and an Indian boy driving eight llamas or sheep of Peru, which are as big as asses; everyone of which sheep had on his back two bags of leather, each bag containing 50 lbs. weight of fine silver. So that, bringing both the sheep and their burthen to the ship, we found in all the bags 800 weights of silver.

Herehence we sailed to a place called Arica, and, being entered the haven, we found there three small barques, which we rifled, and found in one of them fifty-seven wedges of silver, each of them weighing about 20 lbs. weight, and every of these wedges were of the fashion and bigness of a brickbat. In all these three barques we found not one person. For they, mistrusting no strangers, were all gone on land to the town, which consisteth of about twenty houses, which we would have ransacked if our company had been better and more in number. But our General, contented with the spoil of the ships, left the town and put off again to sea, and set sail for Lima, and, by the way, met with a small barque, which he boarded, and found in her good store of linen cloth. Whereof taking some quantity, he let her go.

To Lima we came on the 13th of February, and, being entered the haven, we found there about twelve sail of ships lying fast moored at anchor, having all their sails carried on shore; for the masters and merchants were here most secure, having never been assaulted by enemies, and at this time feared the approach of none such as we were. Our General

rifled these ships, and found in one of them a chest full of reals of plate, and good store of silks and linen cloth, and took the chest into his own ship, and good store of silks and linen. In which ship he had news of another ship called the Cacafuego, which was gone towards Payta, and that the same ship was laden with treasure. Whereupon we stayed no longer here, but, cuting all the cables of the ships in the haven, we let them drive whither they would, either to sea or to the shore, and with all speed we followed the Cacafuego toward Payta, thinking there to have found her; but before we arrived there she was gone from thence towards Panama, whom our General still pursued, and by the way met with a barque laden with ropes and tackle for ships, which he boarded and searched, and found in her 80 lbs. weight of gold, and a crucifix of gold with goodly great emeralds set in it, which he took, and some of the cordage also for his own ship.

From hence we departed, still following the Cacafuego; and our General promised our company that whosoever should first descry her should have his chain of gold for his good news. It fortuned that John Drake, going up into the top, descried her at about three o'clock, and at about six o'clock we came to her and boarded her, and shot at her three pieces of ordnance, and struck down her mizen, and, being entered, we found in her great riches, as jewels and precious stones, thirteen chests full of reals of plate, fourscore pounds weight of gold, and six-and-twenty tons of silver. The place where we took this prize was called Cape de San Francisco, about 150 leagues from Panama. The pilot's name of this ship was Francisco, and amongst other plate that our General found in this ship he found two very fair gilt bowls of silver, which were the pilot's, to whom our General said, " Señor Pilot, you have here two silver cups; but I must needs have one of them," which the pilot, because he could not otherwise choose, yielded unto, and gave the other to the steward of our General's ships. When this pilot departed from us, his boy said thus unto our General, "Captain, our ship shall be called no more the Cacafuego, but the Cacaplata, and your ship shall be called the Cacafuego,' which pretty speech of the pilot's boy ministered matter of laughter to us, both then and long after. When our General had done what he would with this Cacafuego, he cast her off, and we went on our course still towards the west, and not long after met with a ship laden with linen cloth and fine China dishes of white earth, and great store of China silks, of all which things we took as we listed. The owner himself of this ship was in her, who was a Spanish gentleman, from whom our General took a faulcon of gold, with a great emerald in the breast thereof; and the pilot of the ship he took also with him, and so cast the ship off.

This pilot brought us to the haven of Aguatulco, the town whereof, as he told us, had but seventeen Spaniards in it. As soon as we were entered this haven, we landed, and went presently to the town and to the Town-house, where we found a judge sitting in judgment, being associated with three other officers, upon three negroes that had conspired the burning of the town. Both which judges and prisoners we took, and brought them a-shipboard, and caused the chief judge to write his letter to the town to command all the townsmen to avoid, that we might safely water there, which being done, and they departed, we ransacked the town, and