great Captain, Francis Drake, in the time of my father, which was about some fifty years past; by the which Captain my predecessor did send a ring unto the Queen of England, as a token of remembrance between us; which, if the aforesaid Drake had been living, he could have informed your Majesty of the great love and friendship of either side; he in behalf of the Queen, my father for him and his successors; since which time of the departure of the foresaid Captain, we have daily expected his return, my father living many years after, and daily expecting his return; and I, after the death of my father, have lived in the same hope, 'til I was father of eleven children; in which time I have been informed that the English were men of so bad disposition, that they came not as peaceable merchants, but to dispossess us of our country; which, by the coming of the bearer hereof, (Captain Middleton,) we have found to the contrary, which greatly we rejoice at, &c."*

He then goes on to say that, as the English failed them, they were obliged to call in the Dutch to expel their enemies the Portuguese out of the forts they held at Amboyna and Tidore— a bad exchange for English aid, we may add, when the horrible massacres by the Dutch at Amboyna are called to recollection.

What the King states in his letter, concerning the promises of Drake, is probably true; for we find from Hakluyt that the General received many offers of friendship from the King, who proposed, if he would enter into a treaty of amity and commerce with him, that the trade of Ternate should be reserved exclusively for England. It was in fact this sovereign who dispossessed the Portuguese of the dominion they had so long enjoyed at Ternate.

Drake having furnished his ship with provisions, and procured a large supply of cloves, on the 9th of November sailed from the capital of the Moluccas; and on the 11th anchored at a small island near the eastern part of Celebes, where he repaired his ship. The island was uninhabited, and they remained there for some weeks undisturbed, erected tents, and set up a forge on shore. The island was one continued forest; and most of the trees were large, lofty, and straight, without a branch till near the top. No fresh water was found on the island, but they obtained a supply from an adjoining one.

"Among the trees night by night, through the whole land, did shew themselves an infinite swarm of fiery wormes flying through the ayre, whos

* Purchas-East India Voyage.

bodies being no bigger than our common English flies, make such a shew and light, as if every twigge or tree had been a burning candle. In this place breedeth also wonderful store of bats, as bigge as large hennes; of cray-fishes also heere wanted no plentie, and they of exceeding bignesse, one whereof was sufficient for four hungry stomachs at a dinner, being also very good and restoring meate, whereof we had experience; and they dig themselves holes in the earth like conies."

They left this island on the 12th of December, and steered westward; but on their course they got so entangled among the small islands and shoals of the Celebes, that in order to extricate themselves they stood off to the southward, where there appeared to be a more clear sea. On the night of the 9th of January, 1580, whilst running under all sail set, and the wind blowing moderately fresh, the Golden Hind all at once struck on a rocky shoal, and stuck fast.

Here the ship remained firmly fixed all night. At daybreak every exertion was made to get her off. The water was of such a great depth on every side of the shoal as to make it impossible to heave her off by getting out an anchor. In this state of distress the whole ship's company was summoned to prayers—

"commending ourselves into the merciful hands of our most gracious God: for this purpose we presently fell prostrate, and with joined prayers sent up to the throne of grace, humbly besought Almighty God to extend his mercy unto us in his son Christ Jesus; and so preparing, as it were, our necks unto the block, we every minute expected the final stroke to be given unto us."

That duty performed, it was determined to lighten the ship of part of her lading. Three tons of cloves, eight of the guns, and a quantity of meal and beans, were thrown overboard, but without effect; but although the danger was so imminent, the idea of lightening the ship by throwing out any of the treasure on board, which was the heaviest part of their cargo, appears never to have been entertained. Fortunately at low water, as the ship fell over on one side, she slipped off from the ledge of the rock, and floated into deep water.*

* Fuller gives a different account; on what authority does not appear: but the passage is too characteristic and too striking to be omitted:-"The ship struck twice on a dangerous shoal, knocking twice at the door of death, which no doubt had opened the third time. Here they struck, having ground too much, and yet too little to land on; and water too much, and yet

On the 14th of March they arrived at some port at the south side of Java, where they remained till the 26th, and procured every kind of supply they stood in need of. Their time was here passed in feasting and friendly intercourse with the native chiefs, who then were not fettered by any Dutch masters.

From Java they put to sea for the Cape of Good Hope, which they passed without stopping, though it was the first land they fell in with.

On the 22nd of July they reached Sierra Leone, on the coast of Africa, where they stopped two days to take in water, and obtained there oysters and fruit. On the 24th they again put to sea; and on the 26th of September, 1580,

66

which," says the Narrative, "was Monday in the just and ordinary reckoning of those that had stayed at home, in one place or country, (but in our computation was the Lord's day or Sunday,) we safely, with joyful minds and thankful hearts to God, arrived at Plimouth, the place of our first setting forth, after we had spent two years, ten months, and some odd days beside, in seeing the wonders of the Lord in the deep, in discerning so many admirable things, in going through with so many strange adventures, in escaping out of so many dangers, and overcoming so many difficulties, in this our encompassing of this nether globe, and passing round about the world, which we have related.

Soli rerum maximarum Effectori,

Soli totius mundi Gubernatori,

Soli suorum Conservatori,

Soli Deo sit semper gloria."

too little to sail in. Had God, who, as the wise man saith, holdeth the winds in his fist, but opened his little finger, and let out the smallest blast, they had undoubtedly been cast away: but there blew not any wind all the while. Then they, conceiving aright that the best way to lighten the ship was first to ease it of the burden of their sins by true repentance, humbled themselves by fasting under the hand of God: afterwards they received the communion, dining on Christ in the sacrament, expecting no other than to sup with him in heaven. Then they cast out of their ship six great pieces of ordnance: threw overboard as much wealth as would break the heart of a miser to think on 't; with much sugar and packs of spices, making a caudle of the sea round about. Then they betook themselves to their prayers, the best lever at such a dead lift indeed; and it pleased God that the wind, formerly their mortal enemy, became their friend.”—Holy State, 127.

CHAPTER V.

DRAKE IN ENGLAND.

1580-1585.

Drake is well received at Plymouth-Neglected in London; and at the Court-Restored to the favour of the Queen, who visits his ship at Deptford-Confers Knighthood on him-Honours paid to the ship-Amount of Treasure brought home.

As soon as Drake's arrival with his single ship at Plymouth was known, the inhabitants hastened in crowds to the shore to welcome their old friend. On landing he was received by the Mayor and civic authorities, the bells of St. Andrew's church ringing a merry peal, which was prolonged during the whole day. The general joy was extreme, for after the arrival of Captain John Winter, who was always considered as having deserted him, a strong impression had arisen that some fatal disaster had befallen Drake. The day was spent in feasting and rejoicing. On the morrow his first visit was to his native village near Tavistock; for this brave and right-minded man considered it an act of pious devotion to visit the residence of his old parents, in which most probably he first drew his breath, and from which those parents had been driven by religious persecution.

Having been fêted for some days by the authorities of Plymouth and the neighbouring gentry, he rejoined his little bark, the Golden Hind, which had borne him through so many perils and adventures, and with which, as one of the old writers observes, "he had ploughed up a furrow round the world," and in her set sail for Deptford. The report of his return had of course preceded his appearance in London; where not only his adventures were the topic of conversation, but the most exaggerated accounts were circulated as to the immense wealth he had brought

back, and various were the opinions as to whether it had been lawfully and honestly acquired. But that which must have the most annoyed him, was the total inattention of the Court, where, before his departure, he had been so cordially received, and where his projected enterprise had met with such flattering encouragement. No intimation was now given that his appearance there would be acceptable; and although the first Englishman, and the second man of any country, who had circumnavigated the globe, he was not considered worthy of his sovereign's special notice. It is said, indeed, that even in less dignified circles the cool reception that Drake met with was too marked to be misunderstood; and that some were squeamish enough to refuse the acceptance of any trifling curiosity at his hands, lest it might not have been honestly come by. Stow's account of the matter is not uninteresting. He says, in his Chronicles—

"The newes of this his great wealth so far fetcht, was miraculous strange, and of all men held impossible and incredible, but both proving true, it fortuned that many misliked it and reproached him: besides all this there were others that devised and divulged all possible disgraces against Drake and his followers, deaming him the master thiefe of the unknowne world, yet neverthelesse, the people generally, with exceeding admiration, applauded his wonderful long adventures and rich prize, chiefly for some such reasons following.

"The Queene, not yet persuaded to accept and approve his unknowne purchase, paused a while and heard every opinion, which at that time were many; the principal points whereof were, that if this action of Drake should be justified, it would call in question the late piracy of Captayne Christmasse: the staying of the Spanish king's treasure by Martine Frobisher: hinder commerce: break the league: raise reproach: breede warre with the house of Burgundy: and cause imbargo of the English shippes and goodes in Spayne. Whereunto answer was made, that it was neither prize, nor piracy, nor civill policy, to cast so much treasure out of their possession : neither could any prince or private subject rightly challenge it: nor by it any offence committed, or intended to any christian prince or state.

"And that it was very necessary to retaigne it, as well for further triall of the Spanish malice, shewed to the English merchants in Spayne; as for the descrying of secret enemies at home, against both which, it would prove a present remedy: as also that if warres ensued, which the Spanyards long threatened, then the same treasure of itself would fully defray the charge of seaven yeares warres, prevent and save the common subject from taxes, loanes, privy seals, subsidies and fifteenes, and give them good advantage against a daring adversary: the which said opinion strongly prevayled.

"Yet Captaine Drake, all this while, being therewithal, and by his friends