THE FAMOUS VOYAGE THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE WORLD 1577-1580: Sir Francis Drake: A Pictorial Biography by Hans P. Kraus (Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room, Library of Congress) Bibliography The Famous Voyage: The Circumnavigation of the World, 1577-1580 Drake was noted in his life for one daring feat after another; his greatest was his circumnavigation of the earth, the first after Magellan's. He sailed from Plymouth on Dec. 13, 1577. The squadron consisted of five vessels, the two larger ships being the Pelican, Drake's own ship, renamed Golden Hind on the voyage, on August 20, 1578; and the Elizabeth, commanded by John Winter. Three smaller vessels were the Marigold, Swan, and Benedict. Only one ship, the Golden Hind, made the complete voyage, returning on Sept. 26, 1580, "very richly fraught with gold, silver, pearls and precious stones" (Stow, Annales , p. 807).

The expedition was financed as a joint venture, the investors being such high officials as Privy Councilors Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; Sir Francis Walsingham; the Earl of Lincoln, Lord High Admiral of England; also, Sir Christopher Hatton; Sir William Winter, Surveyor and Master of Ordnance of the Navy; and John Hawkins, Drake's former commander. Queen Elizabeth herself may have been an investor, though this is not quite certain; what is certain is that she appropriated the lion's share of the proceeds of the voyage. Drake himself participated to the tune of £1000, a good sum for that time. These joint venture companies, partnerships, or associations were a common method of organizing and financing commercial voyages, military expeditions, and colonizing activities, from the Middle Ages onwards. They are explained by J. H. Parry ( The Age of Reconnaissance , pp.

49-50) as "Partnerships for conducting commercial enterprises...usually not corporations but rather ad hoc devices for uniting a number of capitalists...or a number of partners...or active participants in an enterprise...All these types of associations under various names--commenda, societas, compagnia, and so forth--were employed in seaborne trade". Parry mentions also "associations of individuals formed to undertake particular enterprises--military expeditions for example--on behalf of the State". The examples cited by Parry are Italian, but he remarks that "the Dutch and English were to emerge as the Italians' aptest pupils in this respect". For another example of such a company or partnership, see the financial papers of the Drake-Norris expedition of 1589 (pp. 162-164). The little fleet proceeded to the Cape Verde Islands, where, on January 30, 1578, the Portuguese pilot Nunho da Silva was captured (see his narrative, pp. 106-109). Thence they sailed across the Atlantic to the coasts of South America near the River Plate, and went southwards to Port St.

Julian, where Magellan had anchored 58 years previously; they arrived there on June 18, 1578. The Doughty affair was a crisis in Drake's life; on its outcome depended the success of the circumnavigation, and hence, probably, the defeat of the Invincible Armada. The tragedy was this: Thomas Doughty (d. 1578), a friend of Drake, and one well acquainted with many prominent Englishmen, was an officer on Drake's circumnavigation voyage. He was accused by Drake of treachery and incitement to mutiny. He was put on trial at Port St. Julian, where Magellan had suppressed a conspiracy of some of his high ranking officers, including Captain Juan de Cartagena, and hanged some of them. Doughty was found guilty and given the choice of being abandoned on that desolate coast; of being returned to England for retrial; or of execution on the spot. He chose death, which was by beheading in accordance with his gentlemanly status. Before the execution he and Drake dined together as old friends, and both received communion from Chaplain Fletcher.

After embracing Drake and praying for the Queen and the realm, Doughty quietly put his neck on the block and received the stroke of the sword. The mystery lies in the question as to what Doughty's role really was. Who were his principals in England, if any? Was he a secret agent planted by Lord Burghley to prevent Drake from plundering Spanish ships and ports in America, so that war with Spain could be avoided? Were personal motives involved? It is known that Doughty had intrigued to cause ill-feeling between the Earl of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth's favorite, and Walter Devereux, the first Earl of Essex. The execution of Thomas Doughty from pp. 32-33 of The World Encompassed , 1628, never mentioning the name of the unhappy officer. [42] Drake's action was judged very differently by different contemporaries. The accounts in The World Encompassed , and by Hakluyt, defend Drake; but other authorities, like Camden, virtually accuse him of murdering Doughty, either from jealousy of his superior abilities, or at the behest of Leicester.

As Drake's conduct was never officially questioned, it must be assumed that the justice and legality of Doughty's execution were admitted. About a month after Doughty's execution another crisis arose; in its solution Drake showed himself at his best. The long wintering in Port St. Julian before attempting the passage of the Strait of Magellan had had a demoralizing effect. There was quarreling and hatred between the gentlemen and mariners, and the long cold winter nights had made the situation even worse. Drake had to act to prevent a mutiny. At a religious service Drake preached the sermon in place of Fletcher. In this famous discourse he laid down new rules of conduct: sailors and gentlemen, he declared, were to work together as equals, apart from those who were officers. From this time on, everyone was subject to Drake's sole command, and it can now be seen that the success of the voyage hinged on this. According to J. A. Williamson, the leading authority on Tudor naval history, "that day saw the beginning of a new tradition in English leadership" ( The Age of Drake , p. 181). Drake's speech was reported by a witness, John Cooke (Harl. ms.

540). See p. 72 for Hakluyt's report of the Port St. Julian episode. On August 20, 1578, the ships began to traverse the Strait of Magellan, passing through in 16 days. Violent storms were encountered after they entered the Pacific; the last of the three small boats was lost and the Elizabeth , under the command of John Winter, became separated from Drake, repassed the Strait, and returned to England, arriving there on June 2, 1579. From that time on Drake was entirely alone, with no reserve vessel to fall back on. In the storms, Drake was driven to the south of Tierra del Fuego, and he came to the correct conclusion that the Terra Australis , a hypothetical southern continent, did not reach to that area, as had been supposed. A few contemporary maps were altered to remove the error, but most of them continued to show it until Cape Horn was rounded by Le Maire and Schouten a few years later. In the Pacific, the Spaniards were physically and psychologically unprepared to resist attack; those shores had been exclusively in their hands for two generations, during which time they had spent little on defense.

They were thrown into confusion and Drake seized immense treasure without much resistance. Drake sailed slowly along the coast of Chile, raiding the harbor of Valparaiso and seizing stores and gold there. On February 15, 1579, he arrived at Callao, the harbor of Lima, the Peruvian capital. This portion of the Spanish Empire was almost defenseless and the arrival of Drake caused panic and consternation. Here he obtained news of a treasure ship which had sailed 12 days previously for Panama. Drake set out in hot pursuit and overtook the ship on March 1. It was the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción , variously nicknamed the Cacafuego or Cacaplata . Her captain did not expect an enemy in those waters and mistook the Golden Hind for a friendly Spanish vessel. To his great dismay, he soon was Drake's prisoner; his ship proved to be Drake's richest plunder. The next episode of the circumnavigation was the discovery of the coast of Upper California, which was named New Albion. "Albion" was the classical name for England, so called from the white ("alba") cliffs of Dover.

After stopping at Huatulco in Central America for two days, Drake sailed northwards, perhaps as far as Vancouver Island, probably searching for the elusive Northwest Passage. If so, he quickly gave up the quest and went south again to the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, where he remained for over a month (June-July, 1579), overhauling his ship and making friendly contact with the Indians. On July 23, 1579, the Golden Hind began her voyage across the Pacific; on October 16, Drake sighted land in the Philippines, and on Nov. 3 arrived at Ternate in the East Indies. Here he made a trade treaty with the Sultan, and bought a cargo of cloves. On January 9, 1580, the Golden Hind struck a reef, but fortunately was able to slip off the next day, and to sail onward, first to Java, then across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and back to Plymouth (Sept. 26, 1580). In order not to antagonize King Philip, there was no public celebration of Drake's return. The enormous treasure he brought back was put under safeguard in Plymouth.

Drake quietly informed the Queen and the investors of the amount of profit which had been earned by the voyage--this has been stated to be 4600 percent (£47 for each £1 invested). On April 4, 1581, Elizabeth had Drake knighted, on the occasion of a visit to the Golden Hind . (See his coat of arms, reproduced in the upper right corner of the Hondius portrait, frontispiece). He certainly deserved this honor. According to the economist J. M. Keynes, the English foreign debt was paid off from the Queen's share of the proceeds, and there was enough left over (£42,000) for her to capitalize a new venture, the Levant Company, a firm which played an important part in the development of British foreign trade (see Keynes, Treatise on Money ). The earliest published narrative of Drake's circumnavigation in Hakluyt's The Principall Navigations , 1589, supplementary leaves between pp. 643 and 644.

[27] Page 8 - Page 9 - Page 10 - Page 11 Le Voyage Curieux , a French version of Hakluyt's narrative of Drake's circumnavigation, with chapter heading on California (Nova Albion), 1641. [44] The Hakluyt narrative was translated into several languages, but the best of these versions was the one in French. Below are the title and beginning of the California narrative from the third edition; it had previously appeared in 1613 and 1627. Eight years before the Hakluyt account appeared, in January, 1581, the writer Nicholas Breton celebrated Drake's return with a little book, containing "a reioysing of his happy aduentures," written in euphuistic prose. For many years the title of this work had been known from an entry in the Stationers' Register, but the author's name had not been mentioned there, and there could be only conjecture about its possible contents. Nicholas Breton's Discourse on Drake's "happy adventures," 1581; the only copy known.

[17] The present copy appears to be unique; we reproduce only the title page. The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake , 1628, is the first detailed account of the "famous voyage"; it adds very much to the Hakluyt report. It is a compilation from several sources, the most important of which is the journal of Francis Fletcher, the chaplain on board the Golden Hind . Fletcher was not very friendly to Drake--he had been severely disciplined by him ("excommunicated") while the voyagers were in the East Indies. His account has been heavily edited in places, especially in the passages concerning Drake's execution of his friend Thomas Doughty. Part of Fletcher's version is still extant (BM Sloane ms. 61). Title page of The World Encompassed , 1628. [42] The engraved world map in The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake , 1628.

[42] Gerard Mercator's Speculation About Drake's Circumnavigation How difficult it was to keep Drake's famous voyage secret is shown by a letter [2a] written only ten weeks after his arrival at Plymouth by the outstanding map-maker Gerard Mercator (1512-1594) to the equally great cartographer Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598). Ortelius was also a brilliant publisher of maps, many of which Drake probably used during his voyage. Mercator's grandson Michael (1565/1570-1614) was, nine years later, to produce the great Silver Map of the circumnavigation [57] ; and Gerard here mentions his youngest son, Rumold Mercator (1546/8-1599). Gerard Mercator had himself urged on the English geographer Dr. John Dee the feasibility of voyaging from England to the Pacific by a North East Passage, as far back as 1577, when Drake had left England. His letter is based upon the fact that his idea had been taken up in the instructions given to Arthur Pett, to whom Mercator here refers.

Pett sailed in an expedition sent out by the English Muscovy Company to discover the North East Passage in June 1580. The voyage is extensively documented in the 1589 edition of Hakluyt [27] , who had belatedly approached Gerard Mercator through Rumold with further questions about the expedition. When he answered Hakluyt in July, Mercator forecast that off Siberia Pett would be obstructed by polar ice; eventually, Pett returned to England for that very reason late in December 1580. However, contrary to Mercator's theory, he had done nothing to help Drake, who arrived back in England first. Also, Drake, of course, returned by the obvious route around the Cape of Good Hope, and not by the North East Passage; and his treasure was indeed the result of plunder, not of the new discovery that Mercator imagined. This letter shows that the true story of Drake's voyage was a matter of lively concern to contemporary cartographers, and that rumors were circulated which concealed the truth from these scholars on the continent of Europe.

Perhaps Mercator was a little annoyed to find the English so eager for his advice on Pett's voyage, while unwilling to tell him anything about Drake's. Drake's own journal, with its narrative and paintings, was immediately placed by him in the hands of the Queen, who seems to have lost it irretrievably. The long silence from then until Hakluyt published his "Famous Voyage" account was hardly broken except by Breton, with his poem [17] . Drake was bidden to keep silence about his voyage because of the diplomatic danger if his armed intrusion into King Philip's dominions were admitted. He swore his men to secrecy--the only means by which they could hope to keep their booty. The late date at which any reliable, let alone detailed, account of Drake's circumnavigation became public reflects the early dearth of information, from which even professional geographers suffered. This significant letter may be considered one of the crowning pieces of this collection on Sir Francis Drake. Though acquired only at a late stage, it cannot be ignored and so has been inserted here specially. Gerard Mercator's autograph letter to Abraham Ortelius, 1580, relating to Drake's famous voyage.

[2a] TRANSLATION OF THE RELEVANT PARTS OF MERCATOR'S LETTER IN LATIN REPRODUCED ON THE RIGHT Greetings to Master Ortelius, the best of friends. Your letter afforded me great pleasure, first because you have obtained what you have wanted for a long time about China, secondly because of the dispatch about the new English voyage, on which you had previously sent me a report through Rumold [Mercator]. I am persuaded that there can be no reason for so carefully concealing the course followed during this voyage, nor for putting out differing accounts of the route taken and the areas visited, other than that they must have found very wealthy regions never yet discovered by Europeans, not even by those who have sailed the Ocean on the Indies voyages.

That huge treasure in silver and precious stones which they pretend they secured through plunder is, in any case, an argument for me to suspect this, and then again, there is what I am now to set down: that in April this year I was informed from England that the merchants who trade with the Muscovites [i.e., the Russia Company] and have a post to trade with them on the gulf of the Amalchian or Northern sea [i.e., Archangel, on the White Sea] had decided last May to send out secretly a certain very experienced mariner, Arthur Pitt [sic; otherwise Pett or Pet] by name, and to give him orders to survey all the coasts of northern Asia, even beyond the promontory of Tabin, in a fast ship furnished with all the victuals necessary for two years. For this reason I suspect, rather, that he was sent out to search for the fleet [i.e., Drake's] which, by passing through the Strait of Magellan, reached Peru, the Moluccas and Java on its return thence, and to escort it home.

Moreover, in any case, I think that that fleet cannot have returned by any route except one via the north and west of Asia, for that strait which encloses the northern parts of America to within only a few degrees on a great circle westward from Greenland, which Frobisher explored, is obstructed by many rocks. So it does not seem likely that Drake would have tried it, especially if he came back from Asia so loaded down with treasure. For his return westwards would be much shorter--indeed, [the route] has for some time since been known to be [only] about half [the distance]--if he were in fact to come back by the island of Vaigatz and Nova Zemlya, and thence reach England. This voyage by Arthur [Pett] was reported to me in confidence, so keep secret the fact that you know anything about it.

However, in the meantime, you might well fish for the truth of the matter among all your friends; for if one meets with many and inquires of them, they cannot all lie so splendidly that the truth will not out [this observation is a conscious echo of Horace, Odes, 3: 11,35] ...[The following 17ï¿½ lines are here omitted] Farewell, most distinguished and beloved of men: from Duisburg, 12 December 1580 Ever yours Gerard Mercator. [Addressed] To Master Abraham Ortelius, Cosmographer Royal, a man most distinguished in scholarship and humanity, at Antwerp. Description of the California (Albion) region on page 80 of The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake , 1628. [42] Drake's contemporaries correctly assessed his "famous voyage" as one of the great feats of the age, and reports of it appeared in various European languages.

In 1596 the publisher De Bry of Frankfurt included a somewhat abridged version of the Hakluyt narrative in Part VIII of his famous collection of voyages, in Latin, and in 1599 it appeared in German. In both editions a fine engraved map on the title shows the track of the voyage as a dotted line. These are later derivatives of the Whitehall map of Drake's voyage, not now extant (for an account of which see the van Sype map, pp. 102-103). Title page of Part VIII of De Bry's Grands Voyages , (Latin edition), 1599. [31] The map shows the track of Drake's famous voyage as a dotted line. The passage on California (Nova Albion) in Pan VIII of De Bry's Grands Voyages (Latin edition). 1599. [31] Another German version of Drake's voyage is in Part VI of the series of voyages published by Levinus Hulsius.

We reproduce here, from the 1626 edition, the title, text relating to New Albion (California) and the engraving of the battle with the ship Nuestra Señora de la Concepción , the rich treasure ship taken by Drake. The engraving wrongly depicts one ship as the Caca Fogo and the other as Caca Plata ; in fact both these names (meaning "emit gunfire" and "emit silver") were nicknames jokingly designating the Spanish ship. Note also that H. R. Wagner ( Sir Francis Drake's Voyage , p. 117) wrongly identifies this engraving as from De Bry. Section title to De Bry's Grands Voyages , (German edition), 1600. [32] The map shows the track of Drake's famous voyage as a dotted line. The passage on California (Nova Albion) in the supplement to Part VIII of De Bry's Grands Voyages , (German edition), 1600, pp. 15-16. [32] An engraving of the battle between Drake's Golden Hind and the Spanish ship called "Caca Fogo," from Levinus Hulsius, 1626.

[41] Title page of Part VI of Levinus Hulsius' collection of voyages, in German, 1626. The medallion portraits of circumnavigators in the engraving show Magellan, Drake, Olivier Noort, the first Dutch circumnavigator, and Magellan's subordinate, Sebastiano del Cano, who assumed command of the expedition when Magellan was killed in the Philippine Islands. [41] The passage on Drake's stay in California (Nova Albion) in Hulsius, 1626. [41] The southern hemisphere of the Hulsius map of 1602, showing the "Francis Drake Islands." [52] One of the two geographical discoveries of the first importance in the Drake circumnavigation was that of the insular nature of Tierra del Fuego (the other being his discovery of Upper California). This is depicted on a map of two sheets, present in this collection both folded in the Hulsius Part VI, and separately, on unfolded sheets, in original size with untrimmed edges. Very few maps have survived from this period in such fine condition.

The map shows, below the meridian number 300 the "Francisci Draco Ins[ulae]." They are generally not so designated, as the largest of the three islands had been named after Queen Elizabeth, and it is her name which is usually found there. It is clear that Hulsius failed to appreciate the significance of Drake's discovery, as his map continues to show Tierra del Fuego as a quasi-continental land mass, its shores petering out vaguely southwards in the margins of the map. It is not at all certain what islands Drake reached southwards of the Magellan Strait. H. R. Wagner considered them to be Henderson, Morton, and Sanderson Islands. It seems certain that he did not reach Cape Horn. A Spanish account of the Drake voyage is in Argensola's Conquistas de las Islas Malucas , 1609, pp. 105-108. The discovery of New Albion (Upper California) is mentioned on p. 106, Argensola evidently considering it to be an island.

English names are in the phonetic spellings encountered in Spanish sources, Drake being Draque; Hawkins, Aquines; Plymouth, Plemua; Thomas Doughty, Tomas Auter (!). Passage on Drake's discovery of California (Nueva Albion) in Argensola's Conquista de las Islas Malucas , 1609. [33] A briefer Spanish account of the voyage is in Cabrera de Cordova's Filipe Segundo , 1619, p. 1071. Evidently the author did not wish to elaborate on this embarrassing affair in his laudatory biography of King Philip. An Italian version of the circumnavigation is in Giuseppe Rosaccio's Discorso...della Terra , (c. 1610). Reproduced below is the text describing the voyage (C2 verso) and, on the next page, the planisphere map. Account of Drake's voyage in Cabrera de Cordova's Filipe Segundo , 1619. [37] Account of Drake's voyage in Rosaccio's Discorso , c. 1610.

[34] Thomas Blundeville, a contemporary of Drake, describes the circumnavigation and how the routes of Drake and Cavendish (the third circumnavigator) were marked on the terrestrial globe constructed by Emery Molyneux in 1592. From Blundeville's work ( Thomas Blundeville His Exercises, 1613) we reproduce the section title on Drake and part of his narrative. The planisphere map engraved by Luigi Rosaccio, c. 1610. The author has placed the letters of the name of his Medici patron, Cosimo, on the six balls of the Medici arms with representation of the Arctic (with a presumed northern continent), the Antarctic, and the four continents then known. Below is the Ptolemaic world map. [34] Title for the section on Drake in Blundeville's Exercises , 1613. [36] The account of California (Nova Albion) in Blundeville's Exercises , 1613.

[36] One of the greatest cartographic treasures of the Elizabethan era is a map bearing the legend "Carte veuee et corige par le dict sieur Drack" ("A map seen and corrected by the aforesaid Sir Drake"). This is the Nicola van Sype engraved map of the circumnavigation, entitled "La Herdike Enterprinse Faict Par Le Signeur Draeck D'Avoir Cirquit Toute La Terre". Mr. F. P. Sprent, late Superintendent of the Map Room of the British Museum, remarked of this map: "There is good reason for believing this to be the earliest of the maps which show Drake's route round the world". Mr. Sprent believed the map may have appeared as early as 1581. The van Sype map is clearly derived from the Whitehall map which was presented to Queen Elizabeth, according to Samuel Purchas, Hakluyt's successor as the leading English naval historian. The donor must have been Drake himself.

An inscription quoted by Purchas is present (in French) on the van Sype map, and the English arms, crown and garter are in the place on the map (Elizabeth Island, near Cape Horn) stated by Purchas ( Purchas His Pilgrimes , III, iii, p. 461, reproduced below). It should be noted that the medallion portrait on the map mentions Drake's age as 42 years. No other engraved portrait is known which carries so early an age; both the Hondius portrait (frontispiece) and others all give his age as 43. A portrait miniature by Hilliard of Drake at age 42 is known (see Hind, Engraving in England, I, 159). Another indication of early dating for this map is the absence of any mention of Virginia, which was named in 1584. The passage relating to the Whitehall map, which Drake had presented to Queen Elizabeth, in Purchas his Pilgrimes , 1625. [40] The van Sype showing the Drake circumnavigation as a dotted line, c. 1518.

[48] The unique example of the Silver Map, showing the track of Drake's famous voyage as a dotted line, with the name of Mercator and the date 1589. [58] Another such early map is found on a silver medal, commemorating Drake's circumnavigation, the famous Silver Map. Only one of the few surviving examples (see above) mentions in a cartouche the date 1589 and Mercator's name. None of the other copies bears either the date or the engraver's name. It had been previously known, through a statement recorded by Samuel Purchas, that Michael Mercator, grandson of Gerard Mercator, was the cartographer and engraver. Purchas also records that this Silver Map is directly derived from the Whitehall map previously mentioned, and it is thus closely related to the van Sype map, as is clear, furthermore, from a comparison of the geographical features. The known examples of the Silver Map vary considerably in weight, from a low of 260 grains (one of the British Museum copies) to a high of 424 grains.

The present one, 383 grains, is the third heaviest recorded; it is certainly unsurpassed in its close to pristine condition, with every detail sharp and clear. The second example of the Silver Map in this collection (without Mercator's name, or the date, see next page) is the second heaviest known, weighing 410 grains. The passage relating to the Silver Map in Purchas his Pilgrimes , 1625. [40] An important event of Drake's circumnavigation was the capture of Nunho da Silva, a Portuguese merchant and pilot, who was able to pilot Drake across the South Atlantic and along the coast of Brazil. Silva was captured by Drake on January 30, 1578, with his little merchant ship off Santiago in the Cape Verde Islands. His vessel was confiscated by Drake, and his own services were commandeered. He remained with the circumnavigators until April 13, 1579, when he was released at Huatulco in Central America.

Silva had been seen on board the Golden Hind by several Spanish prisoners of Drake who had been previously released, and who had reported that he seemed to be a member of Drake's crew. He was, therefore, strictly questioned by the Mexican civil authorities, and the Inquisition also intervened, to discover whether he had willingly attended any of the Protestant religious services which were held on board every day. Silva therefore had to make a full statement to the Inquisition also. The Silver Map, showing the track of Drake's famous voyage as a dotted line, undated, without Mercator's name. [58a] The narrative reproduced on the following pages gives the beginning of Silva's statement to the Viceroy of Mexico, made on May 20, 1579. It covers events of the voyage from the Cape Verde Islands to the Strait of Magellan. Note that the "cosario yngles" ("English pirate") of the caption title is supplemented by a marginal note, "Llama se Francisco Drac este cossario" ("The pirate is named Francis Drake").

In his statement to the Inquisition, which is somewhat fuller than the present one, Silva refers to color drawings which Drake was making of the localities he visited; he says (trans.): "He is an adept at painting and has with him a boy, a relative of his [his cousin, John Drake] who is a great painter. When they both shut themselves up in his cabin they were always painting". From other captives of Drake who made depositions, we know that he was fond of music, and that he had on board trumpets and violins ("they brought four viols, and made lamentations and sang together"--trans.). The manuscript Relacion of Nunho da Silva, Drake's Portuguese pilot, to the Viceroy of Mexico, 1579. [1] The first English version of Nunho da Silva's Relacion in the third volume of Hakluyt's Principal Navigations , 1600. [30] Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake and the Circumnavigation by Wally Peterson In 1577 Queen Elizabeth I commissioned three men to sail around the world.

On November 15, 1577, under the command of three captains, Sir Francis Drake, John Winter, and Thomas Doughty, the "Queen's Corsair" set sail from Plymouth to the Spanish-controlled Rock of Gibraltar. In secret original plans, Drake was intended to be the sole captain; however, upon leaving, the command was to be split three ways among Drake, John Winter, and Thomas Doughty. The split of command cause dissension among the crew, but soon Drake established himself as the true leader. The planners also had a different reason for sending Drake. Queen Elizabeth I assumed that a small force of about 200 men could severely disrupt the flow of gold and silver to Spain. The Queen finally decided on Drake due to his skill as a pirate and the relative ease with which she could disown him. On first day of the voyage the winds blew up and unleashed one of the worst storms ever seen. Drake called off the voyage and took anchor in the nearby harbor of Falmouth. During the storm Drake's ship, the Pelican, began to drag anchor. Drake ordered the mainmast to be cut. The cutting of the mast lightened the ship enough to save it and his crew.

This storm cause a lot of controversy due to the heavy damage sustained to Drake's ship, while Winter's ship escaped the storm with no damage. All three commanders were forced to go back to Plymouth before resuming the trip. Sir Francis Drake, Thomas Doughty, and John Winters set sail again from Plymouth on December 13, 1577. This time the Queens Corsair's left with six ships: the 18-gun, 100 ton Pelican; the 16-gun, 80 ton Elizabeth; the 10-gun, 30-ton Mary Gold; a 50-ton supply ship named the Swan; a 15-ton ship; and another 40-ton ship which was forcibly exchanged at sea. The Pelican, Drake's flag ship, was later renamed the Golden Hinde. The crew of 164 encountered another horrible storm of the coast of Brazil. Once the storm had settled, they could only count five ships instead of six. On April 14, Drake decided to anchor at Cape Saint Mary, the appointed rendezvous, where on the second day they met up with the missing sixth ship.

Drake led the ships through the dangerous Straits of Magellan between August 20 and September 6, 1578. Drake maneuvered the ships though the Straits at incredible speed. However, Drake and his men began to suffer as a result of poor diet. As they passed the Tierra del Fuego-- "land of fires"-- they were confronted by five natives who brought them food and water. On February 15, 1579, off Qulica, Drake found out that the Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion, captained by San Juan de Anton, was sailing to Panama and decided to sail there. Upon arriving in Panama, Drake and his men found that the Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion was already in the harbor. The Golden Hinde was boarded by a customs officer, who, upon seeing the cannons, mistook the Golden Hinde for a French pirate. Drake was forced to cut the anchor and fight his way out of the harbor. Drake finally found the Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion again on March 1, 1579. San Juan de Anton was wounded by an arrow in Drake's attack and surrendered the ship.

With almost no blood shed, Drake had gained the Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion, and her cargo of gold, silver, flour, and other goods amounting to over 400,000 pesos in value. On September 26, 1580, Drake, in the Golden Hinde, anchored outside of Plymouth but did not port. Drake stopped some local fishermen and asked about the Queen. Drake finally anchored his ship near St. Nicholas's Island in Plymouth Sound, and waited for his wife and the Mayor of Plymouth to bring word of the Queen. Word finally came that the Queen was alive well and on the throne. On September 26, 1580, Sir Francis Drake became the second man to sail around the world, and the first Englishman to accomplish this feat. Drake received £10,000 from the Queen for his accomplishment, as well as a miniature of herself and a green silk scarf embroidered with the words "The Almighty be your Guide and your Protector to the End." However, the talk of piracy and the treasure taken from Spain eventually led to Drake's loss of favor in the eyes of the Queen. Works Consulted Marx, Robert F.

The Battle of the Spanish Armada. Ohio: The World Publishing Company, 1965. This book provides a good background on Drake's voyage around the world. It has lots of good information about Drake and his accomplishments. McKee, Alexander. The Queen's Corsair. New York: Stein and Day Publishers, 1979. This book contains tons of information. It is full of pictures and maps charting Drake's voyage. It also contains lots of step by step information about Drake's circumnavigation. Miller, Helen. Captains From Devon. North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1985. This book contains lots of details and a great account of Drake's voyage around the world. It is very good with the names of the boat and the people that Drake and his men encountered. Thomson, George Malcolm. Sir Francis Drake. New York: William Morrow & Company, 1972. This book contains lots of information on the circumnavigation, especially in the chapter entitled "The Boldness of This Low Man." This book also contains several good pictures. Williamson, James A. Sir Francis Drake. London: Collins, 1951.

There are a few good pictures in this book. There is good information in the chapters entitled "The Circumnavigation" and "The Indies Voyage of 1585." Sir Francis Drake Spice Islands Sir Francis Drake, 1540?–1596 Expedition (1577–1580): Five ships (Pelican [renamed Golden Hind], Elizabeth, Marigold, Swan, Christopher [a sixth, Mary, was later captured and added]), 164 men Charge (by Queen Elizabeth I of England): To raid Spanish ports along the Pacific coast of the Americas and disrupt the flow of gold and silver to Spain Accomplishments: First English circumnavigation of the world (second after Magellan), returning with a rich cargo of spices and captured Spanish treasure Legacy of Drake’s name: Drake Passage (between South America and Antarctica), Drake’s Bay (California) [Click on the images below for high resolution versions.] Great Britain’s rise as a major sea power began with Drake, the most famous of the country’s three earliest circumnavigator-buccaneers (the others were Thomas Cavendish and William Dampier).

The eldest of twelve sons born to Edmund Drake, tenant farmer, and his wife, Mary Mylwaye, in Devon, England, Drake started his sea career before he was thirteen, as an apprentice aboard a bark plying the trade across the English Channel. By twenty, he was master of the ship; before thirty he had voyaged to the New World several times on ships owned by his relatives, the Hawkins family of Plymouth. In 1568, he suffered a harrowing escape from a treacherous Spanish attack on the Hawkins’s fleet in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa. Drake’s reaction was a lifelong hatred of the Spanish. In the next few years, he took his revenge by plundering Spanish settlements, shipping, and gold-laden mule trains in Panama, sometimes teaming up with local pirates. He was a wealthy man when he returned to Plymouth in 1573. By then, he was known as El Draque in Spanish (later, in Latin, his name would be published as Franciscus Draco, Francis the Dragon). While tension between Spain and England increased in the 1570s, the quest for a Northwest Passage attracted English commercial interests.

Queen Elizabeth I saw an opportunity to use Drake’s leadership, navigational skills, and knack for adventure—ostensibly sending him up the west coast of South America on an expedition to harass Spanish ports and to seize treasure, but also secretly charging him to search for a Northwest Passage from the Northwest coast of North America. Drake left England in the late fall of 1577 with a fleet of five ships (a sixth was added when it was captured from the Portuguese off Africa) but quickly suffered a great attrition: by the time he reached the Pacific Ocean (September 1578), only the flagship Pelican remained. For the next month or more, Drake’s ship was blown far to the south and east by a series of gales, to a point where he could see no more islands and no great continent, suggesting a confluence of the two oceans. This was the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica, named in his honor and later confirmed by the Dutch explorers Jacques Le Maire and Willem Corneliszoon Schouten. The Pelican was battered but not broken. Portrait of Sir Francis Drake. Frontispiece to his nephew's The World Encompassed . . .

(London, 1628) [Rare Books Division]. Drake’s fortunes quickly improved. Renaming his ship the Golden Hind, Drake pushed north along the coasts of Chile and Peru, attacking Spanish interests; he also acquired more accurate charts from captured Spanish ships. His most profitable prize was the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (also called the Cacafuego), which he seized at the beginning of March 1579 as it was sailing west toward Manila in the Philippines. The Spanish ship’s treasure included eighty pounds of gold, thirteen chests of coins and jewels, and more than twenty-five tons of silver, the equivalent of millions of dollars today. ï¿½ï¿½ On the west coast of North America, Drake explored further north than Spain’s claim at Point Loma (near today’s San Diego, California). How far north he went has been the subject of much contention.

Only two pages in the published account (1628) of his voyage cover the two mysterious months (April 16–June 17, 1579) in which Drake sailed from Guatulco (today’s Huatulco, south of Acapulco, Mexico) to 48° N, then came south to a small port on the Pacific coast of America at 38° N, where he repaired his boat and rested before returning home. From his sparse descriptions of the coastal landmarks and the freezing weather (“frozen Zone”) he and his men encountered, some modern scholars theorize that Drake probably reached 57° N, around Prince of Wales Island (in today’s Alaskan chain of islands off British Columbia), and also explored Vancouver Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Claiming the territory for England, Drake named it Nova Albion, a reference to and reverence for his country’s earliest name, Albion. Drake receiving the Crown from the Hioh, or King of New Albion.” From David Henry’s An Historical Account of All the Voyages Round the World, Performed by English Navigators . . . (London, 1774), vol.

1. [Cotsen Collection] . . . [T]he King, with the concurrence of the rest, placed the Crown upon Drake’s head, graced him with the chains and other signs of authority, and saluted him with the title of Hioh. The kingdom thus offered, though of no farther value to him than that it furnished him with present necessities, Drake thought it not prudent for him to refuse; and, therefore, took possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth, not without ardent wishes that this acquisition might be of use to his native country. [p. 123] Note the incongruous palm tree in the background. An aerial view of Whale Cove, Oregon (44ï¿½44' N), contrasted with the ï¿½Portus Novï¿½ Albionisï¿½ inset of Jodocus Hondiusï¿½s world map, ca. 1595.

[Both images from Wikipedia] Some scholars theorize that this is the harbor described by Drake where the Golden Hind was anchored and repaired (June 17–July 23, 1579) in what he called “New Albion.” The theory was proposed by Robert Ward in 1981 ("Drake and the Oregon Coast," The Geographical Magazine). Though Drake gives its latitude as 38°30′ N, Samuel Bawlf argues (The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 2003, which borrows heavily from Ward's earlier research) that all of Drake’s northern coordinates were deliberately reduced by ten degrees to mislead the Spanish about the true northern extent of his travels. In addition, the cove matches the visual representation on Jodocus Hondius’s world map “Vera Totius Expeditionis Nauticæ . . .” (ca. 1595) of the inset of “Portus Novæ Albionis,” for which Drake had supplied the drawing; Bawlf suggests that no other cove along the California/Oregon coast has these same characteristics.

(A portion of the peninsula is submerged at high tide, creating the additional “island.”) More recently, Garry Gitzen (Sir Francis Drake in Nehalem Bay 1579, 2008) has posited Nehalem Bay, Oregon, as the true New Albion, using multifaceted approaches (such as topography, ethnology, flora/fauna, geography). In either view, Oregon seemed a more likely location for Drake's careening respite—not California. In 2012, after years of conducting its own review of the research, the Department of the Interior designated Drake's Cove in Drake's Bay, California, as a National Historic Landmark, though it did not take sides in the continuing debate. At his anchorage, Drake summarized his thoughts about the possibility of a Northwest Passage: . . . [W]e conjecture that either there is no passage at all through these Northerne coasts (which is most likely) or if there be, that yet it is unnavigable. Adde hereunto, that though we searched the coast diligently, even unto the 48. deg.

yet found we not the land, to trend so much as one point in any place towards the East, but rather running on continually Northwest, as if it went directly to meet with Asia; and even in that height when we had a franke wind, to have carried us through, had there beene a passage, yet we had a smooth and calme sea, with ordinary flowing and reflowing, which could not have beene, had there beene a strete: of which we rather infallibly concluded then conjectured, that there was none. [The World Encompassed . . . , p. 67] Two hundred years later, exploring the Northwest coast of North America, Captain James Cook would reach the same conclusion. Heading westward across the Pacific, Drake reached the Moluccas (Spice Islands) within a few months and after many stops rounded the Cape of Good Hope. With a remaining crew of fifty-nine, the Golden Hind arrived in Plymouth in September 1580, its cargo rich in spices and Spanish treasure. The Queen’s share represented a substantial portion of the crown’s income that year.

A national hero and European sensation, Drake was knighted for his efforts, but Elizabeth ordered a ban on publishing any details of his voyage, fearing Spain’s reaction. His original charts and journals ultimately disappeared. Drake would go on to other exploits, including having a major role in England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, but his circumnavigation of the world remains his most important achievement. (It would be two hundred years before another Englishman, James Cook, expanded on his Pacific Northwest exploration.) Drake died of dysentery in 1596 while anchored off the coast of Portobelo, Panama, in pursuit of more Spanish treasure ships. He was buried at sea there, in full armor, encased in a lead coffin. Drake’s visit to the sultan of Ternate during his circumnavigation. From Levinus Hulsius’s Sechster Theil, kurtze, warhafftige Relation vnnd Beschreibung der wunderbarsten vier Schiffahrten . . . (Frankfurt, 1626).

[Rare Books Division] [T]he third of Novembre [1579] wee came in sight of the Ilands of the Moluccaes as we desired. These are foure high piked Ilands, their names, Tirenáte, Tidóre, Matchan, Batchan, all of them very fruitfull, and yeelding abundance of cloves, whereof wee furnished our selves of as much as we desired at a very cheape rate. At the East of them lyes a very great Iland called Gillola. [Drake, p. 84] First page of the first printed narrative account of Drake's circumnavigation. From Richard Hakluyt's The Principall Nauigations, Voiages and Discoueries of the English Nation: Made by Sea or Ouer Land, to the Most Remote and Farthest Distant Quarters of the Earth at Any Time Within the Compasse of These 1500 Yeeres: Deuided into Three Seuerall Parts, According to the Positions of the Regions Whereunto They Were Directed ...

Whereunto Is Added the Last Most Renowmed [sic] English Nauigation, Round about the Whole Globe of the Earth (London, 1589). [Rare Books Division] Twelve pages of supplementary, unnumbered text have been inserted between pages 643-644 in Hakluyt's work. Title page of Part VIII of Theodore De Bry's Americae pars VIII. Continens primo, descriptionem trivm itinervm Francisci Draken, qvi peragrato primvm vniverso terrarvm orbe, postea cum . . . (Frankfurt, 1599). [The Scheide Library] A later, reduced copy of the first map to trace Drake's route around the globe. In addition, it features a portrait of Drake and an image of his ship, the Golden Hind. Drake, Francis, Sir, d. 1637 (nephew).

The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake: Being His Next Voyage to That to Nombre de Dios Formerly Imprinted / Carefully Collected Out of the Notes of Master Francis Fletcher Preacher in This Imployment, and Diuers Others His Followers in the Same; Offered Now at Last to Publique View, Both for the Honour of the Actor, but Especially for the Stirring Up of Heroick Spirits, to Benefit Their Countrie, and Eternize Their Names by Like Noble Attempts. London, 1628. [Rare Books Division] First detailed account of Drake’s circumnavigation, written by his nephew. Queen Elizabeth’s ban on the publication of Drake’s full account of his voyage lasted for thirty-two years after his death—until it was finally broken with the appearance of the little volume shown here. Presumably, most of those who had been privy to the true extent of the voyage were dead. (Only a limited, edited version had appeared previously.) The narrative covers the period from November 15, 1577, when Drake departed from Plymouth, England, to September 26, 1580, when he returned to the same port.

“A New and Accurate Mappe of the World, Drawne According to the Best and Latest Discoveries That Have Beene Made.” Copperplate map, 15.9 × 24.1 cm. From Drake’s The World Encompassed . . . (London, 1628). [Rare Books Division] This double-hemisphere world map by Robert Vaughan (1592–1667) is a reduced version of one by John Speed (1552?–1629) published two years earlier. It was dropped from later editions of the book. The four elements (fire, air, water, earth) hover above the map, portraits of the first four circumnavigators (Ferdinand Magellan, Sir Francis Drake, Thomas Cavendish, Olivier van Noort) grace the sides, and diagrams of eclipses of the sun and moon appear at the bottom.

The western hemisphere map portrays California as an island, which was a very fresh concept at that time; shows some of the Tonga Islands, recently discovered (1616) by the Dutchmen Jacques Le Maire and Willem Corneliszoon Schouten and here translated as Flies Island, Waterland, Dogs Island, and an island “without ground” (anchorage); and proudly boasts that “Twice in our age” Englishmen have passed through the Strait of Magellan on their way around the world. (For more on Le Maire/Schouten, see the explorer’s section.) The most interesting note, however, relates to the vast “Southerne Unknone Land” of the eastern hemisphere map: “This South part of the World (containing almost the third part of the Globe) is yet unknown certayne sea coasts excepted: which rather shew there is a land then descry eyther land, people, or comodities.” There have been tantalizing hints (“certayne sea coasts”) of such a land but no confirmation. Future exploration would continue the hunt for this mysterious southern continent.

(For more, see the Terra Australis box in the Pacific Ocean section.) Sir Francis Drake | English admiral | Britannica.com Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake, (born c. 1540–43, Devonshire , England —died January 28, 1596, at sea, off Puerto Bello , Panama ), English admiral who circumnavigated the globe (1577–80) and was the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan Age. Sir Francis Drake, oil on panel, after an engraving attributed to Jodocus Hondius, c. 1583; in … © C. Bevilacqua—DeA Picture Library/age fotostock Overview of Sir Francis Drake’s life. Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Early life Born on the Crowndale estate of Lord Francis Russell, 2nd earl of Bedford, Drake’s father, Edmund Drake, was the son of one of the latter’s tenant farmers. Edmund fled his native county after arraignment for assault and robbery in 1548. The claim that he was a refugee from Roman Catholic persecution was a later pious fiction.

From even before his father’s departure, Francis was brought up among relatives in Plymouth: the Hawkins family, who combined vocations as merchants and pirates. When Drake was about 18, he enlisted in the Hawkins family fleet, which prowled for shipping to plunder or seize off the French coast. By the early 1560s, he had graduated to the African trade, in which the Hawkins family had an increasing interest, and by 1568 he had command of his own ship on a Hawkins venture of illicit slave-trading in the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean. Voyages to the West Indies Resenting the Spanish authorities’ claims to regulate their colonies’ trade and impound contraband , Drake later referred to some “wrongs” that he and his companions had suffered—wrongs that he was determined to right in the years to come. His second voyage to the West Indies , in company with John Hawkins , ended disastrously at San Juan de Ulúa off the coast of Mexico, when the English interlopers were attacked by the Spanish and many of them killed.

Drake escaped during the attack and returned to England in command of a small vessel, the Judith, with an even greater determination to have his revenge upon Spain and the Spanish king, Philip II . Although the expedition was a financial failure, it brought Drake to the attention of Queen Elizabeth I , who had herself invested in the slave-trading venture. In the years that followed, he made two expeditions in small vessels to the West Indies, in order “to gain such intelligence as might further him to get some amend for his loss.” In 1572—having obtained from the queen a privateering commission, which amounted to a license to plunder in the king of Spain’s lands—Drake set sail for America in command of two small ships, the 70-ton Pasha and the 25-ton Swan. He was nothing if not ambitious, for his aim was to capture the important town of Nombre de Dios, Pan. Although Drake was wounded in the attack, which failed, he and his men managed to get away with a great deal of plunder by successfully attacking a silver-bearing mule train. This was perhaps the foundation of Drake’s fortune. In the interval between these episodes, he crossed the Isthmus of Panama .

Standing on a high ridge of land, he first saw the Pacific , that ocean hitherto barred to all but Spanish ships. It was then, as he put it, that he “besought Almighty God of His goodness to give him life and leave to sail once in an English ship in that sea.” He returned to England both rich and famous. Unfortunately, his return coincided with a moment when Queen Elizabeth and King Philip II of Spain had reached a temporary truce. Although delighted with Drake’s success in the empire of her great enemy, Elizabeth could not officially acknowledge piracy . Drake saw that the time was inauspicious and sailed with a small squadron to Ireland, where he served under the earl of Essex and took part in a notorious massacre in July 1575. An obscure period of Drake’s life follows; he makes almost no appearance in the records until 1577. Circumnavigation of the world Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent In 1577 he was chosen as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America through the Strait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. The expedition was backed by the queen herself. Nothing could have suited Drake better.

He had official approval to benefit himself and the queen, as well as to cause the maximum damage to the Spaniards. This was the occasion on which he first met the queen face-to-face and heard from her own lips that she “would gladly be revenged on the king of Spain for divers injuries that I have received.” The explicit object was to “find out places meet to have traffic.” Drake, however, devoted the voyage to piracy, without official reproof in England. He set sail in December with five small ships, manned by fewer than 200 men, and reached the Brazilian coast in the spring of 1578. His flagship, the Pelican, which Drake later renamed the Golden Hind (or Hinde), weighed only about 100 tons. It seemed little enough with which to undertake a venture into the domain of the most powerful monarch and empire in the world. Voyages of Ferdinand Magellan (1519–22) and Francis Drake (1577–80) across the Atlantic … Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Upon arrival in South America, Drake alleged a plot by unreliable officers, and its supposed leader, Thomas Doughty , was tried and executed. Drake was always a stern disciplinarian, and he clearly did not intend to continue the venture without making sure that all of his small company were loyal to him. Two of his smaller vessels, having served their purpose as store ships, were then abandoned after their provisions had been taken aboard the others, and on August 21, 1578, he entered the Strait of Magellan . It took 16 days to sail through, after which Drake had his second view of the Pacific Ocean—this time from the deck of an English ship. Then, as he wrote, “God by a contrary wind and intolerable tempest seemed to set himself against us.” During the gale, Drake’s vessel and that of his second in command had been separated; the latter, having missed a rendezvous with Drake, ultimately returned to England, presuming that the Hind had sunk. It was, therefore, only Drake’s flagship that made its way into the Pacific and up the coast of South America.

He passed along the coast like a whirlwind, for the Spaniards were quite unguarded, having never known a hostile ship in their waters. He seized provisions at Valparaíso , attacked passing Spanish merchantmen, and captured two very rich prizes that were carrying bars of gold and silver, minted Spanish coinage, precious stones, and pearls. He claimed then to have sailed to the north as far as 48° N, on a parallel with Vancouver [ Canada ], to seek the Northwest Passage back into the Atlantic. Bitterly cold weather defeated him, and he coasted southward to anchor near what is now San Francisco . He named the surrounding country New Albion and took possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest In July 1579 he sailed west across the Pacific and after 68 days sighted a line of islands (probably the remote Palau group). From there he went on to the Philippines, where he watered ship before sailing to the Moluccas . There he was well received by a local sultan and succeeded in buying spices.

Drake’s deep-sea navigation and pilotage were always excellent, but in those totally uncharted waters his ship struck a reef. He was able to get her off without any great damage and, after calling at Java, set his course across the Indian Ocean for the Cape of Good Hope . Two years after she had nosed her way into the Strait of Magellan, the Golden Hind came back into the Atlantic with only 56 of the original crew of 100 left aboard. Exploring Canada: Fact or Fiction? On September 26, 1580, Francis Drake took his ship into Plymouth Harbour. She was laden with treasure and spices, and Drake’s fortune was permanently made. Despite Spanish protests about his piratical conduct while in their imperial waters, Queen Elizabeth herself went aboard the Golden Hind, which was lying at Deptford in the Thames estuary, and personally bestowed knighthood on him. Mayor of Plymouth In the same year, 1581, Drake was made mayor of Plymouth , an office he fulfilled with the same thoroughness that he had shown in all other matters. He organized a water supply for Plymouth that served the city for 300 years.

Drake’s first wife, a Cornish woman named Mary Newman, whom he had married in 1569, died in 1583, and in 1585 he married again. His second wife, Elizabeth Sydenham, was an heiress and the daughter of a local Devonshire magnate, Sir George Sydenham. In keeping with his new station, Drake purchased a fine country house—Buckland Abbey (now a national museum)—a few miles from Plymouth. Drake’s only grief was that neither of his wives bore him any children. Trending Topics Opium Wars During these years of fame when Drake was a popular hero, he could always obtain volunteers for any of his expeditions. But he was very differently regarded by many of his great contemporaries. Such well-born men as the naval commander Sir Richard Grenville and the navigator and explorer Sir Martin Frobisher disliked him intensely. He was the parvenu, the rich but common upstart, with West Country manners and accent and with none of the courtier’s graces.

Drake had even bought Buckland Abbey from the Grenvilles by a ruse, using an intermediary, for he knew that the Grenvilles would never have sold it to him directly. It is doubtful, in any case, whether he cared about their opinions, so long as he retained the goodwill of the queen. This was soon enough demonstrated when in 1585 Elizabeth placed him in command of a fleet of 25 ships. Hostilities with Spain had broken out once more, and he was ordered to cause as much damage as possible to the Spaniards’ overseas empire. Drake fulfilled his commission, capturing Santiago in the Cape Verde Islands and taking and plundering the cities of Cartagena in Colombia, St. Augustine in Florida, and San Domingo (now Santo Domingo , Hispaniola).

Lord Burghley , Elizabeth’s principal minister, who had never approved of Drake or his methods, was forced to concede that “Sir Francis Drake is a fearful man to the king of Spain.” Failure of the Spanish Armada By 1586 it was known that Philip II was preparing a fleet for what was called “The Enterprise of England” and that he had the blessing of Pope Sixtus V to return the crown to the fold of Rome. Drake was given carte blanche by the queen to “impeach the provisions of Spain.” In the following year, with a fleet of some 30 ships, he showed that her trust in him had not been misplaced. He stormed into the Spanish harbour of Cádiz and in 36 hours destroyed numerous vessels and thousands of tons of supplies, all of which had been destined for the Armada. This action, which he laughingly referred to as “singeing the king of Spain’s beard,” helped to delay the invasion fleet for a further year. But the resources of Spain were such that by July 1588 the Armada was in the English Channel . Lord Howard had been chosen as English admiral to oppose it.

Drake appropriated a prize—a Spanish galleon disabled in an accidental collision—but, although credited by legend with a heroic role, is not known to have played any part in the fighting. Last years Drake’s later years, however, were not happy. An expedition that he led to Portugal proved abortive, and his last voyage, in 1596 against the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, was a failure, largely because the fleet was decimated by a fever to which Drake himself succumbed . He was buried at sea off the town of Puerto Bello (modern Portobelo, Panama). As the Elizabethan historian John Stow wrote: He was more skilful in all points of navigation than any.…He was also of a perfect memory, great observation, eloquent by nature.…In brief he was as famous in Europe and America, as Timur Lenk [Tamerlane] in Asia and Africa. At home his reputation was equivocal . Fellow captains found him unreliable and self-seeking. His Spanish victims, however, conceded grudging admiration: he was credited with diabolical powers as a navigator and became the antihero of works of literature, in which he was celebrated for courtesy to prisoners.

But to the Spaniards he was also, as their ambassador to England remarked, “the master-thief of the unknown world.” He was “low of stature, of strong limb, round-headed, brown hair, full-bearded, his eyes round, large and clear, well-favoured face and of a cheerful countenance.” His life was dedicated to self-aggrandizement and revenge directed at Spain. But his legend influenced English self-perceptions, for he was credited with feats of sangfroid, unflappability, improvisation, tenacity, and fair play, most of which have little or no basis in fact. Francis Drake The Voyage A Synopsis of the Circumnavigation The Golden Hind - Perhaps (From the Hondius Broadside map of circa 1595) Late in 1577, Francis Drake left England with five ships, ostensibly on a trading expedition to the Nile. On reaching Africa, the true destination was revealed to be the Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Magellan, to the dismay of some of the accompanying gentlemen and sailors.

Still in the eastern Atlantic, a Portuguese merchant ship and its pilot - who was to stay with Drake for 15 months - was captured, and the fleet crossed the Atlantic, via the Cape Verde Islands, to a Brazilian landfall. Running down the Atlantic South American coast, storms, separations, dissension, and a fatal skirmish with natives marred the journey. Before leaving the Atlantic, Drake lightened the expedition by disposing of two unfit ships and one English gentleman, who was tried and executed for mutiny. After rallying his men and unifying his command with a remarkable speech, Drake renamed his flagship, previously the Pelican, the Golden Hind. In September of 1578, the fleet, now three ships, sailed through the deadly Strait of Magellan with speed and ease, only to emerge into terrific Pacific storms. For two months the ships were in mortal danger, unable to sail clear of the weather or to stay clear of the coast. The ships were scattered, and the smallest, the Marigold, went down with all hands. The Elizabeth found herself back in the strait and turned tail for England, where she arrived safely but in disgrace.

Meanwhile, the Golden Hind had been blown far to the south, where Drake discovered - perhaps - that there was open water below the South American continent. The storms abated, and the Golden Hind was finally able to sail north along the Pacific South American coast, into the previously undisturbed private waters of King Philip of Spain. The first stop, for food and water, was at the (now) Chilean Island of Mocha, where the rebellious residents laid a nearly disastrous ambush, having mistaken the English for their Spanish oppressors. After this bad beginning in the Pacific the tide turned, and for the next five and a half months Drake raided Spanish settlements at will, among them Valpariso, Lima and Arica, and easily took Spanish ships, including the rich treasure ship "Cacafuego," leaving panic, chaos, and a confused pursuit in his wake. During this time, he captured and released a number of Europeans, whose subsequent testimony survives. The plundering was remarkable for its restraint; neither the Spanish nor the natives were intentionally harmed, there was very little violence, and there were very few casualties. Drake's crew in the Pacific was of unknown number, with estimates ranging from around sixty to one hundred men.

After stopping to make repairs at an island, Cano, off the coast of Southern Mexico and after a final raid, on the nearby (now vanished) town of Guatulco, the Golden Hind, awash with booty, including perhaps twenty-six tons of silver, sailed out of Spanish waters in April of 1579. As she left the sight of all Spanish observers, and of the captured Portuguese pilot who had been set ashore, she was accompanied by a small captured ship, crewed by Drake's men, which was kept for an unknown time. Sailing first westerly and then northerly, well off the shore of North America, the leaking Golden Hind reached a northernmost position variously reported as between 48 degrees and 42 degrees north latitude, a range which includes most of Washington, all of Oregon, and a sliver of California. There, somewhere in the region he named Nova Albion, in the strangely cold and windy June of 1579, Drake found a harbor - reportedly at 48, 44, 38 1/2, or 38 degrees.

He stayed in this now lost harbor for over five weeks, repairing the Golden Hind and enjoying extensive and peaceful contact with the Indians. Before he left he set up a monument, in the form of an engraved metal plate, which has never been found. After stopping briefly at some nearby islands to fill out his larder, Drake turned his back to America and sailed into the vast Pacific. The crossing was uneventful, and landfall was made in sixty eight days, at a location which, like the Lost Harbor, remains elusive. The next months were spent puttering about in the Indonesian archipelago, making promising commercial contacts, local political alliances and trading for spices - and again entering the sight of witnesses. Difficulty in finding a route through the thousands of islands nearly ended the journey in January of 1580, when the Golden Hind ran hard onto a reef in apparent open water; but after several desperate days a change of wind brought salvation.

Continuing westward, the Golden Hind crossed the Indian Ocean without incident, rounded the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic, sailed up the coast of Africa, and arrived triumphantly in England in the fall of 1580, nearly three years and some 36,000 miles having passed beneath her keel. Author's Note: Much of this material is adapted from my forthcoming book Francis Drake in Nova Albion - The Mystery Restored, in which these and neighboring thickets are explored much more deeply than on these few web pages. Thus there may be references here not fully explained, or answers missing their questions. Also lacking here is documentation, provided in the book by 782 endnotes. - Oliver Seeler Nova Albion Research Copyright 1996 by Oliver Seeler Please feel free to send your comments to oseeler@mcn.org

Question: What was the name of Sir Francis Drake’s ship at the start of his circumnavigation of the world in 1577?
Answer: The Pelican