Notable Voyagers Part 22

Still the Spanish ships followed, and the next morning appeared to be gaining on the _Golden Hind_. By noon, however, they were seen to haul their wind and turn back, the reason being that the Spaniards, in their hurry to get on board, had forgotten to bring with them any provisions, and, like other men, had no desire to fight on empty stomachs.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

VOYAGE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, CONTINUED--A.D. 1579.

The _Golden Hind_ chases the _Cacafuego_--Pursued by the Spaniards-- Captures several vessels--The Line crossed--When off Cape Francisco a sail seen ahead--The _Cacafuego_ heaves to--Is captured and plundered-- Dismissed with a letter from Drake--The _Hind_ puts into Cano--Other prizes taken--Sails for Guatuico--A council interrupted, and judge and prisoners carried off--Booty obtained--The pilot Da Silva and all prisoners set at liberty--The _Hind_ sails northward--Bitter cold-- Driven to the southward--Puts into the bay of San Francisco--A fort built--Natives appear--Friendly behaviour--Strange ceremonies--Visit from the King, who makes his country over to her Majesty--Drake horrified at the attempt of the natives to worship him--They at length take their departure--Drake's excursion into the country--Sees deer-- Coneys--Native huts--Preparations for departure--Grief of the natives-- The _Golden Hind_ sails away--The country named Albion.

Onward pressed the _Golden Hind_, her crew eager to overtake the richly-laden _Cacafuego_, or the _Spitfire_, as we will translate her name. Drake considered that she was likely to touch at other ports to take in more cargo, and, trusting to that circ.u.mstance and to her being occasionally becalmed, he confidently hoped to overtake her before she could reach Panama and land her cargo.

The sharpest of look-outs was kept ahead, and the seamen were constantly in the fore-top straining their eyes in expectation of catching sight of her white canvas. Every port was narrowly scanned on the chance of her having put in there. When the wind fell, the crew eagerly leapt into the boats to pull ahead. When there was a breeze every inch of canvas the ship could carry was spread to urge her along. The chase would prove a rich prize, for her cargo was worth many times more than that of all the vessels they had hitherto captured.

Drake was not aware all this time that he had enemies following astern, resolved to sink the _Golden Hind_, and hang the bold rover captain and every one of his pirate crew, for such they considered them, or, should they escape, purposing to lie in wait for them as they should attempt to pa.s.s again to the eastward through the Straits of Magellan.

A favouring breeze filling her sails, the _Golden Hind_ pressed on. The ports of Paita, Saint Helena, and Guayaquil were successively pa.s.sed; but, on the principle that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, they hove to some time after leaving Callao to capture a ship they sighted on their way, the one which had before escaped.

Another they took in the port of Paita, partly laden with wine, and a third, laden with ships' stores, besides eighty pounds weight in gold.

They made quick work of it, however, for they had just heard that a vastly superior force was on the look-out for them.

When near the Line they captured another vessel, belonging to Gabriel Alvarez. From him, as well as from the prisoners taken in the other ships, the information they had before received was confirmed, that the _Cacafuego_ was but a short distance ahead of them. Their hopes, therefore, rose higher than ever. Drake, who was not less eager than his men to capture the rich argosy, to sharpen their eyesight promised to the first that should discover her the gold chain he wore round his neck.

It was the ist of March. The Line was pa.s.sed. Far off, on the starboard bow, the lofty headland of Cape Francisco was seen, though dim and indistinct. All day long the seamen, with eager eyes, had been looking out ahead and on either side, hoping to espy the tiny speck of white just above the horizon. The day was clear, the sun shone brightly down from an unclouded sky, and the _Golden Hind_ in hot haste sped on, her canvas spread wide on either side to catch the breeze. Midday was pa.s.sed. In spite of the heat every one was on deck, the eyes of most of the ship's company, whether there or aloft, looking in the direction they were going.

Presently a shout rose from the summit of the highest mast, to which John Drake, a seaman, had climbed--

"A sail, a sail! right ahead!"

"Should the stranger prove to be the _Cacafuego_, the chain of gold shall be yours, John," replied the Admiral.

If human muscles could have urged on the _Golden Hind_ at a greater speed than she was going, the men would have exerted their strength until they had dropped. They could do nothing, however, but stand on deck or cling to the masts and shrouds, looking at the distant sail with still more eagerness than before.

Gradually the topsails of the stranger rose above the horizon, then her courses or lower sails, then the hull itself came into view. As they examined her from the trucks to the water's edge, they were more and more convinced that she was the argosy of which they had been so long in chase. What was their astonishment, at length, to see her clew up her sails and heave to!

"Is she so strongly armed that she can venture to stop and fight us?"

was the question.

No one had antic.i.p.ated that she earned guns. Such had not been the practice of the Spaniards in those seas, for they had been fully convinced that no enemies could venture through the straits to wrest their ill-gotten treasures from their hands. Hitherto they had enjoyed the monopoly of tyrannising over the Indians, and of all the profitable commerce carried on along the coast. Drake had aroused them from their sleep of security.

The _Golden Hind_ got nearer and nearer to the stranger. John Drake felt convinced that he had won the Admiral's chain. Presently the ship ahead was seen to put her helm up and make all sail, endeavouring to escape; but it was too late,--already she was within range of the guns of the _Golden Hind_, which forthwith began pouring forth their shot, aimed not at her hull--that was too precious to be injured--but at her masts and spars. The English were rejoiced to see the efforts made by the Spanish captain to escape, for this convinced them that his cargo was a valuable one, or he would not have run the risk of losing his life or the lives of his men from the iron shot which came rattling on board.

Another shout, triumphant and jubilant, rose from the deck of the _Golden Hind_. The mast of the chase was shot away, and the adventurers, soon getting up to her, made fast alongside.

She was indeed the _Cacafuego_. The captors eagerly pressed on board, the Spanish captain and his crew having no heart to oppose them. He confessed that, when he hove to, he had taken the _Golden Hind_ for a Spanish ship, sent by the Viceroy with some special message for him to convey to Panama, and great had been his astonishment when he discovered her real character. The Admiral, setting all sail, carried his prize away from the land, out of the track of pa.s.sing vessels or of the Spanish squadron sent in chase of him, that he might at his leisure transfer her cargo to the hold of the _Golden Hind_.

Unbounded was the delight of the seamen when they found that the riches she contained were fully equal to the amount they had been led to expect. At first, to be sure, they found chiefly fruit, conserves, meal, and sugar; but before long they ferreted out cases of jewels and precious stones, thirteen chests of silver royals, eighty pounds weight of gold twenty-six tons of uncoined silver, not to speak of two very beautiful silver-gilt drinking-bowls and like trifles; the whole valued at 360,000 pesos, or somewhere like 75,000 pounds,--in these days equal to a million of money, not taking into account the precious stones and other booty. The bowls, with which Drake was mightily pleased, belonged to the pilot, and when the Admiral told him he must have one of them for a punch-bowl, to show his contempt and hatred of the English, he presented the other to the Admiral's steward. Nearly six days were spent in unloading the ship of her precious cargo, when she was allowed to proceed on her way to Panama; Drake having presented to the captain, Juan de Anton, some linen and other articles, and a letter addressed to Captain Winter and other officers of the squadron, requesting them, should they fall in with him, to give him double the value of anything they might receive, and treat him well.

The _Golden Hind_ then stood off the coast, to avoid any Spanish vessels that might be on the look-out for her. Though still searching for the missing ships, the explorers had now very little hope of finding them.

Both officers and crew, indeed, began to pine for home, with a great desire also to carry the enormous wealth they had obtained with them.

Drake's great object was now--having repaired and stored the ship--to go in search of a pa.s.sage round the northern end of America into the Atlantic Ocean. That one existed he had ever believed, though he little thought of the icy barrier which blocked it up. His hope was that he should find it, and that then he and his companions should speedily with joy return to their longed-for homes.

He now shaped a course for the island of Cano, off the coast of Nicaragua. On his way he fell in with one more Spanish ship, laden with linens, silk, and china dishes, and a falcon of finely-wrought gold, on the breast of which was set a large emerald. Having taken only the more valuable portions of the cargo, the vessel was dismissed, an Indian and a pilot only being detained.

On the 16th of March they reached Cano, when they entered a fresh water river suitable for their object. While the _Hind_ and the pinnace lay at anchor, about a mile from the sh.o.r.e, suddenly they found the vessels quiver and shake as if they had struck a rock. A terrible earthquake was taking place, the effects of which were felt even at that distance from the land.

They here obtained fresh water, wood, and an abundance of fish, besides monkeys and several animals killed on sh.o.r.e. While the ship was here, the pinnace, being dispatched on active duty, brought in a prize, laden with honey, b.u.t.ter, and other commodities, besides which were letters from the King of Spain to the Governor of the Philippines, and charts, or sea cards, as they were called. The latter afterwards proved of considerable value to the voyagers.

The Admiral, considering it prudent, with a long voyage in prospect, to thoroughly provision the ship, determined to put into some place where he might, either by fair means or by force, obtain a sufficient quant.i.ty of the articles he considered necessary. He therefore compelled the pilot who had last been taken to steer the ship to Guatulco. He reached that place in safety. As soon as they had dropped anchor, the boats were lowered and a well-armed party hastened on sh.o.r.e.

Marching up to the largest building, they found a council of the princ.i.p.al inhabitants, who altogether consisted only of seventeen Europeans, trying a number of Indians accused of forming a plot to burn the place. To the astonishment of the Spaniards, and to the no small joy probably of the accused Indians, all were hurried on board, when the judge was compelled, upon the threat of being carried off, to write to his fellow-townsmen, advising them to offer no resistance.

While he was thus kept as a hostage, the place was ransacked; but the only valuable booty collected was a bushel of silver reals. One of the party, however, Thomas Moon, observing a Spanish gentleman running off in great fright, pursued and took from him a chain of gold and some jewels.

The rovers obtained also numerous articles of provision, clothing, stores, and suchlike, which they much needed. They here landed the Portuguese pilot Nuna da Silva, whom they had brought from the Cape de Verdes, and likewise set at liberty all the other prisoners they had taken.

Having thus arranged their business on sh.o.r.e, on the 16th of April they set sail, standing out into the ocean. Obtaining a fair wind, they steered northward for one thousand four hundred leagues, until they reached the forty-second degree of north lat.i.tude. Here they found the cold so intense, that many of the crew suffered greatly. The air was biting in the extreme, and even the ropes of the ship on which the rain fell became covered with ice. This occurred not only at night, but during the day, when the sun was shining.

As they sailed two degrees farther north, the seamen could scarcely keep themselves warm with the thickest clothing they could put on. They found it difficult also, even with double the number of men, to work the ropes and trim the sails. The crew, not without reason, began to murmur, and declared that they should never be able to endure the cold.

The Admiral, however, urged them to persevere. They were standing on when they found themselves close to a sh.o.r.e trending to the westward, and, compelled by a contrary wind, they put into a bay, where they brought up; but the anchorage appearing very insecure, they sailed out again. The Admiral would have continued on his course again in search of a pa.s.sage, but a northerly wind springing up, drove the _Golden Hind_ once more to the southward.

Though it was in the height of summer, the cold continued so bitter, that many would have taken to their beds had they not been compelled to attend to the working of the ship. During this time also the sky became so overcast with clouds and thick mists, that it was impossible to take an observation. At length they came to the conclusion that there was no pa.s.sage at all along the north sh.o.r.e of America, or that it was so blocked up with ice as to be impa.s.sable. They ran in and dropped anchor in a roadstead, since called the Bay of San Francisco.

The following day the natives came down to the beach, and sent off a man in a canoe, who, as he approached, stood up and made a long speech, using a variety of gesticulations, moving his hands and turning his head about in all directions. His address concluded, he turned back and made for the sh.o.r.e. In a short time he came again, and behaved exactly in the same manner; a third time he appeared, bringing with him as a present a bunch of feathers, much like those of a black crow, all neatly and cleverly put together, forming a sort of crown, such as was also worn by the princ.i.p.al persons in attendance on the chief. He also produced a small basket made of rushes, filled with a herb, which the natives called _tabak_, from which the French take the word _tabac_, and the English tobacco. Having tied this to a pole, he placed it in the boat alongside.

Drake would at once have recompensed him with several articles, but the only thing he would receive was a hat, which was floated off to him.

As the ship had sprung a leak and required to be put on sh.o.r.e, she was carried nearer, in order that her cargo might be landed, and that she might be repaired.

In order to guard against any attack from the natives, the Admiral decided on throwing up a fort, in which, for security, their valuable cargo and stores might be placed, and which would serve as a protection to themselves.

While the English were thus employed, the natives were seen coming over the brow of a hill, at the foot of which, close to the beach, the fort was being built. At first only a few warriors appeared, armed with bows and arrows, then more and more came. The seamen sprang to their arms; Drake ordered them not to fire or to show any sign of alarm.

The savages, it appeared, however, had no hostile intentions, for they approached in a humble fashion, as if they were inclined rather to reverence the white strangers than to attack them. Their numbers still further increased.

It being intimated to them by signs that they must lay aside their bows and arrows, they willingly did as they were directed. The example of the first parties was followed by the rest. Drake, anxious to secure their good-will by every possible means, distributed among them various articles of clothing, of which they stood greatly in need. As the natives by their reverential gestures appeared to look upon their visitors as beings of a superior order, Drake, shocked at the thoughts of allowing himself or his men for a moment to be so worshipped, tried to make them understand that he and his companions required clothing as much as they did, as also food and water, for which purpose he and his companions ate and drank in their presence. Notwithstanding this, nothing apparently could remove the idea entertained by the Indians that the white men were divinities.

In return for the shirts, linen, cloths, and other articles they had received, they offered feather ornaments, net-work bags, quivers made of deer-skin, and various skins.

The costume of these people was not very elaborate. The women wore on their shoulders the skins of deer, with the hair upon them, in addition to which they had petticoats formed of rushes combed out, hanging down from their waists to their knees. They appeared to be very obedient to their lords and masters, and did not even venture to move without asking permission. The men wore scarcely any clothing whatever.

Having satisfied their curiosity, or whatever brought them to visit the strangers, they retired towards some woods seen in the distance, where their dwellings were supposed to be.

Scarcely had they reached the woods, when they began weeping and crying out, the women especially shrieking in shrill tones, the sounds, although they were three-quarters of a mile off, reaching to the fort.

Drake wisely considered, in consequence of the experience he had had with other savages, notwithstanding the humble way in which they had behaved, that it would be dangerous to trust them too much, well aware, also, that any trifling event might cause a breach of the peace.

For two days none of the savages came near the voyagers, who were thus able to finish the fort without interruption. It was constructed of rough stones and stakes, so that with their guns and crossbows it might easily be defended against any number of a.s.sailants.