146 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 64. direct questions, she tried her gipsy tricks, 1 and said in a wheedling way that it was impossible I should have no guess where the fleet was going. I told her that great princes, as she was well aware, treated their ministers as the stomach treats the other members of the body, giving each no more nutriment than would enable it to fulfil its functions. Your Majesty had been pleased to reserve your secret in your own breast. 'With this I left her more frightened than before, and more conscious of her obligations. Thus my pre- sence here is of some service to your Majesty. She gives me audience freely. By talking to her I discover her own and her Ministers' dispositions, and after she has been conversing with me she speaks very differently to them.' 2 Drake meanwhile had brought his ship into con- j^ 79 . dition again to encounter the seas. Among June. ^e g p i} s w hioh had fallen into his hands, he had not forgotten sails and cordage, which he had found in abundance and excellent., /By the i6th of April, 1579, the Pelican was once more in order, and started on her northern course in search of the expected pass- age. She held on up the coast for 800 miles into lati- tude 43 North, but no signs appeared of an opening. Though it was summer the air grew colder, and the crew having been long in the tropics suffered from the change. Not caring to run risks in exploring with so precious a cargo, and finding by observation that the 1 ' Acariciandome con grandes gitanerias.' Descifrada de Don Bernardino, 20 Hebrero, 1580 : MSS. Simancas.
