Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/30

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EPOCH I
27

wind so disturbed the great water that I thought it would beat the land to pieces." Ape' narrated his experiences with the Indian tribes along the River of the West, and described an encounter which the natives under his temporary leadership had with thirty pirates who landed at the mouth of the river. This Indian traveler was away from home five years, and the story of his travels was published in Paris in 1 758 by du Pratz.

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE

Drake Calls California "New Albion." Thus far only Spanish ships had participated in the explorations. But England was growing ambitious to become a sea power. Furthermore Spain and England were unfriendly to each other as the result of a quarrel between the King of Spain and the English ruler, who was none other than Queen Elizabeth. She had given her consent permitting Sir Francis Drake to seize, rob and destroy Spanish ships in American waters. On this voyage, though his flagship, the "Golden Hind," became separated from four of his fleet, Drake attacked Spanish ships in harbors and on the high seas, robbing them of silver, gold, and rich cargoes. Upon landing at Drake's Bay, which is believed to be the inlet a few miles northwest of Golden Gate, he took possession of the adjacent land for England, calling it New Albion. Fearing to return by the route he came, Drake boldly sailed across the ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and won the distinction of being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. When he arrived at London with his treas-