Page:Royalnavyhistory01clow.djvu/709

of the ship. Here we learn the truth. which was, that Drake did nothing of the kind alleged. Zarate wrote that Drake exchanged a sword with a costly hilt, and a silver chafing-dish, for certain toys of his, and he added: "I promise you I did not lose by the bargain."

The whole passage, in Zarate's letter, relating to Drake and his ship is extremely interesting. He wrote:

"The English general is about thirty-five years of age, short of stature, with a red beard, and one of the best sailors that sail the seas, both in respect to boldness and to capacity for command. His ship is of near 400 tons burden, with a hundred men on board, all young and of an age for battle, and all drilled well as the oldest veterans of our army of Italy. Each one is bound to keep his arquebus clean. Drake treats them all with affection, and they him with respect. He also has with him nine or ten gentlemen, the younger sons of great people in England. Some of them are in his counsels, but he has no favourite. These sit at his table, and he is served in silver plate with a coat of arms engraved on the dishes; and music is played at his dinner and supper. The ship carries about thirty pieces of artillery, and plenty of ammunition and warlike stores."

This is the testimony of a stranger and an enemy, and is particularly valuable because it gives us a glimpse of the internal economy of the Golden Hind. We get some idea of the general's personal appearance, of the sort of state that was observed at his meals, of the discipline he maintained, of his relations with his men, and of the ship's armament. The Golden Hind was evidently kept like a man-of-war, with all the order and discipline of a queen's ship, and as efficient as she could be made by an able commander, working with a zealous and willing crew.

After the capture of the two valuable prizes, Drake shaped a course for the west coast of Mexico, and anchored in the port of Guatulco, where he took in water and fresh provisions. He then steered northwards, intending to try whether it were possible to find a passage home along the northern shores of America. He had punished the Spaniards for their treachery at Vera Cruz, and for their cruelty to the shipwrecked English sailors who fell into their hands. He had enriched himself and his friends. His voyage now became one of geographical discovery northwards, beyond the farthest limit known to the Spaniards. In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo had been as far as Cape Mendocino, in 40° N. on the Californian coast. Drake, sailing onward, succeeded in reaching the 48th parallel, having thus discovered 480 miles of a new region, to which he gave the name of New Albion. Want of provisions obliged him to give up the project of exploring farther in that direction, and to shape a course for the Ladrone Islands. He therefore resolved to circum-