Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 15.djvu/434

Drake `than the pinnaces could carry;' and then noticing that his men were somewhat backward, ` muttering of the forces of the town,' he told them that ` he had brought them to the mouth of the Treasure of the World; if they would want it they might henceforth blame nobody but themselves' (Drake Revived, p. 16). With that he ordered the door to be broken open, but as he stepped forward to keep back the crowd ` his strength and sight and speech failed him, and he began to faint for want of blood, which, as then we perceived, had in great quantity issued upon the sand out of a wound received in his leg in the first encounter, whereby, though he felt some pain, yet would he not have it known to any till this, his fainting against his will, bewrayed it; the blood having first filled the very prints which our footsteps made, to the greater dismay of all our company, who thought it not credible that one man should be able to spare so much blood and live' (ib. p. 17). The men were now disheartened, and forcibly carried Drake down to the boats and pushed off to the Bastimentos, where they remained two days and then returned to their ships.

It is unnecessary here to speak in detail of the further achievements of this remarkable expedition; to tell how, after separating from Rauso, they captured a large ship in the very harbour of Cartagena; how they captured and destroyed many other ships; how they burnt Porto Bello; how the Swan was scuttled, at Drake's bidding, in order to increase his force on shore; how Drake's brother John,who had commanded the Swan, was killed, and how Joseph, another brother, died of a calenture, which carried off in all twenty-eight of their small number. Afterwards, on 3 Feb., leaving the sick and a few sound men behind, Drake landed with only eighteen, and being joined by thirty Cimaroons marched across the isthmus. As they reached the highest point of the dividing ridge, his guides pointed out a tree from whose top, as they told Drake, he might see the North Sea, from which he had come, and the South Sea, towards which he was going. Drake ascended the tree by steps cut in the trunk, and—the first of known Englishmen—saw the sea which, from its relative position at this point, was then and has ever since been known as the South Sea, and, carried away by his enthusiasm, ` besought Almighty God of His goodness to give him life and leave to sail once in an English ship in that sea.' From this tree they passed on to Panama ; missed a rich caravan by the untimely impetuosity of a drunken man; sacked Venta Cruz ; and so, after excessive toil to but little purpose, returned to their ship. Another adventure proved more fortunate, when on 1 April they intercepted three caravans, numbering in the aggregate 190 mules, `each of which carried 300lb. weight of silver, or in all nearly thirty tons. They took away what they could and buried the rest ; but before they could return, the Spaniards had discovered where it was hidden and had rescued it. When the adventurers reached the coast and the place where they expected to meet the pinnaces, they found no signs of them. They lashed together some trunks of trees, and on this rude raft Drake and three others put to sea in quest of the missing boats, with which, after some hours of dangerous navigation, they happily fell in. And so, returning to their ships, they took a friendly leave of their faithful allies and sailed homeward-bound. With a fair wind they ran from Cape Florida to the Scilly Isles in twenty-three days, and arrived at Plymouth on Sunday, 9 Aug. 1573, during sermon time, when ` the news of Drake's return did so speedily pass over all the church and surpass their minds with desire and delight to see him, that very few or none remained with the preacher, all hastening to see the evidence of God's love and blessing towards our gracious queen and country' (ib. p. 94). The expedition seems to have been justly accounted one of the most successful that had ever sailed to the Indies ; and though, in consequence of Drake's untimely swoon at Nombre de Dios, the Treasure of the World was not emptied into his ships, as he had hoped and intended, it would still appear that the bullion brought home amounted to a very large sum, Drake's share of which rendered him a comparatively rich man.

It is stated (Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. v. 90) that Drake commanded the squadron which carried Walter Devereux [q. v.], first earl of Essex, and his troops to Ireland in August 1573. As this squadron sailed from Liverpool on 16 Aug. (, Lives and Letters of the Devereux, Earls of Essex, i. 33), only seven days after Drake's arrival at Plymouth, it is probable that this detail both by sea and land at the winning of divers strong forts,' among which we know only of the reduction of Rathlin (26 July 1575), where, however, the chief command was vested in the army officer. Captain John Norreys, who, rather than Drake, must be held responsible for the wholesale butchery of the garrison (, i. 113). Essex died in September 1576, and Drake,