Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/352

 332 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 60. to the western privateers, and a young adventurer sailed out of Plymouth harbour more enterprising and more audacious than the dreaded Hawkins himself. In the last disastrous expedition many English sailors were left prisoners in the hands of the Spaniards. Most of them had been released by Hawkins' ingenuity, but some had been left in Mexico, to be burnt by the Inquisition. Francis Drake set out to revenge his comrades. He spent the summer in the West Indies burning, killing, and taking prizes. 1 Then putting him- self in communication with escaped negro slaves in the woods at Panama, he landed and intercepted the mules which were bringing the gold and silver over the isthmus. He secured an enormous booty, sufficient to tempt half the pirates in the world to th< ; Spanish main, and returned safe with it to England, fortune so stand- ing his friend that he caught another gold ship on his way home, which was also of immense value. 2 Eliza- beth was personally compromised : and this time she showed no desire to evade her responsibility. She was known to have had shares in the adventure. Drake presented her with a negro slave whom he had taken in a house at Carthagena. She showed him publicly at Court as a curiosity. A priest, implicated in some recent treason, was executed' about the same time in London with the usual cruelties ; 3 while she continued to harass ] At Nombre de Dios he killed I de los robos hechos en ellas por In- eighteen Spaniards, and cut out and carried off a loaded galleon which was lying in the harbour. Memoria que ha dado el Consejo delas Indias gleses, 1572 : MSS. Simancas. 2 Protest of Antonio y Guaras to Elizabeth, 1573: MSS. Ibid. 3 Martyrio hecho en persona de