With these he sailed down the West Coast of Africa, then across to Brazil and down the South American coast till he rounded the end of it through the dangerous and difficult Straits of Magellan into the Pacific. He coasted up the western side of America as far as California, and then struck across the ocean to India, and thence via the Cape of Good Hope to England; this voyage took him nearly three years to complete.
His good ship, the Golden Hind, though much battered and wounded with war and weather, was received with great honour at Deptford. The Queen herself went on board, and while there she showed such pleasure at Drake's good work that she knighted him, using his own well-worn sword to make him Sir Francis Drake.
Soon after this King Philip of Spain began to prepare an enormous fleet, and though he told Queen Elizabeth that it was not intended to be used against England, Sir Francis Drake, who was now in command of a small fleet of British ships, maintained that it could be for no other purpose.
[Illustration: DRAKE'S SHIP, THE "GOLDEN HIND.">[
And a secret letter was shortly afterwards intercepted which proved that his suspicions were right.
Drake went off with his fleet and sailed up and down the Spanish coast destroying their ships and stores wherever he could find them, and thus he hindered their preparations for war. In this way he sank or burnt some 12,000 tons of shipping, which meant a great many ships in those days.
He merely described it in his report as, "singeing the Spanish King's beard."
At the end of 1588, the great Spanish fleet—the Armada—was ready, and sailed against England. But there were a fine lot of British admirals and men awaiting it, for besides Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, the Lord High Admiral, there were Frobisher, and Davis, Walter Raleigh, and Francis Drake.
It is true they had only 67 ships with which to oppose the 130 of the Spaniards, but they sallied out and tackled them at once before the Spaniards were really ready for them, and drove them into Dunkirk. Here the Spaniards felt secure and would not come out till one night the English sent fire ships in among them which forced them to put to sea. Then ensued a tremendous sea fight, in which Drake, in the Revenge, took the lead.
The battle lasted all day, with guns roaring and ships foundering or exploding.