1. Drake's next exploit was still more extraordinary though hardly more daring. Towards the end of 1577 he started on his famous voyage round the world. He was then in the prime of life, and is described by one who saw him as "low of stature, of strong limbs, broad-breasted, round-headed, with brown hair and a full beard, his eyes round, large and clear, well-favoured, fair, and of a cheerful countenance." When at sea he wore a scarlet cap with a gold band, and about his neck a plaited cord with a ring attached to it. He exacted every mark of respect from all on board. A sentinel stood always at his cabin door, and on special occasions "he was served with sound of trumpets and other instruments at his meals."
2. Drake sailed in the Pelican—afterwards called the Golden Hind—a ship scarcely as big as a Channel schooner, and the remainder of his little squadron consisted of four vessels still smaller. They were, however, swift sailers, and carried in abundance wildfire, chainshot, guns, pistols, bows, and other weapons. The whole force on board the squadron did not exceed 164 men, a surprisingly small number for the perilous task in hand.
3. Before reaching Port Julian, in Patagonia, the two smallest of the vessels had to be abandoned. Having refitted at this port, Drake made for the Straits of Magellan, through which no Englishman had yet passed. This was the only known way from the Atlantic into the Pacific, for Tierra del Fuego was supposed, at that time, to be a great continent stretching far southwards. Being without charts, they had to grope their way by means of the lead, which was kept in constant use. To relieve the toil-worn crews, halts were made at various islands on the route, where the sailors amused themselves in procuring fresh provisions by killing seals and penguins, everything they saw being strange, wild, and wonderful. After a perilous passage of three weeks the three ships reached the open Pacific, where they were greeted with a violent storm, which swept them far to the south. The smallest vessel went to the bottom. Another losing sight of the Pelican returned to England.
4. Drake, with his one ship, and eighty men, having weathered the storm turned his prow northwards, determined to plunder the Spanish settlements along the unguarded coasts of Chile and Peru, where no hostile ship had ever been seen. Drake's task was, in consequence, much easier than he could have anticipated. The inhabitants, when they saw a sail approaching, never dreamt that it could be other than a friend. It was as when men visit some island where no human foot had ever trod, the animals come fearlessly around, and the birds perch upon their hands.
5. At Valparaiso, in Chile, there lay in the harbour a great galleon which had come from Peru. Drake sailed in, and the Spanish seamen, who had never seen a foreigner in those waters, ran up their flags, beat their drums, and prepared a banquet for their supposed countrymen. They were only undeceived when the English sailors leapt on board and rifled the ship of its wedges of gold. Off the coast of Peru, near Potosi, world-famed for its silver mines, they swept off the silver bars laid out on the pier, whilst the weary labourers who had brought them from the mines were peacefully sleeping. The last bars had scarcely been stowed away in the boats, when a train of llamas was seen descending the hills with a second freight as rich as the first. This too found its way on board the Pelican.
6. All sail was now set for Lima, the chief port of Peru. Here they learned that a ship had sailed for Panama a few days before, taking with her all the bullion that the mines had yielded for the season. Not a moment was to be lost. Every inch of canvas was spread and the chase begun. Drake promised his gold chain to the man who should first descry the golden prize. For eight hundred miles the Pelican flew on, and then the man at the mast-head claimed the promised chain.
Queen Elizabeth Knighting Sir Francis Drake
7. Not wishing to come up with his prize till dusk, Drake filled his empty wine casks with water and trailed them astern, thus slackening his pace whilst avoiding the suspicion that might have been awakened by taking in sail. On coming within ear-shot our commander hailed the Spanish captain to "strike" his flag. The next moment a cannon-ball shot his mast overboard and a volley of arrows cleared the decks. The master, who was wounded, at once yielded his ship. Besides gold, pearls, emeralds, and diamonds, the booty included twenty-six tons of silver bullion. With spoils of above half-a-million in value the daring adventurer sought the safest way home.