A Sea-lion Hunt.
From an old print.

The Dutch saw also, but at too great a distance to shoot them, buffalos, stags, and ostriches, and from a single nest they obtained ten ostrich eggs. Captain Jacob Jansz Huy de Cooper, died during the stay at this place, and was interred at Port Desire. On the 23rd November, the fleet entered the Strait of Magellan. During a visit to the shore three Dutchmen were killed by some Patagonians, and their death was avenged by the massacre of a whole tribe of Enoos. The long navigation through the narrows and the lakes of the Strait of Magellan was signalized by the meeting with two Dutch ships, under the command of Sebald de Weerdt, who had wintered not far from the Bay of Mauritius, and by the abandoning of Vice-admiral Claaz, who, as it would appear, had been several times guilty of insubordination. Are not these acts, which we see so frequently committed by English, Dutch, and Spanish navigators, a true sign of the times? A deed which we should regard now-a-days as one of terrible barbarity seemed, doubtless, a relatively mild punishment in the eyes of men so accustomed to set but little value upon human life. Nevertheless, could anything be more cruel than to abandon a man in a desert country, without arms and without provisions, to put him on shore in a country peopled by ferocious cannibals, prepared to make a repast on his flesh; what was it but condemning him to a horrible death?

On the 29th of February, 1600, De Noort, after having been ninety-nine days in passing through the strait, came out on to the Pacific Ocean. A fortnight later, a storm separated him from the Hendrik Fredrik, which was never again heard of. As for De Noort, who had now with him only one yacht besides his own vessel, he cast anchor at the island of Mocha, and, unlike the experience of his predecessors, he was very well received by the natives. Afterwards he sailed along the coast of Chili, where he was able to obtain provisions in abundance in exchange for Nuremberg knives, hatchets, shirts, hats, and other articles of no great value. After ravaging, plundering, and burning several towns on the Peruvian coast, after sinking all the vessels that he met with, and amassing a considerable booty, De Noort, hearing that a squadron commanded by the brother of the viceroy, Don Luis de Velasco, had been sent in pursuit of him, judged it time to make for the Ladrone Islands, where he anchored on the 16th of September. "The inhabitants came around our ship with more than 200 canoes, there being three, four, or five men in each canoe, crying out all together: 'Hierro, hierro' (iron, iron), which is greatly in request amongst them. They are as much at home in the water as upon land, and are very clever divers, as we perceived when we threw five pieces of iron into the sea, which a single man went to search for." De Noort could testify unfortunately, that these islands well deserved their name. The islanders tried even to drag the nails out of the ship, and carried off everything upon which they could lay their hands. One of them, having succeeded in climbing along a part of the rigging, had the audacity to enter a cabin and seize upon a sword, with which he threw himself into the sea.

On the 14th October following, De Noort traversed the Philippine Archipelago, where he made several descents, and burnt, plundered, or sunk a number of Spanish or Portuguese vessels, and some Chinese junks. While cruising in the Strait of Manilla he was attacked by two large Spanish vessels, and in the battle which followed the Dutch had five men killed, and twenty-five wounded and lost their brigantine, which was captured with her crew of twenty-five men. The Spaniards lost more than 200 men, for their flag-ship caught fire and sank. Far from picking up the wounded and the able-bodied men, who were trying to save themselves by swimming, the Dutch, "making way with sails set on the foremast, across the heads which were to be seen in the water, pierced some with lances, and also discharged their cannon over them." After this bloody and fruitless victory, De Noort went to recruit at Borneo, captured a rich cargo of spices at Java, and having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, landed at Rotterdam on the 26th of August, having only one ship and forty-eight men remaining. If the merchants who had defrayed the expenses of the expedition approved of the conduct of De Noort, who brought back a cargo which more than reimbursed them for their expenditure, and who had taught his countrymen the way to the Indies, it behoves us, while extolling his qualities as a sailor, to take great exception to the manner in which he exercised the command, and to mete out severe blame for the barbarity which has left a stain of blood upon the first Dutch voyage of circumnavigation.

Battle of Manilla.
From an old print.

We have now to speak of a man who, endowed with eminent qualities and with at least equal defects, carried on his life's work in divers, sometimes even in opposing directions, and who after having reached the highest summit of honour to which a gentleman could aspire, at last laid his head upon a scaffold, accused of treason and felony. This man is Sir Walter Raleigh. If he have any claim to a place in this portrait gallery of great sailors, it is neither as founder of any English colony nor as a sailor; it is as a discoverer, and what we have to say of him is not to his credit. Walter Raleigh passed five years in France fighting against the League, in the midst of all those Gascons who formed the basis of the armies of Henry of Navarre, and in such society he perfected the habits of boasting and falsehood which belonged to his character. In 1577, after a campaign in the Low Countries against the Spaniards, he returns to England and takes a deep interest in the questions so passionately debated among his three brothers by the mother's side, John, Humphrey, and Adrian Gilbert. At this period England was passing through a very grave economic crisis. The practice of agriculture was undergoing a transformation; in all directions grazing was being substituted for tillage, and the number of agricultural labourers was greatly reduced by the change. From thence arose general distress, and also such a surplussage of population as was fast becoming a matter of anxious concern. At the same time, to long wars succeeds a peace, destined to endure throughout the reign of Elizabeth, so that a great number of adventurers know not how to find indulgence for their love of violent emotions. At this moment, therefore, arises the necessity for such an emigration as may relieve the country of its population, may permit all the miserable people dying of hunger to provide for their own wants in a new country, and by that means may increase the influence and prosperity of the mother country. All the more thoughtful minds in England, who follow the course of public opinion—Hakluyt, Thomas Hariot, Carlyle, Peckham, and the brothers Gilbert—are struck with this need. But it is to the last named that belongs the credit of indicating the locality suitable for the establishing of colonies. Raleigh only joined with his brothers in the scheme, following their lead, but he neither conceived nor began the carrying into execution—as he has been too often credited with doing—of this fruitful project, the colonization of the American shores of the Atlantic. If Raleigh, all-powerful with Queen Elizabeth, fickle and nevertheless jealous in her affections as she was, encourage his brothers; if he expend himself 40,000l. sterling in his attempts at colonization, he still takes good care not to quit England, for the life of patience and self-devotion of the founder of a colony would have no attractions for him. He gives up and sells his patent as soon as he perceives the inutility of his efforts, while he does not forget to reserve for himself the fifth part of any profit arising eventually from the colony.

Sir Walter Raleigh.
From an old print.