[Drake, Sir Francis], a great English seaman of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, born near Tavistock, in Devon; served in the Royal Navy under his relative, Sir John Hawkins, and distinguished himself with signal success by his valour and daring against the pride of Spain, towards which, as the great Catholic persecuting power, he had been taught to cherish an invincible hatred; came swoop down like a hawk on its ports across seas, and bore himself out of them laden with spoil; in 1577 sailed for America with five ships, passed through the Strait of Magellan, the first Englishman to do it; plundered the W. coast as far as Peru; lost all his ships save one; crossed the Pacific, and came home by way of the Cape—the first to sail round the world—with spoil to the value of £300,000, his successes contributing much to embolden his countrymen against the arrogance of the Catholic king; and he was vice-admiral in the fleet that drove back the Armada from our shores (1540-1596).
[Drake, Friedrich], a German sculptor, born at Pyrmont; studied under Rauch; executed numerous statues and busts, among others busts of Oken and Ranke, Bismarck and Moltke; his chief works are the "Eight Provinces of Prussia," represented by large allegorical figures, and the "Warrior crowned by Victory" (1805-1882).
[Drake, Nathan], a physician, born at York; author of "Shakespeare and his Times" (1766-1836).
[Drakenberg Mountains], a range of mountains in S. Africa, 6500 ft. high, between Natal and the Orange Free State.
[Dramatic unities], three rules of dramatic construction prescribed by Aristotle, observed by the French dramatists, but ignored by Shakespeare, that (1) a play should represent what takes place within eight hours, (2) there must be no change of locality, and (3) there must be no minor plot.
[Drammen] (20), a Norwegian seaport on a river which falls into Christiania Bay, 30 m. SW. of Christiania; trade chiefly in timber.
[Draper, John William], a chemist, scientist, and man of letters, born at Liverpool; settled in the United States; wrote on chemistry, physiology, and physics generally, as well as works of a historical character, such as the "History of the Intellectual Development of Europe" and the "History of the Conflict between Science and Religion," an able book (1811-1882).
[Drapier], a pseudonym adopted by Swift in his letters to the people of Ireland anent Wood's pence, and which led to the cancelling of the patent.
[Drave], a river from the Eastern Alps which flows eastward, and after a course of 380 miles falls into the Danube 10 m. below Essek.
[Dravidians], races of people who occupied India before the arrival of Aryans, and being driven S. by them came to settle chiefly in the S. of the Dekkan; they are divided into numerous tribes, each with a language of its own, but of a common type or group, some of them literary and some of them not, the chief the Tamil; the tribes together number over 20 millions.