He entered the great bay, since called Hudson's Bay, by Frobisher's Strait. He returned to England without making the discovery of the Passage, which long remained the problem of arctic voyagers. Yet ten years later, in 1577, he made another voyage, and though he made his second attempt with one of Queen Elizabeth's own ships, and two barks, with 140 persons in all, he was as unsuccessful as before. He brought home some supposed gold ore; and on the strength of the stones containing gold, a third expedition went out in the following year. After losing one of the ships, consuming the provisions, and suffering greatly from ice and storms, the fleet returned home one by one. The supposed gold ore proved to be only glittering sand.
While Frobisher was seeking El-Dorado in the North, Francis Drake was finding it in the South. He was a sailor, every inch of him.
"Pains, with patience in his youth," says Fuller, "knit the joints of his soul, and made them more solid and compact." At an early age, when carrying on a coasting trade, his imagination was inflamed by the exploits of his protector Hawkins in the New World, and he joined him in his last unfortunate adventure on the Spanish Main. He was not, however, discouraged by his first misfortune, but having assembled about him a number of seamen who believed in him, he made other adventures to the West Indies, and learnt the navigation of that part of the ocean. In 1570, he obtained a regular commission from Queen Elizabeth, though he sailed his own ships, and made his own ventures. Every Englishman, who had the means, was at liberty to fit out his own ships; and with tolerable vouchers, he was able to procure a commission from the Court, and proceed to sea at his own risk and cost. Thus, the naval enterprise and pioneering of new countries under Elizabeth, was almost altogether a matter of private enterprise and adventure.
In 1572, the butchery of the Hugnenots took place at Paris and throughout France; while at the same time the murderous power of Philip II. reigned supreme in the Netherlands. The sailors knew what they had to expect from the Spanish king in the event of his obtaining his threatened revenge upon England; and under their chosen chiefs they proceeded to make war upon him. In the year of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, Drake set sail for the Spanish Main in the Pasha, of seventy tons, accompanied by the Swan, of twenty-five tons; the united crews of the vessels amounting to seventy-three men and boys. With this insignificant force, Drake made great havoc amongst the Spanish shipping at Nombre de Dios. He partially crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and obtained his first sight of the great Pacific Ocean. He returned to England in August 1573, with his frail barks crammed with treasure.
A few years later, in 1577, he made his ever-memorable expedition. Charnock says it was "an attempt in its nature so bold and unprecedented, that we should scarcely know whether to applaud it as a brave, or condemn it as a rash one, but for its success." The squadron with which he sailed for South America consisted of five vessels, the largest of which, the Pelican, was only of 100 tons burthen; the next, the Elizabeth, was of 80; the third, the Swan, a fly-boat, was of 50; the Marygold bark, of 30; and the Christopher, a pinnace, of 15 tons. The united crews of these vessels amounted to only 164, gentlemen and sailors.
The gentlemen went with Drake "to learn the art of navigation." After various adventures along the South American coast, the little fleet passed through the Straits of Magellan, and entered the Pacific Ocean. Drake took an immense amount of booty from the Spanish towns along the coast, and captured the royal galleon, the Cacafuego, laden with treasure. After trying in vain to discover a passage home by the North-eastern ocean, though what is now known as Behring Straits, he took shelter in Port San Francisco, which he took possession of in the name of the Queen of England, and called New Albion. He eventually crossed the Pacific for the Moluccas and Java, from which he sailed right across the Indian Ocean, and by the Cape of Good Hope to England, thus making the circumnavigation of the world. He was absent with his little fleet for about two years and ten months.
Not less extraordinary was the voyage of Captain Cavendish, who made the circumnavigation of the globe at his own expense. He set out from Plymouth in three small vessels on the 21st July, 1586. One vessel was of 120 tons, the second of 60 tons, and the third of 40 tons—not much bigger than a Thames yacht. The united crews, of officers, men, and boys, did not exceed 123! Cavendish sailed along the South American continent, and made through the Straits of Magellan, reaching the Pacific Ocean. He burnt and plundered the Spanish settlements along the coast, captured some Spanish ships, and took by boarding the galleon St. Anna, with 122,000 Spanish dollars on board. He then sailed across the Pacific to the Ladrone Islands, and returned home through the Straits of Java and the Indian Archipelago by the Cape of Good Hope, and reached England after an absence of two years and a month.
The sacred and invincible Armada was now ready, Philip II. was determined to put down those English adventurers who had swept the coasts of Spain and plundered his galleons on the high seas. The English sailors knew that the sword of Philip was forged in the gold mines of South America, and that the only way to defend their country was to intercept the plunder on its voyage home to Spain. But the sailors and their captains—Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Howard, Grenville, Raleigh, and the rest—could not altogether interrupt the enterprise of the King of Spain. The Armada sailed, and came in sight of the English coast on the 20th of July, 1588.
The struggle was of an extraordinary character. On the one side was the most powerful naval armament that had ever put to sea. It consisted of six squadrons of sixty fine large ships, the smallest being of 700 tons. Besides these were four gigantic galleasses, each carrying fifty guns, four large armed galleys, fifty-six armed merchant ships, and twenty caravels—in all, 149 vessels. On board were 8000 sailors, 20,000 soldiers, and a large number of galley-slaves. The ships carried provisions enough for six months' consumption; and the supply of ammunition was enormous.
On the other side was the small English fleet under Hawkins and Drake. The Royal ships were only thirteen in number. The rest were contributed by private enterprize, there being only thirty-eight vessels of all sorts and sizes, including cutters and pinnaces, carrying the Queen's flag. The principal armed merchant ships were provided by London, Southampton, Bristol, and the other southern ports. Drake was followed by some privateers; Hawkins had four or five ships, and Howard of Effingham two. The fleet was, however, very badly found in provisions and ammunition. There was only a week's provisions on board, and scarcely enough ammunition for one day's hard fighting. But the ships, small though they were, were in good condition. They could sail, whether in pursuit or in flight, for the men who navigated them were thorough sailors.