DR A 186 DR A

DRAGOON, [from dragen, German , to carry] a kind ofsoldier that serves indifferently either on foot cr horseback.

Dragoons are divided into brigades as fhe cavalry ; and eachregiment ; nto troops; each troop having a captain, lieutenant,cornet, quarter-master, two Serjeants, three corporals, and twodrums. They are verv useful on any expedition that requires dis-patch ; for they can keep pace with the cavalry, and do the dutyof infantry : they encamp generally on the wings of the army, orat the passes leading to the camp ; and sometimes they are broughtto cover the general’s quarters; they march in trout and rear ofthe army. The first regiment of dragoons raised in England wasin lost, and called the regiment of dragoons of North Britain.In battles or attacks thev generally fight sword in hand alter thefirst fire. TIHr arms are, a sword, firelock, and bayonet.

DRAGOONING, one of the methods used by Papists forconverting refractory heretics. The troopers, soldiers, and dra-goons went into the Protestants houses, where they marredand de-faced their houshoid stuff', broke their looking-glasses, and otherutensils and ornaments, let their wine rim about their cellars, andthrew about their corn and spoiled it. 'Those things which theycould not destroy in this manner, such as furniture of beds, linens,wearing apparel, plate, &c. they carried to the market-place, andsold them to the Jesuits and other Roman catholics. By thesemeans the Protestants in Montaubon alone were, in four or (ivcdays, stripped of above a million of money. Besides this theyexercised upon them the most horrid barbarities that can possiblybe conceived.

DRAGUIGNAN , a town ofFrance, in the department of Var.Lon. 6. 35. E. Lat. 43. 31. N.

DRAINS, and DRAINING. See Husbandry.

DRAKE , in ornithology. See Anas.

Drake, Sir Francis, the renowned English admiral , wastin'son of Edmund Drake a sailor, and born near Tavistock in De-vonshire, in 1545. He was brought up under the care of Sir JohnHawkins, who was his kinsman . In 1570, he made his first expe-dition with two ships; and in 157*1, with one only, in which hereturned safe, if not with such advantages as he expected. Hemade another expedition in 1572, wherein lie gained considerablebooties. In these expeditions lie was much assisted by a nationcf Indians, who then were, and have been ever since, engaged inperpetual wars with the Spaniards. 'Hie prince of these peoplewas named Pedro; to whom Drake presented a line cutlass fromhis side, which he saw the Indian greatly admired. Pedro, inreturn, gave him four large wedges of gold : which Drake threwinto the common stock, saying, That he thought it but just thatsuch as bore the charge of so uncertain a voyage on his credit,should share the utmost advantage that voyage produced. Ilissuccess in this expedition, joined to his honourable behaviour to-wards his owners, gained him a high reputation ; and the use hemade of his riches, a still greater. For, fitting out three stoutfrigates at his own expence, he sailed with them to Ireland ; whereunder Walter earl of Essex, he served as a volunteer, and per-formed many exploits. Sir Christopher Hatton introduced himto Q. Elizabeth, to whom he proposed a voyage into the SouthSeas through the Straights of Magellan ; which was what hithertono Englishman had everattempted. The project was well receivedat court: the queen furnished him with means; and his own famequickly drew together:! sufficient force. 'Hie fleet with which hesailed, on this extraordinary undertaking, consisted only of fivevessels, small when compared with modern ships, and no morethan 164 able men. He sailed on the 13th Dec. 1577; on the25th fell in with the coast of Buvbary, and on the cpth with capeVerd. On the 13th March he passed the equinoctial, made thetoast of Brazil on the 5th April, ami entered the River de la Plata,where he lost the company of two of his ships ; but meeting themagain, and taking out their provisions, he turned them adrilt. Onthe 29th May he ent.erpd the port of St. Julian’s, where he con-tinued two lit! nths for the sake of laying in-provisions : on the'20th Aug. he entered the Straits of Magellan , and on the 25thSept, passed them, h iving th n only his own ship. (In the 25thNov. he came to Mai hao, which he had appointed for a place ofrendezvous in case his ships separated ; but captain Winter, hisvice-admiral, having repassed the Straits, was returned to England,'[’hence he continued his voyage along the coasts of Chili andPeru, taking all opportunities of seizing Spanish ships, and at-tacking them on shore, till his men were sated with plunder; and

then, coasting America to the height of 48°, he endeavoured tofind a passage that way back into our seas, but could not. How-ever, lu: landed, and called the country New Albion, taking pos-session of it in llie name of queen Elizabeth ; and, having ca-reened his ship, set sail from thence, on the 29th Sept. 1579, forthe Moluccas . lie is supposed to have chosen this passage round,partly to avoid being attacked by the Spaniards at a disadvan-tage, and partly from the lateness oi the.season, whence dangerousstorms and hurricanes were dreaded. On the 13th Oct. he fell inwith certain islands inhabited by the most barbarous people he hadmet with in all his voyage: on the 4th Nov. he had a sight of theMoluccas; and, coming to Termite , was extremely well receivedby the king thereof, who appears, from the most authentic rela-tions of this voyage, to have been a wise and polite prince. Onthe loth Dec. he made Crh-bps; where his ship unfortunately ranupon a rock, the <Jth Jan. follow ing ; from which, beyond all ex-pectation, and almost miraculously, they got oil’, and continuedtheir course. On the Kith March lie arrived at Java Major ; andon the 25th began to think of returning home. On the 15th Junelie doubled the Cape of Good Hope , having then on board 57men, and but three casks of water. On llie 12lli July he passedthe line, reached the coast of Guinea on the Kith, and there wa-tered. On the 1 lib Sept, he made the island of Tercera; and onthe 3d Nov. entered the harbour of Plymouth. This voyageround the world was performed in two years and about ten months.Shortly after his arrival, the queen going to Deptford, went onboard his ship; where, after dinner, she conferred on him theorder of knighthood, and declared her absolute approbation of allhe had done. She likewise gave directions for the preservationof liis ship, that it might remain a monument of his own and hiscountry’s glory. 'Phis celebrated ship, which had been contem-plated many years at Deptford, at length decaying, it was brokeup, and a chair, made out of the planks, was presented to the uni-versity of Oxford. In 15S5, he sailed with a fleet to the West-Indies ; and took the cities of St. Jago, St. Domingo, Carthagena,and St. Augustin. In 1588, he went to Lisbon with a fleet of 3(Jsail; and having intelligence of a groat fleet assembled in the bavof Cadiz , w hich was to have made part of the armada, he witligreat courage entered that port, and burnt there upw ards of 10,000tons of shipping: which he afterwards merrily called burning theking of Spain’s beard. In 1588, when the armada from Spain wasapproaching our coasts, Sir Francis Drake was appointed vice-ad-miral under Charles lord Howard of Effingham, high admiral ofEngland, where fortune favoured him as remarkably as ever : forbe made prize of a very la-rge galleon, commanded by Don Pe-dro de Valdez, who was reputed the projector of this invasion ;and uhosiurendered, as soon as he learned it was Drake who sum-moned him. 'Phis Don Pedro remained about two years SirFrancis Drake ’s prisoner in England ; and, when he was released,paid him for his own and his captain’s liberties, a ransom of 3500/.Drake ’s soldiers were well recompensed with the plunder of thisship ; for they found in it 53,000 ducats of gold, which was divid-ed among them. After this be went to the West-Indies with SirJohn Hawkins , but the two commanders disagreeing in their plans,little was done by them. Drake died otV Nombre de Dios in1596. He was representative for the town of Plymouth, to whichlie was a great benefactor, by causing water to be conveyed to itfrom springs :t eight miles distance.

DRAM, [Irom drachm, drachma, Lathi,] the eighth part of anounce.

DRAMA, [Sf-.fza,] a poem accommodated to action; a poemin which the action is not related, but represented; and in whichtherefore such rules are to be observed as make the representationprobable. The principal species of the drama are two, comedyand tragedy. Some others there are of less note, as pastoral,satire, tragi comedy, opera, &c. See Poetry.

DRANK, among farmers, a term used to denote wild oats,which never fail to infest worn-out lands; so that when plowedlands run to these weeds and thistles, the farmer knows it is hightime to fallow them, or else to sow them with hay-seed, and makepasture of them. Some, indeed, destroy the drank, by sowingthe lands vith beans, and letting loose sheep upon them whenyoung. 'Phis must be done in dry weather, and the sheep eat up-tht- drank and other weeds, without touching the beans.

DRAPER V, hi sculpture and painting, signifies the representa-tion of the clothing of human figures, and also hangings, tapestry,

curtains,