IJ2■ - 577 -
CaptainDrakes Departure ■from Ply-mouth.
Names ojhis Shipsand Com-manders.
Eli£, Naval Expeditions ? &c of the English,
“ or Passage we know had been often“ attempted by our Seas, but never“ discovered.
“ This Attempt alone must silence“ all his Detractors; For it shewed an“ extraordinary Resolution in his Per-" son, a Desire to enrich and benefit“ his Country, and a singular Patience“ to endure the Disasters and Mishaps“ that befel them.
“And yet he must not go so clear,“ without Stain or Blemish : For you“ must know, that tho’ he deserved“ well in the Direction and Carriage of“ his Journey, yet the Ground of this“ Enterprise was unjust, &c.
" No Man had more Experience of“ the Inconstancy of Fortune than“ he ; For the Nature of Fortune is•“ to bite when she flatters, and to“ strike when she is angry.
“ What his Birth and other Deserts" were, needs no Re-iteration. For-ts tune did much for him; But, at his“ Death, she was angry with him : First,“ in that there was a Doubt whether it“ was natural; Secondly, and the best“ his Friends can fay, that it was caus-“ ed by Grief, for failing of his Ex-“ pectation in that Voyage, Thirdly,“ after his meritorious Services, his“ Heir was prosecuted and perplexed“ for Debts and Accounts to the Crown;“ and lastly, he died, like Pijfaro and“ Almagro , without a Child to succeed“ him, and perpetuate his Memory.
On the fifteenth of November, Cap-- tain Francis Drake, who knew nothingof Qxenham’ s Adventure, departed fromPlymouth ; But the Wind proving con-trary, he was forced, the next Morning,to put into Falmouth, where so vehementa Tempest overtook them, that the Ad-miral-Ship of his little Fleet was oblig-ed, for her Safety, to have her Mastcut by the Board, and another of hisShips parted from her Anchors, andwent afhoar, where she received some
[arm. To repair these Damages, he re-irned to Plymouth, where having resit-d, he set Sail, a second Time, fromience, on the thirteenth of December,i his intended Voyage for the South-Sea.
His little Fleet, with which he setit, on this bold and hazardous Under-king, consisted of no more than fiverips and Barks, vtz.
The Pelican, commanded by Cap-in Drake himself, as Admiral, Burdenle Hundred Tuns.
The Elizabeth, Captain John Winter,urden, eighty Tuns.
The Marygold, a Bark of thirty 1 577'Tuns, Captain John "Thomas. ^
The Swan, a Fly-boat, of fifty Tuns,
Captain John Chester.
The Christopher , a Pinnace of fifteenTuns, Captain Thomas Moone.
These Ships were plentifully furnish-ed with all Manner of Provisions andNecessaries, for so .long and dangerous aVoyage; And such as served only forOrnament and Delight, were, likewise,not forgotten. For this Purpose he tookwith him very expert Musicians, for se-veral Instruments. His Furniture, ofall Kinds, was rich and sumptuous, allthe Vessels for his Table, and many inthe Cook-room being of pure Silver,curiously wrought, and many other ^
Things whereby the Magnificence of He P? oc f,his Native Country might be displayed . 071 l }is ^He had with him, one Hundred and a JJ v x\ l -‘A'Sixty three stout and able Seamen, ofwhom very few were let into the Secret 'of his Design; his Pretence being aVoyage to Alexandria, only. Afterfive and twenty Days sailing, they cameossof Cape Cantin in Barbary in one and Jrrtfjjthirty Degrees of North-Latitude. the
Harris’s Collection, Hackluyt, Pur-chas and others, fay they arrived thereon the five and twentieth of December,and, on the seven and twentieth, at the Fr(lf ne\ 9Island of Magador, where the Admiral ncsv P' rerected a Pinnace, having brought the nace ‘Hulks of four, ready framed, fromEngland.
W h i l e his Men were thus employed,some of the Inhabitants of the Countrycame to the Sea-Side, shewing a Flag ofTruce, and having exchanged Hostages,they came on Board, and promised tobring the.next Day fresh Provisions, asSheep, Fowls, and the like, upon whichDrake made them Presents of some Linn-en-Cloth, Shoes and a Javelin,which they ,received with a seeming Joy. The nextMorning, they came, as they had pro-mised,with Camels supposed to be loaded ^ e j
with Merchandize, and Drake sent outhis Boat, with some Men to trassckwith them: But,when they came near theShoar ,John Fry, one of the Men, leapingrashly out, before the Reft, and offe-ring to embrace them, in a friendlyManner, they seized him, and hold-ing a Dagger to his Throat, if he madeany Resistance, they laid him upon aHorse and carried him off.
Their Design, as it afterwards ap"peared, was not to offer Violence tothis Man ; But to get Intelligencewhat the Fleet was, and whether be-longing