Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main

by G. A. Henty

  The lads were all anxiety to know what course had been determinedupon, with reference to the arrival of the English vessel. Theywere told that a large fleet was assembled in the harbor, but thatgreat dissension existed, among the authorities, as to whetherresistance should be offered or not.

  "Surely," Ned said, "they will never allow one vessel to enter aharbor, thronged with shipping, and with a strong garrison on shoreready to take part in the defense!"

  Their host flushed a little, and said:

  "You English must form but a poor opinion of Spanish courage. Onshore, however, we have proved, on the battlefields of theContinent, that we can hold our own against all comers. But I ownto you that your sea dogs have caused such a panic, among oursailors of the western isles, that they are looked upon asinvincible, and our men appear to be paralyzed at the very name ofthe English buccaneers."

  "Why we are particularly anxious to know," Ned said, "is that, ifresistance is to be offered, it is clear that we must be ready toembark in a canoe, and to join the ship before she arrives off theharbor; as otherwise, if she is beaten off we may have noopportunity, whatever, of regaining her."

  "I think," the Spaniard said, "that when the time comes, it isprobable that no resistance may be offered; and that the valor ofthose who, so long as the ship is at a distance, are anxious tofight, will evaporate very rapidly. The citizens, too, are for themost part opposed to resistance; for they argue that, if theEnglish conquer, they are likely to lay the town in ruins; whereas,if unopposed, they may content themselves with certain exactionsupon the richer citizens, as has been their custom in the west."

  During the days that elapsed, many arguments took place, betweenthe Spaniard and Ned, as to the lawfulness of the war which theEnglish buccaneers carried on with the colonies of a nation atpeace with their own, the Spaniard saying that they approached verynearly to the verge of piracy. Ned had never given the subject muchconsideration before. He had done as others did, and had regardedthe Spaniards as lawful prey, their cruelty towards the nativesforming, in the eyes of the English sailors, a justification forany treatment which they might inflict upon them. He was, however,forced to confess that, now the other side was presented to him,the conduct of his countrymen was really indefensible; and heblushed as he thought of the various acts of sacrilege in churches,and other deeds of plunder, in which he had taken part. He assuredhis friend that, in the future, neither he nor his companion wouldever share in such deeds again.

  It was upon the evening of the 15th of February, two days aftertheir return to Lima, that their host entered with the news that aship was seen in the distance approaching the port, and that it wasthe general opinion of the mariners that she was the dreadedEnglish pirate. He had already made arrangements that a small boatshould be lying at one end of the mole. He told them that he couldnot venture to engage rowers, as the fact of the escape of twowhite men from the town might be noticed, and inquiries made. Theboys assured him, however, that they were perfectly able to rowthemselves; and that the smaller the number in the boat, the lesschances there would be of their being received by a random shotfrom their friends.

  It was just nightfall when the English ship entered the harbor,where thirty Spanish vessels were lying, all prepared for defenseThe Golden Hind entered the port and dropped her anchor in themidst; and the quiet resolution and confidence, which this actbetrayed, struck such a panic into the minds of the Spanishcaptains, that not one dared be the first to fire a gun at theintruder. Half an hour after the Golden Hind came to anchor, a boatwas seen approaching, and was met by the hail, "Who goes there?"

  The joyful shout of "Friends, your comrades, Ned Hearne and TomTressilis," was received by a cry of incredulity, and astonishment,by those on board the English vessel.

  Two minutes later, the lads were on deck receiving the heartyembraces and congratulations of all the messmates; Reuben Gale andGerald Summers being almost beside themselves with joy, at thereturn to them of the comrades they believed to be so long agodead. The admiral himself was greatly moved at seeing them; fortheir gallantry during the preceding voyage, and their eager zealto do all in their power for the expedition, had greatly raisedthem in his affections.

  They were soon seated in the cabin, which was thronged by as manyof the officers and gentlemen adventurers as could find room there.A brief narrative was given of their adventures, since leaving thefleet upon the other side of the continent; and loud were theexpressions of surprise, and approval, at the manner in which theyhad gone through the various dangers and difficulties which theyhad encountered; Tom insisting, generously, that the credit wasentirely due to the sagacity and coolness of his friend.

  When the story of the scene in the dungeons of the Inquisition wastold, and Captain Drake was informed that large numbers of personshad been burned alive in Lima, by the Inquisition, he was filledwith fury; and at once dispatched two boat loads of men, armed tothe teeth, to the shore, with orders to burn down the prison, torelease any prisoners found there, and to offer them a safe passageto Europe; and also to hang all officials who might be found withinthe walls. Ned acted as guide.

  The streets of Lima were deserted, as the news of the landing of aparty from the English ship spread through the town; shops wereclosed and windows barred, and it was as through a city of the deadthat the band passed rapidly along, until they reached the prisonof the Inquisition. Here the doors were broken down, and theEnglish sailors entered the ghastly prison. The cells were found tobe tenanted only by natives, most of them men who had been capturedin the hills, and who had refused to accept the Catholic religion.These were all loosed, and allowed to depart in freedom for themountains, taking with them a store of such provisions for the wayas could be found within the walls.

  The sight of the torture room roused the fury of the sailors to theutmost pitch and, breaking into the part wherein dwelt theprincipal inquisitors, these were seized and hung from theirwindows. The contents of the various rooms were then heapedtogether, a light applied, and in a few minutes a glow of flametold the people of Lima that the dreaded prison of the Inquisitionwas no more.

  The party then returned through the streets to the ship, and tookpart in the further operations commanded by the admiral. Proceedingfrom vessel to vessel, they took out all goods which they fancied,and which were either valuable, or might be useful to them in theirfurther voyaging. They hewed down the masts of all the largestships and, cutting their cables, allowed them to drift on shore.

  No more astonishing scene was ever witnessed than that of thirtyships, backed by a garrison and considerable population on shore,allowing themselves to be thus despoiled and wrecked by the crew ofone; and this a vessel inferior in size, and in the numericalstrength of her crew, to many of those within the harbor.

  The next day a party landed and stripped many of the churches oftheir valuables, and also levied a contribution upon the principalinhabitants. Ned and Tom, not thinking it worth while at this timeto enter into a controversy, with the comrades to whom they hadbeen so recently restored, as to the legality of their acts, simplydeclined to make part of the party who landed; alleging that theyhad had enough of the shore of the South American continent for therest of their lives.

  The 15th of February, the date upon which the Golden Hind arrivedat the port of Lima, was indeed one to be remembered throughout thelives of the rescued seamen. Their future had appeared well-nighhopeless. On the one side, the dungeon of the Inquisition andprobably a death by fire. On the other, a life passed in the midstof savages, away from all possibility of ever rejoining theirfriends, or returning to their country. Now they were once againamong those delighted to see them, and proudly trod the decks ofthe Golden Hind as gentlemen adventurers, having a good share inthe booty, as well as in the honor, which would accrue to all onboard.

  So far, indeed, the plunder had been but small. Upon their way downto the Cape they had gleaned nothing, and since rounding it theyhad only touched at Valparaiso, where they had taken all that theyrequired in t
he way of wines, stores, and provisions of all kinds,besides much gold and, it is sad to say, the rich plunder of thechurches, including golden crosses, silver chalices, and altarcloths. Nowadays it gives one a positive shock to hear of Englishsailors rifling churches; but in those rough times, acts ofsacrilege of this kind awakened but little reprobation.

  The following day they hove the anchor and sailed northwards. Inthe port they had obtained news that, on the evening before theyarrived, a ship laden with much treasure from Panama had appeared,but receiving news of the approach of the English, had again setsail. All determined that, if possible, the treasures on board theCacafuego should pass into the hold of the Golden Hind.

  Spreading all sail, they pressed northward. On the 20th of Februarythey touched at the port of Paita, but did not find her there. Onthe 24th they passed the port of Guayaquil, and on the 28th crossedthe line. On the 1st of March a sail was descried ahead and,sailing towards her, they found that she was indeed the vessel ofwhich they were in search; and of which they had heard not only atLima, but from a ship which they took at Paita, laden with wine;and from another, on board of which they found eighty pounds weightin gold, in Guayaquil.

  The Cacafuego had no thought that the solitary ship which was seenapproaching was that of Captain Drake; but taking her for aSpaniard, made no effort to fly. When, upon her coming close andhailing her to surrender, they discovered their mistake, thecaptain made a bold fight. Hastily loading his carronades, hepoured a volley into the Golden Hind, and did not surrender hisship until one of his masts had fallen by the board, and he himselfwas wounded. Then, finding further resistance useless, he hauleddown his flag.

  The booty taken was even greater than had been expected. Of goldand silver, alone, there was on board her to the value of 750,000pounds, equal to a vastly larger sum in these days; besides immensequantities of precious stones, silver vessels, and other valuables.For six days they lay alongside the Cacafuego, transferring hercargo to the Golden Hind; and at parting, Captain Drake wasconsiderate enough to give the captain a letter to Captain Winter,or any of the other captains of the fleet, should they come northand meet her, begging that she should be allowed to pass withoutinterruption; or that, should they have need of any of the fewarticles left on board her, they would pay double the value. Healso, in exchange for the valuables transferred, was good enough tobestow upon the master a little linen, and some other commodities.

  As it was now certain that the whole coast would be thoroughlyalarmed, and the Governor General at Panama would be prepared, witha powerful fleet, to resist the Golden Hind should she stir in thatdirection, Captain Francis determined to sail boldly out to sea,and then to shape his course so as to strike the coast again, farnorth of the Spanish possessions. His object, in thus undertaking avoyage which would seem likely to yield but little profit, was thathe hoped he might find a passage round the north of America, and sonot only shorten his own return journey home, but open a mostvaluable country for trade, for his own countrymen.

  On the 7th of March, before putting out to sea, he touched at theIsland of Cano, off the coast of Nicaragua. Here they had an alarmwhich startled even the boldest. As they lay at anchor they feltthe shock of a terrible earthquake, which almost brought down themasts of the ship; and for a moment all thought that she had beenstruck by some hostile machine, or had fallen down on a rock. Thepumps were manned, and it was happily found that she made no water.

  Here they made their last prize on the American coast--a ship whichhad come across from China. She was laden with linen, China silk,and China dishes. Among the spoil is enumerated a falcon made ofgold, with a great emerald set in his breast.

  It was not until the 15th of April that they again touched theland, and landed at Guatulco; whence, after a stay of a few hours,they departed; "not forgetting," the chronicler says, "to take withthem a certain pot, of about a bushel in bigness, full of royals ofplate, together with a chain of gold, and some other jewels; whichwe entreated a gentleman Spaniard to leave behind him, as he wasflying out of town."

  They then steered out to sea, and did not see the land again until,after sailing 1400 leagues, they came, on June 3rd, in sight ofland in 42 degrees north latitude.

  Before going further, the adventures of the fleet must be brieflyrelated from the day, being the 21st of June, when the attack wasmade upon them by the Patagonians, and the boys were driven intothe wood. Captain Francis, and those of the crew on shore with him,soon beat off the natives; inflicting some loss upon them. Thesetook to the woods, in which they could not be followed; and CaptainFrancis, mourning for the loss of his three adventurers, and of thegunner killed by his side; and despairing of ever recovering thebodies of those who were, as he believed, cut off and murdered;embarked on board ship, and sailed down the coast. A few days laterhe put in to another bay, and there remained some time.

  Here a strange scene was enacted, which has cast a shadow over thereputation of the great sea captain. Calling his officers together,he accused one of them, Captain Doughty, of treachery. He allegedthat the plots against him were commenced before leaving Plymouth;and yet, as he had promoted Captain Doughty to the command of oneof the ships, when upon the voyage, it is difficult to understandhow he can, at that time, have believed that he was unfaithful.Nor, again, does it appear in what way his treachery could haveinjured the admiral, for as all the officers and crew were devotedto him, Captain Doughty might have tried, in vain, to lead themaside from his authority. He professed, indeed, the highest regardfor the man he accused, and spoke to the captains of the greatgoodwill and inward affection, even more than brotherly, which heheld towards him. And yet, he averred that it was absolutelynecessary that Captain Doughty should be put upon his trial.

  Captain Doughty, it is said, stricken with remorse at his conduct,acknowledged himself to have deserved death; for that he hadconspired not only for the overthrow of the expedition, but for thedeath of the admiral, who was not a stranger, but a dear and truefriend to him; and he besought the assembly to take justice intotheir hands, in order to save him from committing suicide.

  The forty officers and gentlemen who formed the court, afterexamining the proofs, judged that "he had deserved death, and thatit stood by no means with their safety to let him live, andtherefore they remitted the matter thereof, with the rest of thecircumstances, to the general."

  Then Captain Drake offered to the prisoner either that he should beexecuted there and then, or that he should be left alone when thefleet sailed away, or that he should be sent back to England, thereto answer his deeds before the lords of her majesty's council.Captain Doughty asked for twenty-four hours to consider hisdecision, and then announced his preference for instant execution,saying that death were better than being left alone in this savageland, and that the dishonor of being sent back to England would begreater than he could survive.

  The next day Mr. Francis Fletcher, the pastor and preacher of thefleet, held a solemn service. The general and the condemned manreceived the sacrament together, after which they dined "also atthe same table together, as cheerful in sobriety as ever in theirlives they had done afore time, each cheering the other up, andtaking their leave by drinking each to other, as if some journeyonly had been in hand." After dinner, Captain Doughty came forth,kneeled down at the block, and was at once beheaded by the provostmarshal.

  Such is the story of this curious affair, as told by thechroniclers. But it must be remembered that these were favorable toCaptain Drake, and it certainly seems extraordinary that, upon sucha voyage as this, Captain Doughty could not have been deprived ofhis command and reduced to the rank of a simple adventurer; inwhich he could, one would think, have done no harm whatever to theexpedition.

  At the island where this execution took place the fleet abode twomonths, resting the crews, wooding, watering, and trimming theships, and bringing the fleet into a more compact compass;destroying the Mary, a Portuguese prize, and arranging the whole ofthe crews in three ships, so that they might the more easily keep
together. On August the 17th they set sail, and on the 20th reachedthe entrance to the Straits, Cape Virgins. Here the admiral causedhis fleet, in homage to the Queen, to strike their foresails,acknowledging her to have the full interest and honor in theenterprise; and further, in remembrance of his honored patron, SirChristopher Hatton, he changed the name of the ship in which hehimself sailed from the Pelican to the Golden Hind, this animalforming part of the chancellor's armorial bearings.

  They now entered the narrow Straits of Magellan, which are in manyplaces no wider than a river; and in the night passed a burningmountain, which caused no little surprise to those who had neverbeheld anything of the kind. Here all were astonished by the sightof huge numbers of penguins, which were then for the first timediscovered by Englishmen. These strange birds, with their longbodies, short necks, and absence of wings, greatly astonished them;and were so tame that, in the course of an hour or two, they killedno less than three thousand of them, and found them to be excellentfood. One of these islands the admiral christened Saint George.

  Sailing on for some days, they came to a bay in which they foundmany natives, who came out in a canoe whose beauty and form wereconsidered, by all, to be far superior to anything that they hadhitherto beheld; which was the more singular, inasmuch as thesepeople were of a very low type. However, they appear in those daysto have been more advanced in civilization than their descendantsnow are.

  On the 6th of September they entered the South Sea, Drake havingbeen the fourth commander who had sailed through the Straits. Thefirst passage was made by Magellan in 1520, the second by Loyasa in1526, the third by Juan de Ladrilleros from the Pacific side. Inthis voyage the English commander had far better weather than hadbeen experienced by his predecessors, accomplishing in a fortnighta voyage which had taken them some months.

  His good fortune, however, here deserted them; for upon the veryday after they entered the South Sea, a contrary wind fell uponthem, and increased to a powerful hurricane. This augmented ratherthan decreased in force, and on the night of September the 30th theMarigold, Captain John Thomas, was separated from the rest of thefleet, and was never heard of, after.

  Until the 7th of October they did not again see land, being drivenfar to the south. They then discovered an island, and entering aharbor came to anchor. The shelter, however, was a poor one, andthe gale blew so furiously that, in the night, the Elizabeth wasblown from her anchors, and lost sight of the Golden Hind. It is aquestion whether this event was not partly caused by the captain,Winter, who certainly behaved as if he had the fixed intention ofreturning to England. He never made any serious effort to rejointhe Golden Hind; but, after remaining for some little time in thosequarters, he sailed for England, reaching home in safety somemonths afterwards.

  They christened the bay "The Parting of Friends," and the GoldenHind was driven down again into 55 degrees south latitude. Freshgales fell upon them and, as has been said, it was not till Octoberthe 28th, after fifty-two days of almost unexampled bad weather,that the sky cleared, and they were able to renew their journey.They searched the islands in all directions for their missingfriends, and in remembrance of them the admiral gave them the nameof the Elizabethedes.

  Hoping that Captain Winter had sailed north, the Golden Hind's headwas turned in that direction, with great hope that they might meether in latitude 30 degrees; which had been before appointed as aplace of rendezvous, should the fleet happen to be separated.Touching at many points, they inquired everywhere of the natives,but could hear no word of any ship having been seen before.

  At the island of Mocha they had a misadventure. The island wasthickly inhabited by many Indians, whom the cruel conduct of theSpaniards had driven from the mainland. With these people theadmiral hoped to have traffic, and the day after his landing theybrought down fruit and vegetables and two fat sheep, receiving inreturn many little presents. They seemed to be well content, andthe next morning early, all being ready for a general traffic, theadmiral repaired to the shore again, with two-thirds of his men,with water barrels to fill up the ship. As they were peaceablyengaged in this task the natives, to the number of five hundred,suddenly sprang from an ambush, and with their arrows shot verygrievously at the English.

  The general himself was struck in the face, under his right eye andclose by his nose. Nine other persons of the party were all woundedgrievously. The rest gained the boats, and all put off. None of thewounded died; which, considering that there was no surgeon on boardthe ship, was looked upon by the mariners as a special miracle intheir favor.

  There was a great talk of returning to shore, to punish the men whohad so treacherously attacked them. But the admiral, seeing thatmany of the men were hurt, and believing that the attack had beenthe result of the cruel treatment bestowed upon the natives by theSpaniards, with whom they had naturally confounded our men,determined to leave them alone; and the same night sailed north,seeking some convenient spot where the men could land, and obtain asupply of fresh provisions.

  Such a place they found at Philip's Bay, in latitude 32 degrees.Here they came to an anchor; and an Indian, described as a comelypersonage of a goodly stature, his apparel being a white garmentreaching scarcely to his knees, came on board in a canoe. His armsand legs were naked; his hair upon his head very long, and withouta beard; of very gentle, mild, and humble nature, and tractable tolearn the use of everything. He was courteously entertained and,receiving gifts, returned to the shore; where his companions, beingmuch pleased with his reception, at once did all that they couldfor the fleet, and brought down provisions and other thingsdesired.

  The natives also offered to guide them to a better harbor where,the people being more numerous, they could obtain a greater storeof the things desired. The offer was accepted, and on the 4th ofDecember, piloted by him, they came to a harbor in such a place aswas wished for. This was the Spanish harbor of Valparaiso, andhere, indeed, they found all that they desired, and that withoutpayment. The Spaniards, having no idea of the English being in thevicinity, received them with all honor; but as soon as the mistakewas discovered they fled, and the town fell into their hands. In aship in the harbor, called the Grand Captain, 1800 jars of wine anda large quantity of gold were found. The churches were plundered oftheir ornaments and relics, and the storehouses of the city laidunder contribution of all things desired.

  Sailing again on the 19th of December, they touched to thesouthward of the town of Coquimbo, where fourteen of them landed.The Spaniards here, however, appeared to be bolder than theircomrades in other towns; for a hundred of them, all well mounted,with three hundred natives, came up against them. This force beingdescried, the English retreated, first from the mainland to a rockwithin the sea, and thence to their boat. One man, however, RichardMinnioy, refused to retire before the Spaniards; and remained,defying the advancing body, until they arrived. He, of course, fella victim to his obstinacy; and the Spaniards, having beheaded thebody, placed it against a post, and used it as a target for theIndians. At nightfall they left it, and the English returned toshore in their boat, and buried it.

  The next day, finding a convenient place, they remained for amonth; refitting the ships and resting the crews, obtaining anabundance of fish and other provisions such as they required; freshwater, however, being absent.

  Sailing along, they came to Iquique and, landing here, they lightedupon a Spaniard who lay asleep, and had lying by him thirteen barsof silver. Thinking it cruel to awaken him, they removed the money,and allowed him to take his sleep out in security. Continuing theirsearch for water they landed again, and near the shore met aSpaniard, with an Indian boy, driving eight "Peruvian sheep," asthe chronicler calls them; these being, of course, the llamas,which were used as beasts of burden. Each sheep bore two leathernbags, in each of which was fifty pounds weight of refined silver.The chronicler says:

  "We could not endure to see a gentleman Spaniard turned carrier so;and therefore, without entreaty, we offered our services, andbecame drivers; only his directions were not so per
fect that wecould keep the way which he intended, for almost as soon as he wasparted from us we, with our new kind of carriages, were come untoour boats."

  Beyond this Cape lay certain Indian towns, and with the natives ofthese, who came out on frail rafts, they trafficked knives, beads,and glasses, for dried fish. Here they saw more of the llamas,which are described at great length by the historians of theexpedition; who considered, and rightly, that they wereextraordinary and most useful animals. If however this assertion,that upon one of their backs "did sit at one time three well-grownand tall men, and one boy" be true, they must have beenconsiderably larger in those days than at present.

  It was but a few days later that they arrived at Arica, at whichplace also they gleaned considerable booty, and thence proceeded toLima, which they reached seven days after leaving Arica.

  After their long voyage out to sea they again bore north, andreached the land at the Bay of San Francisco. Here they complainedbitterly of the cold; which is not a little singular, inasmuch asthe time of the year was June, a period at which the heat at SanFrancisco is, at present, excessive. It must be assumed, therefore,that some altogether exceptional season prevailed during thisportion of the voyage.

  Here they were well north of the Spanish possessions, and fellamong a people who knew nothing of the white man. A native in acanoe speedily came out to the ship, as soon as she cast anchor;and, standing at a long distance, made delivery of a very prolixoration, with many gestures and signs, moving his hand, turning andtwisting his head and body, and ending with a great show ofreverence and submission. He returned to shore. Again, and for athird time, he came out and went through the same ceremony; afterwhich he brought a little basket of rushes, filled with an herbwhich is called there tambac, which he threw into the boat. Then heagain returned to shore.

  The people came out, many of them in boats, but would not approachthe vessel; and upon the third day the vessel, having received aleak at sea, was brought to anchor nearer the shore, andpreparations were made to land her stores.

  Chapter 18: San Francisco Bay.