which seemed now awfully near, confounding me with his terrors, was before and behind and around me. I looked every way, but there was no opening, not a crevice save where the dark flood came tumbling down in one unbroken and impenetrable mass. The cold perspiration stood in large drops on my forehead-my body felt as if thousands of snakes were crawling upon it, using their ribs as so many feet, and impressing their detested cold track on my skin-my tongue clove dryly to the roof of my parched mouth, the shock had caused the saliva to cease to flow-my teeth chattered-and my whole frame was agitated with a hundred various tortures. Oh, the dark, the horrid thoughts, the dismal images, which that one burning and yet death-cold minute engendered! Years of privations and of sufferings have not, and never can, efface the impressions from my memory. Steep me in Lethe-do all and every thing which has ever yet been done to cause the past to be forgotten-yet still it will cling to me like the green ivy to the withering tree, blasting and destroying, slowly and surely, the embraced trunk, and gathering fresh vigour from its very decay. Many volumes would not contain the ideas which arose and passed with electric velocity through my mindvisions of the grave-of the meeting of long separated friends and kindred-of the judgment-of the bliss of heaven and of the frightful pains of hell. Suffice it to say, that they came and passed away; new ideas arose, and these again gave place to others, with a strange impetuosity, until all at length seemed chaos and confusion. Still I have a fearfully distinct recollection of the locality. There was the pillar I clung to-there the now almost hidden brick arches-there the piles of loose bricks tumbling down from the force of the current-while the water itself was an object never to be forgotten; and ever and anon, some floundering and bewildered fish would leap madly from the element, in mortal agony at its unaccustomed position. The slimy eel in vain endeavoured to insinuate its slippery folds into the crevices of the bricks; the current was too strong, and it too, like all other living things except myself, who grasped like a giant to my pillar, was hurried wildly away in the mad career of the flood. And now the waters were rising fast. I thought they must have more than reached the entrance, for they seemed to swell and swell, like the dark and ominous thunder-cloud gathering strength for a discharge, at the same time that the current seemed rather if any thing diminished in force. At this moment an idea of escape occurred to me, which had some appearance of success, strange though it may appear, and which I clung to with every nerve alive and strung to endeavour to put it in execution. It occurred to me that, from the vast velocity and power of the current, the water would continue to run on in the same direction for a short space of time, after the Tunnel was full, rising higher in the shaft than the surface of the river, and then, when that force had exhausted itself, return through the breach in the bed of the river to the Thames, until it regained its proper level, carrying me up along with it. The post to which I was clinging was within three yards of the breach, and thus I could not have had a more favourable position. I climbed with dreadful energy to its very top-my head touched the arch-and instantly afterwards my whole body was immersed in water. I feared now that I could not refrain from breathing until the revulsion in the flood took place, but I held firmly on to the post, resolved not to lose my chance by any error if possible-I began to grow giddy and confused-was it real? Yes! I had enough of sensation left to feel my legs turning towards the breach with the backward rush of the water-I had enough of sensation left to perceive that now was the time to let go my hold of the pillar. I must then have done so, but my consciousness was gone so soon as the idea was generated. Still I heard the hissing, bubbling, gurgling, deafening sound of the water in my ears, and strange dreamlike visions of the past flitted about me like phantasmagoria. But they were of the past alone; the present I was insensible to, and the future was not yet come. On returning to consciousness, I found myself lying in bed in a narrow crib, in the cabin of a large vessel whose pitching and heaving motions spoke in unmistakeable language that I was at sea! I need not trouble you with | particulars; it is enough to say that, as the ship was being towed down the river, and in the act of taking on board her last boat, I made my appearance on the surface, was picked up, and means were used to restore animation, which unfortunately succeeded. I say unfortunately, for I feel it would have been better that I had then died. The ship was bound for Australia, and as I had no alternative, I was obliged to go there also. I experienced no gratification during all the two years of my absence. The coasts and inland parts of Australia afforded scope enough for my propensity, but the heat was so suffocating that my health suffered considerably. I returned home-returned to my very few friends, as one from the grave, not more so as to time than as in appearance. I found considerable difficulty in obtaining credence in regard to my identity, so altered was I; indeed, unless for my extraordinary and uncontrollable disposition, which adhered to me throughout, and which it was but too clear no man could simulate, I would not have been acknowledged. At length I got possession of my property, and shortly afterwards came over here in search of health of mind and body. Alas, for my prospects! I thought here to enjoy retirement and an absence of all excitement-‘vain are the hopes of man.' Last night, after leaving you, I took up a newspaper, and the first thing that caught my eye was an intimation that the French government had sent out engineers of experience and talent to set about constructing a canal between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. I cannot resist the temptation—I must go there also. Many excavations must necessarily be made; many rivers must be dammed up; some lakes probably let out and drained; besides many other operations, all calculated to afford me enjoyment-if enjoyment it may be called. I shall see them all-I shall have a rare time of it! The thought inspires some comfort in me for the moment. God grant it may continue! The only gleam of real satisfaction I have felt for many years illuminates my enfeebled frame as I write. The hitherto almost unfelt influence of hope at last takes possession in earnest of my soul, and-glorious idea!-it is yet possible that I may conclude my few remaining days in peace-that the dreadful struggle of my mind after unattainable and unknown objects, may gradually expire as the partial grati fication is obtained at the Isthmus of Panama-and that I may have the satisfaction of experiencing the feelings of my fellow-men. Vain, I fear, is the hope. The past intrudes itself like an incubus during sleep; the wings of hope are only expanded for flight, and I fear she is too young to soar. I go, however, to make the attempt; and if I succeed I shall not fail in letting you know; if I am unsuccessful, my silence will be sufficient to tell you of my fate.-Farewell! ANECDOTES OF DOGS.* SOME months ago we directed the attention of our readers to Mr Jesse's Gleanings in Natural History,' and we have again before us another delightful volume of the same interesting class. The author's tastes and pursuits are certainly to be envied. Apart from the war of politics and polemics, and the thousand distracting pursuits of active life, he follows his favourite studies of nature, animate and inanimate, and gathers the materials of instruction and entertainment from those cool and shady places, those bright meads and blossomed hill-sides, where the foot of the man of the world is never privileged to tread. For a week after laying down one of his volumes we are haunted with the music of running waters, and, like Falstaff, could babble of green fields.' The present volume carries the assurance of its own popularity on the title-page. Illus trations of the habits, instincts, and capabilities of the lower animals are always interesting; but the dog is such an especial favourite, and deservedly so, that everything connected with his history has a charm peculiarly its own. Almost every one has his own stock of anecdotes and personal experiences in reference to the sagacity and disinterestedness of this friend of man,' and volumes have already been written on the same fertile theme. But Mr Jesse brings so much earnestness and enthusiasm to bear upon it, that, though occasionally inclined to doubt the authenticity of some of his anecdotes, we cannot forbear making a few extracts, even at the risk of quoting what is already known. Agreeably to authorised precedent, our author introduces his subject by alluding to the controversy as to the origin of the dog-whether, in fact, he is a dog, or a transformed fox or wolf. This question, of course, he leaves just where he found it, informing us somewhat magniloquently, that the origin of our favourite companion is lost in antiquity.' He rather inclines to assign an independent derivation to the canine race; but those who favour the wolfish hypothesis may possibly find some confirmation of it in the following: The wolf, perhaps, has some claim to be considered as the parent animal, and that he is susceptible of as strong attachment as the dog, is proved by the following anecdote related by Cuvier. He informs us, that a young wolf was brought up as a dog, became familiar with every person whom he was in the habit of seeing, and, in particular, followed his master everywhere, evincing evident chagrin at his absence, obeying his voice, and showing a degree of submission scarcely differing in any respect from that of the domesticated dog. His master, being obliged to be absent for a time, presented his pet to the Menagerie du Roi, where the animal, confined in a den, continued disconsolate, and would scarcely eat his food. At length, however, his health returned, he became attached to his keepers, and appeared to have forgotten all his former affection, when, after an absence of eighteen months, his master returned. At the first word he uttered, the wolf, who had not perceived him amongst the crowd, recognised him, and exhibited the most lively joy. On being set at liberty, the most affectionate caresses were lavished on his old master, such as the most attached dog would have shown after an absence of a few days. A second separation was followed by similar demonstrations of sorrow, which, however, again yielded to time. Three years passed, and the wolf was living happily in company with a dog which had been placed with him, when his master again returned, and again the long lost but still remembered voice was instantly replied to by the most impatient cries, which were redoubled as soon as the poor animal was set at liberty, when, rushing to his master, he threw his fore-feet on his shoulders, licking his face with the most lively joy, and menacing his keepers, who offered to remove him, and towards whom, not a moment before, he had been showing every mark of fondness. A third separation, however, seemed to be too much for this faithful animal's temper. He became gloomy, desponding, refused his food, and for a long time his life appeared in great danger. His health at last returned; but he no longer suffered the caresses of any but his keepers, and towards strangers manifested the original savageness of his species.' This wolf seems to have been rather an amiable animal, who had his good nature pretty severely tested; but we cannot allow him a nearer relationship than that of first consin to the dog. There have been anecdotes of well-disposed tigers, and the story of Androcles and the lion, if not a fable, exhibits both memory and gratitude on the part of the king of beasts. There is no reason why the wolf should be an exception, even though his progenitors were as different from those of the dog as are their descendants at the present day. But leaving the question of genealogy to the curious in such matters, let us hear something of the mental and moral qualities of the race. following anecdote has its parallel in many of those told of the shepherd's dog: The While "The extraordinary sense of a dog was shown in the following instance. A gentleman, residing near Pontipool, had his horse brought to his house by a servant. the man went to the door, the horse ran away, and made his escape to a neighbouring mountain. A dog belonging to the house saw this, and of his own accord followed the horse, got hold of the bridle, and brought him back to the door.' If the animals had a humane society, the hero of the following might have put in a fair claim for a medal : During a very severe frost and fall of snow in Scotland, the fowls did not make their appearance at the hour when they usually retired to roost, and no one knew what had become of them. The house-dog at last entered the kitchen, having in his mouth a hen, apparently dead. Forcing his way to the fire, the sagacious animal laid his charge down upon the warm hearth, and immediately set off. He soon came again with another, which he deposited in the same place, and so continued till the whole of the poor birds were rescued. Wandering about the stack-yard, the fowls had become quite benumbed by the extreme cold, and had crowded together, when the dog, observing them, effected their deliverance; for they all revived by the warmth of the fire.' Not a few professing Christians might profitably imitate the church-going tendencies of our next specimen :'It is a curious fact that dogs can count time. I had, when a boy, a favourite terrier, which always went with me to church. My mother, thinking that he attracted too much of my attention, ordered the servant to fasten him up every Sunday morning. He did so once or twice, but never afterwards. Trim concealed himself every Sunday morning, and either met me as I entered the church, or I found him under my seat in the pew.' Dogs have often died of grief for the loss of their masters. The following exhibit the opposite phase of canine sentiment: 'Dogs have been known to die from excess of joy at seeing their masters after a long absence. An English officer had a large dog, which he left with his family in England, while he accompanied an expedition to America, during the war of the colonies. Throughout his absence, the animal appeared very much dejected. When the officer returned home, the dog, who happened to be lying at the door of an apartment into which his master was about to enter, immediately recognised him, leaped upon his neck, licked his face, and in a few minutes fell dead at his feet. A favourite spaniel of a lady recently died on seeing his beloved mistress, after a long absence.' The next was what the Americans would call wideawake' :— 'A small cur, blind of one eye, lame, ugly, old, and somewhat selfish, yet possessed of great shrewdness, was usually fed along with three large dogs. Watching his opportunity, he generally contrived to seize the best bit of offal or bone, with which he retreated into a recess, the opening to which was so small that he knew the other dogs could not follow him into it, and where he enjoyed his repast without the fear of molestation.' The dog of the succeeding anecdote might have taken lessons from Mrs Gamp, and qualified for the profession of sick-nurse : His mistress always has her shoes warmed before she puts them on; but during the late hot weather her maid was putting them on without their having been previously placed before the fire. When the dog saw this, he immediately interfered, expressing the greatest indignation at the maid's negligence. He took the shoes from her, carried them to the fire, and after they had been warmed as usual, he brought them back to his mistress, with much apparent satisfaction, evidently intending to say, if he could It is all right now.'' The following dog performed the duties of post-boy 'for a consideration': At Albany, in Worcestershire, at the seat of Admiral Maling, a dog went every day to meet the mail, and brought the bag in his mouth to the house. The distance was about half a quarter of a mile. The dog usually received a meal of meat as his reward. The servants having on one day only neglected to give him his accustomed meal, the dog, on the arrival of the next mail, buried the bag; nor was it found without considerable search.' many respects to the same school as his illustrious cotenporary Sir Walter Raleigh; and it cannot be denied of either that their most glorious actions were tarnished by others, which the spirit of the age may palliate but can never altogether excuse. that the one might have his birth and the other his education. Under Elizabeth, the father, having taken orders, obtained the appointment of chaplain to the fleet stationed in the Medway, and was some time after ordained vicar of Upnor church, situated a little below Chatham. The youth, thus reared from infancy in the vicinity of the royal fleet, seems to have early imbibed a passion for a sailor's life; and his father, poor and encumbered with a numerous family, was not disposed to thwart his inclination. He put him,' says Camden, 'to the master of a bark, his neighbour, who carried on a coasting trade, and sometimes made voyages to Zealand and France.' Whoever furnished our author with the next anecdote Francis Drake was born in the year 1544, in a cottage must surely have been quizzing him; but, like Sir Walter about a mile from Tavistock, on the banks of the Tavy, in Scott, Mr Jesse can believe anything of the dog.' Such Devonshire. His father, an intelligent but obscure yeoan animal might have got a high salary in the Lyon man, had twelve sons, of whom Francis was the eldest. In Office:the days of persecution under Queen Mary, having at'A gentleman of an ancient family, whose name it is un-tracted attention as a zealous Protestant and a man of some necessary to mention, from his having been engaged in the acquirements, this worthy person removed from Devonshire troubles which agitated Ireland about forty years since, into Kent, where young Drake was brought up—God diwent into a coffecroom at Dublin, during that period, ac-viding the honour,' says Fuller, between two counties. companied by a noble wolf dog, supposed to be one of the last of the breed. There was only one other gentleman in the coffeeroom, who, on seeing the dog, went up to him, and began to notice him. The owner, in considerable alarm, begged him to desist, as the dog was fierce, and would never allow a stranger to touch him. The gentleman resumed his seat, when the dog came to him, showed the greatest pleasure at being noticed, and allowed himself to be fondled. His owner could not disguise his astonishment. You are the only person,' he said, whom that dog would ever allow to touch him without showing resentment. May I beg the favour of you to tell me your name?'-mentioning his own at the same time. The stranger announced it-(he was the last of his race, one of the most ancient and noble in Ireland, and descended from one of its kings). 'I do not wonder,' said the owner of the dog, at the homage this animal has paid you. He recognises in you the descendant of one of our most ancient race of gentlemen to whom this breed of dogs almost exclusively belonged, and the peculiar instinct he possesses has now been shown in a manner which cannot be mistaken by me, who am so well acquainted with the ferocity this dog has hitherto shown to all strangers.' BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. In the service of this master, who kept him hard to his business in the vessel,' the young sailor rapidly acquired a thorough knowledge of his profession; and the old seaman became so fond of him that on his death he bequeathed to him the bark and all its equipments. At the early age of eighteen we find him employed as purser of a ship which traded with the ports of Biscay. About this time the slave trade, the subsequent source of so many crimes and horrors, was commenced by some London adventurers, with the view of supplying the Spanish colonies in the West Indies and America. This odious but lucrative traffic, the inhumanity of which was not denounced till a much lat r date, was of a nature too well calculated to allure the alventurous spirits of the period; and Drake, at the age of twenty-two, desirous of extending his professional knowledge, and participating in its gains, embarked for Guines, in a squadron commanded by his reputed relative, Captain AMONG the many circumstances which contributed to make John Hawkins, in which he had command of the Judith, 3 the reign of Elizabeth one of the most illustrious in English vessel of only fifty tons. The history of this unfortunate history, not the least prominent is the impetus then given voyage, the last of the kind which Hawkins ever made. to maritime adventure. At first, England had seen with offers a curious picture of the nautical morality of the age. comparative indifference those great results of Portuguese Having completed his human cargo, that navigator took enterprise which for a time made the Tagus the emporium the usual course to the Canaries and Spanish America, of the East; and though her statesmen may have viewed apparently quite indifferent whether the profits of his exwith envy the conquests of Spain, when they poured into pedition should be the result of his ostensible traffic or f her lap the treasures of the New World, the desire of rival- open piracy. In passing, he stormed the town of Rio de ling her in these acquisitions was very slowly developed. la Hacha, because the Spanish governor refused to trade But during the reign of the Virgin Queen, the English with him; and soon after, when off the coast of Floriis. people summoned their energies to encounter the hazards being driven by severe gales to seek shelter in the port o of that element destined to become peculiarly their own, San Juan de Ulloa, he made two of the principal inlabiand thereon achieved victories as glorious in their charac- tants hostages to secure himself from retaliation. Here, ter and as momentous in their results as that even which while debating whether he should not at once seize upen scattered the Invincible Armada.' When nautical science twelve merchant ships lying in the port, and laden with was yet in its infancy, a host of gallant leaders, inspired cargoes worth £200,000, his position was rendered extreme by the love of adventure or the ambition of discovery and ly critical by the arrival of a powerful Spanish fleet, having conquest, sprung forward to this new career, and carried into it much of that chivalrous spirit that still survived ling. In the prospect of so tempting a prize, the English on board goods to the value of nearly two millions sterfrom the middle ages. At the same time it must be con- commander would willingly have hazarded an action, notfessed that these lofty and romantic feelings were often withstanding great disparity of force; but, dreading the an alloyed with an unscrupulousness very little in accord-ger of Queen Elizabeth, he made a truce with the Spaniards, ance with the moral standard of the present times, and that the characters of these early nautical adventurers too often exhibited a curious mixture of the knight-errant and the pirate. The desire of humbling and despoiling the Spaniard, then the most formidable national foe, was at least as prominent a motive with most of them as that of extending the glory of their sovereign and native land, and seems to have been considered an ample sanction for many dark and cruel deeds. Such, in some degree, was the case with the great naval hero, whose history we propose briefly to trace in the present paper. He belonged in and suffered himself to be lulled into security. The Dons however, were even more than a match for their unwel the truce till they could break it with impunity. Accord come guests in duplicity and cruelty, and only adhered to ingly, while the people of Hawkins were quietly repairing and revictualling their ships, they were treacherously atacked by a powerful force from land and sea; numbers escaped were Hawkins's own bark the Minion, and th were massacred in cold blood; and the only vessels that Judith, commanded by Drake. After incredible hard ships these two vessels succeeded in reaching England. : where the relation of their sufferings produced an indelible impression on the popular mind. Our hero had embarked his whole fortune in this disastrous expedition, and he had lost all. Hence was laid the foundation of that deep-rooted hostility to the Spaniards which he ever afterwards evinced-a feeling not a little confirmed by the exhortations of a chaplain to the fleet, who assured him that, as he had suffered from the treachery of the king of Spain's subjects, he might lawfully make reprisals from that monarch whenever and wherever he could. Fuller says-The case was clear in sea divinity, and few are such infidels as not to believe doctrines which make for their profit.' Be this as it may, Drake no sooner developed plans for attacking the Spanish American colonies, than he found numerous adventurers ready to aid him with money and personal assistance. He made two preparatory voyages, first with two ships and then only with one, in which he carefully reconnoitred the scene of his future exploits, improved his acquaintance with the coasts and islands of South America, and, it is coolly added, amassed some store of money by playing the seaman and the pirate.' taining the decided though secret sanction of Elizabeth for another marauding expedition, in which he contemplated the realisation of his long-cherished purpose. The miniature fleet, with which he proposed to inake war on the possessions of the most powerful monarch in Europe, consisted only of five vessels, the largest one hundred, and the smallest fifteen tons, and containing a crew of 164 men, gentlemen' and sailors. Among the gentlemen were some youths of noble families, who, not to mention the plunder anticipated, went out to learn the art of navigation.' The adventurers set sail on the 13th December, and first touched at Mogadore, on the coast of Barbary, where one of the sailors was captured by the Moors. Sailing thence, they reached the Portuguese island of San Jago, having taken and plundered several vessels which fell in their way. Here they seized upon a ship belonging to that nation, laden with wine, cloth, and general merchandise, and having numerous passengers on board. These captives Drake dismissed at the first convenient place, giving to each his wearing apparel, and presenting them with a butt of wine and some provisions, and with a pinnace he had set up at Mogadore. He, however, detained the pilot, Nuno da Silva, an expert mariner, who was well acquainted with the coast of Brazil, and afterwards published a minute account of the voyage; while the captured vessel itself was manned and placed under the command of Thomas Drake, a brother of the commodore. Having crossed the line without meeting anything more remarkable than the tropical phenomena of the air and waters, the adventurers cast anchor within the entrance of the Rio de la Plata, on the 14th of April, whence they soon after steered to the southward, along that wild coast since known as Patagonia. Though the avowed objects of our hero were little better than open robbery, he seems at no time to have indulged in that treachery and gratuitous cruelty which have so often disgraced European voyagers in barbarous lands. On the contrary, he endeavoured to cultivate a friendly correspondence with the rude natives, and in his progress opened at various places an agreeable, if not very profitable traffic. The narrative gives little sanction to reports about the gigantic stature of these people; but they are described as strong made, middlesized, and extremely active, with a gay and cheerful disposition. For such trifles as the English bestowed, they gave in return bows and arrows, and other rude implements, and soon became familiar. This good understanding was not, however, invariably preserved; for on another part of the coast a misunderstading led to an encounter with the natives, in which several individuals on both sides lost their lives. Thus experienced and reinforced, and having obtained a regular though secret commission from the queen, he made his first bold and daring attempt at reprisal. In May 1572, with two small vessels-the Pacha of seventy tons, and the Swan of twenty-five tons-the united crews of which amounted to seventy-three men and boys, he sailed for the Spanish Main, where he was joined by a vessel from the Isle of Wight, having on board thirty-eight men. With this insignificant force, he surprised the town of Nombre de Dios, then the entrepôt between Old Spain and the wealth of Mexico and Peru. The place was captured almost without resistance; and though the adventurers were somewhat disappointed of their expected booty, this was amply made up to them by the capture, soon after, of a string of fifty mules laden with gold and silver. Having gained the friendship and exchanged presents with an Indian chief, the navigator now partially crossed the isthmus of Darien, and for the first time obtained a view of the great Pacific, an ocean hitherto closed to English enterprise. With a kind of piety then perfectly intelligible, he gazed for a while intently on its boundless waters, and then prayed God to grant him life and leave to sail once an English ship upon its bosom.' Such was the earliest aspiration breathed after those noble discoveries which have since shed such lustre on the maritime fame of England. While indulging these emotions, however, the adventurer never lost sight of the more obvious purpose of his expedition-namely, plunder. After several other extraordinary adventures and some hairbreadth escapes, he On the 19th of June the voyagers cast anchor in Port set sail for England, with his fragile barks absolutely Julinn, near the Straits of Magellan, where they were much loaded and crammed with treasure and plundered mer-comforted by finding a gibbet standing' a proof that chandise, and reached Plymouth on the 9th August, 1573. Christian people had been there before them.' Here an It was the Sabbath-day, and the townspeople were at event occurred which has been considered the most queschurch, but the news of Drake's return no sooner reached tionable act of this distinguished navigator. This was the them than there remained few or no people with the trial and execution of Mr Thomas Doughty, an officer of the preacher,' all rushing eagerly out to welcome the Devon- squadron, on a charge of conspiracy and mutiny. Though, shire hero. properly speaking, no stretch of authority on the part of the commander, supposing the charge to be well founded, great obscurity has always involved this transaction; but the high character of Drake for humanity and fair-dealing among his associates seems to make it probable that the punishment was deserved. After the execution, Drake, who possessed a bold natural eloquence, addressed his whole company, exhorting them to unity, obedience, and regard to our voyage; and for the better confirmation thereof, willed every man the next Sunday following to prepare himself to receive the communion,' of which accordingly all very devoutly partook. The successful issue of these adventures obtained for Drake at once fortune, fame, and noble patronage. The wealth he had acquired enabled him to fit out three stout frigates, which, with himself as a volunteer, he placed at the disposal of Walter, Earl of Essex, the father of Eliza beth's celebrated favourite. Of these he was of course appointed commander, and performed good service in subduing the rebellion then raging in Ireland. These exploits, and his former reputation, procured him an introduction to her majesty-a distinction which he prized the more as it promised to further what was now the great object of his thoughts, a voyage to the Pacific. On the 20th of August, Drake reached Cape Virgenes, In the year 1577, the monarchies of Spain and England and sailed through the dreaded Strait of Magellan, being were still nominally at peace, though the subjects of both the fourth navigator who had performed that passage. crowns were engaged in constant acts of aggression and By this time his fleet had been reduced to only three vesviolence against each other, which, though not openly sels, those considered unserviceable having been broken countenanced by the sovereigns, were at least tacitly con-up. The character of this difficult navigation is now so nived at. Accordingly, Drake found little difficulty in ob- well known, that it may suffice to say that he cleared the western entrance on the 6th of September without accident, and at length attained the long-desired happiness of sailing an English ship on the South Sea. Here his comrades expected to begin the main business of their enterprise, and here also commenced their chief difficulties. The ship commanded by Thomas Drake was separated from the others by a violent tempest, and never more heard of; while of her two consorts, the one in charge of Mr Winter took advantage soon after of an accidental separation, and sailed back for England. Drake was now left alone with only one ship, and driven by tempestuous weather as far south as Cape Horn, the very opposite of his intended route. Undismayed by these adverse circumstances, he resumed his voyage northward on the first favourable opportunity, and on the 5th December reached Valparaiso, where he captured a valuable prize, laden with gold, jewels, wine, and other merchandise, and of course pillaged the town, which only contained nine families. Booty was now obtained in abundance. At one place a Spaniard was found asleep with thirteen bars of silver lying beside him; we took the silver and left the man,' quaintly says the account in Hakluyt. Soon after they captured eight llamas carrying two hundred pounds weight of silver; and in the port of Arica two or three small vessels were seized, in one of which were found fifty-seven wedges of silver as large as a brickbat. Tidings that the English were on the coast had now been dispatched to the governor at Lima; but the difficulty of travelling in these trackless regions was such that Drake outstripped the messenger, and on the 13th September, 1579, surprised seventeen vessels lying at Callao, the port of the very city where the viceroy resided. Here, however, he learned that he had missed the great prize of his voyage; the royal gallion, called the Cacafuego, having sailed for Panama, thirteen days before, laden with gold and silver. Without losing a moment, he immediately set out in pursuit, closely chased by the now aroused and enraged Spaniards, whom, however, he speedily distanced. Notwithstanding his eagerness, he took time to capture and rifle four vessels he met in with on the way, resolved apparently that no contingent advantage should interfere with present gain. At length, on the 1st March, the royal gallion was descried from the mainmast, her crew altogether unconscious of the daring enemy who was rapidly approaching. She was boarded and taken without much difficulty, and was found to contain twenty-six tons of silver, thirteen chests of rials of plate, and eighty pounds of gold, besides diamonds and inferior gems, the whole estimated at 360,000 pesos. The great object of Drake's companions had now been obtained if they could carry their booty safe to England their fortunes were made. But through all these scenes of pillage, their bold leader himself seems to have nursed the ambition of discovery; and the idea of a north-east passage to Europe, for long afterwards the ignis fatuus of mariners, had taken strong hold of his mind. Besides, he could hardly hope, in the face of the awakened vigilance and anger of the Spaniards, with the whole coast aroused against him, to make a safe return by the Strait of Magellan. Possessing the unbounded confidence of his crew, he easily persuaded them to adopt his views; and having taken in water and repaired their vessel at the island of Canno, the adventurers, on the 24th March, continued their course to the north. While at the latter place, the pinnace had brought in a prize laden with rural produce, but which also contained letters from the king of Spain to the governor of the Philippines, and certain charts of the route to that settlement, which subsequently proved of use to the captors. Another valuable prize was taken on the 6th April, one of the articles being a falcon of finely wrought gold, having in its breast a large emerald. Finally, the small settlement of Guatalco was taken and ransacked, and there also the prisoners were set at liberty, together with the pilot, Nuno da Silva, who had been brought from the Cape Verd Islands. The north-east passage to England was now the sole object; and by the 3d of June, Drake had sailed 1400 leagues on different courses without seeing land, having reached the 48th degree of north latitude. Here the cold became so intense, notwithstanding the season of the year, that meat froze the moment it was taken from the fire, and the ropes and tackling became stiff and almost unmanageable. Putting back ten degrees, the adventurers anchored soon after in a good harbour, on the shore of an inhabited country in 38 deg. 30 min. north, probably the port now known as San Francisco, on the coast of California. Here they had some singular interviews with the natives, who showed themselves very friendly; and during one barbarous cere mony, their king or chief was supposed to make a formal resignation of his dominions in favour of the English captain, who very politely accepted the gift on behalf of his sovereign. The rigours of a northern climate had now so far cooled the courage of his crew, that Drake abandoned all hope of finding a north-east passage, and at once adopted the bold resolution of crossing the Pacific, and sailing to England by India and the Cape of Good Hope. Our limits will not permit us to trace minutely the course of the navigator in his homeward voyage. He crossed the Pacific without accident, and on the 3d November reached the island of Ternate, where he was hospitably received by the king or sultan, who is denominated by Fuller a true gentleman pagan.' Having thoroughly repaired his ship at a place called Crab Island, on the coast of Celebes, he reached Java, after a difficult navigation, on the 12th March. Here the voyagers enjoyed twelve days of uninterrupted festivity, the five chiefs of the island, who lived in perfect amity, vying with each other in hospitality and courtesy to their visiters. From Java our navigator stretched right across the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, which was doubled without difficulty, and thence shaped his course for England. He arrived at Plymouth on Monday the 26th September, 1579, after an absence of nearly two years and ten months, during which he had circumnavigated the globe, and carried on a course of successful privateering unparalleled in the annals of navigation. After some little delay Drake was most graciously received at court, and Elizabeth now asserted more firmly than ever her right of navigating the ocean in all its parts, and denied the exclusive right claimed by the Spaniards over the seas and lands of the New World. The whole of England rang with the praise of Drake's achievements; and though the queen allowed certain merchants (who complained, not without abundant reason, of having been robbed) an indemnity out of the treasure which he had brought home, enough remained to make the voyage profitable to all parties. By Elizabeth's order, Drake's ship was drawn up in a little creek near Deptford, there to be preserved as a memento of the most memorable voyage yet achieved by her subjects; she partook of a banquet on board the vessel, and there knighted the captain. The author of the memoir in the Edinburgh Cabinet Library' well remarks: The expedition of Sir Francis Drake thus received the approbation of his sovereign; and as the war so long impending was now unavoidable, his depredations were forgotten even by his detractors, and his fame be came as universal as it was high. Envy itself had even been forced to acknowledge, not merely his maritime skill and genius for command, but the humanity and benevo lence which marked his intercourse with the barbarous tribes whom he visited, and the generosity with which he uniformly treated his Spanish captives, though belonging to a nation at that period of all others the most hateful to Englishmen, and in some respects the most injurious to himself.' With a brilliant reputation, and high in favour with his sovereign, Drake could now aspire to the first maritime employments. In 1585 the war with Spain virtually commenced, and our hero found himself once more at the head of an armament destined to carry hostilities into the Spanish Main. On this occasion his fleet consisted of twentyfive vessels, two of which belonged to the crown, and there were on board 2300 seamen and soldiers. Among the commanders were the celebrated Martin Frobisher, Captain Knollis, and other distinguished men. After cruising for |