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Drake (SIR FRANCIS an English FRANCIS)

SIR FRANCIS, an English shire, England, in 1539 , or according to some authorities in 1545.

He served as ward joined Sir John Hawkins in his a sailor in a coasting vessel; and aftera sailor in a coasting vessel; and afterlast expedition against the Spaniards that unfortunate enterprise. Having (1567), losing nearly all he possessed in gathered a number of adventurers, he fitted out a vessel in which he made two successful cruises to the West Indies in 1570 and 1571.

Next year, with two small ships, he again sailed for the Spanish Main, captured ish Main, captured the cities of Nombre Cruz, and took a rich booty which he brought safely home. In the Spanish Main, having this time com- 1577 Drake made another expedition to mand of five ships . On this the most famous of his voyages Drake passed the Straits of Magellan , plundered all along the coasts of Chile and Peru, sacked sevwith silver, gold, jewels, etc., to the eral ports, and captured a galleon laden value of perhaps $

1,000,000. seeking a passage to the Atlantic, but

He then ran N. as far as lat. 48° N., as lat. 48° Ν., was compelled to return to Port San then steered for the Moluccas, and hold- Francisco on account of the cold. He DRAKE ing straight across the Indian Ocean doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at Plymouth Nov. 3, 1580, being thus the first of the English circumnavigators. The queen showed her favor to Drake by knighting him on board his own ship. Five years afterward Drake was again attacking the Spaniards in the Cape Verde Islands and in the West Indies, and in 1588 particularly distinguished himself as vice-admiral in the conflict with the Spanish Armada. In 1593 he represented Plymouth in Parlia- SIR FRANCIS DRAKE ment. His later expeditions, that in 1595 against the Spanish West Indies and that to Panama, were not so successful, and his death, on Jan. 28, 1596, at sea off Porto Bello, was hastened by disappointment. an