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

  It should have been said, in its proper place, that upon the dayafter the arrival of the Pacha and Swanne in Pheasant Bay, a barquenamed the Isle of Wight, commanded by James Rause, with thirty menon board, many of whom had sailed with Captain Drake upon hisprevious voyages, came into the port; and there was great greetingbetween the crews of the various ships. Captain Rause brought withhim a Spanish caravel, captured the day before; and a shallop also,which he had taken at Cape Blanco. This was a welcome reinforcement,for the crews of the two ships were but small for the purpose whichthey had in hand, especially as it would be necessary to leave aparty to take charge of the vessels. Captain Drake made some proposalsto Captain Rause, which the latter accepted, and it was arranged thathe and his crew would be, for a time, under the command of Captain Drake.

  When the division of the crews was made, it was decided that JamesRause should remain in command of the four ships at Pheasant Bay;and that Captain Drake, with fifty-three of his own men and twentyof Rause's, should start in the three pinnaces and the shallop forNombre de Dios.

  The first point at which they stopped was the Isle of Pines, on the22nd July. Here they put in to water the boats and, as the crewshad been cramped from their stay therein, Captain Drake decided togive them a day on shore. Ned and Reuben Gale were of the party,the other two being, to their great discontent, left behind in theship.

  After the barriques had been filled with water, the fires lit forcooking, and the labors of the day over, Ned and Reuben started fora ramble in the island, which was of a goodly extent. When they hadproceeded some distance in the wood, picking fruit as they went,and looking at the butterflies and bright birds, they were suddenlyseized and thrown upon the ground by some men, who sprang out fromthe underwood through which they had passed. They were toosurprised at this sudden attack to utter even a cry; and, beingsafely gagged and bound, they were lifted by their captors, andcarried away into the interior of the island.

  After an hour's passage they were put down in the heart of a thickgrove of trees and, looking round, saw they were surrounded by alarge number of natives. One of these, a person evidently inauthority, spoke to them in a language which they did notunderstand. They shook their heads, and after several timesattempting to make them comprehend, Ned caught the words Espanolos.

  To this he vehemently shook his head in denial, which caused quitean excitement among his hearers. One of the latter then said"English," to which Ned and his companion nodded.

  The news evidently filled the natives with great joy. The bandswere taken off the boys, and the Indians endeavored, by gestures,to express the sorrow that they felt for having carried them off.It was clear that they had taken them for Spaniards, and that theyhad been watched as they wandered inland, and captured for thepurpose of learning the objects and force of the expedition. Now,however, that their captors understood that the ships were English,with great signs of pleasure they started with them for theseashore.

  It had already darkened when they arrived there, and the crews ofthe boats jumped hastily to their feet, at the sight of so manypersons approaching. Ned, however, called to them just as they wereabout to betake themselves to their arms, and shouted that thenatives were perfectly friendly, and well disposed. Captain Drakehimself now advanced, and entered into conversation with the leaderof the natives, in Spanish. It seemed that they had met before, andthat many, indeed, of the natives were acquainted with his person.These were a party of Simeroons, as they were then called; i.e.,of natives who had been made slaves by the Spaniards, and who hadnow fled. They afterwards came to be called Cameroons, and aremostly so spoken of in the books of English buccaneers. These menwere greatly pleased at the arrival of Captain Drake and his boats,for their own had been destroyed, and they feared taking to the seain such as they could build.

  After much talk, Captain Drake arranged to put them on shore, sothat they would go on to the Isthmus of Darien, where there weremore of them in the forests; and they promised to prepare these toassist Captain Drake, when he should come there. The natives, somethirty in number, were soon packed in the boats, and were ready tocross to the mainland; and the party then going forward, enteredthe port of Nombre de Dios at three in the morning.

  As they sailed in, being yet a good way from the city, they cameupon a barque of some 60 tons. It was all unprepared for attack,and the boats got alongside, and the crews climbed on to the deckbefore their presence was discovered, or dreamt of. No resistancewhatever was offered by the Spaniards against the English. Allwere, indeed, asleep below.

  A search was made, and it was found that the ship was laden withCanary wine, a circumstance which gave great pleasure to theEnglish, who looked forward to a long bout of good drinking. Whilethey were searching the ship, they had paid but little attention tothe Spanish crew. Presently, however, they heard the sound of oarsat some little distance from the ship.

  "What is that?" said Captain Drake.

  Ned ran to the stern of the vessel.

  "I think, sir," he said, "that one or two of the Spaniards have gotoff, with their boat. I saw it towing to the stern, when weboarded."

  Captain Drake leant over the side, and at once gave orders to oneof the boats whose crew had not boarded the vessel, and was lyingalongside, to pursue; and to strain every nerve to catch the boat,before she came near the town. The sailors leapt to the oars, andpulled with a will, for they knew as well as their captain howserious a matter it would be, were the town alarmed; and indeed,that all their toil and pains would be thrown away, as it was onlyby surprise that so small a handful of men could possibly expect totake a large and important town like Nombre de Dios.

  Fortunately the boat overtook the fugitives before they were withinhailing distance of the town, and rapidly towed them back to theship. All then took their places in the pinnaces, and pushed offwithout further delay. It was not yet light, and steered by one whoknew the town well, they rowed up alongside a battery, whichdefended it, without the alarm being given. As they climbed up overthe wall the sentry fired his piece, and the artillerymen, who,there having been some rumors of the arrival of Drake's fleet inthose waters, were sleeping by the side of their guns, sprang totheir feet and fled, as the English leapt down into the battery.There were six large guns in the place, and many small, andbombards.

  "Now, my lads," Captain Drake said, "you must lose no time. In fiveminutes, yonder artillerymen will have alarmed the whole town, andwe must be there before the Spaniards have managed to get theirsleepy eyes open.

  "Advance in three parties, and meet in the marketplace. It is goodthat we should make as much show as possible. There can be no moreconcealment and, therefore, we must endeavor to make the Spaniardsbelieve that we are a far stronger force than, in truth, we are."

  It was not until the three parties met in the marketplace that anyreal resistance on the part of the Spaniards began, althoughwindows had been opened, and shots fired here and there. The alarmbells were now ringing, shouts and screams were heard through thetown, and the whole population was becoming fairly aroused. As theyentered the marketplace, however, a heavy fire was opened witharquebuses and guns. The English had taken with them no firearms,but each man carried his bow and arrows, and with these they shotfast and hard at the Spaniards, and silenced their fire.

  At this moment, however, it happened, sadly for the success of theenterprise, that a ball struck Captain Drake, and inflicted aserious wound. Ned was standing near him, and observed him stagger.

  "Are you hit, sir?" he asked anxiously.

  "Tush, my boy," he replied, "it is a scratch; say nothing of it.

  "Now, forward to the Treasury. The town is in your hands, my lads.It only remains to you to sack as much treasure as you can carry;but remember, do not lose your discipline, and keep together. If westraggle, we are lost.

  "Now, light at once the torches which you have brought with you,and shout aloud to the inhabitants, you that can speak Spanish,that if any more resistance is offered, we will burn the whole townto the grou
nd."

  This threat mightily alarmed the inhabitants, and the firing ceasedaltogether; for as these were not regular soldiers, and knew thatthe object of the English attack was to plunder the publictreasuries, rather than private property, the townsmen readilydeemed it to their interest to hold aloof, rather than to bringupon their city and themselves so grievous a calamity as thatthreatened by the English.

  In the advance, two or three Spaniards had fallen into the hands ofthe men and, these being threatened with instant death if theyhesitated, at once led the way to the governor's house, where thesilver, brought down on mules from Panama, was stored. A party wereplaced at the door of this building, and Captain Drake, with therest, entered.

  The governor had fled, with his attendants. The house was richlyfurnished; full of silk hangings, of vessels of gold and silver,and of all kinds of beautiful things. These, however, attractedlittle attention from the English, although Ned and his youngcomrades marveled much. Never had they seen, in England, anythingapproaching to the wealth and beauty of this furnishing. It seemedto them, indeed, as if they had entered one of the houses of themagicians and enchanters, of whom they had read in books duringtheir childhood.

  Captain Drake, however, passed through these gorgeous rooms withscarce a glance and, led by the Spaniards, descended some stepsinto a vast cellar.

  A cry of astonishment and admiration burst from the whole party, asthey entered this treasury. Here, piled up twelve feet high, lay amighty mass of bars of silver, carefully packed. This heap was noless than 70 feet long and 10 feet wide, and the bars each weighedfrom 35 to 40 pounds.

  "My lads," Captain Drake said, "here is money enough to make us allrich for our lives; but we must leave it for the present, and makefor the Treasury House, which is as full of gold and of preciousstones as this is of silver."

  The men followed Captain Drake and his brother, feeling quiteastonished, and almost stupefied at the sight of this pile ofsilver; but they felt, moreover, the impossibility of theircarrying off so vast a weight, unless the town were completely intheir hands.

  This, indeed, was very far from being the case, for the whole townwas now rising. The troops, who had at the first panic fled, werenow being brought forward; and as the day lightened, the Spaniards,sorely ashamed that so small a body of men should have madethemselves masters of so great and rich a city, were plucking upheart and preparing to attack them.

  Ill was it, then, for the success of the adventure, that CaptainFrancis had suffered so heavy a wound in the marketplace. Up tothis time he had kept bravely on, and none except Ned, all beingfull of the prospect of vast plunder, had noticed his pale face, orseen the blood which streamed down from him, and marked everyfootstep as he went; but nature could now do no more and, with hisbody well nigh drained of all its blood, he suddenly fell downfainting.

  Great was the cry that rose from the men, as they saw the admiralthus fall. Hastily gathering round him, they lifted his body fromthe ground, and shuddered at seeing how great a pool of blood wasgathered where he had been standing. It seemed almost as if, withthe fall of their captain, the courage which had animated thesemen, and would animate them again in fighting against ever so greatodds, had for the moment deserted them.

  In spite of the orders of Captain John, that four or five shouldcarry his brother to the boats; and that the rest should seize,without delay, the treasures of gold and diamonds in the Treasury,and carry off as great a weight as they might bear, none paidattention. They gathered round the body of Captain Francis and,lifting him on their shoulders, they hurried to the boats, carelessof the promised treasures, and thinking only to escape, and bearwith them their beloved commander from the forces of the Spaniards;who, as they saw the party fall back, with great shouting fell uponthem, shooting hotly.

  The swoon of the admiral had lasted but a few moments. As cordialwas poured down his throat he opened his eyes and, seeing what themen were minded to do, protested with all his force against theirretreat. His words, however, had no weight with them and, in spiteof his resistance, they carried him down to the battery; and there,placing him in a pinnace, the whole took to their boats, and rowedon board ship.

  Wonderful to relate, although many were wounded, but one man, andhe Giles Taunton the armorer, was killed in this attack upon thegreat city, in which they only missed making themselves masters ofone of the greatest treasures upon earth by the accident of theircommander fainting, at a critical moment, and to the men beingseized by an unaccountable panic. Some of the crew had, indeed,carried off certain plunder, which they had snatched in passingthrough the governor's house, and in such short searches as theyhad been able to make in private dwellings; but the men, ingeneral, had been so struck with amazement and sorrow at the sightof their general's wound, that although this wealth was virtuallyat their mercy, they put off with him without casting a thoughtupon what they were leaving behind.

  The boats now rowed without pausing to the isle, which they calledthe Isle of Victuals; and there they stayed two days, nursing theirwounds, and supporting themselves with poultry, of which there wasa great abundance found in the island, and with vegetables andfruits from the gardens. There was great joy among them when it wasfound that Captain Drake's wound, although severe enough, was yetnot likely to imperil his life; and that it was loss of blood,alone, which had caused him to faint. At this news the men all tookheart, and rejoiced so exceedingly that a stranger would havesupposed that they had attained some great victory, rather thanhave come out unsuccessful from an adventure which promised to makeeach man wealthy.

  Upon the second day after their arrival at the Isle of Victuals,they saw a boat rowing out from the direction of Nombre de Dios. Asthey knew that there was no fleet in that harbor which wouldventure to attack them, the English had no fear of the approachingboat; although, indeed, they wondered much what message could havebeen sent them. On board the boat was an hidalgo, or Spanish noble,who was rowed by four negroes. He said that he had come from themainland to make inquiries as to the gallant men who had performedso great a feat, and that he cherished no malice, whatever, againstthem. He wished to know whether the Captain Drake who commandedthem was the same who had been there before, and especially did heinquire whether the arrows used by the English were poisoned; for,he said, great fear and alarm reigned in the town, many believingthat all who had been struck by the English shafts would certainlydie.

  Upon this head he was soon reassured; and the English were, indeed,mightily indignant at its being supposed that they would use suchcowardly weapons as poisoned arrows.

  Then the hidalgo inquired why the English had so suddenly retreatedfrom the town, when it was in their hands, and why they hadabstained from carrying off the three hundred and sixty tons ofsilver which lay at the governor's house, and the still greatervalue of gold in the treasure house--the gold, indeed, being farmore valuable than the silver, insomuch as it was more portable.The answers to all these questions were freely given, for in thosedays there was a curious mixture of peace and war, of desperateviolence and of great courtesy, between combatants; and whereas,now, an enemy arriving with a view merely to obtain informationwould be roughly treated, in those days he was courteouslyentertained, and his questions as freely answered as if he had beena friend and ally.

  When he heard of the wound of Captain Drake he expressed greatsorrow; and, after many compliments were exchanged, he returned toNombre de Dios; while, the next day, Captain Drake and the Englishrowed away to the Isle of Pines, where Captain Rause was remainingin charge of the ships. He was mightily glad to see them return, aswere their comrades who had remained; for their long absence hadcaused great fear and anxiety, as it was thought that Captain Drakemust have fallen into some ambuscade, and that ill had come to theparty.

  Although there was some regret at the thought that the chance ofgaining such vast booty had been missed, yet the joy at the safereturn overpowered this feeling; and, for a day or two, the crewsfeasted merrily and held festival. Captain Rause then determined
tocontinue the adventure no further, but to separate with his shipand men from Captain Drake. He was of opinion, firmly, that now theSpaniards had discovered their presence in the island, suchmeasures of defense would be taken, at every port, as to placethese beyond the hazard of attack by so small a body as thosecarried by the three ships. He therefore, receiving fullsatisfaction for the use of his men and for guarding the ships,sailed away on the 7th August, leaving the Swanne and the Pacha toproceed upon the adventure, alone.

  Captain Drake sent his brother and Ellis Hickson to examine theriver Chagres; and on their return Captain Drake, with his twoships and three pinnaces, sailed for Carthagena, where he arrivedon the 13th day of August. While on the voyage thither he capturedtwo Spanish ships, each of 240 tons, with rich cargoes, neither ofthem striking so much as a blow in resistance.

  At evening he anchored between the Island of Cara and SaintBernardo, and the three pinnaces entered the harbor of Carthagena.

  Lying at the entrance they found a frigate, which in those daysmeant a very small craft, not much larger than a rowing boat. Shehad but one old man on board, who said that the rest of the companyhad gone ashore, to fight a duel about a quarrel which they had hadovernight. He said, too, what was much more important to theEnglish--that, an hour before nightfall, a pinnace had passed him,and that the man who was steering had shouted out that the Englishwere at hand, and that he had better up anchor and go into theport. He said, moreover, that when the pinnace reached Carthagenaguns were fired, and he could see that all the shipping hauled inunder shelter of the castle.

  This was bad news indeed, and there was much hard language amongthe sailors, when they heard it. It was clear that the castle ofCarthagena, if prepared, was not to be carried by some thirty orforty men, however gallant and determined they might be. There was,too, but little hope that the old man had spoken falsely, for theyhad themselves heard guns, shortly before their arrival there. Withmuch bitterness, it was determined to abandon the plan of attack;and thus Carthagena, as well as Nombre de Dios, escaped from thehands of the English.

  They did not, however, go out empty handed; for they succeeded incapturing, by boarding, four pinnaces, each laden with cargo; andas they turned their heads to go out to sea, a great ship ofSeville came sailing in. Her they laid alongside and capturedeasily, she having just arrived from Spain, having no thoughts ofmeeting a foe, just as she reached her port of destination.

  This lightened the hearts of the crew, and with their prizes intow, they sailed out in good spirits. The ship contained largestores of goods from Spain, with sherries, and merchandise of everykind. They went back to the Isle of Pines, their usual rendezvous,and on adding up the goods that they had taken from various prizes,found that, even now, they had made no bad thing of their voyage.

  They were now much reduced in fighting strength by illness, andCaptain Drake determined in his mind that the crews were no longerstrong enough for the manning of two ships, and that it would bebetter to take to one, alone. He knew, however, that even hisauthority would not suffice to persuade the sailors to abandon oneof the vessels, for sailors have a great love for their ships. Hetherefore determined to do it by a sudden stroke, and that knownonly to himself and another. Therefore he called to him ThomasMoore, the carpenter of the Swanne; and, taking him aside, told himto make auger holes in the bottom of that ship. Moore, who was agood sailor, made a great resistance to the orders; but upon theadmiral assuring him that it was necessary, for the success of theenterprise, that one of the ships should be destroyed, he veryreluctantly undertook the task.

  Previous to this Captain Drake had ordered all the booty, and aconsiderable portion of the stores of both ships, to be hauled onshore; so that they might lose nothing of value to them.

  The next morning, Ned and his friends were sitting on the bulwarkof the vessel, watching the fish playing about in the depths of theclear blue water.

  "We seem to be lower in the water than usual," Ned said. "Does notit seem to you that we are not so high above the sea as we are wontto be?"

  The others agreed that the vessel had that appearance; but as itseemed clearly impossible that it should be so, especially when shewas lighter than usual, they thought that they must be mistaken,and the subject was put aside. Half an hour later Captain Drakehimself, rowing alongside, called to his brother, who came to theside.

  "I am going to fish," he said; "are you disposed to come, also?"

  Captain John expressed his willingness to do so.

  "I will wait for you," his brother said.

  Captain John was turning to go into his cabin to get his cap andcloak, when Captain Francis cried out:

  "Is not your ship very low in the water this morning?"

  "The same as usual, I suppose," Captain John said, laughing; butlooking over the side himself, he said, "Methinks she does lie deepin the water;" and, calling the carpenter, he bade him sound thewell.

  The latter, after doing so, cried out loudly that there were fourfeet of water in the ship.

  A great astonishment seized upon both officers and crew, at thisunexpected news. All hands were at once set to work, the pumps wererigged and, with buckets and all sorts of gear, they strovemanfully and hard to get rid of the water. It soon, however, becameplain that it entered faster than they could pump it forth, andthat the vessel must have sprung a bad leak.

  When it was clear that the Swanne could not be saved, the boats ofthe Pacha were brought alongside, and all the goods that remainedin her were removed, together with the arms and ammunition. Thenthe crew, taking to the boats, lay by, until in a few minutes theSwanne sank, among the tears of many of her crew, who had madethree voyages in her, and loved her well.

  It was not, for a long time afterwards, known that the loss of thisship was the effect of the orders of the admiral; who, indeed,acted with his usual wisdom in keeping the matter secret; forassuredly, although the men would have obeyed his orders, he wouldhave lost much favor and popularity among them, had the truth beenat that time known.

  The next day the news was spread, among the men, that it wasdetermined to fill the Pacha with all the stores that were onshore; and, leaving a party there with her, to embark the crews inthe pinnaces, for service in the river Chagres and along the coast;until, at any rate, they could capture another ship to replace theSwanne. Next day they rowed on into the Gulf of Darien. There theship was laid up in a good place, and they remained quiet forfifteen days, amusing and refreshing themselves. By this means theyhoped to throw all the Spaniards off their guard, and to cause areport to be spread that they had left the island.

  The Simeroons living near had been warned, by those who had beenlanded from the Isle of Pines, of their coming; and received themwith good cheer, and promised all aid that could be required. Thenthe pinnaces were sent out, to catch any passing ships which mightbe cruising along the coast.

  It happened, one day, that two of them had set off in pursuit of agreat ship, which they saw passing in the distance. The wind waslight, and they had little doubt that they should overhaul her.Ned, who was one of those who remained behind, was much angered atmissing so good an enterprise; but some four hours afterwardsanother ship was seen to pass along.

  The remaining pinnace was at once manned, Captain John Drake takingthe command; and, with fourteen men, she set out to take theSpanish galleon. Gallant as are the exploits which have beenperformed in modern times by British tars, in their attacks uponslavers, yet in none of these cases does the disparity of force atall approach that which often existed between the English boats andthe Spanish galleons; indeed, the only possible reason that can begiven, for the success of the English, is the fear that their enemyentertained for them. Both the Spanish captains and crews had cometo look upon them as utterly invincible, and they seemed, whenattacked by the English buccaneers, altogether paralyzed.

  As the boat rowed up towards the great ship, her size becamegradually more apparent, and her deck could be seen crowded withmen; even Ned, who was not greatly given
to reflection, could notbut feel a passing doubt as to the possibility of one small boat,with fourteen men, attacking a floating castle like this.

  Presently the boom of a cannon from the forecastle of the vesselwas heard, and a ball whizzed over their heads; then shot aftershot was fired, and soon a rattle of small arms broke out, and thewater all round was cut up by bullets and balls. The rough seamencared little for this demonstration. With a cheer they bent theirbacks to the oars and, although some were wounded, they rowed up tothe side of the ship without hesitation or doubt. Then from above ashower of missiles were hurled upon them--darts, stones, hot water,and even boiling tar.

  It would have gone hard with the English, had not the Spanishcarelessly left a porthole open near the water level; through thisthe English clambered, eager to get at their foe, and many of themraging with the pain caused by the boiling materials. As theyrushed on to the deck, the Spaniards were ranged, in two ranks, oneither side of the hatchway; and fell upon them at once; but sogreat was the fury of the English that, facing either way, with aroar like beasts springing on their prey, they fell with axe andsword upon the Spaniards.

  It was the wild rage with which the English buccaneers fought thatwas the secret of their success. The Spaniards are a people givento ceremony, and even in matters of battle are somewhat formal andpedantic. The combat, then, between them and the English, was onewhich presented no familiar conditions to their minds. These roughsailors, hardened by exposure, skilled in the use of arms, were nodoubt formidable enough, individually; but this alone would nothave intimidated the Spaniards, or have gone any great distancetowards equalizing the tremendous odds between them.

  It was the fury with which they fought that was the secret of theirsuccess. It was as when a cat, furious with passion, flies at a dogmany times larger and heavier than itself. The latter may be asbrave, in many matters, as the cat; and ready to face a creaturemuch larger even than itself, under ordinary circumstances. It isthe fury of the cat which appalls, and turns it into a very coward.

  Thus, when the band of English fell upon the Spaniards in thegalleon--who were some six times as numerous as themselves--nakedto the waist, with hair streaming back, with all their faces wildwith pain, brandishing their heavy axes, and with a shout rushedupon their foes drawn up in regular order; the latter, after amoment or two of resistance, began rapidly to fall back. Theirofficers, in vain, shouted to them to stand firm. In vain theytaunted them with falling back before a handful of men. In vaineven turned their swords against their own soldiers.

  It was useless. Those in front, unable indeed to retreat, were cutdown by the heavy axes. Those behind recoiled, and after but a fewminutes' fighting, some began to leap down the hatchways; andalthough the fight continued for a short time, isolated groups hereand there making resistance, the battle was virtually won in fiveminutes after the English appeared on deck. The captain and his twoprincipal officers were killed, fighting bravely; and had theirefforts been in any way backed by those of their men, they wouldhave made short work of the assailants.

  Captain Drake's voice was heard, high above the din, as soon as theresistance ceased. He ordered the prisoners to be all brought upondeck, and disarmed, and at once forced into their own boats, andobliged to row away from the vessel; for he knew that, were his menonce to begin to plunder, and to fall upon the liquors, theSpaniards, even if unarmed, would be able to rise and overpowerthem.

  No sooner was the last Spaniard out of the ship, than the menscattered to look for plunder. Ned was standing on the poop,watching the boats rowing away, and thinking to himself that, socrowded were they, if a breeze were to spring up there would not bemuch chance of their reaching Nombre de Dios. Suddenly he heardbelow him a scream, followed by a splash; looking over, he saw thehead of a woman appear above the water, and without hesitationdived at once from the side. For a moment the girl, for she waslittle more, struggled with him as if she would have sunk; but Ned,grasping her firmly, in a few strokes swam with her alongside theship to the boat; and two or three sailors, running down, assistedhim to pull her into it. Then, dripping wet, she was taken to thedeck, where the captain, in kind tones, assured her that she wouldreceive the most courteous treatment, and that she need be under nofear, whatever.

  She was the daughter of a wealthy Spaniard, at Nombre de Dios, andwas now coming out from Spain to join him. Frightened by the noiseof the fighting, and by the terrible reputation of the Englishbuccaneers, she had, when the sailors rushed into the cabin withloud shouts, been so alarmed that she had jumped from the sternwindows into the sea.

  Captain Drake assured her courteously that, rough as his men mightbe, they would, none of them, lay a finger upon a woman. He thenhoisted a flag and fired a gun, as a signal to the Spanish boats,which were yet within a quarter of a mile, to return. For a momentthey rowed on, but a ball, sent skimming across their bows, was ahint which they could not disregard; for, full as they were of men,they could not have hoped to avoid the English pinnace, should ithave put off after them.

  When the boats came alongside, some of those on board were orderedto ascend the side of the ship; and, plenty of accommodation havingbeen made, the young Spanish lady and her maid, who had remained inthe cabin, descended into the largest boat; handed down by CaptainDrake, with a courtesy equal to that which a Spanish hidalgohimself would have shown.

  Before she went, the young lady turned to Ned, who was standingnear, and expressed to him her deep thanks for the manner in whichhe had leapt over for her. Ned himself could understand only a fewwords, for although many of the sailors spoke Spanish, andsometimes used it among themselves, he had not yet made any greatprogress with it, although he had tried to pick up as many wordsand phrases as he could. The captain, however, translated the wordsto him; and he said to her, in reply, that there was nothing forher to feel herself under any obligation to him for, for that anydog would have jumped out and done the business, just as well.

  The young lady, however, undid a bracelet of gold on her arm, andinsisted upon herself fastening it round Ned's wrist, an actionwhich caused blushes of confusion to crimson his face.

  In a few minutes the Spanish boats were again off. The captainadded, to that in which the young lady was placed, some food, somebottles of liqueur, and other matters which might render her voyageeasy and pleasant. He promised that the Spaniards who had beentransferred again to the ship should be landed, at the earliestopportunity.

  The vessel was now searched, regularly, and was found to containmuch treasure in goods; but as she was on her way from Europe, shehad, of course, none of the gold and silver which was the mainobject of their search. However, they consoled themselves with thethought that the ship which had been chased by their comrades,earlier in the day, was homewards bound; and they hoped, therefore,that a rich cargo would there be secured.

  They were not mistaken, for when the ship sailed up to therendezvous they found another alongside, and the cheers of theircomrades told them that the prize had been a handsome one. Theyfound that they had secured nearly half a million in gold andsilver; and, transferring the cargo of the one ship into the other,they set the first on fire, and sailed back to the spot where theircamp was formed, on the isthmus.

  Several other ships fell into their hands in this way, but afterthis they hindered no more vessels on their way from Europe. Theyhad ample stores and, indeed, far more than enough to supply themwith every luxury; for on board the Pacha the richest wines, themost delicate conserves, the richest garments of all kinds werealready in such abundance as to become common to them all. Down tothe common sailor, all feasted on the best, and drank wines that anemperor might have approved. Captain Drake, in this way, gave hismen when on shore much license; insisting, however, that theyshould abstain from drunkenness. For, as he said, not only wouldthey be at the mercy of any small body of the enemy which mightfind them, but drunkenness breeds quarrels and disputes, and asbetween comrades would be fatal, indeed. Thus, although enough ofgood liquor was given to each man to mak
e him merry, none wereallowed to drink beyond this point.

  The reason why the ships coming from Europe were allowed to pass,unmolested, was that Drake wished not that, each day, some freshtale of capture should be brought to Panama by the crews set freein the boats; for it was certain that the tale so told would, atlast, stir up such fear and indignation at the ravages committed byso small a body, that the governors of the Spanish towns wouldcombine their forces, and would march against them with a veritablearmy. While only the ships starting from Darien were overhauled,and lightened of their contents, the tale was not brought back toDarien; for the crews were allowed to sail on with their ships toEurope, as Drake had already more vessels than he knew what to dowith; and as for prisoners, they were, to him, quite useless.

  Captain John did, indeed, at one time propose to him that he shouldtake out of each ship all the principal men, so as to hold them ashostages, in case of any misfortune happening to the English; butthe admiral said to him, that so great was the enmity and fear ofthem, that did they fall into the hands of the Spaniards, thesewould not exchange them and let them go, even if as many kings wereset free in return.

  In all, five vessels were seized and plundered while lying atDarien. All was not, however, going well; for while they lay there,a terrible sickness broke out among them. Whether this was from thechange of life, or from any noxious thing which they ate, or merelyfrom the heat, none could say; but, very shortly, the illness madegreat ravages among them. First died Charles Clift, one of thequartermasters.

  Then one day, when the pinnace in which Ned always sailed returned,they were met with the sad news that Captain John Drake was alsodead. He had fallen, however, not by the fever, but by the ball ofthe Spaniards. He had gone out with one of the pinnaces, and hadengaged a great Spanish ship; but the latter had shot more straightand faster than usual, and the captain himself and Richard Allen,one of his men, had been slain in an unsuccessful attempt tocapture the ship. His sad end was not the result of any rashness onhis part; for he, indeed, had told the men that the vessel carriedmany guns, and that it was too rash an enterprise. The sailors,however, had by this time become so accustomed to victory as todespise the Dons altogether, and insisted upon going forward.

  It was with bitter lamentation and regret that they returned,bringing the body of the admiral's brother. They were now at theend of the year, and in this week no less than six of the companydied, among whom was Joseph Drake, another of the admiral'sbrothers. These losses saddened the crew greatly, and even thetreasures which they had amassed now seemed to them small, and oflittle account. Even those who did not take the fever were muchcast down, and Captain Drake determined, without any further loss,to attempt the expedition on which he had set his mind.

  On February 3rd, being Shrove Tuesday, he started with eighteenEnglish and thirteen Simeroons for Panama. He had now, since hesailed, lost no less than twenty-eight of the party which set outfrom Plymouth.

  In a few days they reached Venta Cruz, but one of the men, who hadtaken too much strong liquor, made a noise; and the alarm beinggiven, much of the treasure was carried out of the place, beforethey could effect a landing. They followed, however, one of thetreasure parties out of the town, and pursued them for somedistance. On their way they came across another large convoy, withgold. This they easily took and, having sent the Spaniards away,unloaded the mules and buried the gold, desiring to press onfurther.

  As they went, one of the chief Simeroons took the admiral apartfrom the road they were traversing, and led him to the foot of alofty tree. Upon this steps had been cut, and the Indian told theadmiral to ascend, and see what he could observe from the top. Uponreaching the summit, the admiral gave a shout of joy andastonishment. From that point he could see the Pacific Ocean, andby turning his head the Atlantic, which they had just left.

  This was a joyful moment for the great sailor, and when hedescended, one by one most of the men climbed to the top of thetree, to see the two oceans.

  Drake was the first Englishman who had seen this sight. To theSpaniards it was, of course, familiar; indeed, Vasco Nunez hadstood upon the spot and had seen the Pacific, and taken possessionof it, in the name of Spain, in the year 1513.

  They now retraced their steps; for, with the force at theirdisposal, Captain Drake thought it would be madness to cross theisthmus, with any view of attacking the Spaniards on the otherside. He had now accomplished his purpose, and had learned thenature and geography of the place; and proposed, on some futureoccasion, to return with a force sufficient to carry out the greatenterprises on which he had set his mind.

  On their return, they were sorely disappointed at finding that theSpaniards, having captured one of the party, had extorted from himthe hiding place of the gold, and had lifted and carried it off.They now prepared to re-embark in their pinnace. Reaching theseashore, however, they were surprised, and in some way dismayed,at seeing seven Spanish vessels nearing the coast. The Spaniardshad at last determined to make an effort, and had arrived at a timemore unfortunate for the English than could have been supposed. Thepinnace, after landing the party, had sailed away, in order toprevent the Spaniards seizing upon those on board; and when CaptainDrake reached the shore she was not in sight, having indeed hauledher wind, and made off, on the approach of the Spanish fleet.

  The situation seemed bad, indeed, for it was certain that theSpaniards would land their troops and search the shore; and it wasof the highest importance that the pinnace should be discoveredfirst.

  There was a counsel held, and the men were well-nigh despairing.Captain Drake, however, bade them keep up their courage, andpointed out to them the four lads, all of whom had escaped theeffect of fever and disease, their constitution, no doubt, beingstrengthened by the fact that none of them indulged in too muchliquor; indeed, seldom touching any.

  "Look," said Captain Drake, "at these four lads. Their courage isunshaken, and they look cheerful and hopeful on all occasions. Takeexample from them, and keep up your hopes. I propose to make a raftupon which I myself will embark, and by making out from this bayinto the open sea, may succeed in catching sight of the pinnace,and bringing it hither to your rescue."

  The proposal seemed a desperate one, for it was far more likelythat the Spaniards' ships would come along, and descry the raft,than that the latter should meet with the pinnace. However, thereseemed no other resource. The materials for the raft were scantyand weak; and when Captain Francis, with three companions, gotfairly out of the bay, the raft sank so deeply in the water thatthey were completely standing in the sea.

  For some hours they beat about; and then, to their great joy, theydescried the pinnace in the distance, making for land. The wind hadnow risen, and it was blowing hard, and their position on the raftwas dangerous enough. They found that it would be impossible forthem to keep at sea, and still more impossible to place themselvesin the track of the pinnaces, which were making for a bay behind aprojecting headland.

  Painfully paddling the raft to the shore, Captain Francis landed;and they made their way, with much toil and fatigue, over the hillwhich divided them from that bay; and, towards morning, got down tothe pinnace, where they were received with much joy. Then they atonce launched the boat, and made for the spot where they had lefttheir comrades. These received them as if risen from the dead, forthey had all made up their minds that their admiral, and hiscompanions, had been lost upon the frail raft on which they hadembarked.

  They now put to sea, and had the good fortune to escape the ken ofthe Spaniards, who had sailed further up the coast. So, thankingGod for their escape, they sailed back to the bay where the Pachaand her prizes lay, and then all hands began to make greatpreparation for return home.

  Chapter 5: Cast Ashore.