Hawkyns sailed from Plymouth on the 2nd of October, 1567, with a fleet consisting of the Jesus of Lübeck, lent by the queen, the Minion, the Judith, of 50 tons, and two small barques; and in command of the Judith was his renowned cousin, Francis Drake. The needy vicar of Upchurch on the Medway, driven by persecution from his native Devonshire, found it hard to bring up several sons, and Francis was apprenticed to the master of a small vessel which traded along the coast, and across the Channel to Zeeland and France. As a boy of twelve or thirteen, he might have seen, and probably did see, the fleet of Sir Hugh Willoughby go down the river, and he probably joined in the cheering. He was such a good and honest lad that the old sailor who owned the coasting vessel bequeathed it to his apprentice on his death. This was the small beginning of Drake's fortune. He continued in the same business for several years, but in 1565 he made a voyage with Captain John Lovell to the West Indies, which was disastrous, and caused ruinous loss to young Drake. He was, therefore, glad to receive command of the little Judith in the fleet of his relative.
Pursuing his former course of procedure, Hawkyns went first to the coast of Africa, took between four hundred and five hundred negroes on board, and sailed with them for the West Indies, arriving at Dominica on the 27th of March, 1568. He seems to have found no difficulty in inducing the Spaniards on the coast of Venezuela to trade with him, except at Rio de la Hacha and Cartagena. At the former place Hawkyns found it necessary to land his men and take the town by storm before its citizens could be induced to enter into commercial relations, but after that decisive step, they came by night and purchased two hundred negroes from the English. Leaving Cartagena on the 24th of July, and commencing the homeward-bound voyage, the adventurers encountered a hurricane off the west end of Cuba, which lasted four days, and the Jesus sprung a leak. This was followed by another gale, and Hawkyns was obliged to seek a refuge for his battered ships in the bay of Vera Cruz on the coast of Mexico, on the 16th of September.
Hawkyns made a request to the Audience of Mexico, which was in charge of the government until the new viceroy should arrive, that, having been driven to the anchorage of San Juan de Ulloa by stress of weather, he might be supplied with provisions and allowed to depart peaceably. Meanwhile, the Spanish fleet arrived, having on board the new viceroy of Mexico, Don Martin Henriquez. The
