Page:Voyages and adventures of the renowned Admiral Drake.pdf/13

This page has been validated.

13

place prepared for his execution. He is said to have been a stout, able, and industrious seaman, but haughty & turbulent. Some were of opinion that, though he had been seditious in the fleet, Drake had cut him off as an emulator of his glory; while other pretended that he was designed a sacrifice before he left England; and that Drake had positive orders from the Earl of Leicester to cut off Doughty on any pretence whatever, because he had charged Leicester with having poisoned Walter, Earl of Essex.

Drake departed from St. Julian, August 17th, and the 20th entered the Streights of Magellan. After a difficult navigation of 10 days, he came out, on the 6th September, into the Great South Sea. But here he met with such tempestuous weather, that he was forced back to the westward near 100 leagues; and one of his ships, (the Marygold, Capt. Thomas,) was lost. Near the 57th degree south-latitude, he entered a bay where he found naked people ranging from one island to another, in canoes, in search of provisions. Sailing northward from thence, on October 3d, he found three islands in one of which was extraordinary flocks of birds. On the 8th he lost another ship (the Elizabeth, Capt. John Winter) which returned through the Streights, and arrived safe in England, June 2d, the year following, being the first shipment that ever came back that way. Drake had now only his own ship, which, in the South-Seas, he new-named the Hind; and proceeding along the coast of Chili, he came to an Island called Moutha, where he had intelligence from an Indian, that a large Spanish ship lay loaden at Val Paraiso, which he immediately sailed in search of. Having got sight of her, and