d honourable demeanour in this expedition gained him high
reputation; and the use which he made of his riches served to raise him
still higher in popular esteem. Having fitted out three frigates at his
own expense, he sailed with them to Ireland, and rendered effective
service as a volunteer, under Walter, earl of Essex, the father of the
famous but unfortunate earl. After his patron's death he returned to
England, where he was introduced to Queen Elizabeth (whether by Sir
Christopher Hatton is doubtful), and obtained a favourable reception. In
this way he acquired the means of undertaking the expedition which has
immortalized his name. The first proposal he made was to undertake a
voyage into the South Seas through the Straits of Magellan, which no
Englishman had hitherto ever attempted. This project having been well
received at court, the queen furnished him with means; and his own fame
quickly drew together a sufficient force. The fleet with which he sailed
on this enterprise consisted of only five small vessels, and their
united crews mustered only 166 men. Starting on the 13th of December
1577, his course lay by the west coast of Morocco and the Cape Verde
Islands. He reached the coast of Brazil on the 6th of April, and entered
the Rio de la Plata, where he parted company with two of his ships; but
having met them again, and taken out their provisions, he turned them
adrift. On the 19th of June he entered the port of St Julian's, where he
remained two months, partly to lay in provisions, and partly delayed by
the trial and execution of Thomas Doughty, who had plotted against him.
On the 21st of August he entered the Straits of Magellan. The passage of
the straits took sixteen days, but then a storm carried the ships to the
west; on the 7th of October, having made back for the mouth of the
strait, Drake's ship and the two vessels under his vice-admiral Captain
Wynter were separated, and the latter, missing the rendezvous arranged,
returned to England. Drake went on, and came to Mocha Island, off the
coast of Chile, on the 25th of November. He thence continued his voyage
along the coast of Chile and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing
Spanish ships, and attacking them on shore, till his men were satiated
with plunder; and then coasted along the shores of America, as far as 48
deg. N. lat., in an unsuccessful endeavour to discover a passage into
the Atlantic. Having landed, however, he named the country New Albion,