mong the official items were: 13 chests of pieces of
eight, 80 lbs. of pure gold, jewels and plate, 26 ton weight of silver,
and sundries unspecified. As the Spanish pilot's son looked over the
rail at this astounding sight, the Englishmen called out to say that his
father was no longer the pilot of the old Spit-_fire_ but of the new
Spit-_silver_.

The prisoners were no less gratified than surprised by Drake's kind
treatment. He entertained Don Anton at a banquet, took him all over the
_Golden Hind_, and entrusted him with a message to Don Martin, the
traitor of San Juan de Ulua. This was to say that if Don Martin hanged
any more Englishmen, as he had just hanged Oxenham, he should soon be
given a present of two thousand Spanish heads. Then Drake gave every
Spanish officer and man a personal gift proportioned to his rank, put
all his accumulated prisoners aboard the emptied treasure ship, wished
them a prosperous voyage and better luck next time, furnished the brave
Don Anton with a letter of protection in case he should fall in with an
English vessel, and, after many expressions of goodwill on both sides,
sailed north, the voyage 'made'; while the poor 'spit-silver' treasure
ship turned sadly east and steered for Panama.

Lima, Panama, and Nombre de Dios were in wild commotion at the news; and
every sailor and soldier that the Spaniards had was going to and fro,
uncertain whether to attack or to defend, and still more distracted as
to the most elusive English whereabouts. One good Spanish captain, Don
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, was all for going north, his instinct telling
him that Drake would not come back among the angry bees after stealing
all the honey. But, by the time the Captain-General of New Spain had
made up his mind to take one of the many wrong directions he had been
thinking of, Drake was already far on his way north to found New Albion.

Drake's triumph over all difficulties had won the hearts of his men more
than ever before, while the capture of the treasure ship had done
nothing to loosen the bonds of discipline. Don Francisco de Zarate wrote
a very intimate account of his experience as a prisoner on board the
_Golden Hind._ 'The English captain is one of the greatest mariners at
sea, alike from his skill and his powers of command. His ship is a very
fast sailer and her men are all skilled hands of warlike age and so well
trained that they might be old soldiers of the Italian tertias,' the
crack cor