. Drake and his men at once took in half the
straining sails; then knelt in prayer; then rose to see what could be
done by earthly means. To their dismay there was no holding ground on
which to get an anchor fast and warp the vessel off. The lead could find
no bottom anywhere aft. All night long the _Golden Hind_ remained fast
caught in this insidious death-trap. At dawn Parson Fletcher preached a
sermon and administered the Blessed Sacrament. Then Drake ordered ten
tons overboard--cannon, cloves, and provisions. The tide was now low and
she sewed seven feet, her draught being thirteen and the depth of water
only six. Still she kept an even keel as the reef was to leeward and she
had just sail enough to hold her up. But at high tide in the afternoon
there was a lull and she began to heel over towards the unfathomable
depths. Just then, however, a quiver ran through her from stem to stern;
an extra sail that Drake had ordered up caught what little wind there
was; and, with the last throb of the rising tide, she shook herself free
and took the water as quietly as if her hull was being launched. There
were perils enough to follow: dangers of navigation, the arrival of a
Portuguese fleet that was only just eluded, and all the ordinary risks
of travel in times when what might be called the official guide to
voyagers opened with the ominous advice, _First make thy Will_. But the
greatest had now been safely passed.

Meanwhile all sorts of rumors were rife in Spain, New Spain, and
England. Drake had been hanged. That rumor came from the hanging of John
Oxenham at Lima. The _Golden Hind_ had foundered. That tale was what
Winter, captain of the _Elizabeth_, was not altogether unwilling should
be thought after his own failure to face another great antarctic storm.
He had returned in 1578. News from Peru and Mexico came home in 1579;
but no Drake. So, as 1580 wore on, his friends began to despair, the
Spaniards and Portuguese rejoiced, while Burleigh, with all who found
Drake an inconvenience in their diplomatic way, began to hope that
perhaps the sea had smoothed things over. In August the London merchants
were thrown into consternation by the report of Drake's incredible
captures; for their own merchant fleet was just then off for Spain. They
waited on the Council, who soothed them with the assurance that Drake's
voyage was a purely private venture so far as prizes were concerned.
With this diplomatic quibble they were forced to