e on her Majesty. He was a man apparently between thirty
and forty years of age, with the air and carriage of a seaman. His
figure, somewhat below the middle height, was exquisitely proportioned;
his chest broad, and his head round and well formed. Though sunburnt,
his complexion was naturally fair and sanguine, his countenance open and
cheerful, his hair of a brown colour, and his beard full and carefully
trimmed. His large and lively eyes beamed with intelligence, and his
mouth was firm set, while his whole countenance showed a quick and
resolute character.

Bowing low as he entered, he was introduced in due form. He replied in
a free and unembarrassed manner to the questions the Queen put to him.

"I have been well informed, Captain Drake, of the good service you have
rendered to the Earl of Essex with your three frigates in subduing the
rebellion in Ireland; but I desire to know more of your earlier exploits
in the West Indies, and I shall be pleased to be informed of your birth
and parentage."

Exhibiting due modesty in all he said, Captain Drake replied that he had
been at sea from his boyhood. He was the eldest among twelve sons of
Master Edward Drake, Vicar of Upnor, and was born in the year 1544 in a
cottage near Tavistock, on the banks of the Tavey. From his earliest
days, having constantly seen the royal ships anchored in the Medway, his
desire had been to follow the sea; and to gratify his wishes, when he
was of an age to leave home his father placed him with the master of a
bark, in which he used to trade along the shore, and sometimes to carry
merchandise into Zealand and France. His master dying, left him his
bark as a mark of his good-will, and when but eighteen he became purser
of a vessel frequenting the ports of Biscay. He shortly afterwards
entered a ship commanded by Master John Hawkins, engaged in the slave
trade. Having obtained a cargo partly by the sword and partly by other
means at Sierra Leone, they were conveyed across the Atlantic to the
island of Hispaniola.

Having made a voyage or two with Master Hawkins, he obtained the command
of the _Judith_, a bark of fifty tons, one of a squadron under the same
Admiral.

The ships having taken in their cargoes of slaves as usual, Master
Hawkins sailed for the Canaries and the Spanish Main, that he might
exchange his freight for silver, sugar, and other commodities most
valued at home. On passing the town of Rio de la Hacha, Master Haw