d, God willing,
by one means or other get them all aboard, in despite of all the
Spaniards in the Indies."

Those who have sailed on a raft in calm water will appreciate the
courage of Drake's deed. The four men aboard her had to squat in several
inches of salt water, holding on for their lives, while the green seas
came racing over them "to the arm pits" at "every surge of the wave."
The day was intensely hot in spite of the wind, and "what with the
parching of the sun and what with the beating of the salt water, they
had all of them their skins much fretted away." With blistered and
cracking faces, parched with the heat and the salt, and shivering from
the continual immersion, they sailed for six hours, making about a knot
and a half an hour. When they had made their third league "God gave them
the sight of two pinnaces" beating towards them under oars and sail, and
making heavy weather of it. The sight of the boats was a great joy to
the four sufferers on the raft. They edged towards them as best they
could, crying out that all was safe, "so that there was no cause of
fear." It was now twilight, and the wind, already fierce, was blowing up
into a gale. In the failing light, with the spray sweeping into their
eyes, the men aboard the pinnaces could not see the raft, nor could
they make headway towards her with the wind as it was. As Drake watched,
he saw them bear up for a cove to the lee of a point of land, where they
could shelter for the night. He waited a few moments to see if they
would put forth again, but soon saw that they had anchored. He then ran
his raft ashore to windward of them, on the other side of the headland.
He was very angry with the pinnaces' hands for their disobedience of
orders. Had they done as he had commanded them, they would have been in
the Francisco River the night before, and all the pains and danger of
the raft would have been unnecessary. Drake, therefore, resolved to play
a trick upon them. As soon as he landed, he set off running to the haven
where the boats lay, followed by John Smith and the two Frenchmen--all
running "in great haste," "as if they had been chased by the enemy." The
hands in the pinnaces saw the four men hurrying towards them, and at
once concluded that the Spaniards had destroyed the expedition, and that
these four hunted wretches were the sole survivors. In an agony of
suspense they got the four men into the boats, eagerly asking where the
others were, and in what