one fifth of the minerals he may find; and she sends him a
present of a golden anchor as a Godspeed. June 11, 1583, Sir Humphrey
sets sail with a fleet of three splendid merchantmen, fitted out as
men-of-war, and two heavily armed little frigates. The crews number
three hundred and sixty men, but they are for the most part impressed
seamen and riotous. The fleet is only well away when the biggest of the
merchantmen signals that plague has broken out, and flees back to
England. Later, as fog hides the boats from one another, the pirate crew
on board the little frigate _Swallow_ run down an English fisherman on
the Grand Banks, board her, and at bayonet point loot the schooner from
stem to stern. When the ships lower sail to come in on the tide through
the long Narrows, to the rock-girt harbor of St. John's, Newfoundland,
{27} the hundreds of fishing vessels lying at anchor there object to the
pirate _Swallow_; but Sir Humphrey reads his commission from the Queen,
and the fishing fleet roars a welcome that sets the rocks ringing.
Sunday, August 4, the next day after entering, Biscayans and French and
Portuguese and English send their new Governor tribute in
provisions,--fish from the English, marmalade and wines and spices from
the foreigners. The admiral gives a feast to the master mariners each
week he is in port, and entertains--as the old record says--"right
bountifully." Wandering round the rocky harbor, up the high cliff to the
left where remnants of an old fortress may be seen to-day, along the
circular hills to the right where the fishing stages cover the water
front, Gilbert's men find "fool's gold," rock with specks of iron and
mica. Daniel, the refiner of metals, declares it is a rich specimen of
silver. The find goes to Sir Humphrey's head. He sees himself a second
Francis Drake, ships crammed with gold. When the captains of the other
vessels in his fleet would see the treasure, he answers: "Content
yourselves! It is enough! I have seen it but I would have no speech
made of it in harbor; for the Portuguese and {28} Biscayans and French
might learn of it. We shall soon return hither again."

[Illustration: SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT]

Many of the men are in ill health. Gilbert decides to send the invalids
home in the _Swallow_; but he transfers the bold pirate crew of that
frigate to the big ship _Delight_, which carries provisions for the
colony. While planning to make St. John's the headquarters of