body, familiar rejoycing one with
another, and all pleasure what euer flesh and blood might bee
delighted in, but with sighes and sorrowings, with heauy hearts and
grieued minds, they powred out wofull complaints and moanes, with
bitter teares and wringing of their hands, tormenting themselues. And
as men refusing all comfort, they onely accounted themselues as
cast-awayes, and those whom the gods were about to forsake: so that
nothing we could say or do, was able to ease them of their so heauy a
hurthen, or to deliuer them from so desperate a straite, as our
leauing of them did seeme to them that it would cast them into....

The 23 of July they tooke a sorrowfull farewell of vs, but being loath
to leaue vs, they presently ranne to the top of the hils to keepe vs
in their sight as long as they could, making fires before and behind,
and on each side of them, burning therein (as is to be supposed)
sacrifices at our departure.

[1] From "The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake," the
author's name unknown. This work was prepared from notes made by
Francis Fletcher, the chaplain of Drake's ship and by "divers
others of his followers in the same," under the direction of
Drake's heir and nephew, and was published in London in 1628 "both
for the honor of the actor, but especially for the starting up of
heroic spirits to benefit their country and eternize their own
names by like noble attempts."

It has been contended that Drake fully believed that by his
discoveries in America he had laid the foundations of an English
civilization here, as a rival to Spanish civilizations. Spain then
had a practical monopoly of settlements in America. It is to be
remembered that Drake's work was in advance of all the English
settlements and attempts at settlements on the Atlantic coast,
including those of Gosnold, Amidas and Barlow, Sir Humphrey
Gilbert and Raleigh. Drake named the country he had visited
Albion. He may have gone as far north as Vancouver. There seems to
be no doubt that he reached the Bay of San Francisco, and perhaps
repaired his ships there.

Drake was born in Tavistock, in England, about 1540, and died off
Porto Bello in 1596. Before making his visit to the Pacific coast
he had served under Sir John Hawkins, as commander of a small
vessel, which went out against the Spanish; had visited the West
Indies and commanded a free