IV.

IN THE WAKE OF DRAKE


We were buried alive in fathomless depths of fog. We were a fixture
until that fog lifted. It was an impenetrable barrier. Upon the point of
entering one of the most wonderful harbors in the world, the glory of
the newest of new lands, we found ourselves prisoners, and for a time at
least involved in the mazes of ancient history.

In 1535 Cortez coasted both sides of the Gulf of California--first
called the Sea of Cortez; or the Vermilion Sea, perhaps from its
resemblance to the Red Sea between Arabia and Egypt; or possibly from
the discoloration of its waters near the mouth of the Rio Colorado, or
Red River.

In 1577 Captain Drake, even then distinguished as a navigator, fitted
out a buccaneering expedition against the Spaniards; it was a wild-goose
chase and led him round the globe. In those days the wealth of the
Philippines was shipped annually in a galleon from Manila to Acapulco,
Mexico, on its way to Europe. Drake hoped to intercept one of these
richly laden galleons, and he therefore threaded the Straits of
Magellan, and, sailing northward, found himself, in 1579, within sight
of the coast of California. All along the Pacific shore from Patagonia
to California he was busily occupied in capturing and plundering Spanish
settlements and Spanish ships. Wishing to turn home with his treasure,
and fearing he might be waylaid by his enemies if he were again to
thread the Straits of Magellan, he thought to reach England by the Cape
of Good Hope. This was in the autumn of 1579. To quote the language of