him, and at another conciliatory and fearful lest her pirate chiefs
should do anything to provoke Spanish susceptibilities. Drake was much
hampered by her moods when he wanted to get quickly to business, and
never lost an opportunity of slipping out of her reach when his
eloquence on the acquisition of untold wealth and the capture of some
of Philip's distant colonies had appealed to her boundless avarice and
made her conscience easy. His expedition to the West Indies might
never have been undertaken had he not been a dare-devil fellow, to
whom Burleigh's wink was as good as a nod to be off. He slipped out of
port unknown to her, and his first prize was a large Spanish ship
loaded with salt fish. He pounced upon her after passing Ushant, and
the excellent cargo was suitably distributed amongst the fleet.

There were 25 privateers, and a company of 2,500 men on this
expedition. All were volunteers, and represented every grade of
society, high and low. There was never any difficulty in getting a
supply of men. On this occasion the applications largely outnumbered
the posts available. Drake could always depend upon volunteers, and,
like all men of superb action, he had no liking for conscription. He
knew that in the performance and carrying out of great deeds (and
nearly all of his were terrific) it is men aflame with courage and
enthusiasm that carry the day, and take them as a whole, conscripts
are never wholehearted. The two great characteristics of the British
race--initiative and endurance--are due to this burning flame of
voluntarism.

The West India expedition was organized and all expenses guaranteed by
private individuals. The capital was £60,000, and its allocation was
£40,000 for expenses and £20,000 to be distributed amongst those who
had volunteered to serve. Both men and officers had signed on without