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 freebooting expedition in which he captured
an immense treasure, afterward abandoned; had burned a Spanish
vessel at Cartagena, and captured several ships; had crossed the
Isthmus of Panama and become the first Englishman to see the
Pacific, and had served in Ireland under the Earl of Essex.

It was in December, 1577, that he started on the expedition during
which he visited the Pacific coast as here described. It was a
freebooting enterprise. Drake sailed through the Strait of
Magellan. After visiting California he crossed the Pacific, and,
reaching England by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1580, Drake
became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. Queen
Elizabeth on his return knighted him on board his own ship. His
after career was equally notable, including as it did an important