Smarting under defeat, Drake resolved to be avenged. Fitting out a little
squadron at his own cost, without leave of the queen, Drake (1572) sailed
to the Caribbean Sea, plundered Spanish towns along the coast, captured
Spanish ships, and went home loaded with gold, silver, and merchandise.
[5]

DRAKE SAILS AROUND THE GLOBE.--During this raid on the Spanish coast Drake
marched across the Isthmus of Panama and looked down upon Balboa's great
South Sea. As he looked, he resolved to sail on it, and in 1577 left
England with five ships on what proved to be the greatest voyage since
that of Magellan. He crossed the Atlantic, sailed down the coast of South
America, and entered the Strait of Magellan. There four ships deserted,
but Drake went on alone up the west coast, plundering towns and capturing
Spanish vessels. To return the way he came would have been dangerous, for
Spanish cruisers lay in wait. Drake, therefore, went on up the coast in
search of a passage through the continent to the Atlantic. Coasting as far
as southern Oregon and finding no passage, Drake turned southward, entered
a harbor, repaired his ship, and then started westward across the Pacific.
He touched at the Philippines, visited the Spice Islands, came home by way
of the Cape of Good Hope, and won the glory of being the first Englishman
to sail around the globe. [6]

[Illustration: DRAKE'S ASTROLABE. Now in Greenwich Hospital, London.]

THE ENGLISH IN THE FAR NORTH.--While Drake was on his voyage around the
world, Martin Frob'isher discovered Hudson Strait, [7] and Sir Humphrey
Gilbert failed in an attempt to plant a colony somewhere in America. The
failure was disheartening. But the return of Drake laden with spoil
aroused new interest in America, and (in 1583) Gilbert led a colony to