misfortune, but having assembled about him a number of seamen who
believed in him, he made other adventures to the West Indies, and
learnt the navigation of that part of the ocean. In 1570, he
obtained a regular commission from Queen Elizabeth, though he
sailed his own ships, and made his own ventures. Every
Englishman, who had the means, was at liberty to fit out his own
ships; and with tolerable vouchers, he was able to procure a
commission from the Court, and proceed to sea at his own risk and
cost. Thus, the naval enterprise and pioneering of new countries
under Elizabeth, was almost altogether a matter of private
enterprise and adventure.

In 1572, the butchery of the Hugnenots took place at Paris and
throughout France; while at the same time the murderous power of
Philip II. reigned supreme in the Netherlands. The sailors knew
what they had to expect from the Spanish king in the event of his
obtaining his threatened revenge upon England; and under their
chosen chiefs they proceeded to make war upon him. In the year
of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, Drake set sail for the
Spanish Main in the Pasha, of seventy tons, accompanied by the
Swan, of twenty-five tons; the united crews of the vessels
amounting to seventy-three men and boys. With this insignificant
force, Drake made great havoc amongst the Spanish shipping at
Nombre de Dios. He partially crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and
obtained his first sight of the great Pacific Ocean. He returned
to England in August 1573, with his frail barks crammed with
treasure.

A few years later, in 1577, he made his ever-memorable
expedition. Charnock says it was "an attempt in its nature so