Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main

by G. A. Henty

  The captain, who was accompanied by the priest, rowed up the riverto report the arrival of the ship and the events of his voyage tothe authorities, and to place in their hands the letter of thegovernor of Tidore. Twenty-four hours later the captain returned,with orders for the ship to sail up the river; and that, on theirarrival, the young Englishmen were to be landed and conducted tothe presence of the viceroy himself.

  The young adventurers, much as they had traveled, were greatlystruck with the appearance of Goa. It was, indeed, a city ofpalaces, most solidly built of stone, and possessing an amount ofmagnificence and luxury which surpassed anything they had everseen. In the streets a few Portuguese, magnificently dressed andescorted by guards, moved among a throng of gaily attired natives;whose slight figures, upright carriage, and intelligent facesstruck the boys as most pleasing, after their experience of theislanders of the South Seas. The immense variety of turbans andheadgear greatly astonished them, as well as the magnificence ofthe dresses of some of these, who appeared to be men of importanceand who were attended by a retinue of armed followers.

  The young men were escorted by two officers of the viceroy, who hadcome on board ship as soon as she dropped anchor, to conduct themto his presence. At the sight of these officials the nativeshastily cleared the way, and made every demonstration of respect,as the party passed through them.

  The vice-regal palace was a magnificent building, surpassing anyedifice the boys had ever seen, and they were still more struck bythe luxury of the interior. They were led through severalvestibules, until at last they arrived in a large chamber. At atable here the viceroy was seated, while around him were a largenumber of the councilors and leading men of the place. The viceroyrose as the young men advanced, and bowed profoundly.

  "You are, I hear, Englishmen; and I am told, but I can scarcelybelieve it, that you belong to the ship of the Captain Drake whoseexploits in the West Indies, against the Spaniards, have made himso famous. But how, belonging to him, you came to be cast on anisland in the South Seas is more than we are able to understand."

  No news of the expedition had reached the Portuguese, and thesurprise of the viceroy was only natural.

  "The Golden Hind, sir, the vessel in which we were gentlemenadventurers, rounded Cape Horn, sailed up the American coast, andthen, keeping west, crossed through the islands; and has, we trust,long since rounded the Cape of Good Hope and arrived in England,having circumnavigated the globe."

  An expression of surprise broke from the assembled Portuguese. Buta frown passed over the face of the viceroy.

  "What was the object of your captain, in visiting these seas?" heasked "They are the property of Portugal, and without thepermission of his majesty, no ship of any other nation may passthrough our waters."

  "I can assure you," Ned said, "that there was no object, either ofconquest or of trade, on the part of our admiral in visiting theseseas. When he rounded the Cape his object was to discover, ifpossible, a passage round the northern coast of America back toEngland. But when we went north we found the cold was great, andthat the land stretched away so that it would join with Asia to thenorth. Being convinced, then, that no passage could be obtained inthat way, he sailed for England round the Cape of Good Hope,fearing the dangers of a passage round the Horn, by which he loston our passage out two of his ships, and was well-nigh wreckedhimself. He only abode in the islands of the South Seas for a fewdays, to get provisions and water, and then sailed straight forhome."

  Assured by this explanation, the viceroy now begged the boys to sitdown, and he and his council listened with admiration andastonishment to the records of the expedition, and especially tothe passage across America of two of the young men before him. Thedepredations which had been committed upon the Spaniards excited noindignation among the Portuguese; for these nations were rivals,and although they did not put their contentions to the test of thesword, each was glad enough to hear of any misfortune befalling theother.

  The viceroy now assured the young men that he was proud to welcomethe members of so gallant a crew as that of the great Englishnavigator.

  "England and Portugal," he said, "did not clash, and were alwaysnatural allies."

  He trusted they would always remain so, and in the meantime heshould be glad to treat the boys with all honor, and to forwardthem home by the first ship which might be sailing.

  Apartments were now assigned to them in the palace, and here theywere delighted to find a stock of clothes suited for them.

  For the next fortnight they passed a pleasant time at Goa. Theywere the objects of much attention on the part of the Portuguese,and all vied in the attempt to make their stay pleasant to them.They found that the town of Goa occupied but a small space, andthat it was strongly fortified, and the Portuguese made no attemptto conceal their very high estimate of the fighting power of thenatives. One young officer, who was specially told off to accompanythe lads, and who spoke Spanish fluently, was particularly frank inhis description of the state of affairs.

  "All these gaily dressed natives that one sees in the streets are,I suppose, Christians?" Ned asked.

  "No, indeed," the other said surprised. "What should make you thinkso?"

  Ned replied that, in America, he had found that the Spaniardsinsisted on all the natives at once embracing Christianity, on painof death.

  "The Spaniards," the young Portuguese said, "are lords and mastersthere. The natives are weak and timid, and able to offer noresistance, whatever. That is very far from being our positionhere. We are, I can assure you, only here on sufferance. You canhave no idea of the power of some of these native sovereigns ofIndia. The Mahrattas, who live beyond the mountains you see on thehorizon, could pour down such hosts of armed men that, if theycombined against us, no resistance that we could offer would belikely to be successful. And yet they are but one among a score ofwarlike peoples.

  "So long as we do not attempt to proselytize, and are content toappear as merchants and traders, no general feeling exists againstour residence here. But I can assure you that, if it became knownin India that we were forcing the natives to accept Christianity,the footing which we have obtained here would be speedily lost.These people have regular armies. They may not, indeed, be trainedas are ours at home but individually they are very brave. They haveartillery of heavy caliber.

  "In the South Seas, as you know, we endeavor to convert theheathen. The people there are degraded savages by the side of theseIndians. But we do not adopt the strong methods which the Spaniardshave done. We have, in Portugal, a good deal of your Englishfreedom of opinion, and the Inquisition has never gained any firmfooting amongst us."

  Upon one occasion the boys had the satisfaction of seeing a grandIndian durbar; for the chief, on the corner of whose territory thePortuguese had built their town with his permission, came in to seethe viceroy. The boys were surprised at the magnificence of hiscavalcade, in which elephants, camels, and other animals took part,and in which the trappings and appointments were gorgeous, indeed,while the dresses of the chiefs absolutely shone with jewels. Theattendants, however, made but a poor show, according to Europeanideas.

  There was at this time, in European armies, no attempt at regularuniform, but there was a certain resemblance between the attire andarms of the men who fought side by side. When upon the marchregularity and order were maintained, and the men kept together instep. Nothing of this kind was apparent among the troops whoaccompanied the Indian chief. They marched along by the side of theelephants, and in groups ahead and in rear of them, in a confuseddisorder; and it seemed to the lads that a mere handful of Europeantroops would rout such a rabble as this. They said as much to theirPortuguese friend, but he told them that the people on the coastcould scarcely be considered as a fair sample of those who dwelt inthe hill country behind.

  "The climate here," he said, "is much more relaxing. Vegetation isextremely abundant, and all the necessities of life can be obtainedin the easiest manner. Consequently the people here are enervated,and cannot be compa
red to the horsemen of the plains. The seat ofthe Indian power lies at Agra and Delhi--sometimes one andsometimes the other. The emperors there can take the field with twohundred thousand men, if necessary; and even these, with all theirpower, have difficulty in maintaining their authority throughoutIndia. You may judge, therefore, of the power of the variousterritorial chiefs."

  A fortnight later, to their great delight, the lads heard that avessel would start in three days for Lisbon. She was taking home alarge cargo of spice, and articles of Indian manufacture, and anumber of invalided soldiers. She was said to be a slow sailer, butas no other was likely to start for some months, the lads did nothesitate to avail themselves of the offer of the viceroy.

  At parting he presented them each with a sword set with diamonds,and also purses of money, in token of his appreciation of the valordisplayed by them in the defense of Tidore.

  "It is," the viceroy said, "an honor to us to honor the members ofthe greatest marine expedition which has yet been made. WePortuguese may boast that we have been among the foremost inmaritime discovery, and we can therefore the more admire the featsof your valiant Captain Drake."

  The ship, the Maria Pia, was a large one, far greater, indeed, thanthe Golden Hind, and the boys felt that in a floating castle ofthis description, their voyage ought to be a safe and pleasant one.The captain had received instructions to do all in his power tomake the voyage agreeable to them. A handsome cabin had been placedat their disposal, and their position on board was altogether anhonorable one.

  The result justified their expectations. The voyage, although long,passed without incident. The Maria Pia experienced fine weatherround the Cape and, catching the trade winds, made her coursenorthward, and arrived off the mouth of the Tagus without accidentor adventure of any kind.

  Sailing up the river, she fired a salute with her guns, which wasanswered by those of the fort at the entrance. The news had beensignaled to the capital of the arrival of a ship from the Indies,and officials boarded her, as soon as she cast anchor. The captainat once went on shore, and reported to the minister of the Indiesthe news which he had brought from Goa, and gave an account of hisvoyage. He delivered a letter from the viceroy, stating that he hadgiven a passage to four English gentlemen, who had formed part ofCaptain Drake's equipage, and who had rendered very great servicesin defeating an attack upon the island of Tidore by the people ofTernate, of which matters, the viceroy added, the gentlemen wouldthemselves give a full account.

  The minister at once sent on board an official, to request theyoung men to land; and upon their so doing, he received them withgreat courtesy, and gave a grand banquet the next day, at which theBritish minister was present.

  The lads were delighted, upon landing, to receive the news that theGolden Hind had arrived safely in England four months before, andthat all Europe was ringing with the great feat which she hadaccomplished. The lads found that they were received, by thedistinguished company which met them at the table of the minister,with much honor and respect, and this was heightened upon theirgiving a detailed account of the adventures which had befallen themsince leaving England. The British minister offered them a passageto England in one of the Queen's ships; and having provided themamply with money, they were enabled to make a good appearance, andto enter with zest into the round of festivities of which they weremade the objects during their stay. They were presented to theking, who received them most graciously, and presented each with asword of honor.

  Three weeks later they sailed up the Thames, and upon landing inLondon at once inquired for the residence of Captain Drake. Thisthey had no difficulty in discovering, as he was the hero of thehour.

  It was with great pleasure that they were received by thecommander. He expressed but little surprise at seeing them; for, ashe told them, he made sure that sooner or later they would arrive,and had given orders that, upon the division of the great sumswhich had been gained by the Golden Hind on her voyage, theirshares should be scrupulously set aside.

  "You had twice before," he said to Ned, "appeared after we had allgiven you up as dead; and I could not believe that the four of you,together, could all have succumbed.

  "We got off the reef the next day, shifting her cargo all upon oneside and hoisting some sail, so that the wind bore her down, herkeel lifted from the reef upon which she had fastened, and withoutdamage she went into deep water. We spent four days in looking foryou. We landed at the island to which you had been directed, andsearched it thoroughly. We then went to an island further to thesouth, and spent three days in cruising round its shores. We landedand captured some natives, but could not learn from them that theyhad seen any traces of you, whatever. Most on board conceived thatthe canoe must have upset, and that you must have been drowned; butI never believed this, and felt convinced that, from some unknownreason, you had been unable to return to the ship, but that sooneror later you would arrive.

  "From that point all went well with us. We had a rapid voyage downto the Cape, and coasted along it at a short distance. The weatherwas fair, and we turned our head north without loss of time; andso, by the help of Providence, and a fair wind, we made our courseto England, where our gracious sovereign has been pleased toexpress her approval of our doings.

  "I told her something of your journey across the south of theAmerican continent, and she was pleased to express her sorrow atthe loss of such gallant and promising gentlemen. I am sure thather majesty will receive, with pleasure, the news of your return.

  "Now, tell me all that has happened since I last saw you."

  Ned recited the history of their adventures, and Captain Francisapproved of the course which they had taken, in making for Tidoreinstead of Ternate. He was greatly amused at their experiences asSouth Sea deities, and said that henceforth, let them be lost wherethey would, or for as long as they might be, he would never againfeel any uneasiness as to their fate. He invited them to take uptheir abode with him, while they stayed in London; and althoughthey were eager to return to Devonshire, he told them that hethought they ought to wait until he had communicated with theQueen, and had seen whether she would wish to see the gentlemen inwhom she had kindly expressed interest.

  Captain Drake had received the honor of knighthood from the Queen'shand on his return from his voyage, and was now Sir Francis Drake,and was for the time the popular idol of the people, whose nationalpride was deeply gratified at the feat of circumnavigation, now forthe first time performed by one of their countrymen.

  Captain Drake dispatched a letter to her majesty at Westminster,and the following day a royal messenger arrived, with an order thathe should bring the four gentlemen adventurers with him, andpresent them to her majesty. The young men felt not a little awedat the thought of being received by Queen Elizabeth. But upon theirpresentation by Sir Francis, the Queen received them with so muchcondescension and grace that their fears were speedily removed.

  "I thought," she said to Captain Drake, "that I should see fourhuge and bearded paladins. You told me indeed that they were young,but I had not pictured to myself that they were still beardlessstriplings, although in point of size they do credit to theirnative country.

  "I love to listen to tales of adventure," she continued, "and begthat you will now recite to me the story of those portions of yourvoyage, and journeyings, of which I have not heard from the lips ofSir Francis."

  Then, modestly, Ned recited the story of their journey acrossAmerica, and afterwards took up the narrative at the point whenthey left the ship, and her majesty was pleased to laugh hugely atthe story of their masquerading as gods. When they had finished sheinvited them to a banquet, to be given at Greenwich on thefollowing day, gave them her hand to kiss, and presented each witha diamond ring, in token of her royal favor.

  The following day they went down in the barge of Sir Francis Drake,which formed part of the grand cortege which accompanied hermajesty on her water passage to Greenwich. There a royal banquetwas held, with much splendor and display; after which a masque,prepared by those
ingenious authors Mr. Beaumont and Mr. Fletcher,was enacted before her.

  Three days later they embarked upon a country ship, bound forPlymouth, and after a rough tossing in the Channel, landed there.They were received with much honor by the mayor and dignitaries ofPlymouth, for Sir Francis had already written down, giving a briefaccount of their adventures, and of the marks of esteem which theQueen had been pleased to bestow upon them; and Plymouth, as therepresentative of the county of Devon, rejoiced in giving a heartywelcome to her sons, who had brought so much credit upon them.

  After a stay of a few hours the lads separated, Tom and Reuben eachstarting for their respective homes, while Ned, who had no familyof his own, accompanied Gerald, in whose home he was looked uponalmost as a son, and where the welcome which awaited him was ascordial as that given to Gerald. The share of each of theadventurers in the Golden Hind was a very large one, and Nedpurchased a nice little property and settled down upon it, havinghad enough of the dangers of the seas, and resolving no more toleave his native country, unless his duty to his Queen shoulddemand his services.

  That time was not long in arriving, for towards the end of 1586 allEurope rang with the preparations which Philip of Spain was makingto invade England. The Devonshire gentlemen who had fought on theSpanish Main, and who but lightly esteemed Spanish valor at sea, atfirst scoffed at the news, but soon no doubt could be entertained.Early in 1587 Sir Francis Drake wrote, to his friends who hadfought under him, that her majesty had honored him with acommission to beat up the Spanish coast, and invited them toaccompany him. The four friends hastened, with many others, to obeythe summons; and on joining him at Plymouth, he was pleased toappoint each to the command of a ship. Some weeks were spent inearnest preparation, and in March a fleet of thirty vessels setforth, full manned and equipped.

  Accustomed as the young men were to see great Spanish ships takenby single boats, and a whole fleet submissive before one ship, itseemed to them that with such an armament they could destroy thewhole navies of Spain, and even then that little glory would bedivided between each vessel.

  Upon the 18th of April the fleet was off Cadiz, and Sir Francismade the signal for the captains of the fleet to go on board theflagship. There he unfolded to them his plan of forcing theentrance to the port, and destroying the Spanish fleet gatheredthere. Cadiz was one of the strongest places of Spain, and theenterprise would, to most men, have seemed a desperate one. But tomen who had fought in the Spanish Main it seemed but a light thing.

  As they left the admiral's cabin, Ned invited his three friends todine on board his ship, the Sovereign; and a right merry gatheringit was, as they talked over their past adventures, and marveled tofind themselves each commanding a ship, about to attack the fleetof Spain in its own harbor.

  Upon the following day the fleet sailed boldly towards the port ofCadiz, where the people could scarce believe that the Britishintended to force the entrance to the fort. When they saw that suchwas indeed their purpose, they opened fire with all theirbatteries, great and small. The English ships sailed on, unheedingtheir reception, and delivering their broadsides as they neared theport.

  Although they had been in many fights, this was the first greatbattle at which the friends had been present; and the roar and dinof the combat, the sound of their own guns and of those of theenemy, the crash and rending of wood, and the cheers of the sailorsin no little surprised them. The Spanish gunners in their hasteshot but badly, and with Sir Francis Drake's ship leading the way,the fleet forced the entrance into the port. As they entered theywere saluted by the cannon of the Spanish vessels within, butwithout more ado they lay these aboard.

  So mightily were the Spaniards amazed by the valor, and boldness ofthe English that they fought but feebly, jumping over for the mostpart, or making their way in their boats to shore. Then Sir Franciscaused fire to be applied to the Spanish ships, and thirty greatwar vessels were destroyed before the eyes of the townspeople,while the English fleet sailed triumphantly away.

  Then, following the line of coast as far as Saint Vincent, theadmiral captured and burned a hundred other ships, and destroyedfour great land forts.

  Looking into the Tagus, the King of Portugal having been forced bySpain to aid her, Captain Drake captured the Saint Philip, thelargest ship of their navy; which was, to the gratification of thesailors, laden with a precious cargo.

  After these exploits the fleet returned to England in triumph,having for the time crippled the forces of Spain. Philip, however,redoubled his preparations. The fleets of Naples and Sicily, ofVenice and Genoa, were added to those of Spain. The dockyardsworked night and day, and by the end of the year all was inreadiness.

  In England men had not been idle. A great army was raised of peopleof every rank and condition, Catholics as well as Protestantsuniting in the defense of the country; while in every port round,the din of preparation was heard. The army was destined to combatthe thirty thousand Spanish soldiers commanded by the Duke of Parmain the Netherlands, where a fleet of transports had been preparedto bring them across, when the great armada should have cleared thesea of English ships. By dint of great efforts, 191 English shipsof various sizes, these mostly being small merchantmen--merepygmies in comparison with the great Spanish galleons--werecollected, while the Dutch dispatched sixty others to aid in thestruggle against Spain.

  On the 29th of May the Spanish armada sailed from the Tagus but,being delayed by a storm, it was not till the 19th of June that itsadvance was first signaled by the lookout near Plymouth. Then fromevery hill throughout England beacon fires blazed to carry thetidings, and every Englishman betook himself to his arms, andprepared to repel the invaders.

  Instead, however, of attempting to land at once, as had beenexpected, the Spanish fleet kept up channel; the orders of the kingbeing that it should make first for Flanders, there form junctionwith the fleet of the Duke of Parma, and so effect a landing uponthe English coast. As the great fleet, numbering a hundred andthirty large war vessels, and extending in the form of a crescentnine miles in length from horn to horn, sailed up channel, thespectacle, although terrible, was magnificent indeed.

  The ships at Plymouth at once slipped anchor and set out inpursuit. Sir Francis Drake led, and close by him were the vesselscommanded by the four friends. Paltry, indeed, did the squadronappear by the side of the great fleet, but from every port as theypassed along came reinforcements, until in numbers they equaledthose of the great ships of Spain. These reinforcements werecommanded by Admirals Hawkins, Frobisher, and other gallant seamen;while Lord Howard, lord high admiral of England, was in chiefcommand.

  There was no general action attempted, for the floating Spanishcastles could have ridden over the light ships of England; but eachcommander fell upon the enemy, like dogs upon the flank of an arrayof lions. Sir Francis threw himself into the center of the Spanishlines, followed by many other English ships, and thus separatedseveral of the great galleons from their consorts, and then fell towork battering them.

  The Spaniards fought valiantly, but at a disadvantage, for thesmaller ships of the English were so quickly handled that they wereable to take up positions to rake their enemy, without exposingthemselves to the broadsides which would have sunk them. When atlast they had crippled their foes, they would either close uponthem and carry them by boarding, or, leaving them helpless wrecksupon the water, would hoist all sail and again overtake the Spanishfleet.

  The battle continued day and night for five days, with scarce anintermission, the various English admirals sometimes attacking alltogether, sometimes separately. The same tactics ever prevailed,the Spaniards sailing on and striving to keep in a compact body,the English hovering round them, cutting off every ship whichlagged behind, breaking the ranks of the enemy, and separatingvessels from their consorts. Hard was it to say that, in that longstruggle, one man showed more valor than another, but the deeds ofthe ships commanded by the Devonshire gentlemen were second tonone.

  On the 27th their ships were signaled to sail to join tho
seassembled near Dunkirk, to check the progress of the Duke ofParma's fleet. They reached the English fleet in time, and soon theSpaniards were seen approaching. They kept in a compact mass, whichthe English ships could not break.

  For a while the fight went badly, and then a number of fire shipswere launched at the Spaniards. Seized with panic, these at oncescattered and, the English falling upon them, a series of desperateconflicts ensued, ending almost always in the capture ordestruction of the enemy.

  The Duke of Medina-Sidonia, who commanded the main Spanish fleet,sailed north, intending to coast round the north of Scotland and soreturn to Spain. The English ships followed for a while, but were,from the shortness of the supplies which had been placed on board,forced to put into harbor; and a great storm scattering the Spanishfleet, and wrecking many, only 60 vessels, and these with theircrews disabled by hardship and fatigue, ever returned to Spain.

  As a consequence of their gallantry in these battles, and upon theurgent recommendations of Sir Francis Drake, her majesty waspleased to bestow the honor of knighthood upon each of the fouryoung Devonshire gentlemen, as upon many other brave captains.

  After this they went no more to sea, nor took any part in thedisastrous expedition which Admirals Drake and Hawkins, together,made to the Spanish Main, when the brave Sir Francis lost his life,from fever and disappointment.

  Soon after their return from the defeat of the armada, Sir EdwardHearne married the only sister of his friend Gerald, and lived withher happily to a green old age. The friendship between the fourfriends never diminished, but rather increased as they grew inyears, and many marriages took place between their children andgrandchildren. Four times a year, upon the occasion of specialevents in their lives, great family gatherings were held at thehouse of one or other. Sir Gerald generally held festival on theanniversary of the defeat of the Spanish attack on the forestfortress in Porto Rico; Tom upon that of his escape from the prisonof the Inquisition; Reuben generally celebrated the day when, inthe character of a South Sea idol, he aided to defeat the hostileislanders; while Ned kept up the anniversary of their return toEngland. As to the victory over the armada, they always had to drawlots as to the house in which that great event should becelebrated.

  Upon all these occasions stories were told at great length, andtheir children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, for alllived to see these growing up, were never tired of listening totales of the Spanish Main.