Engla nd 's entry into ocean voyaging, as Morison and orhers have nored, came !are in rhe new day of ocea nic commerce. From rhe beginnings of rhe !are medieval revival of rrade in rhe 1100s and 1200s, English ships had been barred from rhe Balric rrade by rhe para milirary Hansa nerwo rk. Th e well-capiralized scare shippin g lines of rhe Iralian maririme republics, norably Ge noa and Venice, h ad effecrively monopolized rhe ri ch rrade from rhe more adva nced Medirerranean world, including preciou s spices from rhe Fa r East. 111e Hansa kepr rheir grip on eas rern rrad e unril rhe mid-1500s, and as Iralian capiral, know-how, and iniriarives srimulared rhe grear seawa rd surge of fi rsr Portuga I a nd rhen Spain from the 1300s o n, England, despite isolared ve ntures and voyages (to which E nglish-spea king histo rians have perhaps paid too much arre ntion), remained a bir player on rhe ocea nic scene. John Cabor's (G iova nni Caboto) norable voyage to Newfo undl and in 1497 was nor effecr ively followed up, despire rhe growing wealth a nd srabiliry of rhe new Tudor mona rchy under the H enr ys VII and VIII; Cabor's son Sebastian left England to become piloto mayor or senior pi !o r of rhe Spanish monarchy, returning only !are in life to English shores to share his wisdom, in rather pontifical fashion. Th e h ard-hirrin g H awkins fa mily was somerhing new on the scene.1l1ey were determined to seize their share of rhe rich Spa nish rrade wirh the Ame ricas, whi ch Spain reserved to irself, as nored earlier. Drake flourished in chis heady ar mosphere of voyagi ng in distant waters, fa r from a ny fri endly base of support. In 1568, we find him in comm and of the barque Judith in a fleer of ships led by John Hawkins, as rhe fleer pu r into San Juan d 'U lua for repairs afte r a gale. A Spanish squadron happened by, and promising no harm, was allowed to berth alongside rhe English sh ips. 111e Spa nish rhen artacked wirhour warning. H awk ins a nd Drake, fighring a rearguard acrion, escaped wirh as many men as they could save, and limped back to England separarely in rhe rwo survivin g, overburdened ships. After chis, Drake began to raid Spanish shipping ad lib . He concentrared hi s effo rrs on Panama, improvising brilli anrl y to ourwit Spanish defenders of rhe silver shipped by mule train from the Pacific to rhe Caribbea n for shipment ho me to Spa in. H e allied himself wirh rhe C im a rron es, escaped Africa n slaves who formed effecrive auxilia ries . H e collaborared o n one occas ion wirh a French raider. Ir's hard to call rhese raiders "pirares," as ir is now fashionable to do . Rea l pirares tortured, raped a nd slaug htered th eir vicrims. Drake did none of rhese rhings a nd severely controlled his m en's beh av io r, as Spanish restimony affirms wirh remarkable unanimiry. In rhe course of these hi ghl y profirable ventures, in which rhe Queen surrepririously rook part, Drake and his companion John Oxenham, guided by Juan Pedro, a Cimarrone chief, crossed rhe Isrhmus of Panama to get ar rhe pore of Panama, where silver was broughr in for rransshipment to Nombre de Dios on the Caribbean side. As they struggled across high hills, Pedro invired Drake to climb a rreerop observation post a nd , on a clear January day in 1573, Drake saw rhe Pacific Ocean, or rhe G rear South Sea, gleaming in rhe sun before him. According to the official narrative in Sir Francis Revived, he "besoughr Almighry God of His goodness, to give him life and leave to sa il once in an English ship, in rhar sea!"
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Thar was whar his voyage of 1577 was abo ut. Queen Elizaberh, backing her adventurous mariners, used the funds they broughr in to srrengrhen her Royal Navy. Drake, with hi s usual eloquence, made rhe case for breaking into Spain's A merica n trade by rhe back door, sa iling a squadron aro und to the Pacific by way of rhe fo rmidable Srrair of Magellan . Anorher Wesr Countryman, rhe fi ery Richard G renville, had proposed a simil ar scheme. But Elizaberh as turely com missioned Drake in stead. She did chis in a personal m ee ring a rranged by Foreign Minister Walsingham wirh a shore, stocky, ro ugh-hewn Drake-a man very unlike rhe dashing yo ung nobles who flo cked to rhe Q ueen's court. One quinressenrial courtier, Thomas Doughry, was in rhe fl eer as seco nd in comma nd, unfo rtunately both for the voyage a nd fo r himself. Duries can be delegated, counsel ca n be rakenpractices Drake regularly followed. Bur com mand is indivisible, a lesson D oughty, with all his skills at self-advancement, had apparendy nor learned. As rhe fl eer wo und irs slow way down rhe South Arlantic, rroubles involving Doughry kepr popping up- trouble over the division of spoils from a Portuguese ship rhey had cap rnred in rhe Cape Verdes, troubles over precedence and protocol-troubles simi lar to rhe problems that had a ri sen berween Spanish lordlings and rhe rough Porruguese warrior Magellan, sailing rhese same waters. The "sweet smell ofl and," when the squad ron made rhe Brazilian coasr and commenced its lon g haul sourhward, did nor mure rhese rroubles. During rhe passage Drake gor rid of rhe suppl y ship Swan, 50 tons, and rhe small Portuguese vessel named Mary when rhey had her in excha nge for the pinnace Christopher, 15 to ns, which had acco mpani ed rhe squadron from England. On 20 June 1578, as the Antarctic winter was coming on in violent gales, rhe squadron pur inro Port San Julian, 2,0 00-odd miles short of rhe Srra ir of Magellan. The ships were now just rhree in number: rhe fl ags hip Pelican, 150 tons, under Drake as Caprain General; rhe sh ip Elizabeth, 80 rons, under John Winter; a nd rhe little barque Marigold, 30 tons, under John Thomas. Drake planned a rhorough refit a nd re-provisioning in San Julian. Sailing into the barren inlet, the men spied the gallows on which Magellan had ha nged his mutineers, still standing after 58 yea rs in that icebox climate. The place seem ed ill-omened, and to psychic disco mfort was soo n add ed the dismal discovery, as Drake ordered the ships rumm aged (cleaned our and fumi gated), rhar they had been badly shortchanged in provisions for the voyage. Adding to these woes, the nati ve Patagonians were hostile and would not make peace, though Drake refrained from reprisals after the killing of two seamen in an early skirmish . Bur rhere was yer anorher "mischief, wro ughr and co ntrived closely am ong ourselves, as grear, yea farre grearer," as rhe official narrarive has ir. This was rhe evidenr division in rhe high command , wirh Doughry !erring it be known to rhe gentlemen advenrurersabout 40 of the roral ships' companies of 160 men- thar he, nor Drake, had secured rhe Q ueen's support for rhe voyage, and rhar he, not Drake, should lead from now on. Drake deci ded to act. H e impaneled a jury of rhe gentlemen and officers (Doughry's peers) and held a rrial of D o ughry for fomenring resisrance to Drake as rhe Queen's appointed caprain general. In rhe course of the rrial, Doughry, parading his i mporta nr SEA HISTO RY 143 , SUMMER 2013