The Book of Shipwrecks; And Narratives of Maritime Discoveries and the Most Popular Voyages, from the Time of Columbus to the Present Day (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: time they lost twenty-ode persons, and the rest were on the point of starving. In this situation they arrived at St Jago, one of the Cape de Verd Islands. Finally on the 7th of September, they entered St. Lucarin Spain, with their number reduced to about eighteen persons. According to their reckoning, they had sailed 14,000 leagues, and crossed the equator six times, having been absent three years wanting fourteen days. This was the first voyage round the world that had ever been made. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. Mr. Drake was first apprenticed to the master of a small vessel trading to France and Zealand; at the age of eighteen he went purser of a ship to the Bay of Biscay, and at twenty made a voyage to the coast of Guinea. Having obtained Queen Elizabeth's permission for an expedition against the Spaniards, five ships were fitted out, having on board 164 able men and a large quantity of provisions. This fleet sailed out of Plymouth Sound on the 5th of November 1577; but meeting with a violent storm, they were obliged to put back and refit. On the 13th of December they sailed again, ar.d on the 25th passed Cape Cantin, on the coast of Barbary. After visiting numerous islands and meeting with various adventures, having passed the line, they at length discovered the coast of Brazil on the 5th of April, it being fifty-four daysince they saw land. As soon as the people on shore saw the ships, they made large fires in different parts, and performed ceremonies to prevail on the gods to sink the vessels, or at least to prevent their landing. Sailing southward they anchored in fort St. Julian, where the admiral going on shore with six men, some of the natives slew the gunner, whoso death was revenged by the commander, who killed the murderer with his own hand. At this place Magellan hav...