e la Plata in South America, dropping anchor at the entrance to
that great stream. Fires blazed on the shore and weird figures were
seen dancing around the flames. They were the savage natives, praying
to their heathen gods for the shipwreck of Drake's party, for they
believed that by their prayers and fires a host of devils would alight
upon the English vessels and destroy them. Drake himself was too eager
to continue his voyage to think of landing, and pointed his prows
southward, bound for the Strait of Magellan.

After a battle with the gigantic and savage Patagonians, in which Drake
saved his men from massacre by his usual quick decision and energy, he
continued his voyage until trouble that had developed in his crew
compelled him to take action against his friend and lieutenant,
Doughty. It seems that even before they sailed from England, Doughty
had become jealous of Drake and had commenced to work for his undoing.
And now proofs were only too evident that he had tried to provoke a
mutiny in the crew.

He was called before a court consisting of Drake's officers and was
found guilty. And then Drake, in spite of his grief that he had been
deceived by his most trusted friend, decided that stern measures were
necessary to preserve his authority over the men. He told Doughty that
he had but one course to take and that was to punish him for his crime.
But he gave him the choice of three fates,--to be executed then and
there, or put ashore to fend for himself among the savages, or to be
cast in chains into the hold of the ship and tried by his peers on the
return to England.

The unhappy Doughty asked time to think over what he should choose, and
this was granted. On the following morning he was taken before Drake
and with courageous mien declared that he preferred to be executed
rather than be left among the savages or taken home as a prisoner. And
in a few hours and before the entire company Doughty met his fate, but
he did not place his head upon the block until he had sat at dinner
with Drake himself and shared communion with him. And after this Drake
continued his voyage, until he found himself at the southernmost part
of South America.

Beating his way through the dangerous Strait of Magellan, Drake tried
to sail northward, but was driven back by severe gales and contrary
winds until it seemed as though the spirit of the new ocean had arisen
in wrath, forbidding his further progress. He was even driven south o