lso deftly maneuvered so that the
Spaniards would be driven upon dangerous reefs, and shipwreck complete
the havoc in the ranks of the hostile _Armada_. Drake's fire ships,
like roaring furnaces, bore down on the Spaniards under full sail, and
the light of the flames was reflected against the clouds as the
galleons blew up and burned.

A terrible gale completed what the English began and the Spanish ships
drove on the rocks by scores, where their crews were dashed to pieces
or were killed or captured after making their way to shore. Spain's
dream of conquering England was at an end and Spain's supremacy upon
the seas was ended also in favor of her younger rival.

This was the crowning point of Drake's career and greatness. He was,
most naturally, a national figure, the darling of the people and the
court. Later he engaged in further voyages, but did not meet with his
earlier success, and in 1596 he died at sea not very far from the scene
of his first victories and the location of the modern Panama Canal. He
was buried with high honors, and his coffin was lowered into the sea
draped in the English flag, while English guns thundered a salute in
honor of the great naval hero.

All England mourned when they heard of his fate, and the _Golden Hind_
was ordered by the Queen to be preserved with scrupulous care in memory
of the marvelous journey it had made. When it, too, grew old and had to
be broken up, a chair was made from its planks and sent to Oxford
University, where it can be seen to the present day as a memorial of
Drake's mighty achievements,--feats that stand in a class by
themselves, and that will be hard to duplicate to the end of time.

CHAPTER XVI

HENRY HUDSON

When James the First was King of England, and four years after the
death of the great Queen Elizabeth, there existed an English and
Russian trading company of wealthy merchants which was known as the
Muscovy Company--an association of great influence that desired to
extend its commerce to far-off China, whose wealth in those days was
considered to be fabulous. All the maritime nations of Europe desired
to gain the China trade and to bring to their own ports the rich silks
and spices of the Orient. All of them were seeking for some quick and
easy route for sailing vessels from Europe to China, and fortunate
indeed would be that nation whose sailors first discovered such a
passage! Therefore, in the year 1607, the Muscovy Company tried to fi