honor of
knighthood, at the same time, on the admiral, so that "Sir Francis
Drake" was thenceforth his proper title.

If the facts already stated do not give sufficient indications of the
kind of character which in those days made a naval hero, one other
circumstance may be added. At one time during this voyage, a Spaniard,
whose ship Drake had spared, made him a present of a beautiful negro
girl. Drake kept her on board his ship for a time, and then sent her
ashore on some island that he was passing, and inhumanly abandoned her
there, to become a mother among strangers, utterly friendless and alone.
It must be added, however, in justice to the rude men among whom this
wild buccaneer lived, that, though they praised all his other deeds of
violence and wrong, this atrocious cruelty was condemned. It had the
effect, even in those days, of tarnishing his fame.

Philip did claim the money, but Elizabeth found plenty of good excuses
for not paying it over to him.

This celebrated expedition occupied more than three years. Going round
the world is a long journey. The arrival of the ship in London took
place in 1581, four years before the war actually broke out between
England and Spain, which was in 1585; and it was in consequence of the
great celebrity which Drake had acquired in this and similar excursions,
that when at last hostilities commenced, he was put in command of the
naval preparations. It was not long before it was found that his
services were likely to be required near home, for rumors began to find
their way to England that Philip was preparing a great fleet for the
actual invasion of England. The news put the whole country into a state
of great alarm.

The reader, in order to understand fully the grounds for this alarm,
must remember that in those days Spain was the mistress of the ocean,
and not England herself. Spain possessed the distant colonies and the
foreign commerce, and built and armed the great ships, while England had
comparatively few ships, and those which she had were small. To meet the
formidable preparations which the Spaniards were making, Elizabeth
equipped only four ships. To these however, the merchants of London
added twenty or thirty more, of various sizes, which they furnished on
condition of having a share in the plunder which they hoped would be
secured. The whole fleet was put under Drake's command.

Robbers and murderers, whether those that operate upon the sea or on the
land,