oes,
carried them to Hispaniola, where, despite the Spanish law restricting
the trade to the mother-country, he sold his slaves to the planters,
and returned to England with a rich freight of ginger, hides, and
pearls. In 1564 Hawkins repeated the experiment with greater success;
and on his way home, in 1565, he stopped in Florida and relieved the
struggling French colony of Laudonniere, planted there by Admiral
Coligny the year before, and barbarously destroyed by the Spaniards
soon after Hawkins's departure.[14] The difference between our age and
Queen Elizabeth's is illustrated by the fact that Hawkins, instead of
being put to death as a pirate for engaging in the slave-trade, was
rewarded by the queen on his return with a patent for a coat of arms.

In 1567 Hawkins with nine ships revisited the West Indies, but this
time ill-fortune overtook him. Driven by bad weather into the harbor
of San Juan de Ulloa, he was attacked by the Spaniards, several of his
ships were sunk, and some of his men were captured and later put to
torture by the Inquisition. Hawkins escaped with two of his ships, and
after a long and stormy passage arrived safe in England (January 25,
1569).[15] Queen Elizabeth was greatly offended at this conduct of the
Spaniards, and in reprisal detained a squadron of Spanish treasure
ships which had sought safety in the port of London from some Huguenot
cruisers.

In this expedition one of the two ships which escaped was commanded by
a young man named Francis Drake, who came to be regarded as the
greatest seaman of his age. He was the son of a clergyman, and was
born in Devonshire, where centred for two centuries the maritime skill
of England. While a lad he followed the sea, and acquired reputation
for his courage and sagacity. Three years after the affair at San
Juan, Drake fitted out a little squadron, and in 1572 sailed, as he
himself specially states, to inflict vengeance upon the Spaniards. He
had no commission, and on his own private account attacked a power
with which his country was at peace.[16]

Drake attacked Nombre de Dios and Cartagena, and, as the historian
relates, got together "a pretty store of money," an evidence that his
purpose was not wholly revenge. He marched across the Isthmus of
Panama and obtained his first view of the Pacific Ocean. "Vehemently
transported with desire to navigate that sea," he fell upon his knees,
and "implored the Divine Assistance, that he might at some time