a buccaneering expedition against the Spaniards; it was a wild-goose
chase and led him round the globe. In those days the wealth of the
Philippines was shipped annually in a galleon from Manila to Acapulco,
Mexico, on its way to Europe. Drake hoped to intercept one of these
richly laden galleons, and he therefore threaded the Straits of
Magellan, and, sailing northward, found himself, in 1579, within sight
of the coast of California. All along the Pacific shore from Patagonia
to California he was busily occupied in capturing and plundering Spanish
settlements and Spanish ships. Wishing to turn home with his treasure,
and fearing he might be waylaid by his enemies if he were again to
thread the Straits of Magellan, he thought to reach England by the Cape
of Good Hope. This was in the autumn of 1579. To quote the language of
an old chronicler of the voyage:

"He was obliged to sail toward the north; in which course having
continued six hundred leagues, and being got into forty-three degrees
north latitude, they found it intolerably cold; upon which they steered
southward till they got into thirty-eight degrees north latitude, where
they discovered a country which, from its white cliffs, they called Nova
Albion, though it is now known by the name of California.

"They here discovered a bay, which entering with a favorable gale, they
found several huts by the waterside, well defended from the severity of
the weather. Going on shore, they found a fire in the middle of each
house, and the people lying around it upon rushes. The men go quite
naked, but the women have a deerskin over their shoulders, and round
their waist a covering of bulrushes after the manner of hemp.

"These people bringing the Admiral [Captain Drake] a present of feathers
and cauls of network, he entertained them so kindly and generously that
they were extremely pleased; and afterward they sent him a present of
feathers and bags of tobacco. A number of them coming to deliver it,
gathered themselves together at the top of a small hill, from the
highest point of which one of them harangued the Admiral, whose tent was
placed at the bottom. When the speech was ended they laid down their
arms and came down, offering their presents; at the same time returning
what the Admiral had given them. The women remaining on the hill,
tearing their hair and making dreadful howlings, the Admiral supposed
they were engaged in making sacrifices, and thereupon ordered divine