Before making his visit to the Pacific coast he had served under Sir John Hawkins, as commander of a small vessel, which went out against the Spanish; had visited the West Indies and commanded a freebooting expedition in which he captured an immense treasure, afterward abandoned; had burned a Spanish vessel at Cartagena, and captured several ships; had crossed the Isthmus of Panama and become the first Englishman to see the Pacific, and had served in Ireland under the Earl of Essex.

It was in December, 1577, that he started on the expedition during which he visited the Pacific coast as here described.  It was a freebooting enterprise.  Drake sailed through the Strait of Magellan.  After visiting California he crossed the Pacific, and, reaching England by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1580, Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.  Queen Elizabeth on his return knighted him on board his own ship.  His after career was equally notable, including as it did an important command under Lord Howard in the great sea fight of July, 1588, in which the Armada of Spain was overthrown In the English Channel.

HUDSON’S DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER

(1609)

BY ROBERT JUET, HUDSON’S SECRETARY[1]

The first of September [1609], faire weather, the wind variable betweene east and south; we steered away north northwest.  At noone we found our height to bee 39 degrees, 3 minutes.  The second, in the morning, close weather, the winde at south in the morning; from twelve untill two of the clocke we steered north northwest, and had sounding one and twentie fathoms:  and in running one glasse we had but sixteene fathoms, then seventeene, and so shoalder and shoalder untill it came to twelve fathoms.  We saw a great fire, but could not see the land; then we came to ten fathoms, whereupon we brought our tackes aboord, and stood to the eastward east south-east, foure glasses.  Then the sunne arose, and wee steered away north againe, and saw the land from the west by north to the northwest by north, all like broken islands,[2] and our soundings were eleven and ten fathoms.  Then wee looft in for the shoare, and faire by the shoare we had seven fathoms.  The course along the land we found to be northeast by north.  From the land which we had first sight of, untill we came to a great lake of water, as wee could judge it to bee, being drowned land, which made it to rise like islands, which was in length ten leagues.  The mouth of that land hath many shoalds, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of the mouth of it.  And from that lake or bay the land lyeth north by east, and wee had a great streame out of the bay; and from thence our sounding was ten fathoms two leagues from the land.  At five of the clocke we anchored, being little winde, and rode in eight fathoms water; the night was faire.  This night I found the land to hail the compasse 8 degrees.  For to the northward off us we saw high hils.  For the day before we found not above 2 degrees of variation.  This is a very good land to fall with, and a pleasant land to see.