Wisconsin Tribune

First Discovery of California, by Drake.

On the 15th November, in the year 1577, Captain Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth with five ships, carrying 164 men and boys, professedly on a voyage to Alexandria, in Egypt, but really with the intention of sailing into the Pacific ocean, where the English flag had never been seen before. After passing the Cape de Verd Islands, he sailed during fifty-four days, without the sight of land, and then entered the River Plate. After supplying his vessels with water from the great river, Drake sailed southwards, and passing through the straits, named after the only circumnavigator of the globe, who had preceded him—the Straits of Magellan—he entered the Pacific Ocean on the 6th of September. He arrived off Valparaiso on the 30th of November. He plundered the town of St. Jago where he took a booty of 25,000 pieces of very pure and fine gold. Proceeding thence to a port named Tarapaca, he landed, and found a Spaniard sleeping by the seaside, with thirteen bars of silver lying by him, of the value of 4000 ducats. He took the silver and left the owner. Spanish his map. Not far from thence, going inland for water, his men met a Spaniard and an Indian boy, driving eight Llamas, or sheep of Peru, "which are as big as asses," every one of which had on its back two bags of leather, each bag containing 50 lbs. weight of fine silver. Bringing the Llamas and their burdens to the ship, they found in all, 200 cwt. of silver. Thence they proceeded to Arica where they plundered a vessel containing 57 wedges of silver, each weighing 50 lbs. On the 20th of February, they arrived at Lima, where they plundered all the ships in the harbor, in one of which they found a chest full of rials of silver, and a good store of silks and linen cloth. Here they heard of a rich treasure-ship, named the Cacafuego, which had sailed to Paita.—They immediately gave chase, but, on arriving at Paita, found that the Cacafuego had sailed for Panama. They at once renewed the chase, and in the course of it, they picked up a vessel which contained 50 lbs weight of gold, and a crucifix of the same metal, with very great emeralds set to it. Continuing the pursuit, they at last came up with the Cacafuego, which well repaid them for the trouble it had given them. Besides precious stones, they found thirteen chests of rials of silver, 1800 lbs. weight of gold, and 26 tons of uncoined silver. This rich capture was made off Cape St. Francis, about 150 leagues from Panama. From this point they proceeded to Guatulco, and thence to Cea, where they careened their ships. On leaving the Island of Cea, "which is in eight degrees north latitude," Drake resumed his cruise, and took another rich ship; and being now satisfied with his booty, he determined to return home by the Islands of the Moluccas, and "thence to sail by the course of the Portugals, by the Cape Bona Esperanza." For this purpose he ran northward for 500 leagues, to get a favorable wind and on the 3d day of June, "being in 42 degrees towards the Pole Arctic, being speedily come out of extreme heat, Drake found the air so cold, that his men being pinched with the same, complained of the overlong tarrying there- of and the further they went, the more the cold increased upon them. Whereupon they thought it best to seek land, which they found to be not an high and mountainous land, but low, plain land.- We drew back again (says the historian of the voyage) without landing, till we came within 38 degrees, towards the line. In which height it pleased God to send us into a fair and good bay, with a good wind to enter the same." This country was, no doubt, the country which has recently become so famous under the name of California, and this bay was probably the great bay of San Francisco.

The inhabitants came down to the shore, and gave Drake a friendly reception, and the king ceded him the government of the country. "Wherefore, in the name and to the use of her majesty Queen Elizabeth) he took the sceptre, crown, and dignity of the said country in his hand—wishing that the riches and treasures thereof might so conveniently be transported, to the enriching of her kingdom, as it aboundeth in the same. There is no spot of earth here to be kept up, wherein there is not some special likelihood of gold or silver." At his departure from the country, Drake set up, as a monument of his having been there, as also that of her Majesty's right and title to the same, "a plate nailed upon a fair great post, whereon was engraved her Majesty's (Queen Elizabeth's) name, the day and year of our arrival there; with the free giving up of the province into her Majesty's hands, together with her highness' picture and arms, and a piece of six pence, of current English money:" under the plate was also written the name of Drake. "It were the highest wrong and the voyage that the Spaniard—hitherto had never been in this part of the country, neither did they discover the land by many degrees to the southward of this place." Such was the account of this land of gold, published in England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It certainly is one of the curiosities of history that the first land ever taken possession of by the English on the Continent of America, should have been the now famous California, and that it should have been ceded some years before the first attempt was made to colonize the provinces, which have since grown to be the United States of America.—Baine's Hist.