in ornithology, the male of the duck kind: See ANAS.

Drake (Sir Francis), the renowned English admiral, was the son of Edmund Drake a sailor, and born near Tavistock in Devonshire, in the year 1545. He was brought up at the expense and under the care of Sir John Hawkins, who was his kinsman; and, at the age of 18, was purser of a ship trading to Biscay. At 20, he made a voyage to Guinea; and, at 22, had the honour to be made captain of the Judith. In that capacity he was in the harbour of St John de Ulloa, in the gulf of Mexico, where he behaved most gallantly in the glorious actions under Sir John Hawkins, and returned with him to England with great reputation, though not worth a groat. Upon this he projected a design against the Spaniards in the West Indies; which he no sooner published, than he had volunteers enough ready to accompany him. In 1570, he made his first expedition with two ships; and the next year with one only, in which he returned safe, if not with such advantages as he expected. He made another expedition in 1572, wherein he did the Spaniards some mischief, and gained considerable booties. In these expeditions he was much afflicted by a nation of Indians, who then were, and have been ever since, engaged in perpetual wars with the Spaniards. The prince of these people was named Pedro; to whom Drake pretended a fine curiosity from his side, which he saw the Indian greatly admired. Pedro, in return, gave him four large wedges of gold; which Drake threw into the common stock, saying, That he thought it but just that such as bore the charge of so uncertain a voyage on his credit, should share the utmost advantage that voyage produced. Then, embarking his men with all the wealth he had obtained, which was very considerable, he bore away for England, where he arrived in August 1573.

His success in this expedition, joined to his honourable behaviour towards his owners, gained him a high reputation; and the use he made of his riches, a still greater. For, fitting out three stout frigates at his own expense, he sailed with them to Ireland; where, under Walter earl of Essex, the father of the famous unfortunate earl, he served as a volunteer, and did many glorious actions. After the death of his noble patron, he returned into England; where Sir Christopher Hatton ton introduced him to her majesty, and procured him countenance and protection at court. By this means he acquired a capacity of undertaking that grand expedition which will render his name immortal. The first thing he proposed was a voyage into the South Seas through the Straits of Magellan; which was what hitherto no Englishman had ever attempted. The project was well received at court: the queen furnished him with means; and his own fame quickly drew together a sufficient force. The fleet with which he sailed on this extraordinary undertaking, consisted only of five vessels, small when compared with modern ships, and no more than 164 able men. He sailed on the 13th of December 1577; on the 25th fell in with the coast of Barbary, and on the 29th with cape Verd. On the 13th of March he passed the equinoctial, made the coast of Brazil on the 5th of April, and entered the River de la Plata, where he lost the company of two of his ships; but meeting them again, and taking out their provisions, he turned them adrift. On the 29th of May he entered the port of St Julian's, where he continued two months for the sake of laying in provisions: on the 20th of August he entered the Straits of Magellan, and on the 25th of September sailed them, having then only his own ship. On the 25th of November he came to Machao, which he had appointed for a place of rendezvous, in case his ships separated; but captain Winter, his vice admiral, having repassed the Straits, was returned to England. Thence he continued his voyage along the coasts of Chili and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing Spanish ships, and attacking them on shore, till his men were fated with plunder; and then, coasting America to the height of 48 degrees, he endeavoured to find a passage that way back into our seas, but could not. However, he landed, and called the country New Albion, taking possession of it in the name and for the use of queen Elizabeth; and, having careened his ship, set sail from thence, on the 29th of September 1579, for the Moluccas. He is supposed to have chosen this passage round, partly to avoid being attacked by the Spaniards at a disadvantage, and partly from the lateness of the season, whence dangerous storms and hurricanes were apprehended. On the 13th of October he fell in with certain islands inhabited by the most barbarous people he had met with in all his voyage: on the 4th of November he had sight of the Moluccas; and, coming to Ternate, was extremely well received by the king thereof, who appears, from the most authentic relations of this voyage, to have been a wise and polite prince. On the 10th of December he made Celebes; where his ship unfortunately ran upon a rock; the 9th of January following; from which, beyond all expectation, and in a manner miraculously, they got off, and continued their course. On the 26th of March he arrived at Java Major; and from thence he intended to have directed his course to Malacca; but found himself obliged to alter his purpose; and to think of returning home. On the 25th of March 1580, he put this design in execution; and on the 15th of June he doubled the Cape of Good Hope, having then on board 57 men, and but three casks of water. On the 12th of July he passed the line, reached the coast of Guinea on the 16th, and there watered. On the 11th of September he made the island of Terceira; and on the 3d of November entered the harbour of Plymouth. This voyage round the world was performed in two years and about ten months. Shortly after his arrival, the queen going to Deptford, went on board his ship; where, after dinner, she conferred on him the order of knighthood, and declared her absolute approbation of all he had done. She likewise gave directions for the preservation of his ship, that it might remain a monument of his own and his country's glory. This celebrated ship, which had been contemplated many years at Deptford, at length decaying, it was broke up, and a chair, made out of the planks, was presented to the university of Oxford; upon which the famous Abraham Cowley made the following verses:

"To this great ship, which round the world has run, And match'd in race the chariot of the sun; This Pythagorean ship (for it may claim, Without presumption, to deserve a name, By knowledge once, and transformation now) In her new shape this sacred port allow. Drake and his ship could not have wish'd, from fate, An happier station, or more blest estate: For, lo! a seat of endless rest is given, To her in Oxford, and to him in heaven."

Works, Vol. II.

In the year 1585, he sailed with a fleet to the West Indies; and took the cities of St Jago, St Domingo, Carthagena, and St Augustin. In 1587, he went to Lisbon with a fleet of 30 sail; and, having intelligence of a great fleet assembled in the bay of Cadiz, which was to have made part of the armada, he with great courage entered that port, and burnt there upwards of 10,000 tons of shipping: which he afterwards merrily called burning the king of Spain's beard. In 1588, when the armada from Spain was approaching our coasts, Sir Francis Drake was appointed vice-admiral under Charles lord Howard of Effingham, high admiral of England, where fortune favoured him as remarkably as ever: for he made prize of a very large galleon, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who was reputed the projector of this invasion. This affair happened in the following manner: On the 22d of July, Sir Francis observing a great Spanish ship floating at a distance from both fleets, sent his pinnace to summon the commander to yield. Valdez replied, with much Spanish solemnity, that they were 450 strong; that he himself was Don Pedro, and stood much upon his honour; and thereupon propounded several conditions, upon which he was willing to yield. But the vice-admiral replied, That he had no leisure to parley; but if he thought fit instantly to yield, he might; if not, he should soon find that Drake was no coward. Pedro, hearing the name of Drake, immediately yielded, and with 46 of his attendants came on board Drake's ship. This Don Pedro remained about two years Sir Francis Drake's prisoner in England; and, when he was released, paid him for his own and his captains liberties, a ransom of 3500l. Drake's soldiers were well compensated with the plunder of this ship: for they found in it 55000 ducats of gold, which was divided among them.

A little before this formidable Spanish armament put to sea, the ambassador of his Catholic majesty had the confidence to propound to queen Elizabeth, in Latin verse, the terms upon which she might hope for peace; which, with an English translation by Dr Fuller,

we will insert in this place, because Drake's expedition to the West Indies makes a part of this message. The verses are these:

Te voto me pergas bello defendere Belgas: Quae Dracae crispatis nunc refulsantior spectat: Quas poster eueritis jubes te condere cellas: Regebo Pape fac refulsantior ad negram.

These to you are our commands, Send no help to the Netherlands; Of the treasure took by Drake, Restitution you must make; And those abbeys build anew, Which your father overthrew; If for any peace you hope, In all points before the pope."

The queen's extempore return,

Ad Graecam, hora res, fiant mandata calendar. Worthy king, know, this your will At Latter-Lammas we'll fulfil.

In the year 1589, Sir Francis Drake commanded as admiral the fleet sent to restore Don Antonio king of Portugal, the command of the land-forces being given to Sir John Norris; but they were hardly got to sea, before the commanders differed, and so the attempt proved abortive. The war with Spain continuing, a more effectual expedition was undertaken by Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, against their settlements in the West Indies, than had hitherto been made during the whole course of it; but the commanders here again not agreeing about the plan, this also did not turn out so successfully as was expected. All difficulties, before these two last expeditions, had given way to the skill and fortune of Sir Francis Drake; which probably was the reason, why he did not bear these disappointments so well as he otherwise would have done. A strong sense of them is supposed to have thrown him into a melancholy, which occasioned a bloody flux; and of this he died on board his own ship, near the town of Nombre de Dios in the West Indies, on the 28th of January 1596. His death was lamented by the whole nation, and particularly by his countrymen; who had great reason to love him from the circumstances of his private life, as well as to esteem him in his public character. He was elected burgess for the town of Bofinley, alias Tintagel, in the county of Cornwall, in the 27th parliament of Queen Elizabeth; and for Plymouth in Devonshire, in the 35th of the same reign. This town had very particular obligations to him; for, in the year 1587, he undertook to bring water into it, through the want of which, till then, it had been grievously distressed; and he performed it by conducting thither a stream from springs at eight miles distance, that is to say, in a straight line; for in the manner he brought it, the course of it runs upwards of 20 miles.